Leader of the Welsh Conservatives and Clwyd MS Darren Millar voted against the Welsh Government's Supplementary Budget this week for failing to address the most pressing challenges facing public services and households across Wales.
Speaking during the Senedd debate on the budget, Darren also criticised the Welsh Government for failing to secure the cross-party support needed to pass its budget proposals, despite governing in a Senedd where no single party commands a majority.
He said:
"The political reality is this: the arithmetic in this Senedd means that Welsh Government budgets and Welsh Government legislation cannot be agreed without cross-party agreement. You have to secure a majority of the votes cast. That agreement has not been secured, and it's bonkers to bring something to the Senedd for a vote without securing it."
Darren argued that the Supplementary Budget merely maintains the priorities of the original budget agreed earlier this year, rather than responding to changing pressures.
He said:
"Budgets are about priorities, they're about choices, and I'm afraid that this supplementary budget gets those things wrong. As the Cabinet Minister herself said, this budget honours the previous Welsh budget to the decimal point. That's why we disagree with it, because we disagreed with the previous Welsh Labour Government's budget as well, for the same fundamental reasons that we disagree with this one.""
Darren was particularly critical that the budget proposals contained no additional allocation for Additional Learning Needs (ALN), and that the NHS funding remained insufficient to meet rising demand.
He said:
"We all know that you've got over £400 million to spend, £327 million-worth of that is due to additional learning needs spend in England, yet not a single penny in your supplementary budget was being allocated to that spending line today. And I know there's been some discussion between you and the Labour Party, but not a single penny in your original supplementary budget proposals was being allocated to additional learning needs.
"I really do think that's appalling, especially when all of us in this Chamber, especially those who've been here for a long time, know full well the pressures that those schools are facing, know full well the pressures that parents are facing not getting the support for their children. It's not good enough, and we need to shift the dial."
With regards the NHS, he added:
"Patients need the dial shifting too, and we need some honesty from the Minister about the funding for the NHS. You've talked about the additional resources that are available for health in the supplementary budget, but the reality of this budget before us today is that the NHS budget is still being cut in real terms. That is shameful.
"You're cutting the NHS budget at a time when demand is rising and pressures are growing when compared to the previous financial year."
Darren was also critical of the fact that the supplementary budget made no provision for helping people with the rising cost of living.
He said:
"Where's the action to help people keep their council tax bills down, which have been spiralling out of control year in, year out? Where's the support for businesses in Wales, who are struggling with those sharp increases in their business rates? Where's the support for pubs? Where's the support for our high streets? Where's the extra finance for our hospice and palliative sector, which is crying out for sustainable funding? And where's the support for our farming industry as well?"
The Senedd voted against the Welsh Government's First Supplementary Budget for 2026-2027.
Watch Darren’s contribution in the Welsh Parliament below:
