Treasury minister Andrew Griffith has described Wales as a 'province'

The UK Government's Economic Secretary to the Treasury described Wales as a "province" in a TV interview on Friday morning (29 September).

Andrew Griffith was speaking on Sky News about the introduction of the 20mph speed limit in Wales when he made the comments.

Whilst discussing the controversial speed limit change, the Conservative MP said: "A blanket measure is rarely a good idea.

"If that's like something we've seen in Wales, where vast parts of that province have had arbitrary limits imposed on them, then I don't think that is the right approach."

It comes after earlier in September it was discovered that Wales was described as a "region in England" on the UK Government's website.

A spokesperson for the government apologised for the mistake, which has since been corrected.

Andrew Griffith isn't the first UK government representative to hit out at the speed limit reduction.

The Prime Minister has also weighed in on the Welsh Government's change. Speaking to ITV Wales' Adrian Masters, he described the policy as "an attack on motorists."

Rishi Sunak added "I think imposing a blanket 20 mile-an-hour speed limit on areas is absolutely not right. It doesn't reflect people's priorities.

A Treasury source said that Mr Griffith "misspoke" in the interview.

Adding that the secretary believes "Wales is clearly one of the proud nations making up the United Kingdom."

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