Wales’ jab rollout would be ‘lagging behind’ if it wasn’t for Westminster, says Tory MS
Wales’ world-leading vaccine rollout would be “lagging behind” if it wasn’t for Westminster, a Tory MS has claimed.
Darren Millar, who represents Clwyd West, told the Senedd that without the UK Government, Wales would not be a “global leader” in getting people vaccinated.
He also argued that Wales would not have the “firepower to protect lives and livelihoods throughout the pandemic” if it was not part of the United Kingdom.
He said: “The UK Government’s procurement processes and investment into the Covid vaccine research are responsible for one of the best vaccination programmes in the world.
“Without that support, Wales would not be the global leader in terms of vaccine roll-out that it is today.
“Our roll-out, in fact, would be lagging behind, risking lives and risking our economic recovery.”
‘Firepower’
He added: “It’s thanks to being part of the UK that Wales has had the firepower to protect lives and livelihoods throughout the pandemic with the furlough scheme, the self-employed income support scheme, bounce-back loans, the cash to deliver the economic resilience fund here in Wales, and funding to support the third sector, the arts and our cultural sector.
“And on top of this, the UK Government has also, of course, invested extra money into our welfare system to increase payments to the people that need it.”
The Senedd member also denied that the UK Government was a “threat to devolution”.
He said: “I would remind Members in this Senedd today that it was a Conservative UK Government that delivered the referendum back in 2016 that resulted in a further transfer of powers to the Senedd, because unlike other parties in this Chamber that tried to block Brexit, we actually respect the results of referendums.”
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He just doesn’t want to acknowledge Wales’s success. His comments are always so pathetic.
Yah boo! Johnson’s incompetence let the virus come ashore whatever this fool says.
Yet again Tories trying to marginalise Wales
Even with your logic boyo – we are still ahead of England, Scotland and NI……yet you dont acknowledsge that.
The man’s job is to do down the efforts of Welsh government. By so doing he does down the efforts of the Welsh NHS which has been a long standing Tory target since the days of that other obnoxious Eton fathead Cameron. He and most of the Welsh Tories look increasingly like Puppets at the end of a wire.
These tory clowns must have lived through a different pandemic to the one the rest of us have, I seem to remember these tories accusing Drakeford of holding back vaccines when PHE and the Inglish Government couldn’t guarantee a supply, looks like Drakeford got it right, maybe the tories should just sit down and STFU.
Don’t make me laugh – If it’s true why hasn’t it been replicated in England? Why is England lagging behind? “further transfer of powers to the Senedd” – where ?? That’s just bulls@@t.
If it wasn’t for Westminster hundreds of Welsh workers wouldn’t have lost their jobs when Johnson refused to extend the furlough scheme until it was needed in England.