Welsh Lib Dem conference: Welsh independence '10 times more painful than Brexit'
- Published
Independence marches attracted large crowds prior to the pandemic
Welsh independence would be ten times more painful than Brexit, the Welsh Liberal Democrat's leader has said.
Jane Dodds said it would be more complex and cause damage for generations.
Addressing a virtual party conference, she said Wales should be "strong, equal and confident in a federal United Kingdom".
In the same speech she said it would be "foolish" to focus on anything other than the recovery from Covid.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats currently have one Senedd member, Education Minister Kirsty Williams, who will not be standing at the 6 May Senedd elections.
Campaigning for independence has grown in recent years, while Plaid Cymru has made it a key part of the party's platform.
"Some say we should go it alone and cut ourselves away from the United Kingdom," Ms Dodds told the conference.
"But believe me, that would be 10 times more complex and 10 times more painful than Brexit.
"It would damage not just the next generation but generations after that."
She backed "a strong, equal and confident Wales inside a strong, equal and confident federal United Kingdom".
Ms Dodds said that her party would be "putting Wales recovery first".
"Anything else than securing our recovery from Covid and the havoc it has rained on every aspect of our lives would be foolish".
Jane Dodds has been the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats since 2017
'Vision' for basic income
She said council tax and business rates must be replaced with a "a fairer, more progressive taxation system to help individuals and small business owners".
Ms Dodds said her party must "be bold" in tackling poverty, backing a "universal basic income" to "create that income floor when nobody will go without food".
Under the idea, every person in the country would get a cash payment at regular intervals, without any requirement to work or qualify for it.
The Welsh Lib Dem leader said the UK's new trade arrangements with the EU are showing "signs of concern".
"We cannot be scared of saying we want to rejoin the European Union when the time is right," she said.
"Meanwhile, to save businesses and jobs under threat right here and now, due to the trade barriers our government has created, the UK must rejoin the European single market and the customs union to enable the free flow of people and goods between Britain, Ireland and the European Union."
Ed Davey said his party cannot allow the Senedd to be left "without a liberal voice"
UK Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey told conference the Welsh Parliament is growing in confidence "but the same forces that brought us Brexit are working to reverse the decades of progress that devolution has delivered for Wales
"We cannot allow the next Senedd to operate without a liberal voice," he said.
"Now more than ever we must ensure there is a strong team of Lib Dems to deliver for Wales and to stand up for devolution in the face of the Brexit and abolish parties."
He said the UK government's budget "threatens to cut off the recovery before it's even got started", letting down "small businesses and self employed, allowing far too many people to fall through the cracks".
"We just won't recover properly, unless we back the small businesses that are so crucial in every community", he added.
'A party not a pressure group'
Kirsty Williams also gave her last conference speech as a member of the Senedd, telling the party that party members cannot "just talk to ourselves".
"We have to represent the whole country, not just some of the country," she said.
"We are a political party and not a pressure group. We don't exist, merely to put forward ideas. We exist to act on them."
She added: "If we want to help people get on and build a fairer greener, more caring future, then we have got to win."
Ms Williams was given a lifetime achievement award by the party at the close of proceedings on Saturday.
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