Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 5 December 2022.

Gordon Brown has published his Commission on the UK’s Future report that as part of its 40-point plan, the recommendation of further devolution to The Welsh Parliament.

Commenting on the report, Shadow Minister for the Constitution, Darren Millar MS said:

“There is no great public appetite in Wales for further powers to be devolved to the Senedd. 

“Wales already has the powers it needs to deliver a better economy, better schools and better hospitals, but sadly the Labour Party has spectacularly failed to use them to achieve those aims.

“Instead of its obsession with constitutional tinkering, the Labour Party should be using the existing powers it has to improve the lives of the people of Wales.”

Gordon Brown’s report recommends:

• Enhanced protection: Welsh devolution should be constitutionally protected by strengthening the Sewel Convention and protecting it from amendment through the new second chamber.
• Enhanced role for Members of the Senedd: the Welsh Senedd’s members should, if desired, enjoy the same privileges and protections as Members of Parliament in relation to statements made in their proceedings.
• Enhanced powers: new powers should be made available to the Senedd and Welsh Governments, including embarking upon new powers over youth justice and the probation service.
• Enhanced access to economic resources for Wales: the British Regional Investment Bank should maximise support for innovation and investment in Wales, in conjunction with the Welsh Development Bank and the European Investment Bank.

Additionally, the report states that: “there is no constitutional reason why matters which are devolved in Scotland, including the new powers we propose above, could not also be devolved in Wales.”

Crucially, this could involve the devolution of international deal-making powers, allowing for deviation in Welsh trade policy from the rest of the UK, which the Welsh Conservatives strongly oppose.

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 5 December 2022.

The manufacturer of Transport for Wales’ inoperative new borderlands trains has gone into administration before the trains have even entered service.

Vivarail’s refurbished tube trains were scheduled to enter service back in 2019, yet they were only delivered to TFW in 2020 and are yet to enter service on the Wrexham to Bidston line for which they were purchased.

Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Transport Minister Natasha Asghar MS said:

“With no new trains and no doubling of services, this upgrade is now three years late while promises to communities on the borderlands line have been broken.

“These trains should have begun service first in 2019, but delay after delay means the trains are yet to utilised. Now, this farce by Transport for Wales has outlived the company that manufactured the trains.

“The Labour Government must now give concreate dates for when these trains will enter service and assurances that Vivarail’s administration will not lead to any further delays to their deployment which could see these trains delayed by four years.”

The people of North Wales are yet to reap any benefits of these new trains as a slew of issues has affected these trains since they began testing on the borderlands line. These “technical issues” include the trains catching fire in July 2021 right next to a person’s garden.

It seems even more unlikely that the many issues that have faced the trains will be ironed out quickly as the manufacturer has gone into administration.

There is speculation that TFW will instead use some of its new Class 197s on the borderlands line, trains were ordered for use on other routes. This is only necessary because of now consistent failure of Class 230s since 2019.

Failure to use the Class 230s will be a tremendous waste of taxpayer’s money and also mean that there will be shortage of Class 197s that were ordered for services elsewhere in Wales reducing services and capacity across the nation.

For the communities of Gwersyllt, Cefn-y-bedd, Caergwrle, Hope, Penyffordd, Buckle and Hawarden this line is there only rail link and they have been led to believe they will see improvements for years.

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 2 December 2022.

The Welsh Conservatives are questioning why the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay invited the Chinese Ambassador to the Senedd earlier this year despite the many accusations levelled against the country, ranging from human rights abuses to foreign aggression.

According to a written question from Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies MS, Zheng Zeguang visited the Senedd estate on the invitation of Mark Drakeford’s government on 6th July earlier this year. The Senedd Commission said it had no involvement in the visit.

In September 2021, three month after assuming the posts he was banned from the British Parliament while Chinese sanctions on MPs remain.

Following a report in November that a BBC journalist was arrested and beaten while covering Chinese state actors attacking protestors fed up with a fruitless zero-Covid policy, the ambassador said it was a “groundless accusation” and that the British journalist “misbehaved”.

Commenting, Andrew RT Davies MS said:

“Why the Labour Government thought it appropriate to invite the Ambassador of China to the Welsh parliamentary, especially without the Senedd’s involvement, is beyond me.

“You could pick up the paper any day of the week and see that China should be kept at a firm arms-length given the way it treats its own citizens as well as its aggressive stance on foreign relations, nevermind the question marks that still linger over the origins of coronavirus, which has killed 11,000 people in Wales so far.

“It is also telling that when pushed for details on what the Ambassador discussed with Labour ministers, we get mentions of sports, culture, and academia, but nothing about human rights, a mistake Mark Drakeford is seemingly repeating with Qatar.

