Voting against the Welsh Government’s budget yesterday, Welsh Conservative Leader and Clwyd West MS Darren Millar said that the people of Wales are not getting value for money.
He said money is being frittered away and that the budget will not change anything.
Speaking in the Senedd Chamber, he said:
“The Welsh Labour Government is failing the people of Wales, whether it's on the health service, with the appalling situation whereby over 20,000 people are still waiting more than two years plus for their treatment, compared to just fewer than 150 over the border in England, or whether it's on the economy, where people take home those lighter pay packets and pay the worst business rates in Britain, or whether it's on the situation in our schools where our young people are not getting the quality of education they deserve. Wales is being let down.
“These things have to change, and they're not going to change by what we've seen announced in today's budget.
“Our money is being frittered away. We know that hundreds of millions of pounds have been frittered away and burnt through on a loss-making, nationalised airport that should never have been nationalised in the first place; we have a nationalised Transport for Wales train company, one of the worst performing rail companies in the whole of the United Kingdom, losing hundreds of millions of pounds each and every year; and £32 million spent on a nationwide default 20 mph speed limit that hundreds of thousands of people opposed.”
He added:
“What we are seeing in this budget is more of the same. More of Labour taxing, spending, and frittering away our hard-earned cash. People paying more, and getting less. Smoke and mirrors. Hundreds of millions coming in, and hundreds of millions going back down the M4 in national insurance contributions.”
Darren stressed that Welsh Conservatives would introduce a Welsh winter fuel allowance to support pensioners, scrap business rates for small businesses, support high streets and invest in them, boost the tourism industry; by scrapping the tourism tax, and get rid of the “ridiculous 20 mph default speeds”.
“We'd scrap some of those ridiculous things that you're spending money on: more bureaucrats; all of the Senedd reform costs; the heat and light that you're paying for in Welsh Government buildings that are practically empty across the country; you're so-called justice policy, which isn't even devolved; millions on overseas offices; a basic income scheme, giving £19,000 a year to people even if they're sat on their backsides doing absolutely nothing; and unions getting millions.
“Is any of that going to fix the Welsh unemployment rate? Is any of that going to fix our schools? Is any of that going to deliver the improved services we need to see in our hospitals? Not one iota, and that's why we will be voting against this budget, and I hope everybody else does too.”
Watch Darren’s contribution in the Welsh Parliament below:
