Today the British Irish Council met for the 17th Annual gathering in Dublin today, not that you would know it from the Welsh press or the Welsh Government.
The Guardian had a live blog from the meeting and full details are here
No surprises that it was the ongoing clashes between the UK Government and Alex Salmond over independence that dominated the pre and post summit headlines, but Carwyn Jones apparently told the press conference after the meeting that if Scotland left the UK then a Convention would be needed to stop England dominating Wales and Northern Ireland.
However it’s his pre summit statement that shows his lack of leadership on economic matters yet again he wanted to focus on Youth unemployment, a worthy topic but his statement is more politicking than policy.
“There is no escaping that the economy and youth unemployment are common challenges for all the nations of these islands and this meeting gives us an opportunity to share our experiences of addressing these issues.
“My government sees tackling youth unemployment as one of our major priorities. The levels of unemployment we are seeing amongst young people in Wales are totally unacceptable. That is why we have created employment programmes to support young people to gain valuable work experience; we are increasing the number of Apprentices and investing in skills.
“As part of the global economy Wales is not immune to the turmoil we currently see. The troubles of the Eurozone, combined with the policy direction taken by the UK Government are hitting job creation. The number of people unemployed continues to grow, the jobs we need for our young people are simply not there.
We are not seeing the private sector producing the level of jobs needed to fill the gap created by job losses in the public sector resulting from the UK Government’s decisions on fiscal policy.
“Whitehall’s approach to the European Union is also a concern – I do not want to see the UK isolated when it comes to the economic future of Europe. Being a strong, engaged member of the European Union is vital for Welsh jobs and the continued attraction of investment. '
The Scottish First Minister in contrast was thinking bigger on the economy in its pre summit statement said "Before Christmas, I called for a UK jobs summit led by the finance ministers of the four UK administrations to agree a programme of immediate employment creation. However, this call has not been acted upon.
We will therefore raise with the Deputy Prime Minister at the British-Irish Council the issue of employment and economic growth
"Despite severe cuts from Westminster, we still have higher employment in Scotland compared to the UK. The UK Government needs to embrace a Plan Mac-B approach, based on the Scottish experience of increased public investment to create more jobs and growth, otherwise we will be left trying to mitigate against their flawed economic policy.
"Scotland has also seen a series of positive jobs announcements from major companies in recent months, but more needs to be done, particularly to tackle the scourge of youth unemployment. This is precisely why I appointed the first dedicated Minister for Youth Employment in the UK last month.
"A lot of excellent work has already been done and we are committed to creating 25,000 modern apprenticeship opportunities this year and in each year of this parliament.'
More from RTE News on the Irish perspective of the meeting here here Any source
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