Welsh Politicians Told Not to Say ‘Blanket’
Politicians in the Welsh Parliament were reprimanded for using the word “blanket” during a debate about Wales’s controversial 20 mph speed limit.
The extraordinary exchanges took place in the Senedd on September 30, when members from the Conservatives, Reform UK, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party described the default speed restriction as a “blanket policy.”
Presiding Officer Huw Irranca-Davies intervened, reminding politicians that the Senedd had previously ruled the description inaccurate.
“Can I just remind you that there was a ruling in the previous Senedd—a very clear ruling—on the use of the word ‘blanket’ in terms of this debate,” he said.
Conservative member Janet Finch-Saunders was among those corrected after referring to the “20mph default, blanket” restriction.
When Finch-Saunders pointed out that she had used both words, the chamber erupted in laughter.
The presiding officer replied that the standards commissioner and others had ruled the word inappropriate in the context of the debate.
Finch-Saunders even apologised for using it.
The dispute dates back to 2024, when the Senedd’s standards committee concluded that describing the Welsh Government’s default 20 mph speed limit as a blanket restriction was imprecise and inaccurate.
But it kinda is a blanket speed limit. Wales introduced a default ie BLANKET 20 mph speed limit on restricted residential and built-up roads in 2024.
Finch-Saunders said that the Welsh Government’s 2022 impact assessment estimated direct financial costs of around “£33 million and a central net economic disbenefit of £4.54 billion over the years.”
But Plaid Cymru Gwyn Williams said there’s “been a 22.5 per cent fall in collisions after the 20 mph limit was introduced in September 2023.”
Even the Greens said the word.
“When some people say that a 20 mph blanket ban—. Sorry. I do apologise. It’s in my notes. I didn’t mean to say it. It’s really hard when I didn’t realise,” said the Green Party’s Paul Rock.
“When some people say it infringes their freedom, they are ignoring the freedom of those people,” he said.
What about the freedom to say blanket?