What’s behind Leo Varadkar's shock resignation?
This Is Why
Sky News
4.0 • 552 Ratings
🗓️ 20 March 2024
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson is joined by Ireland correspondent Stephen Murphy to look at Varadkar's legacy as both the youngest and openly gay Taoiseach.
Plus, in Wales, history has also been made as Vaughan Gething was sworn in as first minister - the first black leader of a European country. He narrowly won the Welsh Labour leadership election against Jeremy Miles, with 51.7% of the vote.
Questions over some of his campaign donations from a company run by a man twice convicted for environmental offences, and Conservative criticism over Welsh Labour's budget spending, give Gething plenty to defend and tackle in his first weeks in office.
Niall explores what's in the new Welsh first minister's in-tray with Tomos Evans, our Wales reporter. Richard Wyn Jones, director of the Wales Governance Centre and dean of public affairs at Cardiff University, also talks about Mr Gething.
Producer: Rosie Gillott
Assistant producer: Iona Brunker
Interviews producer: Melissa Tutesigensi-Charles
Editor: Wendy Parker
Transcript
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| 0:56.7 | legacy to find out how. I'm Neil Patterson. Welcome to the Sky News Daily, where we have major |
| 1:04.0 | breaking news on two fronts today. A little later, we'll talk about Wales new first |
| 1:08.6 | minister, Vaughn Geithing. But we begin in the Republic of Ireland, where the Taoiseach, the Irish Prime Minister, |
| 1:14.8 | Leo Varadkar, has sent shockwaves through Irish and European politics |
| 1:18.4 | by announcing his resignation. |
| 1:20.9 | When I became party leader and Taoiseach back in June 2017, |
| 1:25.7 | I knew that one part of leadership is knowing when the time has come to pass on |
| 1:30.2 | the baton to somebody else and then having the courage to do it. That time is now. |
| 1:37.2 | Politicians are human beings and we have our limitations. We give it everything until we can't |
| 1:42.7 | anymore and then we have to move on. I know inevitably there'll be speculation |
| 1:47.0 | as to the quote-unquote real reason for my decision |
| 1:50.4 | these are the real reasons. So why resign? Why do it now? |
| 1:55.8 | And who will replace the two-time Prime Minister of Ireland? |
| 1:59.4 | Well let's speak to our Ireland correspondent Stephen Murphy joining us on the line. From outside, that government building in Dublin, where the announcement was made, Stephen, great to see you. Look, you know me, I always pride myself on knowing the news before it happened. This one took me by surprise. I suspect you too. No, we all knew it was coming. No, am I joking. |
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