Labour’s political choices are starving our Welsh NHS of resources
The Barnett formula has resulted in Wales receiving £1.20 for every £1 spent on health and education in England according to the Auditor General for Wales. The First Minister welcomed this in his previous role of Wales’ Finance Minister, saying: “I am pleased we have been able to reach agreement about a new fiscal framework which puts our funding on a stable and long-term footing. This is an agreement which is fair to Wales and the rest of the UK.”
Commenting following his questions to Labour’s Finance Minister in the Welsh Parliament today, Welsh Conservative Shadow Finance Minister, Peter Fox MS said:
“I questioned Labour’s Finance Minister today as to whether she agreed with Mark Drakeford’s comments in support of Wales’ financial uplift from the UK Conservative Government. She did not decry those comments from her predecessor.
“The truth of the matter is that the Labour Welsh Government have dug themselves a hole by prioritising their pet projects over our struggling Welsh NHS. Just this week we saw the biggest hospital in Wales issue a black alert and health boards are being asked to fork out £65m in extra savings.
“The Welsh Conservatives want to see the full Barnett consequential allocated to our Welsh NHS. Don’t forget that Labour are the only government in the UK to have ever cut a health budget as they have here in Wales, we would reverse their cuts.”
In 2016, the current First Minister, then Finance Minister Mark Drakeford, signed the revised Fiscal Framework for Wales which included a recommendation for a needs based element to be included in the Barnett formula for Welsh Government settlements from 2018 onwards and praised this element.
Labour minister: ‘We don’t know what we’re doing on the economy’
