当我坐在自该党赢得威尔士选举并开始执掌威尔士政府以来举行的首届普莱德·西穆鲁党大会上时，听到了许多前所未闻的言论。我参加过很多次该党的大会，但从未听到过有人对英国工党领袖给予如此积极的评价。不过这一点毋庸置疑：这个威尔士民族主义政党认为安迪·伯纳姆是一位值得合作的对象。
As I sat in the first Plaid Cymru conference since the party won the Welsh election and started leading the Welsh government, I heard things I had never heard before. I have been to a lot of Plaid conferences and not once have I heard people being really positive about a UK Labour leader. But there was no mistaking it: the Welsh nationalist party feels that Andy Burnham is a man it can work with.
在采访威尔士首席部长鲁恩·阿普·伊奥尔韦思时，他表示自己满怀希望——这种希望在基尔·斯塔默执政时期从未有过——他相信这位首相真心愿意在赋予威尔士更多权力方面做出实质性让步。
When I interviewed Welsh first minister Rhun ap Iorwerth, he indicated he was hopeful – in a way he never was under Keir Starmer – that there was a prime minister who had a genuine desire to give Wales meaningful concessions when it comes to additional powers.
在兰德德诺的演讲中，这位首席部长称，首相“直视我的眼睛，承诺不会绕过威尔士议会行事”。他还说已致信伯纳姆，正式提出“为威尔士制定一项新协议”的请求。
In his speech in Llandudno, the first minister said that the prime minister had “looked me in the eyes and promised he would not [bypass the Senedd]”. He said he had written to Burnham with a “formal ask” for “a new deal for Wales”.
威尔士政府向英国政府提出了五项诉求：警务与司法权、铁路基础设施管理权、对王室地产的控制权、“财政公平”以及福利事务管理权。这清单看起来相当冗长，对吧？其实用五个字就能概括：“把苏格兰有的给我们。”苏格兰拥有对王室地产的控制权，能获得更优厚的财政拨款（通过巴尼特公式获得更多资金），铁路事务也已下放管理权；此外，苏格兰政府还掌控着警务与司法事务，对福利支出也拥有部分控制权。
There were five demands from the Welsh government to Westminster: powers over policing and justice, powers over rail infrastructure, control over the crown estate, “fiscal fairness” and control of welfare. Seems like a pretty long shopping list, right? Well, it can actually be summarised in just five words: “Give us what Scotland has.”The Scots have control of the crown estate, a better funding settlement, with more money through the Barnett formula, heavy rail is devolved, and the Scottish government controls policing and justice, as well as having partial control of welfare spending.
从这个角度看，威尔士政府的要求其实并非无先例可循。英国政府只需看看北方就能找到范例。
When you look at it from that perspective, it’s not as if the Welsh government is asking for something unprecedented. The UK government only has to look north to see the precedent.
即便不是威尔士民族主义者，也会觉得不公平：威尔士政府可用来切实应对各种挑战的手段，远少于苏格兰政府。威尔士的借贷能力甚至还不如一个地方议会；身为大曼彻斯特市长时，伯纳姆对当地警务工作的掌控权，也比现任威尔士首席部长要多。
You don’t have to be a Welsh nationalist to think it’s unfair that Wales’s government is equipped with fewer tools than its Scottish counterparts to meaningfully tackle Wales’s challenges. Wales has less borrowing capacity than a local council and, as mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham had more power over policing in his area than the first minister of Wales does.
如今种种条件正趋于成熟，有助于威尔士获得与苏格兰相近的权力。倘若伯纳姆遵循自己提出的权力下放原则——即决策权应尽可能交到受其影响的民众手中——他又如何能辩解说英格兰的某个地区能获得比一个独立国家更多的自治权呢？
The stars are aligning for Wales to get more parity with Scotland. If Burnham follows his own devolution logic – that decisions should be taken closer to the people they impact –then how could he defend a region of England getting more autonomy than a nation?
虽然威尔士民族党内部人士坚信伯纳姆真心愿意赋予威尔士更多权力，但他们也切实担忧：英国工党和公务员体系中那些对权力下放持怀疑态度的人，会阻碍相关努力。这种担忧并非毫无根据：斯塔默的一份泄露备忘录显示，他曾告诫内阁成员切勿对地方自治政府“过分迁就”。2025年12月，11名工党籍的威尔士议会议员致信时任首相，指责他试图“削弱”权力下放机制。
Though figures within Plaid clearly believe that Burnham is genuinely open to giving Wales more powers, they have real concerns that the more devo-sceptic figures within both the UK Labour party and the civil service will hinder their attempts. These fears are not unfounded. A leaked memo from Starmer revealed that he warned his cabinet against being “overly deferential” to devolved governments. In December 2025, 11 Labour Senedd members wrote to the then PM accusing him of “rolling back” devolution.
