Drakeford: Welsh Tory leader claiming “moral high ground” on NHS “shocking”

Mark Drakeford has told the leader of the Welsh Conservative Party that he finds it “absolutely shocking” that he can “claim some sort of moral high ground” after the “mess that your party has made to the budgets of this country”.

In a Senedd session this afternoon, facing questions from SMs on the NHS, the Welsh Labour leader and First Minister argued that workers in the health service “face cuts to their pay because of the policies of your government”.

Tory leader Andrew RT Davies questioned Drakeford over NHS performance, including ambulance waiting times. Drakeford told the Senedd that the Welsh government is “working hard” with the emergency services but cited budget problems as the root cause of the difficulties that the health service is experiencing .

The Welsh Labour leader criticised his Conservative counterpart for the language used to refer to the health service. RT Davies said he was quoting a member of the public when he described Wales as being like a “third-world country”.

“You have chosen to use that language here this afternoon. What do those people face? They face cuts to their pay because of the policies of your government and now, now, they face cuts to the budgets of the health service itself will have at its disposal,” Drakeford told RT Davies in an impassioned contribution.

“It is shocking. It is absolutely shocking to me that you think you can turn up here this afternoon with the mess that your party has made to the budgets of this country to the reputation of this country around the world, that you promised those people that there will be more to come – and you think you can turn up here this afternoon and claim some sort of moral high ground. What sort of world do you belong in?”