Welsh Labour: Still a softer, nicer kind of neglect but now with added cuts

Cllr Rhys Mills

Back in March, I wrote for Nation.Cymru that Welsh Labour had become a softer, nicer kind of neglect.

The political equivalent of offering you a cushion while they set fire to your furniture.

Now, with Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement, we are living through the next chapter of that same story.
Labour is not here to undo austerity. It is here to rebrand it.

What Reeves has announced is not prudence. It is a plan that slashes support for those who need it most, wrapped in buzzwords and spreadsheet theatre. It is the biggest squeeze on public spending since George Osborne. And for Wales, it is especially bleak.

The most brutal cuts fall on disabled people and carers. Universal Credit’s health element is being halved for new claimants. Personal Independence Payment is being stripped back. Around 800,000 people across the UK will lose access to PIP altogether. And because Wales has higher disability rates than any other nation in the UK, we will feel it hardest.

It is not about getting people into work. It is about quietly removing support and hoping no one notices. Public services will also face real-terms cuts. With departmental budgets frozen while costs rise, councils, schools, transport, and housing will be asked to do more with less.

Wales, reliant on the Barnett formula, gets dragged down with every cut in England. Cardiff Bay will try to fill the gaps. But the money simply is not there. And instead of fighting for more powers or funding, the Welsh Labour will do what it always does. Issue a polite statement. Blame Westminster. Then pass the pain on quietly.

Bills

The Winter Fuel Payment is now being means tested. Most pensioners will no longer receive help with heating bills. Wales, with its older population and cold rural homes, will once again be disproportionately affected.

Pension Credit is now the gatekeeper. That sounds neat on paper, but in practice it is a bureaucratic trapdoor. It is one of the most underclaimed benefits in the UK. Many pensioners simply do not know it exists.

I started the winter by delivering leaflets hammering Labour for taking the Winter Fuel Payment away.

I spent the back end of it knocking doors and phoning residents, trying to find people eligible for Pension Credit and helping them claim it in time to make a difference.

That is where we are now. Firefighting in our own communities to stop people falling through the cracks created by their own government.

We used to talk about the choice between heating and eating. In Winter, for many in Wales, there may not be a choice at all. This was a political choice. Reeves could have taxed wealth. She could have closed loopholes. She could have raised revenue from those who can afford it. She chose not to.

Portugal reversed austerity in 2015 and still cut its deficit by investing in people. Scotland has used its limited powers to create new benefits and protect the vulnerable. Argentina raised billions with a one off wealth tax on its richest citizens. Even the IMF, normally the referee blowing the whistle on public spending, has called for temporary taxes on the wealthy to fund recovery.

Labour’s plan is not the only way. It is just the only one that keeps their donors happy while everyone else plays Guess Which Utility I Can Afford This Month. Wales cannot undo all of this, but it is not powerless either. It could expand emergency support. Create a Welsh child payment. Ask the top earners to pay a little more and use that money to protect frontline services. Demand control over welfare.

Courage 

But that would require political courage. And Welsh Labour treats political courage like nuclear waste. Dangerous, unpredictable, and best buried quietly. There is no Tory government to blame. No austerity forced from above. This is Labour’s plan, in Labour’s words, with Labour ministers nodding along.

Plaid Cymru would not have passed this budget. We would not have stripped back disability benefits or removed heating help from pensioners. We will not call this responsible. We will call it what it is. Cruel managed decline.

Because politics is supposed to be about rolling up your sleeves and making a difference. If you are not in politics to improve people’s lives, then what exactly are you doing? When we let this sort of politics fester, people suffer. Communities suffer. And eventually, democracy suffers too. That was the warning last time. It still stands.

So here it is, Labour voter. Your party has betrayed you. Not by accident. Not by miscalculation – but by design. If you have ever felt that you deserve better, now is the time to switch sides.