Eluned Morgan warns of cuts to services in Wales within hours of being elected First Minister
Emily Price
Eluned Morgan has admitted that some Welsh Government services will have to be “de-prioritised” following her election as First Minister.
Baroness Morgan was appointed to the top job after a vote in the Senedd on Tuesday (August 6).
The former health minister replaces Vaughan Gething who was forced to resign after four members of his cabinet quit in protest against his leadership last month.
Welsh Labour spent the 118 days of his short tenure in turmoil with rows about donations to his leadership campaign from a convicted criminal and the sacking of a junior minister.
Baroness Morgan will embark on her new journey leading the Welsh Government alongside deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies – a former member of Mr Gething’s cabinet.
She says she’s now started a listening tour of Wales, speaking to people in their communities, to hear what they want focused on.
But she added that some other areas would have to pick up the slack.
The “listening” message was well used by her predecessor who spent his short time in office u-turning on several of Mark Drakeford’s policies including the 20mph default speed limit and the controversial Sustainable Farming Scheme.
Tough times
Speaking to the PA news agency she said: “There will be lots of things that I’m expecting to hear. I’m sure that they’ll want to hear the Welsh NHS waiting lists are coming down, particularly those who are waiting the longest time.
“They’ll want to see improvements in terms of education, they’ll want to see the economy growing, they want to see the effect of that economic growth in their communities.
“I want to hear them telling me, genuinely, which things to prioritise, and obviously that will mean in these tough financial times, de-prioritising other things.”
The Baroness of Ely would not say what things could be “de-prioritised” insisting that was the point of the listening exercise with the Welsh public.
She added: “That’s precisely what we want to do during the exercise, is to work out what things get prioritised and then obviously other things will have to take some slack and see some difference.”
Downing Street
Plaid Cymru Leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said the newly installed FM should call on the Labour Government in Westminster for support.
He said: “We know finances are tight, which is why the First Minister should be knocking on the door of Number 10 Downing Street demanding a fair funding model from Wales from her Labour colleague Keir Starmer.
“Failure to do so will prove that any claims that having two Labour governments are a good thing for Wales will prove to be nothing more than pie in the sky.
“Whilst it’s hard to knock a First Minister for wanting to listen to the public, where on earth have Labour been up to now? Was Eluned Morgan not listening to patients and health professionals in her time as Health Minister? And when do we find out what her plans are and what her own vision is for Wales?”
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.
The Labour party in Cymru could govern an independent Cymru, but they choose not to do so. Instead they choose to be part of the UK which typically elects a Tory government. In my adult life 70% of the time the Tories have been in power. Labour in Cymru are complicit with austerity, even former Tories like Rory Stewart say austerity should have lasted no longer than 18 months. For at least the last 12 years Tory austerity has been ideologically driven not economically drive. Labour are complicity with the destruction of our public services. They are part of the… Read more »
So pleased with herself, from now on FM Bumble can say no to anything she does not like…
Meanwhile, in the Senedd stables the various other horses are being put to bed as the lawmakers have chosen a clothes horse to lead the country…the riderless horse…
By accident or design ?
What is her actual status?
Baroness or First Minister ?
Or does she win two Gold Medals with the same Hop, Skip and a Jump..,
She said she would relinquish her title if she became 1st minister but now that notion has quietly been “defered” ….
As has the ‘independence’ of Cymru…
A representative of the Crown has been placed in charge of the 21st century version of @Natural Resources UK (Wales).
ET Early Warning Radar to go ahead….
What is the point of a government that does not deliver for us?
We need our own, not Westminster clones.
We want more equity, more justice, more freedom, more peace.
What is the ‘UK’ offering? More of the same or worse it seems. Probably more of the bullying, alienation and sequestration of our assets. And much less of that Cymraeg stuff!
How is it that the Labour Parties in England, Scotland, Cymru and UK have minority support but still become the government?
Appearance but not the reality of democracy. Again.
Spin alert!
