Tag: Welsh Conservatives

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.”

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 29 November 2022.

On Tuesday, the Senedd met to discuss the completion of the first of four stages in passing the a new social partnership Bill.

The Welsh Conservatives have criticised the proposed Bill arguing that its purpose and aims are unclear and much of the policy is already in place, meaning more red tape that will require considerably more public sector working hours to produce overlapping paperwork.

Outside bodies who will be affected by this legislation have said they find the proposed Bill confusing and unnecessary, stating that it will likely increase their workloads without providing any new benefits.

Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Social Partnership Minister, Joel James MS said:

“The Labour Government has completely failed to communicate what problem it is trying to solve in creating this Bill.

“Considerable expense will be incurred at the tax payers expense for another pointless Welsh Government Bill that does not have any measurable outcomes, and like the Future Generations Bill the Government has no way of enforcing these legal obligations.

“I think this government is wasting time on this superfluous legislation whilst ignoring the real needs of businesses, which is the upskilling staff and working with businesses to create market conditions for them to flourish.”

Speaking in the debate, Joel described this legislation as “another red tape tick box exercise” adding that it would only “increase already considerable administrative workloads”. Joel also noted ‘several serious flaws’ within the proposed Bill. Placing a ‘statutory requirement on public bodies to reach consensus with trade unions’ means trade unions have another tool to disrupt the work of public bodies if their demands are not met.

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 29 November 2022.

On the 11th of October this year, £2 million was allocated to improve conditions in A&E departments across Wales by the Health Minister. Money that the First Minister admitted, at FMQs, was not making a difference yet. Mark Drakeford also revealed the median wait time in A&E was 2 hours and 50 minutes, seemingly touting this as a success as opposed to a figure that needs addressing.

Commenting on the exchange, Welsh Conservative Leader Andrew RT Davies MS said:

“In October, £2 million was announced to improve the conditions of A&E waiting rooms, this was meant to be rolled out and ready for the Winter months. The First Minister admitted to me today that the money isn’t even out the door.

“It is clear that conditions are particularly bad at the Heath Hospital, which we saw over the weekend. Wales’ largest A&E department saw vomit near the entrance and a pile cigarette butts on top of the bins.

“The First Minister seemed to bat away those criticisms and blame ‘a significant minority’ of patients for these issues. In my view the Labour Government need to pull their finger out and address these basic issues and tackle the substantial waiting times in our health service.

“We need to get Doctors and consultants into A&E departments across Wales to meet the staffing baseline as set out by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Mark Drakeford could not answer the question whether or not that baseline was being met, which we argue would make our Hospitals safer.”

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 29 November 2022.

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 29 November 2022.

The Welsh Conservatives have written to North Wales’ Police and Crime Commissioner expressing concern over “hostile” tactics to display opposition to second homes in the area.

It was reported today that holiday homes on Anglesey have been plastered with posters saying ‘Wales is not for sale’ by campaigners who want council tax increased on second homes.

Commenting on her letter, Shadow Minister Janet Finch-Saunders MS, who speaks on housing for Wales’ main opposition party, said:

“I am worried about campaigners are adopting hostile tactics to show their opposition towards second homes in North Wales because the last thing we need is this escalating into what we saw Meibion Glyndwr do in the 1980s.

“Whilst the frustration that house prices are going up in the area, making it harder for locals to buy property, are legitimate, the answer is to build more houses, not trespassing and defacing private property with aggressive campaign material.

“That’s why I have written to the PCC – so we can ensure the law is upheld and that protest remains peaceful and legal. People should not be afraid to sell or buy property because of antagonistic rhetoric from pressure groups.

“There are many issues facing Wales’ housing market, like Labour not building half the homes needed to keep up with demand, so let’s make sure we fix the causes rather than attack the symptoms of the Labour Government’s failure.”

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 26 November 2022.

Commenting on the announcement that new biosecurity and housing requirements will be implemented for poultry and captive birds in Wales, Samuel Kurtz MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs, said:

“I and the farming unions have called for this housing order for over a two weeks, so I’m pleased that finally Welsh Government have used their common sense and implemented these necessary changes.

“Avian Flu is rightly a matter of serious concern. This disease does not respect borders nor traditional biosecurity methods, so our efforts to tackle this virus must be targeted, pre-emptive and proactive in response, hence my call for a housing order over a fortnight ago.

“These new measures should now provide additional shielding for commercial poultry, protecting the industry from wild birds. I just hope the Minister’s delay in implementing the changes hasn’t negatively impacted Welsh businesses.

“The Welsh Government must now turn their attention to supporting the poultry industry from further financial hardship, without further delay.”