“I would urge the Labour Government to think more carefully about the ambassadors it treats with in Cardiff Bay, especially given the lack of need for them to engage due to foreign policy being a matter reserved for the UK Government.”

A separate query from Davies found that the minutes of the meeting won’t be released, with Economy Minister Vaughan Gething saying:

“This was a positive meeting in which opportunities to enhance academic and trade links were discussed, as well as participation in sports, the Welsh cultural offer and the impact of Covid-19. Due to diplomatic sensitivities, there are no plans to publish any further details.”

The Prime Minister recently called China a “systemic challenge to our values and interests” – the country is threatening to invade Taiwan by force, has been known to engage in industrial espionage, is running facilities that have been compared to “concentration camps” to commit “genocide” against Uyghur Muslims, and its Road and Belt initiative has been compared to debt-trap diplomacy.

This is an addition to general human rights abuses, its breaking of the “One Country, Two Systems” model in Hong Kong, and has failed to join the West in condemning Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine.

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 1 December 2022.

The UK Labour Party has changed its stance on Right-to-Buy which puts it at odds with the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay who banned the practice in 2019.

An iNews interview with Lisa Nandy MP stated: “Under former leader Jeremy Corbyn, Labour had pledged to end the Right to Buy scheme. But, under Sir Keir Starmer’s stewardship, that’s no longer the case. Labour supports the principle of council and social tenants being able to buy the homes they’ve lived in for years and considers it a sustainable policy if the homes are replaced like-for-like.”

This is in sharp contrast to the position of Mark Drakeford and his party in Wales where Labour – with Plaid Cymru support – who passed a bill in 2018 outlawing the practice nearly four years ago.

Commenting, Janet Finch-Saunders MS, the Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister responsible for housing, said:

“It is good to see the UK Labour Party repent for trying to stop social housing tenants trying to buy their own home, but maybe they should have a word with the socialist-in-chief in Cardiff Bay.

“The Labour Government banned the right-to-buy in Wales – with help from their nationalist sidekicks – because they despise aspiration and blamed the ambition of those who wanted to buy their own property for their own housing policy failures.

“Just like they are doing with second homes and holiday properties, Labour and Plaid got rid of right-to-buy because it is easier for them to demonise those who have worked hard to get their property than hit their housebuilding targets.

“If Keir Starmer wants to show people how he would help the whole of the UK, he could start by standing up to the First Minister and telling him to scrap this ridiculous law that bans aspiration.”

The press release issued by Welsh Conservatives on 1 December 2022.

The press release issued by the Welsh Office on 30 November 2022.

Today, the Labour Government blocked a Welsh Conservative-led attempt to create a special Senedd committee to investigate areas of the Labour Government’s response to the pandemic that is not covered in the UK-wide inquiry.

Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister, Russell George MS said:

“It is incredible that Labour has again blocked attempts to impose scrutiny and accountability on them by blocking the formation of this committee.

“We have always maintained that a Wales-specific Covid inquiry is the best way to scrutinise ministers on their decision-making without being overshadowed by events in England, but if they were to continue blocking one, maybe they would, at least, agree to this committee that fills the gaps the UK-wide inquiry would inevitably leave.

“This may well go down as the most shameful day in the history of the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay’s history – and they already have a great deal to be ashamed of.

“This includes actions that to Wales having the highest Covid death-rate of UK nations, Wales having a higher hospitalisation rate than England, and the imposition of scientifically baseless vaccine passports and Omicron restrictions on Wales.”

Mr George read out a statement on behalf of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Group Cymru in the debate that said:

“We welcome this action by opposition parties. The Welsh Government has had every opportunity to hold a Wales specific Covid inquiry but has chosen not to. The First Minister assured us that Wales being in the UK Inquiry was the right thing despite devolved decision-making. However, the UK Inquiry cannot cover the issues in Wales in detail and in the way that he said he wanted. All we have ever wanted is what went wrong for our loved ones to be acknowledged and for lessons to be learned. Our concerns about the UK Inquiry are coming true and the First Minister has not challenged this. Ultimately, we deserve a Wales specific judge-led inquiry. Sadly, we’ve been denied this in Wales, therefore this committee will at least help ensure some detailed scrutiny of Wales that the UK Inquiry will not cover.”

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 30 November 2022.

Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister Russell George MS said:

“It is disappointing to see some unions vote to strike meaning we will see ambulance service staff stop working during the winter.

“But let there be no doubt that, in Wales, it was the pay offer of the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay that was rejected – anybody, including unions, that seek to lay the blame at the door of someone else is doing the public and striking workers an injustice.

