Plaid Cymru call for urgent debate in the Senedd on Labour welfare cuts

Cuts will have “disproportionate” impact on Wales – Heledd Fychan

Plaid Cymru has called for an urgent debate in the Senedd after the UK Labour Chancellor announced billions in welfare cuts.

Plaid Cymru’s finance spokesperson Heledd Fychan said First Minister Eluned Morgan “must urgently spell out” how she will protect Wales from the cuts made to welfare by her Labour colleagues.

Plaid Cymru said Wales would be disproportionately impacted by the cuts, as the country has higher rates of disabled people of working age than the UK average and some of the highest levels of economic inactivity due to long-term illness.

Accusing Labour of targeting the “most vulnerable” rather than taxing the “ultra-wealthy”, Ms Fychan said that the Labour First Minister could not “remain silent” and asked her to outline what mitigation measures her government had put in place alongside any urgent representations made to “protect the people of Wales”.

Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for finance, Heledd Fychan MS said,

“There is no doubt that today’s announcement from the UK Labour Government marks a continuation of austerity.

“Rather than taxing the ultra-wealthy, Labour has chosen to target the most vulnerable, imposing even deeper welfare cuts that will drive poverty and inequality in Wales—undermining the very economic growth they claim to support.  

“Given the scale of these cuts and their impact on our communities, an urgent debate in government time next week is essential. The Labour First Minister must urgently spell out how she will protect Wales from the devastating consequences of her own party’s decisions.

“Wales will be disproportionately affected, with higher rates of disabled people of working age than the UK average and some of the highest levels of economic inactivity due to long-term illness.

“The First Minister cannot remain silent while her party in Westminster imposes these cruel cuts. If the so-called ‘partnership in power’ between the two governments is to mean anything, she must answer: What did she know about these cuts before today? What mitigation measures, if any, has her government put in place? And what urgent representations has she made to the UK Government to protect the people of Wales?