Senedd debates UK Government’s ‘disastrous’ first six months

Chris Haines – ICNN Senedd reporter

The Conservatives criticised the UK Government’s record six months on from the general election, accusing Labour of doing “not a dickie bird” to stand up for Wales.

Darren Millar, leader of the Tories in the Senedd, said people were told Labour governments at both ends of the M4 would be great for Wales in the run up to July’s election.

But he warned: “What we’ve actually ended up with is a double whammy: broken promises and failing policies … alongside a passive, silent Labour Welsh Government unwilling to offer a squeak of criticism or lift a finger to defend the interests of the people of Wales.”

‘Scraps’

Leading a Tory debate, he said the new UK Government has hit farmers with inheritance tax, taken winter fuel allowance from pensioners and hiked national insurance for businesses.

Mr Millar told the Senedd that Welsh railways remain underfunded as he accused Labour of settling for “scraps” despite previously calling for billions of pounds from HS2.

Peter Fox, the Tory shadow rural affairs secretary, warned farmers have to deal with Labour governments “who either do not care or do not understand the needs of rural communities”.

Mr Fox, a farmer and former council leader who represented Monmouth since 2021, criticised changes to agricultural property relief by the UK Government.

“It’s not a loophole,” he said. “It’s a carefully designed policy … to protect Britain’s family farms from being broken up.”

His colleague Natasha Asghar, who represents South Wales East, described a -45% approval rating for Keir Starmer’s government as “a tad generous”.

She said: “If this is just what the first six months of Sir Keir’s premiership look like, I sincerely dread to imagine what the next six months have in store for all of us.”

‘La-la land’

John Griffiths criticised the “usual la-la land” contribution from the Conservatives, pointing out the party did not get a single MP elected in Wales.

He said: “I think their real problem … is people’s memories are not as short as they think they are. When they talk about all these issues – not standing up for Wales, allegations about sleaze – people well remember those long Tory years, the 14 years of austerity.”

Lee Waters, a fellow Labour backbencher, told the Senedd: “This is like being stuck in a bad sixth-form debate.”

He said people in the UK lived through the “horror story” of a Tory party “at war with each other, embarrassing our country and making us a laughing stock abroad”.

Arguing Labour inherited a mess, Mr Waters accused the Conservatives of “playing footsie” with Elon Musk and “shamefully seizing” on rhetoric about grooming gangs.

‘Hypocrisy’

Plaid Cymru’s Heledd Fychan hit out at Conservative “hypocrisy” in tabling the debate and accused Labour of betraying voters since July’s election.

Ms Fychan raised the examples of the “cruel” two-child benefit cap, cuts to the winter fuel allowance and increases in national insurance contributions.

Her colleague Llyr Gruffydd accused Labour of breaking a promise, made in opposition, not to change inheritance tax rules on agriculture in its very first budget.

He said: “The unique nature of farming businesses means that the loss of relief will severely threaten the viability, and even, potentially, the survival, of many businesses.

“It’s not like forcing somebody just to sell off some assets; you’re forcing people, potentially, to sell off their livelihoods and the livelihoods of their future generations.”

‘Lacklustre’

Mark Drakeford criticised “dreadful” contributions from the Tory benches, saying: “You put a penny in the slot and out comes the speech. There’s not a minute’s thought behind it.”

Pointing out that Labour won 27 of 32 seats in Wales, the finance secretary said: “A result that the leader of the opposition … described as ‘lacklustre’.

“How much he must dream of a lacklustre performance by his own party, even though he sees exactly such a performance every day all around him.”

The former first minister said the Conservative motion in front of the Senedd concentrated entirely on matters outside the Welsh Parliament’s responsibility.

Following the debate on January 15, Senedd members voted 26-24 against the motion with Labour’s amended version agreed by the same margin.