这种担忧也催生了阿普·伊奥尔韦思演讲中的一句妙语：如果伯纳姆不肯给予威尔士更多权力，“威尔士人将再次明白，威斯敏斯特永远不会把我们的利益放在心上；届时无论唐宁街10号住的是埃弗顿球迷还是伊顿公学校友，都无关紧要。”眼下媒体都在热议“伯纳姆效应”，但我认为大家忽略了一点：工党在威尔士的声望已彻底崩塌。今年5月威尔士议会选举前，威尔士工党堪称史上最成功的民主政党——自1922年起，在历次英国大选及威尔士议会选举中，它始终都是威尔士得票最多的政党。
This fear led to one of the better lines in ap Iorwerth’s speech, where he said that if Burnham fails to give Cymru concessions: “Wales will know again that our best interests will never be served by Westminster, and that it matters little whether who lives in No 10 Downing Street is an Evertonian or an Old Etonian.”With all the talk of “the Burnham bounce”, one thing that I think is being missed in the wider media is the total collapse of Labour’s status in Wales. Before the Senedd election in May, Welsh Labour was the most successful democratic party in history, having been the largest party in Wales at every general and Senedd election since 1922.
当工党在英格兰和苏格兰与由戴维·卡梅伦和鲍里斯·约翰逊领导的保守党激烈角逐时，威尔士工党却接连赢得选举。然而如今，工党在威尔士的霸主地位已不复存在。在拥有96个席位的威尔士议会中，工党如今仅占据9个席位。
When Labour was struggling in England and Scotland against the Tories, led by both David Cameron and Boris Johnson, Welsh Labour was winning election after election. But now Labour’s dominance in Wales is over. In a 96-seat Welsh parliament, Labour now has just nine seats.
在利物浦举行的工党大会上，无论是威尔士地区的党员还是英国其他地区的党员，给我的印象是他们正面临着截然不同的发展轨迹。英国其他地区的工党成员满怀希望、乐观与兴奋之情，期待着未来的发展——这场大会宛如一场订婚派对，庆祝工党与“新伙伴”的结合。
At Labour conference in Liverpool, speaking to people on both the Welsh and UK sides of the party, it was clear to me that they were facing very different trajectories. UK Labour members were full of hope, optimism and excitement for what is to come: the conference was like an engagement party, to celebrate a union with their new partner.
相比之下，威尔士工党成员刚刚与这个“相伴27年的伙伴”分手，对这场“离婚”痛苦不堪。他们也出席了这场订婚派对，强忍悲伤、故作镇定，手里捧着一罐烈性啤酒，心里却在盘算着如何凑钱布置自己那套只有一间卧室的新公寓。
Meanwhile, Welsh Labour members had just broken up with their partner of 27 years and were totally cut up about the divorce. They were at the engagement party, trying to keep a stiff upper lip while nursing a can of strong lager and wondering how they were going to afford to furnish their new one-bed flat.
眼下对威尔士工党而言，正是出现身份认同危机的糟糕时刻。威尔士党向伯纳姆提出的各项诉求，其实都是威尔士工党长期以来的政策主张。长期以来，威尔士工党与地方权力下放几乎就是同义词，但如今情况已大不相同。新任威尔士工党领袖肯·斯凯茨甚至公开批评威尔士党推行那些工党此前一直倡导的扩大地方权力政策。
But this is a very bad time for Welsh Labour to have an identity crisis. All of the demands made by Plaid to Burnham are longstanding Welsh Labour policies. For so long, Welsh Labour and devolution were synonymous with each other, but now the mood music is very different. Welsh Labour’s new leader, Ken Skates, has actively criticised Plaid for pursuing the very policies Labour previously sought around more devolution.
如今，威尔士民众有机会获得更多直接手段来提升自身的生活水平，但要做到这一点，就需要所有议员都能认识到地方权力下放的价值，并团结一致为之奋斗，无论他们属于哪个政党。
There is a chance for the people of Wales to get more direct tools to improve their own prosperity, but to do so they need all their representatives to understand the value of devolution and be united in their fight for it, regardless of the party they represent.
威尔·海沃德是《卫报》专栏作家，他定期撰写有关威尔士政治的通讯。
Will Hayward is a Guardian columnist. He publishes a regular newsletter on Welsh politics