SAM ROWLANDS, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, says Labour is continuing to fail Wales.
Speaking in the budget debate in the Senedd, Mr Rowlands, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance said: “Let’s see what the results of the last 26 years of Labour budgets look like: Wales by far has the longest NHS waiting lists in the United Kingdom and the worst educational outcomes, stunting the futures of our children and young people, despite the Welsh Government receiving £1.20 in funding for every £1 spent on these services in England.
“Not only that, but people in Wales have the lightest pay packets in the UK and businesses are slammed with the highest business rates in Britain. It’s not a pretty picture.
“We were desperate to see a budget that sought to fix Wales instead of ploughing on with the same old failed orthodoxy. Instead of tackling the big issues, they’ve increased the bureaucracy budget by a third in two years.
“They want to channel funding towards 36 more politicians in this place, and rather than putting forward and funding a Welsh winter fuel allowance, which they argue is outside of their remit, they spend millions and millions of pounds on international relations, which have nothing to do with the Welsh Government’s remit.
“We will stand up for Welsh pensioners by backing the implementation of a fully costed Welsh winter fuel allowance, which was slashed by the UK Labour Government, meaning 400,000 Welsh pensioner households will be going without the allowance thanks to London Labour.
“Let’s not forget that Cardiff Labour have refused to stand up for Wales and rolled over when Starmer and Reeves chose to impoverish older people here in Wales.
“We would deliver a fairer funding formula for our local authorities, which delivers for all of Wales and puts more money in people’s pockets, so they can choose to spend their money on the things that matter to them.
“We’d unleash our economy and abolish business rates for small businesses, who currently labour under the highest rates in Britain, and we’d work hard to tackle waste and misspending by dealing with things like the £250 million spent on NHS agency fees, which is far too high—a result of the lack of long-term healthcare planning from this tired Labour Welsh Government.
“This budget won’t fix Wales. Wales needs change, and the Welsh Conservatives are the only party who can offer a real positive alternative to the past quarter century of a failed Labour Government.”
