Plaid Cymru challenge Labour over broken promises and “box-ticking exercise”

IN a document seen by Plaid Cymru, a former Welsh Government non-executive director has slammed the Labour Welsh Government approach to policy implementation, calling it a “box ticking exercise” without any assessment as to whether the “desired outcomes” are actually being achieved.

The document is also highly critical of its “lack of measures of progress or outcome success.”

In First Minister Questions today (Tuesday 9 February), Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price also called out the Welsh Government on failing to include in its annual report its missed targets on child poverty and greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr Price highlighted criticisms levelled at the Labour Welsh government by its grassroots movement, asking the First Minister “You can dismiss my criticisms of your Government First Minister. But can you dismiss the words of the very people that campaigned to put in you in the position you are now in?”

Welsh Labour Grassroots have recently referred to the policies outlined in the 2021 manifesto as “cautious and uninspiring”, saying “they fail to measure up to the scale of the challenges that Wales will face over the years ahead.”

Crucially, they also call for “free school meals for all children”. Plaid Cymru has long campaigned for extending the eligibility criteria for free school meals, and has consistently been voted down by Labour Welsh Government at every turn.

Plaid Cymru Leader, Adam Price MS said,

“The Welsh Government’s Annual Report seems to aim to be a rubber-stamping exercise of apparent delivery but in reality, it is an airbrushing of continuous failure which has not gone unnoticed.

“This failure is no more apparent than in a damning indictment by a former non-executive government director, in which the lack of direction is clear.

“Failure to meet promises to eradicate child poverty and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions matter. Yet none of this is acknowledged in the annual report.

“When Labour activists criticise the lack of commitment to extending free school meals – something Plaid Cymru has long been campaigning for – it highlights the need for a change in approach, a change in government.

“After twenty years of standing still, Wales deserves a government that will actively seek solutions to these deep-rooted problems. Actions from a Plaid Cymru Government will speak louder than any words written in publications by the Labour Welsh government.”