Labour politician attacks Plaid co-operation deal

The Labour Welsh government's co-operation deal with Plaid Cymru has come under attack from the ruling party's backbenches.

In a debate on the Welsh government budget, Caerphilly MS Hefin David said it was giving Plaid "power without responsibility".

Despite agreeing to let the budget pass, Plaid has criticised ministers for not putting income tax up to raise more cash for the NHS.

Ministers have rejected the idea.

Mr David was one of two Labour MSs to criticise Welsh government policy during the budget debate.

Swansea East MS Mike Hedges criticised spending £4.25m on a farm for the company that runs Green Man festival.

The comments were made in a debate on the Welsh government's £20bn budget for the next financial year.

Meanwhile the Welsh Conservatives called for ministers to do more to fund the "people's priorities", and accused Welsh Labour of blaming others for the challenges Wales faces.

The budget plans passed on Tuesday evening, with Plaid Cymru abstaining in the vote.

A committee earlier said Welsh ministers were not doing enough to help people with the cost-of-living crisis.

Signed in 2021, the co-operation agreement sees Labour and Plaid working together on a group of policies, while Plaid allows Labour's budget to pass the Senedd.

It is not a coalition deal, and Plaid Cymru have no ministers in the government.

Speaking on Tuesday afternoon, Mr David accused Plaid of wanting to make "as many uncosted proposals for the current budget as they want to outside of the co-operation agreement".

"This is where the co-operation agreement is falling down," he said.

"It's power without responsibility.

"I think it should either be a coalition government or it should be confidence and supply. What we've got from this deal is Plaid Cymru having the worst of both worlds."

Mr David was later reprimanded for referring in the chamber to Plaid Cymru councillors as being as "mad as a box of frogs".

Mr Hedges said he had "very serious concerns" about the budget.

He called for the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) - which has been at £30 a week since the mid-2000s - to be raised in line with inflation, and for free school meals for all children whose parents are on benefits, and for an end to enterprise zones.

"The priority should be poverty, housing and education," he said.

He questioned the £4.25m investment by the Welsh government in Gilestone Farm for Green Man festival.

"If people want a tourist attraction, they go to the bank [and] they borrow," he said.

"Far too often, the Welsh definition of capitalism is how much money can we get out of the Welsh government."

Plaid Cymru urged MSs to back an amendment to the budget that would add 1p to the basic rate of income tax, 2p to the higher rate and 3p to the top rate.

It says the money raised would fund better wages for NHS staff and social carers.

Opening the debate on her budget, Rebecca Evans said the government would not raise taxes while the cost of living was so high.

Raising the higher and additional rates of income tax would not raise enough money to make a significant difference, she said.

"The largest contribution would come from the basic rate band taxpayers - and let's be clear that this would impact the lowest paid workers in Wales," she said

"The same workers who are seeking help from food banks, the same workers who are having to choose between heating their homes and feeding their families."

The Conservatives said they had an "action plan" that would put "people's priorities" at the heart of the Welsh government budget, which included care hotels to clear hospital backlogs, surgical hubs and freezing council tax.

Peter Fox, Conservative spokesman for finance, told the Senedd there were "well meaning announcements" in the budget such as a real living wage for social care and uplifts to teachers pay.

"But we know that councils will be expected to fund the vast majority of these increases," he said.

He said the Welsh government could have gone further to reprioritise funding, and questioned spending on £6m on elections policy, £2m on a constitutional commission, or £8m on international relations.

"We now need ministers here... in Wales to start dealing properly with the huge challenges this country is facing and stop looking for other people to blame," he said.

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said the "choice we face is whether to use the powers that we do have, or simply accept the financial envelope essentially passed to us from Westminster".

Proposing income tax rises, Mr Price said: "Money alone is not the answer but without it there is no way out of this crisis."

He said those on lower incomes "stand to suffer most" from cuts to public services with "more painful lives", and accused Welsh ministers of repeating the "talking points of the Taxpayers Alliance".

The Welsh Liberal Democrats, who have one MS in the Senedd, called for more money for NHS dentistry and investment in insulation.

The draft budget passed 27 votes for and 13 against, with 11 abstentions from Plaid Cymru.

Plaid's own proposals for income tax rises failed in a vote, with 11 votes for and 40 against.