前工党首席部长马克·德雷克福德表示，现在是时候考虑取消英国政府的威尔士办公室了。
Former Labour First Minister Mark Drakeford has said it is time to consider scrapping the UK government's Wales Office.
德雷克福德说：“时候到了”，应该考虑废除该部门，该部门在1999年分权开始时基本被剥夺了职能。
Drakeford said "the time has come" to think about abolishing the department, which was largely stripped of its powers when devolution began in 1999.
在S4C的《Y Byd yn ei Le》节目中，当被问及他是否愿意取消威尔士办公室时，德雷克福德说：“是的，我认为现在是时候让我们考虑这个问题了。”但工党议员鲁思·琼斯称这一建议为“愚蠢”，并认为威尔士大臣斯蒂芬·基诺克正在“为威尔士争取利益”。
Asked on S4C's Y Byd yn ei Le if he would be happy to get rid of the Wales Office, Drakeford said: "Yes, I think the time has come for us to think about that." But Labour MP Ruth Jones described the suggestion as "foolish", arguing Welsh Secretary Stephen Kinnock was "fighting the corner for Wales".
自分权以来，威尔士办公室的命运一直是定期猜测的焦点，历届英国政府都在考虑其职能是否可以并入一个部门，同时也负责苏格兰和北爱尔兰的事务。
The future of the Wales Office has been the subject of regular speculation since devolution, with successive UK governments considering whether its functions could be folded into a single department, also covering Scotland and Northern Ireland.
今年早些时候，时任首席部长埃卢恩·摩根表示，威尔士大臣仍然“有作用”，但认为该职位应成为“在内阁桌上的威尔士之声”，而不是“英国政府在威尔士的声音”。
Earlier this year, then-First Minister Eluned Morgan said there remained "a role" for the Welsh secretary, but argued the post should be "the voice of Wales at the cabinet table" rather than "the UK government's voice in Wales".
在之前的英国工党政府时期，彼得·海因在2005年至2007年间兼任威尔士和北爱尔兰的内阁职责。“当然，[前工党首相]托尼·布莱尔也曾这样考虑过。”
Under a previous UK Labour government, Peter Hain combined cabinet responsibility for Wales and Northern Ireland between 2005 and 2007. "Of course, [former Labour prime minister] Tony Blair thought of this too.
“这一直是威斯敏斯特讨论的一部分，不仅是现在，而且已经超过十年了。”威尔士大臣，或称威尔士事务国务大臣，这一职位由哈罗德·威尔逊领导的工党政府于1964年10月设立，威尔士办公室随后于次年四月开放。
"This has been part of discussions in Westminster not only now but for more than a decade." The post of Welsh secretary, or secretary of state for Wales, was created by Harold Wilson's Labour government in October 1964, with the Welsh Office opening the following April.
1999年，威尔士办公室在健康、教育、环境、农业和交通等领域的职权被移交给了威尔士议会，即现在的塞内德，而英国政府部门剩余的部分被更名为威尔士办公室。
In 1999 the Welsh Office's powers over areas including health, education, environment, agriculture and transport were taken over by the Welsh Assembly, now known as the Senedd, and what remained of the UK government department was given the title of Wales Office.
在周五接受BBC威尔士广播《早餐节目》采访时，鲁思·琼斯驳回了废除威尔士办公室的想法。
Interviewed on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast on Friday, Ruth Jones dismissed the idea of abolishing it.
我对马克·德雷克福德有极大的尊重，但说实话，他现在已经退休了，因此，让那些被选出来干活的政治家们去干活吧，”她说。
"I've got tremendous respect for Mark Drakeford but, let's be honest, he's now retired and, therefore, let the politicians who are elected to get on with the job get on with the job," she said.
“就威尔士办公室而言，实际上坐在[英国]内阁桌上的唯一威尔士人就是威尔士事务大臣，他在那里为威尔士的利益而战。“所以我认为解散那里将是愚蠢的。”
"In terms of the Wales Office, the only person from Wales actually at the [UK] cabinet table is the secretary of state for Wales, and he is there fighting the corner for Wales. "So I would say to disband that would be foolish."