Rhun ap Iorwerth warns draft budget could plunge Wales’ public services into crisis

Ella Groves

Plaid Cymru has accused Labour of plunging Wales’ public services into crisis, warning the draft Welsh Government budget risks thousands of council job losses, steep council tax rises and leaving the NHS with “a historically low funding uplift.”

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth issued the warning during First Minister’s Questions as he also  publicly offered talks aimed at reshaping the budget to protect frontline services — an offer he said First Minister Eluned Morgan “ignored.”

Labour’s draft spending plans for 2026-27 have sparked concern among local authorities and financial watchdogs.

The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) has warned that social care, homelessness, education and workforce pressures are rising “faster than resources can keep up,” while Auditor General Adrian Crompton has said councils face a “real squeeze” as costs escalate.

Mr Ap Iorwerth said Plaid Cymru would not allow Wales to “be saddled with yet another raw deal.”

“This budget, as it stands, will hit our public services hard,” he said. “Plaid Cymru would never allow councils to face thousands of job losses or sky-rocketing council tax, nor would we accept an NHS receiving a historically low funding increase.

“Plaid Cymru is ready to get Wales out of this hole made by Labour — to protect the NHS, council jobs, services and household bills. Labour seems to have already given up on Wales.”

He added that while Labour must take responsibility for the draft settlement, Plaid’s priority was “shielding communities from the harshest impacts” of the government’s plans.

The first Minister replied: “If Rachel Reeves had rode over the Severn Bridge on a golden horse and handed out £1 million to every person in this country, I still think you would have said that Wales would be short-changed.

“This was a budget that took Wales seriously. What we managed to do—. Even in his own constituency [Ynys Môn], where £2.5 billion has been invested directly into your constituency, and massive amounts of money going into support, also thousands of jobs in terms of AI. Let’s be clear: this was transformational in particular for your constituency, and you can’t even bring yourself to say thank you”.

Preliminary discussions

Speaking after FMQs, Plaid’s leader criticised the First Minister for creating “the impression of a government with its door open” while failing to acknowledge that preliminary discussions between both parties had already taken place.

The First Minister, meanwhile, faced pressure from a different direction as Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar launched a fierce attack on the UK Labour Government’s Budget, accusing Chancellor Rachel Reeves of misleading the public about the nation’s finances and breaking tax promises.

He said Reeves had delivered “groundhog day” Budgets, making further tax changes to fund “out-of-control spending on welfare” despite previously labelling tax rises a one-off. He claimed her actions breached the ministerial code and called for her resignation.

‘Pro-Wales decisions’

Eluned Morgan rejected those calls, instead describing the UK Budget as “the biggest set of pro-Wales decisions seen by a UK Government in years.”

She highlighted the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap — expected to lift 70,000 Welsh children out of poverty — and pointed to pension uplifts, support for energy bills and wage rises for low-paid workers.

“There is a lot to celebrate in the Chancellor’s Budget,” she said, adding that the Welsh Government had been relieved to see no increase to the basic rate of income tax.