Oh, Rhun, you are going to have your work cut out with this one…
“I want to hear them telling me, genuinely, which things to prioritise, and obviously that will mean in these tough financial times, de-prioritising other things.”
What happened to leadership? No leader can gauge public priorities by going on tour. Activists and lobbies are not ‘the people’. Creep up above the parapet and make decisions. That’s the least the electorate expect. Hiding behind faux consultations and ‘the tour’ is pusillanimous.
It’s the Hobson’s Choice tour.
There has been no u-turn on 20mph. The policy is unchanged. Councils are being encouraged to use the flexibility they always had and the guidance has been tweaked in light of experience- which was the plan all along
Waste £35m on introducing the 20 mph limit, then spend £5m on reversing it, you could not make it up!
So she’s going on a tour of Wales stopping real people in the street and asking them where labour went wrong? Think not. All she has to do to get that information is read this publication. Nation cymru.
Or look in the comments on her own Facebook posts.
People have made it very clear what their priorities are and despite talking big about listening they’re still headed in the exact opposite direction.
A Royal Progress or an Indian Durbar…
If you come to Bangor, (your captured City) in Gwynedd be sure to visit YG on a Sunday…
It will make your hair stand on end…
Fair play to Rhun here asking where she has been & not listening to patients and health professionals in her time as Health Minister.. A story in Yesterday or monday’s edition was about her not listening to parents who have unfortunately lost a child in a Swansea hospital & dismissing the concerns on an inquiry… Welsh Labour always spin the line about listening to people to prioritise but what happened with the 400,000+ signature petition we had a fudge ( where they will no doubt blame game councils) and extending the number of these lot by 36 members I cannot remember… Read more »
Listening within the confines of the echo chamber is no use whatsoever. Looks like pain till 2026 then the people need to boot her and her crew right out.
Maybe the Baroness can listen and provide a response not framed around her abdication of responsibility when she was Health Minister.
My wife had an osteoporosis scan on Wednesday 3rd April , why is she still awaiting the scan result so that treatment can be given.
With all the cuts that Welsh government and Welsh councils are doing we won’t be needing them before long. No matter how many cuts are made we don’t hear of any redundancies in any departments. So what are the staff whose services are being cut doing? Are they sitting on their bums all day? If they are not providing services why are we paying them?
She should ask her party leader and UK PM why the party tied its hands with a promise not to raise taxes. She should also ask why European countries tax a greater proportion of their GDP and have better public services. She can also ask why the wealthiest have vastly increased their wealth since 2008. And while she’s at it, she can also demand our HS2 money back so that it can be invested in the Welsh economy.
Well, he also promised not to cut child benefits or the winter fuel allowance.
Sir Two Tier Kidstarver’s promises count for exactly nothing.
Nice one. When everything goes more pear shaped than usual under Labour Morgan has the ideal excuse, ‘ I only did what the people wanted’ I hear her say ‘nothing to do with me’. Straight out of the Gething rule book. Rhyn is right Morgan should be tackling Westminster underfunding, fighting for fairer funding for Wales. Morgan should also be leading from the front driven by a political conviction to make life better for us all. If not why is she in politics? Seems to me she is clueless, after years in politics she has no idea what people want.… Read more »
A crap health minister tells us she isn’t going to fight for us as First minister. We really need Labour gone, they are very stale in Cymru.
Well here’s a cut that might go down well with the Welsh people;
SCRAP THE EXTRA 36 MS’s
Scrap the 32 MP’s and get us out of the UK – much better!
Looks like a pitch for Reform/Abolish the Assembly(sic) parties.
I have an idea, how about stop blowing billions on pointless vanity projects that will never deliver a return and encourage instead of penalise business to encourage economic growth and create employment opportunities, thus raising tax revenue. They know the NHS and other services are the biggest issue to the electorate and a large number are opposed to the waste, including the 36 new Senedd members, so listen, like they keep saying they are. YOU CAN’T BLAME WESTMINSTER ANYMORE! The checkbook is open, you have party unity on your side, so deliver the goods or we’ll kindly show you the… Read more »