Gething ‘not fit to lead Wales’ – Welsh Tories
Emily Price
The Welsh Conservatives have launched an attack on Labour leadership candidate Vaughan Gething branding him “not fit to lead Wales”.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the Welsh Tories criticised Mr Gething’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and accused him of denying bereaved families of a Wales specific Covid Inquiry.
The economy minster worked as Wales’ health minister during a large part of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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He was criticised last year when he told the UK Covid Inquiry that he hadn’t read a planning document looking at how pandemic flu could play out.
The social media post from the Welsh Tories said: “Vaughan Gething says he proved himself during the pandemic. Wales has the highest COVID death rate of any UK nation.
“And he’s part of the Labour Government that has denied bereaved families a Wales specific inquiry. The only thing he has proved is that he is not fit to lead Wales.”
Calls for a Wales specific probe intensified last year after the outgoing First Minister Mark Drakeford admitted Wales was “not as prepared as it could have been” for a pandemic.
The Welsh Government has argued that a Covid Inquiry should be investigated within a wider UK context and a Senedd Committee run by Welsh politicians was set up to “fill in the gaps” of the UK Inquiry.
Wales inquiry
However, bereaved families say that a Committee would not be able to cover all issues in depth in the same way a Wales specific Covid Inquiry could.
Mr Gething launched his leadership campaign on Monday (January 15) calling for more green jobs to help tackle climate change.
The former health minister also put forward several pledges to underpin future health polices of a Welsh Labour government including promising that under his leadership the NHS in Wales will never be sold off.
The only other candidate in the running to replace Mark Drakeford as First Minister of Wales is Education Minister Jeremy Miles.
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Neither are the Tories. Vote Plaid Cymru and rid us of this pestilent Unionism for goodness sakes.
Yeah, much as I think the Welsh Labour got things wrong and not overly enamoured with Mr Gethin, I know that Welsh Cons would have been a hell of a lot worse.
Which sort of prompts me to ask why he (artd) doesn’t just belt up and the rest of his party removes him and they become a true and decent Conservative Party of Wales and become a serious opposition, not the naughty kids at the back of the class giggling like fools. 20mph, grrrr 20 mph…..
How strange that the Tory party have called for a “Wales specific covid enquiery ” but if anybody mentions the devolution of, say, the judiciary, or broadcasting, so they are ” Wales specific ” and the hypocrisy oozes from them, as they shout aloud how we are part of the union and should act as one nation. I am no Labour fan, but for the Tory’s to point at anybody , given their record, beggars belief.
I agree Gething would be a bad choice for Wales. Apart from Plaid Cymru I dont think any of the others are suitable either, particularly the tories.
Let’s not take any advice off ‘Welsh Conservatives’. There is no one to fill the first ministers shoes, maybe Mabon…
Tories attacking Gething ??
It must be a plan to make him more Mr Gething more popular.
Only, a Plaid Cymru government would would be best for Wales.
lol, the idea of Tories using the handling of covid as a measure of fitness to rule.
Who Labour want is their business – not the ARTD club !
Their choice is clear between a metro focused candidate who is known for a short fuse and a difficulty in understanding the nation outside the Cardiff and South East Valleys and one with an empathy for Wales” cultural
diversity and known for a quieter and more collegiate approach to issues.