“Nurses have already voted to strike in all but one health board in Wales and it is astonishing the Labour Health Minister has still not met with them to negotiate – hopefully the case won’t be the same for ambulance workers.

“Patients and staff need action from the Labour Government to bring this situation to a swift and fair resolution and I urge them get around the negotiating table now.”

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 30 November 2022.

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 30 November 2022.

The Welsh Conservatives are urging the Senedd to seize the chance to implement a Wales-specific Covid inquiry on Wednesday.

Mark Drakeford has long rejected setting up a Wales-specific Covid inquiry despite Nicola Sturgeon establishing one for Scotland and then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson putting in place a UK-wide investigation.

The UK Inquiry’s Chair Baroness Hallett recently admitted that its investigation “can’t cover every issue” relating to Wales, prompting concerns that doubts long-held by the Welsh Conservatives and the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Wales group that the UK inquiry would miss out on many aspects of the pandemic in Wales – which would also be overshadowed and overfocused on what happened in England – seem to be becoming reality.

Now, the Party will seek to establish a special purpose Senedd committee to identify where the UK inquiry is not able to fully scrutinise the response of the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay and Welsh public bodies to the pandemic, and undertake an inquiry into the areas identified.

The committee would then have up to two years to produce a report.

Commenting ahead of the debate, the Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister Russell George MS said:

“For the last year and a half we’ve tried to make the Labour Government accept that we need a Wales-specific Covid inquiry so people who suffered from the virus and lockdowns – and know others who died because of them can – get the answers they deserve.

“We simply should not be in this position where we are asking for a Senedd committee to do the job of filling the gaps of the UK investigation – Mr Drakeford was keener than anyone to point out that Welsh rules were made in Wales, so why should there be no investigation here either?

“It is increasingly clear that we are here because Labour ministers do not want to be under the microscope and in the limelight, preferring to hide behind the more well-known issues that affected England.

“The exercise of devolved power must be scrutinised and those who used them must be held accountable for their actions and the results incurred. Any politician who votes against our motion puts themselves in opposition to this principle and must justify that to the people of Wales.”

Areas that a Wales-specific Covid inquiry may want to investigate include Wales having the highest Covid death-rate of UK nations, Wales having a higher hospitalisation rate than England, the lack of science behind vaccine passports, and the unnecessary clinically unnecessary Omicron restrictions.

There are also events from the first wave that warrant investigation in a Welsh context but could be disappointingly missed in a UK-wide investigations where England will be the focus:

• The First Minister of Wales saying he could see “no value” in testing in Welsh care homes and the then-Health Minister saying he did not understand the rationale behind it. It was a whole month after mass testing was put in place in England that it was introduced in Wales.
• The Labour Government missing their testing target: At the start of April 2020, Mark Drakeford and Vaughan Gething had set the target of 9,000 tests a day by the end of April. But on the 30th Wales conducted just 1,090 tests in a day.
• ICU capacity being critically low: It only took a small number of cases to put serious pressure on ICU. At the start of the pandemic, Wales’ intensive care bed capacity was 153. This is 4.9 for every 100,000 of our population. It was 6.6 per 100,000 across the UK.
• Wales running out of PPE, with a BMA survey from May 2020 finding 67% of doctors in Wales did not feel fully protected from Covid-19 in their place of work.
• Allowing the Wales vs Scotland Six Nations match to go ahead, with 20,000 Scottish fans travelling to Cardiff.
• The long delays in getting shielding priority delivery slots from supermarkets, and sending 13,000 shielding letters to the wrong people.

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 30 November 2022.

Motorists face more misery as the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay again is delaying reporting back on its Roads Review, which resulted in the suspension of roadbuilding in Wales since July last year.

Today, Lee Waters MS, Deputy Minister for Climate Change in charge of Transport, released a statement saying Labour ministers will “reconsider our full response to the Roads Review”.

Despite an increase in global energy prices, the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, and Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine, Waters felt it appropriate to blame his delay on the UK Government for the current “fiscal and economic situation”.

Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Transport Minister Natasha Asghar MS said:

“The way the Labour Government is going about their roadbuilding freeze is driving people mad.

“It is astonishing that Lee Waters thinks it is acceptable to put infrastructure projects that drive growth, business, and jobs in Wales on hold and then has the cheek to blame the UK Conservative Government who have long highlighted the folly of banning roadbuilding.

“We know that the current economic situation has been caused by an increase in global energy prices, the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, and Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine, so Labour should lay the blame there and accept that they are responsible that no roads have been built in over a year in Wales.

“Labour is on road to nowhere – it is time to put aside the dogma and build the roads Wales needs.”