We are facing huge challenges but I have a plan to address them so that we can move forward and take advantage of the huge opportunities that await every part of our United Kingdom.
From Llandudno to Leeds, no part of the UK will be left behind. As a Conservative and Unionist Party, the latter of my three goals should be at the heart of everything we do.
Division is something that Plaid Cymru has tried to feed off in Wales, and we know that they excel at provoking splits between neighbours, friends and communities. It’s the job of whoever is the next Prime Minister to tackle this head on, and to bring everyone back together.
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After all, together we’re greater than the sum of our parts. Wales is an extremely proud part of the UK. People across Wales – and I agree with them – know you can be patriotically Welsh and British at the same time, they’re not mutually exclusive.
But I also know that parts of Wales have sometimes felt that both Westminster and Cardiff Bay are worlds away from their everyday lives, out of sync with the realities and challenges that they face day to day.
As Chancellor, I took action to help. During the pandemic, I introduced a furlough scheme that protected almost 600,000 jobs across Wales.
I supported 63,000 Welsh businesses through UK Government-backed loans and grants, and I also ensured support for self-employed people across Wales. Thanks to that support, there are businesses thriving across Wales today that would otherwise have gone under.
More recently, I ensured that UK Government support to help people with the cost of living was UK-wide. People across Wales will have £400 taken off their energy bills, and the most vulnerable 30% of families will receive £1,200 of support.
As Prime Minister, I would scrap VAT on all domestic energy bills – saving households £160 and getting that support to them quickly.
To do all of this, we had to change our approach to Wales, and as Prime Minister I will build on that. We cannot operate a ‘devolve and forget’ mentality, operating as a funding mechanism for the Welsh Government and hoping they will fix issues on their own. Wales deserves better.
I have been very honest with people that inflation makes people poorer and we need to bring it down as quickly as possible. I have a plan to tackle it and rebuild the economy, so that we can capitalise on the opportunities that Brexit has given us.
I want Wales to thrive, and I promise that a government led by me would be the most active UK Government in Wales in history. I will reiterate that promise in Cardiff today.
The fact is that people, whether they are in Swansea or the most rural Brecon Beacons, should have the same opportunities as people in London or Bristol.
‘Levelling up’ is more than a slogan to me; it’s a driving force to spread opportunity to every town, city and village, and it is one way in which we can show – not tell – that the UK Government works for you.
It cannot be right that the Labour-Plaid Coalition’s priority is £100m worth of more politicians at a time when the public are struggling to pay their energy bills. They should be more focused on these cost-of-living challenges, or the huge health waiting-times that blight the Welsh NHS.
The Welsh Conservative Group in the Senedd are doing a fantastic job to hold them to account on this lack of focus, but it’s concerning that it is even a discussion in the first place.
For too long it’s been too easy for Welsh Labour to claim credit for everything that was good in Wales, and then blame the UK Government when things went wrong.
When I was Chancellor, they received the biggest-ever funding package in the history of the Welsh Parliament, so there’s nowhere else to run and no-one else to blame.
Better accountability for all politicians is something I want to drive forward, to restore trust in our politics. The public can only trust us if we are willing to be transparent.
For example, I know the Welsh Conservative Senedd Group are calling for the Welsh Government to undertake their own independent Covid inquiry alongside the UK-wide one, and these are calls that I completely support. Even the Scottish Government are holding their own for actions taken in Scotland.
During the pandemic, both administrations were keen to diverge where possible and to publicly say why they were proud to do so. It makes sense that the Welsh Government should be prepared to defend their actions to the Welsh Parliament. This accountability would extend to my government too: more UK Government ministers visible in Wales, answering to Senedd inquiries, and working more closely than ever before with our Senedd Group.
My vision for Wales is unrivalled. I want to drive Wales forward as part of a thriving United Kingdom. This includes freeports, working to deliver an M4 relief road, thousands of jobs in green energy and nuclear; and the continued delivery of opportunities. I firmly believe my positive vision for all of our United Kingdom is something that a majority of Wales can get behind. I hope you will join me on the journey.
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