Welsh devolution: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:09, 17 January 2025

Revision as of 21:53, 12 March 2025

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==== Disestablishment of the Anglican church ====

{{main|Disestablishment of theWelsh Church inAct Wales1914}}

The [[Sunday Closing (Wales) Act 1881]] was the first legislation to acknowledge that Wales had a separate politico-legal character from the rest of the English state.<ref name="encyclopaedia" /> At the time, a majority of people in Wales belonged to noncomformists chapels despite members of the Church of England having legal and social privileges. The Sunday Closing Act was therefore celebrated in Wales as a significant step towards establishing equal status for the noncomformist chapels and [[Disestablishment of theWelsh Church inAct Wales1914|disestablishing the Anglican church in Wales]]. Historian and former BBC Wales producer John Trefor suggests that the act "was a victory, not only for the chapels and the temperance leagues, but for Welsh identity. He goes on to say, "There was a sense that things could be done differently here. Wales-only Education and cemetery acts came soon after, and in many respects it established the principle on which devolution and the National Assembly are based."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2011-08-04 |title=130 years since Sunday drinking was banned in Wales |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-14136013 |access-date=2023-01-13}}</ref>

[[File:David Lloyd George NLW3362532.jpg|thumb|[[David Lloyd George]]|257x257px]]

[[David Lloyd George]], MP for Caernarfon at the time, was devoted to Welsh devolution early in his career, starting with the [[Church in Wales]]. He said in 1890; "I am deeply impressed with the fact that Wales has wants and inspirations of her own which have too long been ignored, but which must no longer be neglected. First and foremost amongst these stands the cause of religious liberty and equality in Wales. If returned to Parliament by you, it shall be my earnest endeavour to labour for the triumph of this great cause. I believe in a liberal extension of the principle of decentralisation."<ref>{{Cite web |title=OLCreate: CYM-WH_E1 Sources for Unit 8: Source 8F |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=55159&section=1.6 |access-date=2022-03-01 |website=www.open.edu}}</ref> In 1895, in a Church in Wales Bill which was ultimately unsuccessful, Lloyd George added an amendment in a discreet attempt at forming a sort of Welsh home rule, a national council for appointment of the Welsh Church commissioners.<ref>{{Cite web |title=OLCreate: CYM-WH_E1 Sources for Unit 8: Source 8Ji |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=55159&section=1.11 |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=www.open.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=OLCreate: CYM-WH_E1 Sources for Unit 8: Source 8Jii |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=55159&section=1.12 |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=www.open.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Doe |first1=Norman |title=The Welsh Church Act 1914: A Century of Constitutional Freedom for the Church in Wales? |journal=Ecclesiastical Law Journal |date=January 2020 |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=2–14 |doi=10.1017/S0956618X19001674 |s2cid=213980589 }}</ref> The [[Welsh Church Act 1914]] was passed giving the Church in Wales the freedom to govern its own affairs. After being suspended for the duration of the First World War, the Act came into effect from 1920.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Volume I: Prefatory Note |url=https://www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/clergy-and-members/constitution/volume-i-prefatory-note/ |access-date=2022-03-01 |website=Church in Wales |language=en}}</ref>

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In response to the Irish demand for "home rule", Liberal prime minister of the UK, William Gladstone proposed two bills on home rule for Ireland in 1886 and 1893, which both failed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Two home rule Bills |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/parliamentandireland/overview/two-home-rule-bills/}}</ref> Although the idea of "home rule all round" had been around since the 1830s the idea became more popular in 1910 during the constitutional conference and on the brink of an Irish war during 1913–14.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kendle |first=J. E. |date=Jun 1968 |title=VI. The Round Table Movement and 'Home Rule All Round' |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0018246x00002041 |journal=The Historical Journal |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=332–353 |doi=10.1017/s0018246x00002041 |s2cid=159471230 |issn=0018-246X}}</ref>

