A local Labour Senedd Member has slammed Welsh Secretary Simon Hart MP for putting the interests of his party above those of Welsh farmers.
Speaking in the agricultural funding debate in the Senedd this week, Joyce Watson MS questioned Farming Minister Lesley Griffiths about the UK Government’s decision to slash Wales’ agricultural budget.
She called on Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire MP Simon Hart to step up and act as the Secretary of State for Wales, not the Tory Party, and said that he had never stood up for Wales’ interests within the Westminster government.
Lesley Griffiths set out the implications of the cuts to Welsh agricultural funding announced in the UK Government’s recent spending review. She explained that the UK Government had allocated ÂŁ137 million less funding to Wales than expected next year, and that she and colleagues had tried to resolve this shortfall with the UK government.
The Farmers Union of Wales has branded the UK government’s decision a ‘Brexit Betrayal’.
Referring to Mr Hart, Joyce Watson MS said:
“We haven’t got a Secretary of State for Wales, we’ve got a Secretary of State for the Tory Party, because as far as I’m concerned, he’s never stood up for Wales. The farmers have made it perfectly clear that this is going to be detrimental to their future survival.”
Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths responded:
Joyce Watson represents the Senedd region of Mid and West Wales.
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