Matthew Lynn Matthew Lynn

Mark Drakeford has declared war on Wales’s economy

Mark Drakeford (photo: Getty)

Infections are rising. Hospitals will be overwhelmed. And very soon the vulnerable will start to die. From today, the Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford is closing down Wales with one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe, shuttering all but essential shops. For the next 17 days, hotels, pubs, restaurants and for a while, schools, will be closed as well. That is meant to fight Covid-19. And yet now the small print is emerging it is increasingly looking like something else is going on in Wales: a war against the economy and the free market.

It would be easy to imagine that the Welsh lockdown is very similar to the national one in April and May. In most ways it is. Just about everything has been closed down, expect for a few shops and services that are completely vital to keep everyone alive as they huddle down at home. But this week we learned the Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford has decided to take it one step further. Apparently not only will ‘non-essential’ shops have to close, but the few that remain open will also be banned from selling ‘non-essential’ items.

Non-essential items are blocked off in a Welsh Tesco
Non-essential items are blocked off in a Welsh Tesco

Want to buy some socks at Tesco? Sorry, not allowed. Aftershave at Boots? Forget it. Or pick up a book, perhaps, while filling up the car with petrol? That isn’t going to be permitted. Apparently, according to Drakeford, he has to create a ‘level-playing field’ so that some shops don’t have any ‘unfair advantage’ during lockdown. ‘We will be making it clear to supermarkets that they are only able to open those parts of their business that provide essential goods to people,’ Drakeford told the Welsh Parliament in Cardiff. What exactly counts as essential and non-essential hasn’t been decided yet – even though Welsh retailers have already reacted with alarm – but no doubt the First Minister will decide in due course.

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Matthew Lynn
Written by
Matthew Lynn
Matthew Lynn is a financial columnist and author of ‘Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis’ and ‘The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031’

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