[[File:Llewelyn Williams.jpg|thumb|179x179px|[[Llywelyn Williams]] set up the first Cymru Fydd branch on Welsh soil in Barry in 1891.<ref>{{Cite web |title='A PROVED AND LOYAL FRIENDSHIP': THE DIARY OF W. LLEWELYN WILLIAMS MP, 1906-15 |url=https://www.library.wales/fileadmin/docs_gwefan/new_structure/catalogues/specialist_catalogues/nlw_journal/cgr_erth_XXXIVrh3_2008_3.pdf}}</ref>]]

Political movements supporting Welsh self-rule began in the late nineteenth century alongside a rise in [[Welsh nationalism]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Pilkington |first=Colin |url=http://archive.org/details/devolutioninbrit0000pilk |title=Devolution in Britain today |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-7190-6075-5 |pages=35–38}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=History of devolution |url=https://senedd.wales/how-we-work/history-of-devolution/ |access-date=2022-01-31 |website=senedd.wales |language=en-GB}}</ref> In the same year as the first bill for Ireland was proposed, the [[Cymru Fydd]] (Wales To Be/Wales Will Be) movement was founded to further the home rule cause for Wales.<ref name="encyclopaedia">{{citation|title=The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales|year=2008|place=Cardiff|publisher=University of Wales Press}}</ref> Lloyd George was one of the main leaders of Cymru Fydd which was an organisation created with the aim of establishing a [[Welsh Government]]<ref>{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|1310503225}} |last1=Jones |first1=J G.|title=Alfred Thomas's National Institution (Wales) Bills of 1891-92 |journal=Welsh History Review |volume=15 |issue=1 |date=1 January 1990 |pages=218–239 }}</ref> and a "stronger Welsh identity".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/society/politics_cymru_fydd.shtml|title = BBC Wales - History - Themes - Cymru Fydd - Young Wales}}</ref> As such Lloyd George was seen as a radical figure in British politics and was associated with the reawakening of [[Welsh nationalism]] and identity, saying in 1880, "Is it not high time that Wales should have the powers to manage its own affairs".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=55160&printable=1|title = Unit 8 David Lloyd George and the destiny of Wales: View as single page}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-28 |title=Yes or No? The Welsh Devolution Referendum |url=https://blog.library.wales/the-welsh-devolution-referendum/ |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=National Library of Wales Blog |language=en-US}}</ref> Historian Emyr Price has referred to him as "the first architect of Welsh devolution and its most famous advocate’" as well as "the pioneering advocate of a powerful parliament for the Welsh people".<ref>{{Cite book |title=David Lloyd George (Celtic Radicals) |publisher=University of Wales Press |year=2005 |pages=208}}</ref> The first Cymru Fydd societies were set up in Liverpool and London in 1887 and in the winter of 1886–7, the North and South Wales liberal federations were founded.<ref name=":20">{{Cite web |title=""Home Rule all round": Experiments in Regionalising Great Britain, 1886-1914." Political Reform in Britain, 1886 - 1996: Themes, Ideas, Policies. Eds. Jordan, Ulrike; Kaiser, Wolfram. Bochum: Universitätsverlag Dr. N. Brockmeyer. 169 - 192. Arbeitskreis Deutsche England-Forschung 37. |url=https://thestacks.libaac.de/bitstream/handle/11858/2064/Rembold%20-%201997%20-%20Home%20Rule%20all%20round.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}</ref> Lloyd George was also particularly active in attempting to set up a separate Welsh National Party which was based on [[Charles Stewart Parnell]]'s [[Irish Parliamentary Party]] and also worked to unite the North and South Wales Liberal Federations with Cymru Fydd to form a Welsh National Liberal Federation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Wales - History - Themes - David Lloyd George |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/figures/lloyd_george.shtml |access-date=2022-03-01 |website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> The Cymru Fydd movement collapsed in 1896 amid personal rivalries and rifts between Liberal representatives such as [[D. A. Thomas|David Alfred Thomas]].<ref name="encyclopaedia" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Wales {{!}} Vol, V no. 8/9 {{!}} 1945 {{!}} Cylchgronau Cymru – Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru |url=https://cylchgronau.llyfrgell.cymru/view/1214989/1216131/107 |access-date=4 December 2020 |publisher=[[National Library of Wales]] |language=cy-GB}}</ref> In 1898 however, [[David Lloyd George]] managed to form the Welsh National Liberal Council, a loose umbrella organisation covering the two federations.<ref name="alderton">{{cite web |last1=Alderton |first1=Nicholas |title=The formation of the Welsh Liberal Party, 1966-1967 |url=https://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/conference/papers/2015/The%20Formation%20of%20the%20Welsh%20Liberal%20Party%20(1).pdf |access-date=10 April 2019 |website=Political Studies Association}}</ref>

