CARMARTHEN EAST and Dinefwr MP, Jonathan Edwards has accused the UK Prime Minister of being the ‘modern day equivalent of Lord Cardigan’ who led the so-called ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’.
Lord Cardigan led a charge of the British light cavalry against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava in October 1854 in the Crimean War. The Light Brigade was sent to prevent the Russians removing captured guns from overrun Turkish positions – a task well-suited to light cavalry – but due to miscommunication in the chain of command, was instead met by a different artillery battery, one well-prepared with superior fields of defensive fire. The Brigade was forced to retreat immediately, with no decisive gains.
Plaid Cymru MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, Jonathan Edwards, asked during Prime Minister’s Questions: “Last week her Government confirmed that there has been no assessment of the economic impact of the failure to strike a trade deal with the EU before Brexit. Mr Speaker, is it not the case that in triggering Article 50 next week, she is the modern day equivalent of Lord Cardigan, the military commander responsible for the Charge of the Light Brigade? And we all know how that ended.”
Commenting, Mr Edwards said: “The UK Government has admitted that it has made no assessment of the economic impact of leaving the EU without a deal, risking people’s livelihoods in the name of winning votes from the ultra-right wing minority. She seems willing to charge the British State off a cliff, blinded by her Union Jack blindfold, and put the jobs and wages of my constituents and the rest of the country at risk.
“The Prime Minister’s reckless approach to Brexit will probably go down in history as the most devastating act of negligence since the Crimean Board of Inquiry laid bare the same lethal cocktail of vanity and incompetence that we came to know as the ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’.
“Brexit doesn’t have to be this extreme. The Prime Minister could take a sensible approach and protect the valuable economic links between the British Isles and the EU. She could, at the very least, commit to maintaining the British State’s membership of the Single Market and Customs Union for a transitional period.
“There is a different way – a sensible and reasonable way to make this important transition and even if the so-called official opposition won’t make this case, Plaid Cymru certainly will.”
Add Comment