Mark Drakeford defends 20mph law before stepping down
- Published
Mark Drakeford said he had spent his time as first minister making "difficult and challenging" decisions
First Minister Mark Drakeford has defended Wales' 20mph speed limit days before he steps down.
Mr Drakeford said he was surprised by the level of opposition and anger the new limit provoked.
However, he said he has chosen to tackle "difficult and challenging" issues, not spend his time "sitting back and doing the easy things".
On Saturday, either Jeremy Miles or Vaughan Gething will be announced as Mr Drakeford's successor.
He was speaking to Radio Wales Breakfast, as part of a series of interviews reflecting on his five years leading the Welsh government.
"I'm very proud of the 20 mile an hour policy, it will save people's lives... particularly save the lives of children," he said.
On Saturday, either Economy Minister Vaughan Gething or Education Minister Jeremy Miles will be announced as Mr Drakeford's successor
Mr Drakeford said while the opposition to the 20mph law did surprise him, that all attempts to reform the way that people drive in the UK "have always been hugely controversial".
He said the choice you have to make when you first become first minister is a "simple" one.
"You can either just spend your time sitting back and doing the easy things, and hanging on to the political capital that you've accumulated, or you can do the difficult things, the challenging things," he said.
Mr Drakeford added that he had focused on some areas that "inevitably make people feel uncomfortable, because you're asking them to change the way that they live their lives".
Doing some of "those things that are challenging", he argued, "will pay dividends in the lives of people who come after us".
Mr Drakeford said the decisions Wales made during Covid were all "reasonable"
The first minister, who was questioned at the Covid inquiry on Wednesday, said he believed that whether he got things right or wrong while handling that crisis was not the "exam question here".
"I think it's impossible to answer," he said.
"What I was trying to do was not to justify, but to explain why we made the decisions that we did... and I think the test is - were they reasonable, not were they right," he said
"I'm absolutely open to the fact that other reasonable people could have come to different decisions, but what I was trying to explain was the state of knowledge at the time.
"The decisions that we made in Wales were reasonable decisions and I think that's the real test."
Mark Drakeford became emotional at the Covid Inquiry as he described not seeing his 90-year-old mother during lockdown
On how he might spend his days as an ex-first minister, Mr Drakeford said he looked forward to having more time available to think and take part in debates on matters he is passionate about.
"Time is something you don't have as first minister... if there's anything I think a first minister needs it's more time to do thinking, rather than constantly acting," he said.
"I'll have more time to think about and to make a contribution to some of those debates that are the most important to me - and where I still do hope to have a contribution."
He added that he never looks at what people say about him "in the dark world of social media" because he "probably wouldn't get out of bed" if he did.
"You rely on the fact that the real world is actually a lot kinder," he said.
He said that, when leaving his house to go to the Covid inquiry on Wednesday, there was "a man with a pushchair taking his daughter to nursery and, as he passes by, he says to me 'good luck in the inquiry today'.
"As I'm coming out of the inquiry... one of the families that we talked about earlier, the bereaved families, this lady says to me 'thank you for everything you've done for Wales'.
Becoming emotional, Mr Drakeford added: "As I get out of the car, at the end of the day, to go back into my house, there's a young person, in his teens I think, coming past me, and he says to me, 'I think you did really well today'.
"There are many other people out there who don't take that view at all. But there are very kind people in Wales so, if you do my job, you meet an awful lot of them and that really does help to keep you going."
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