Support for [[home rule]] for Wales and Scotland amongst most political parties was strongest in 1918 following the independence of other European countries after the First World War, and the [[Easter Rising]] in Ireland, wrote Dr Davies.<ref>Davies (1994) pp. 523</ref> Although Cymru Fydd had collapsed, home rule was still on the agenda, with liberal Joseph Chamberlain proposing "[[Home Rule]] All Round" for all nations of the United Kingdom, in part to meet Irish demands but maintain the superiority of the imperial parliament of Westminster. This idea which eventually fell out of favour after "southern Ireland" left the UK and became a dominion in 1921 and the Irish free state was established in 1922.<ref name=":20" /> Home rule all round became official labour party policy, by he 1920s, but the Liberals lost interest because if a Welsh Parliament was formed they would not control it.<ref name=":21">{{Cite web |title=BBC Wales - History - Themes - Chapter 22: A new nation |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/guide/ch22_a_new_nation.shtml |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

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* to ensure the government is adequately informed of the impact of government activities on the general life of the people of Wales and Monmouthshire.<ref name="records2">{{Cite web|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/record?catid=506&catln=2|title=The Discovery Service|first=The National|last=Archives|website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk}}</ref>

The Council for Wales and Monmouthshire had 27 appointed members. Of these, 12 were nominated by Welsh local authorities; there were also nominees from the [[WelshWJEC Joint(exam Education Committeeboard)|Joint Education Committee]], the University of Wales, the [[National Eisteddfod of Wales|National Eisteddfod Council]], the [[WelshVisit Tourist BoardWales|Welsh Tourist and Holidays Board]], and from both management and union sides of Welsh industry and agriculture.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1949/apr/26/council-for-wales-membership|date=26 April 1949|title=COUNCIL FOR WALES (MEMBERSHIP) (Hansard, 26 April 1949)|website=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]}}</ref> The chairman was [[Huw T. Edwards]], a trade union leader.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info/cgi-bin/anw/fulldesc_nofr?inst_id=1&coll_id=94&expand=|title=Archives Network Wales: Council for Wales and Monmouthshire records|access-date=2022-06-04|archive-date=2016-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181418/http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info/cgi-bin/anw/fulldesc_nofr?inst_id=1&coll_id=94&expand=|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Council met in private, a further source of controversy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1949/jan/20/wales-council|date=20 January 1949|title=WALES (COUNCIL) (Hansard, 20 January 1949)|website=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]}}</ref> It set up various panels and committees to investigate issues affecting Wales, including a Welsh Language Panel to study and report upon the present situation of the language; a Government Administration Panel; an Industrial Panel; a Rural Development Panel; a Transport Panel; and a Tourist Industry Panel.<ref name="records2" />

[[File:A_Plaid_Cymru_rally_in_Machynlleth_in_1949_where_the_"Parliament_for_Wales_in_5_years"_campaign_was_started_(14050400654).jpg|thumb|262x262px|A [[Plaid Cymru]] rally in Machynlleth in 1949 where the "[[Parliament for Wales Campaign|Parliament for Wales]] in 5 years" campaign was started]]

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In the 1950s, the deterioration of the British Empire removed a sense of Britishness and there was a realisation that Wales was not as prosperous as south-east England and smaller European countries. Successive Conservative Party victories in Westminster led to suggestions that only through self-government could Wales achieve a government reflecting the votes of a Welsh electorate. The [[Tryweryn flooding]] was opposed by 125 local authorities and 27 of 36 Welsh MPs voted against the second reading of the bill with none voting for it. At the time, Wales had no Welsh office (introduced in 1964) or any devolution.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Public Policy and Normative Language: Utility, Community and Nation in the Debate over the Construction of Tryweryn Reservoir |url=https://academic.oup.com/pa/article-abstract/60/4/625/1581149?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=academic.oup.com}}</ref> John Davies adds that the representatives of Wales were powerless under the political structure of the time, a core message of Plaid Cymru.<ref>{{Cite book |last=John |first=Davies |url= |title=A History of Wales |publisher=Penguin |year=1994 |isbn= |pages=664 |language=English |oclc=}}</ref> The [[Epynt clearance]] in 1940 has also been described as a "significant - but often overlooked - chapter in the history of Wales".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Epynt: A lost community |url=https://www.nfu-cymru.org.uk/news-and-information/epynt-a-lost-community/ |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=www.nfu-cymru.org.uk |language=en-gb}}</ref>

Those in favour of a Welsh parliament paraded in Machynlleth (the place of [[Owain Glyndŵr's Parliament House, Machynlleth|Owain Glyndŵr's last Senedd]]) on 1 October 1949. Speakers and entertainment were also at the event.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |title=Watch Rali Senedd i Gymru, Machynlleth 1949 |url=https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-rali-senedd-i-gymru-machynlleth-1949-1949-online |access-date=2022-02-01 |website=BFI Player |language=en}}</ref> From 1950 to 1956, Parliament for Wales campaign brought devolution back onto the political agenda. A cross-party campaign was led by Lady [[Megan Lloyd George]], daughter of former prime minister and campaigner for Welsh devolution, David Lloyd George, who had died in 1945.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":12">{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|1310498251}} |last1=Jones |first1=J Graham |title=THE PARLIAMENT FOR WALES CAMPAIGN, 1950-56 |journal=Welsh History Review |volume=16 |issue=2 |date=1 December 1992 |pages=207–236 }}</ref> The Campaign for a Welsh parliament (''Ymgyrch Senedd i Gymru'') was formally launched on 1 July 1950, at a rally in Llandrindod. This event lead to the creation of a petition of 240,652 names calling for the establishment of a Welsh parliament, which was presented to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] by Megan Lloyd George in 1956.<ref name=":11" /> This was rejected by the UK government. Petitions were also presented to the House of Commons for a [[Secretary of State for Wales]] which were also rejected.<ref name=":12" />

==== Welsh Office & Secretary of State for Wales ====

{{Main|Welsh Office|Secretary of State for Wales}}

In the first half of the 20th century, a number of politicians had supported the creation of the post of Secretary of State for Wales as a step towards home rule for Wales. A post of Minister of Welsh Affairs was created in 1951 under the home secretary and was promoted to [[ministerMinister of stateState]] level in 1954.<ref name=":1" /> In 1964, the UK Labour government formed a new office of the Secretary of State for Wales and in 1965 the Welsh Office was created which was run by the Secretary of State for Wales and which was responsible for implementing UK government policies in Wales.<ref name=":1" /> In 1999 the Welsh Office made way for the National Assembly for Wales and staff from the Welsh office moved into the National Assembly.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-01-07 |title=Key Events in the Development of the National Assembly for Wales |url=http://www.rhodriglynthomas.org/downloads/Development-National-Assembly-Wales-e.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107071619/http://www.rhodriglynthomas.org/downloads/Development-National-Assembly-Wales-e.pdf |archive-date=2009-01-07 |access-date=2022-10-14}}</ref>

