Support our Nation today - please donate here
News

Conservative MP accuses Welsh Government of focusing funding on Labour supporting areas

11 Jan 2022 4 minute read
Fay Jones MP. Picture by Fay Jones/Twitter.

A Conservative MP has accused the Welsh Government of focusing their funding on Labour-supporting parts of Wales.

Brecon and Radnorshire MP Fay Jones said that investment had been directed at cities and valleys in the south-west of the country.

Speaking in the House of Commons, she said that her rural constituency in mid-Wales had almost no public transport, schools were closing, broadband was slow and council tax was higher because money had been spent elsewhere.

“The cost of living is hitting hard in Brecon and Radnorshire, but that is on top of other pressures that are ignored by the Labour Government in Cardiff,” she said.

“We have next to no public transport, so we are forced to drive everywhere in cars powered by ever more expensive fuel.

“Our broadband is slow on a good day, because funding is targeted at densely populated and, curiously, Labour-voting areas.

“Our schools have to close and our council tax is higher because our local authority has been given one of the lowest budget allocations in Wales for the last 10 years.

“If only we could have the level of investment and support that has been directed at the cities and the south Wales valleys, household bills in rural areas such as Brecon and Radnorshire would be lower.”

She was responding to a Labour motion calling on the UK Government to cut the rate of VAT for household energy bills as soon as possible. Rejecting the motion, she said that it was “designed to do nothing more than construct a misleading trope for social media”.

The Welsh Government published its provisional local government settlement for 2022-23 last month, in which Powys, which includes Brecon and Radnorshire, was given a 9.5% funding rise. The average was 9.4%, with Monmouthshire receiving a 11.2% rise and Blaenau Gwent receiving the lowest at 8.4%.

In 2021-22, Powys received a 4.0% compared to an average of 3.8%. Neighbouring Ceredigion received the lowest at 2.0% and Newport the highest at 5.6%.

‘Decent’

Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney MP Gerald Jones spoke in favour of the motion to cut VAT for household energy bills, saying that families in his constituency “face a bleak start to the new year”.

“The Welsh Labour Government have already announced a £38 million winter fuel support scheme that directly supports families to cover their energy costs and keep their homes warm this winter,” he said.

“That demonstrates the Welsh Government’s willingness to offer support to those most in need. The Welsh Government never shied away from trying to support families through the crisis. We now need the UK Government, with all their financial clout, to step up to the plate and deliver for those who need it most at this most difficult time.

“I urge all Members, particularly those on the Conservative Benches, to do the decent thing and support the Opposition motion.”

Arfon MP said that it was a “plain fact” that energy prices would rise enormously.

“The question is, of course, what we do about that and about the long-term cost of living crisis, which predates the pandemic, and particularly child poverty, which has been tragically high and indeed endemic in Wales for decades, since the deliberate destruction of our heavy industry for political reasons over 40 years ago and the neglect of manufacturing, all leading to chronic, deep poverty.

He added that the £20 cut in Universal Credit had ” pushed 275,000 Welsh families even further into poverty”.

“The Government say that work is the answer to poverty. Forty per cent. of Welsh households claiming universal credit are already in work, and many are key workers, so the £20 uplift should be reinstated and extended to those on legacy benefits,” he said.


Support our Nation today

For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
12 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Andrew
Andrew
2 years ago

Hey Fay.come see what your party has done to your neighbour’s in Merthyr Rhondda and Gwent. You are a greasy pole politician who cares only about your own future and nothing for the people who you claim to represent.Brecon / Powys is already becoming a second home destination for the urban flight set, so don’t pretend you are concerned about the real locals who make the communities living breathing places where local people can thrive. Jog on Fay, you are just another Welsh person who has sold out and hopefully,your political career will be short lived.

Mark
Mark
2 years ago

this is the same person that recommended that B&R shouldn’t be included in any lockdowns because we had such low numbers of infection,

Andrew
Andrew
2 years ago
Reply to  Mark

Yes. She is a disgrace to her country. Welsh Tories… Let’s make them an endangered species and place them in a glass case in the British / see England. Musium of History.

Steve Duggan
Steve Duggan
2 years ago

The Tories are trying their hardest these days aren’t they, attacks left right and centre.. However, it will do them no good, centuries of neglect, primary by them, is coming to an end with the breakup of the UK.

Kerry Davies
Kerry Davies
2 years ago

Oh dear, ignorance can get people like her into terrible trouble. Powys has appalling wages but it always has. No industry, farm wages etc. Household incomes however are among the 3 or 4 highest in Wales due to the large numbers of English pensioner immigrants.
If Fay insists on a levelling up it is those Tory voting English in B&R who will lose out. They are going to be even more upset as their heating bills soar and Sunak banks a £1billion bonus take from VAT.

Y Cymro
Y Cymro
2 years ago

More of the same “Wales” Tory treachery, I see. Lets overlook her & their favouritism towards Tory constituencies in Wales while condoning billions spent in England to the detriment of Wales.

Last edited 2 years ago by Y Cymro
Mr Williams
Mr Williams
2 years ago

‘……..focusing their funding on Labour-supporting parts of Wales’.

I.e. most of the population of Wales.

I invite the Tories to try it too!

Grayham Jones
2 years ago

Kick all English party’s out of wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 stop being little Englanders and be proud to be welsh it’s time for a new wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Prys Lewis
Prys Lewis
2 years ago

Accuse your opponents of precisely what you are guilty.
“Misdirection & Misinformation 101”!😐

Gary H
Gary H
2 years ago

Well said Kay. Your party would never do the same thing in England…. would they? Any chance the pathetic MP will lose out when Wales is gerrymandered into having fewer MPs?

Gary H
Gary H
2 years ago

Oo, sorry Fay. You’re forgettable I forgot your name!!!

Nige
Nige
2 years ago

Tories are lying, corrupt low lives. Shame on them all! The Johnson Government should not be in power, they should be in prison.

Our Supporters

All information provided to Nation.Cymru will be handled sensitively and within the boundaries of the Data Protection Act 2018.