Banning meal deals, cutting bus services, charging people to drive their cars on trunk roads, taxing people to visit Wales, increasing the number of politicians in the Senedd – these are the current priorities of the Labour Government in Cardiff, and all of them will adversely impact on people’s lives in North Wales.
It is no wonder that people in our region feel so remote from those who seek to micro-manage them on the Welsh Government benches in the Senedd.
I want to see a situation where setting up shop and opening a business in North Wales is viewed as an unmissable opportunity but we can only get there by fixing the basics, such as improving health and education outcomes, upgrading our transport infrastructure and investing in our undervalued communities.
Whatever you think of the UK Government, it at least gets it. Over £200 million is coming to North Wales just through the levelling-up system which works with local people to deliver for local people – I can’t imagine what vanity project Labour would spend that money on, but we do know it would be down in South Wales.
The £200 million in funding so far will help to improve Conwy Coast to Valley connectivity, protection of Ruthin’s unique heritage, and investment in Holyhead will make a real difference to the lives of people across North Wales.
And, in spite of the resistance shown by Labour politicians with their opposition to the UK Government’s freeports policy, we have also seen Holyhead designated as one of two freeports in Wales as a result of effective campaigning by Conservative MPs and MSs.
The port of Holyhead is very much deserving of freeport status, which will allow businesses to benefit from simplified customs procedures, streamlined planning processes and tax relief which will create jobs and support local communities adding £1 billion to the economy by the end of the decade.
The Labour Government needs to replicate these kinds of bold initiatives to give North Wales the boost it deserves, but instead it seems intent on exacerbating the North-South divide that they have presided over for more than 20 years.
The recent roads review is a case in point. Labour Ministers decided to cancel and scrap road projects left, right and centre to the detriment of those already lacking sufficient transport links due to decades of underinvestment in infrastructure.
While Labour Ministers crack on with a new dual carriageway in the South, here In North Wales, a staggering 15 of the 16 lined up road projects have either been stopped or scrapped altogether.
The roads review was so out of touch with reality, even Labour Senedd Members felt the need to use our Welsh Conservative motion as an outlet to express their frustration with the process and lack of engagement with the public.
The recent North Wales transport report highlighted a series of Labour failures to connect North Wales with sufficient transport links. The Deputy Transport Minister tried to spin this as a win for Wales, and patronisingly suggested that shortcomings in the North Wales transport system present an ‘opportunity’ for people to walk more.
This was an incredibly ironic statement, given that the report also pointed out that road crossing options and pavements were often poorly maintained or non-existent, making the walks described by the Minister, perilous.
While the infrastructure in North Wales crumbles, the socialists in Cardiff Bay have frittered away a quarter of a billion pounds on a loss-making nationalised airport, all whilst the North Wales Metro project gets pittance in funding compared to the equivalent in South Wales.
Those millions would have been better spent on business rates relief for hard pressed businesses across the whole of Wales.
Wales’ most recent employment statistics which showed that employment fell by over 33,000 in 2022 is also a disappointment. We should not be losing thousands of jobs a year in post-Covid Wales when employers are crying out for staff but Labour’s economic mismanagement is biting hard.
Dilapidated, poorly performing schools and hospitals are another symptom of Labour’s mismanagement.
The people of Wales are dynamic and hardworking, but a workforce that is economically inactive due to soaring waiting lists and under-skilled as a result of poor educational outcomes is not an attractive one for businesses looking to invest in Wales.
Wales receives £1.20 for every £1 spent in England on health and education, yet the Auditor General for Wales revealed that Labour has only been spending £1.05, allocating the other 15p elsewhere including copious vanity projects over the years.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board being prematurely taken out of special measures to suit Labour’s electoral aims and then reversing this decision as report after report highlighted continued failings was an utter shambles to say the least.
Wales languishes at the bottom of Britain’s PISA and GCSE rankings, invites unions into the classroom to teach industrial strife and fails to train or retain enough staff to keep class sizes at a consistent size.
The money is there, but Wales needs a government with different priorities, one that does not distract itself with constitutional issues or vanity projects.
There needs to be a fair share of investment for North Wales that recognises our economic importance as well as our specific needs as a region, yet the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay continue to leave us behind.
Wales deserves a government that recognises good value for money and stress tests spending commitments, ensuring that there is always a material benefit for the everyone.
Welsh Conservative priorities are the people’s priorities, our approach would be one of focussing on the core tenants of good governance, delivering better schools, better hospitals and better pay packets for people in every part of the country, including the North.
Darren Millar MS is the Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for North Wales