==== Official flag and capital city ====

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| image2 = Flag of Wales.svg

| caption1 = 1908 banner used by Cardiff & District Women's Suffrage Society

| caption2 = [[WelshFlag of flagWales]] today featuring the [[Welsh dragonDragon]]

| image3 =

| caption3 =

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==== First Plaid Cymru MP ====

[[File:Gwynfor Evans.jpg|thumb|197x197px|[[Gwynfor Evans]] in 1951.]]

The leader of [[Plaid Cymru]], [[Gwynfor Evans]] won the party's first-ever seat in Westminster in Carmarthen in 1966, which "helped change the course of a nation" according to Dr Martin Johnes of Swansea University. This, paired with the SNP's Winnie Ewing's winning a seat in Hamilton, Scotland in 1967 may have contributed to pressure on Labour prime minister [[Harold Wilson]] to form the [[Royal Commission on the Constitution (United Kingdom)|Kilbrandon Commission]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Remembering Gwynfor Evans' by-election which changed Welsh history |url=https://www.thenational.wales/news/19426429.remembering-gwynfor-evans-by-election-changed-welsh-history/ |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=The National Wales |language=en |archive-date=2021-09-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923062559/https://www.thenational.wales/news/19426429.remembering-gwynfor-evans-by-election-changed-welsh-history/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="BBC News">{{Cite news |date=2016-07-14 |title=Plaid Cymru's first MP 'helped change course of a nation' |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-36772269 |access-date=2022-03-10}}</ref> This event may have also contributed to the passing of the [[Welsh Language Act 1967]].<ref name="BBC News"/> This act repealed a provision in the [[Wales and Berwick Act 1746]] that the term "England" should include Wales, thus defining Wales to be a separate entity from England within the UK.<ref>{{cite web|date=July 2011|title=The Constitution Series: 1 – Wales in the United Kingdom|url=http://www.assembly.wales/Research%20Documents/The%20Constitution%20Wales%20in%20the%20United%20Kingdom%20-%20Quick%20guide-22072011-217207/qg07-0001-English.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420062743/http://www.assembly.wales/Research%20Documents/The%20Constitution%20Wales%20in%20the%20United%20Kingdom%20-%20Quick%20guide-22072011-217207/qg07-0001-English.pdf|archive-date=20 April 2016|access-date=6 April 2016|publisher=National Assembly for Wales}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web|date=2012-07-26|title=The Welsh language Act of 1967|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wales/entries/fe99df6b-bf61-3cb0-a695-fa76c013fc98|access-date=2022-01-31|website=BBC|language=en}}</ref> The legislation permitted the use of Welsh including in courts of law. The act was in part based upon the Hughes Parry Report from 1965. While the [[Welsh Courts Act 1942|Welsh Courts Act in 1942]] had previously allowed limited use of Welsh if defendants or plaintiffs had limited knowledge of English, the 1967 act was far more robust. While the act itself was quite limited, it had large symbolic importance.<ref name=":5" /> In 1966, [[Emlyn Hooson]] convinced a majority of delegates to merge both the Welsh liberal federations into a single entity, forming the [[Welsh Liberal Party]]. The new party had far more authority, and gradually centralised the finances and policy of the party in Wales.<ref name="alderton" />

==== National Assembly referendums ====

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=== Devolved legislature (1998–present) ===

{{main|Senedd|Welsh Government|ListDevolved, ofreserved devolvedand excepted matters in Wales}}

[[File:Senedd.JPG|thumb|270x270px|[[Senedd building]], Cardiff Bay (formerly National Assembly for Wales).]]

The [[Government of Wales Act 1998]] granted the formation of the National Assembly and granted it a significant number of new powers which included most of the powers previously held by the [[Secretary of State for Wales]] and at least 20 national institutions including the [[Education and Learning Wales]], [[Environment Agency Wales]] and the [[Welsh Language Board]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Government of Wales Act|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/38/pdfs/ukpga_19980038_en.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Reynolds |first=David |date=2008 |title=New Labour, Education and Wales: The Devolution Decade |journal=Oxford Review of Education |volume=34 |issue=6 |pages=753–765 |doi=10.1080/03054980802519019 |jstor=20462432 |s2cid=144624435 }}</ref> The [[Senedd|National Assembly for Wales]] was formed in 1999 and the UK Parliament reserved the right to set limits on its powers.<ref name="Long Walk" />

==== Law making ====

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== Currently devolved powers ==

{{main|ListDevolved, ofreserved devolvedand excepted matters in Wales}}

The powers currently employed by the Senedd are, in summary:

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* [[Arts Council of Wales]]

* [[Education and Learning Wales]]

* [[Historic Buildings Council]] for Wales]]

* Library Advisory Council for Wales

* [[Qualifications, Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales]]

* [[Visit Wales|Wales Tourist Board]]

* Welsh Industrial Development Advisory Board

* [[Welsh Development Agency]]

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* Midwifery and Health Visiting

* [[National Library of Wales]]

* [[Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales|National Museum of Wales]]

* [[Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales]]

* [[Sports Council for Wales]] and Forestry Commission Wales

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=== Economic impact ===

{{See also|Economy of Wales}}

In a report for the [[Institute of Welsh Affairs]] in 2003, Phil Cooke of [[Cardiff University]] argued that the [[Welsh Government]] had responded to the loss of [[productivity]] in manufacturing by substituting new jobs in the public sector, making Wales increasingly dependent on [[Fiscal imbalance|fiscal transfers]] from [[Her Majesty's Government|Whitehall]]. Cooke suggested that a relatively weak [[devolution]] settlement had prevented the [[Welsh Government]] from developing innovative economic policies, especially when compared to [[Scottish ExecutiveGovernment|Scotland]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Weak Devolution Settlement Hinders Economic Development |url=http://www.iwa.org.uk/news/press_releases/pr_secterm_chall.htm}}</ref> However, critics including former [[Secretary of State for Wales|Welsh Secretary]] [[Ron Davies (BritishWelsh politician)|Ron Davies]] and John Lovering, another Cardiff academic, claimed that Cooke's argument that a more powerful Assembly was a [[NecessaryNecessity and sufficient conditionssufficiency|necessary precondition]] to more effective economic policies was a ''[[NonFormal sequitur (logic)fallacy|non-sequitur]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=24 November 2003 |title='Weak' assembly harming Wales |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/3232340.stm |via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

In 2005, [[Plaid Cymru]] leader [[Ieuan Wyn Jones]] suggested that the lack of tax varying powers in Wales was a major reason why Wales did not have its own [[Celtic Tiger]] and that growth strategy should not be focused only on cities.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Williamson |first=David |date=2005-11-16 |title=Why Celtic tiger failed |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/business/business-news/why-celtic-tiger-failed-2368046 |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=WalesOnline |language=en}}</ref> Plaid Cymru have also argued that economic dividend can only be achieved with [[Welsh independence]].<ref name=":52">{{Cite journal |last1=Bradbury |first1=Jonathan |last2=Davies |first2=Andrew |date=2022 |title=Regional Economic Development and the Case of Wales: Theory and Practice and Problems of Strategy and Policy |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/national-institute-economic-review/article/regional-economic-development-and-the-case-of-wales-theory-and-practice-and-problems-of-strategy-and-policy/268E13E609428B91C17AF9578A9EEA9C# |journal=National Institute Economic Review |language=en |volume=261 |pages=1–15 |doi=10.1017/nie.2022.26 |issn=0027-9501 |s2cid=255571295}}</ref>