Welsh Government cuts: ‘Rachel Reeves won’t fund Wales properly either’ – Plaid Cymru

Labour criticised for lack of ‘political courage’ on protecting Welsh cultural institutions

Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts MP has slammed Labour for blaming cuts to Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales) on the UK Government’s settlement to Wales, while also failing to commit to increased funding for Wales if elected on a UK level.

Ms Saville Roberts criticised First Minister Vaughan Gething for a lack of “political courage” when it came to protecting Welsh cultural institutions.

Mr Gething defended Welsh Government cuts to Amgueddfa Cymru during a press conference on Monday and said that the decision “really does highlight the need to have a different settlement at a UK level.”

Amgueddfa Cymru has indicated it might be forced to close the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff and is reducing its staff by 90.

Liz Saville Roberts pointed out, however, that Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves “drops heavy hints that Labour will go ahead with public spending cuts if it forms the next Government”.

The Conservative Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced departmental spending cuts of up to £20 billion in the spring Budget. In March, the Institute of Fiscal Studies criticised Hunt and Reeves for a being joined in a “conspiracy of silence” over the £20 billion in tax and spending choices.

The Labour Shadow Chancellor has repeatedly insisted that a Labour Government would stick to the Conservatives’ fiscal rules. Keir Starmer has also consistently refused to commit to giving the Welsh Government extra funding though the HS2 project - something all parties in the Senedd have called for.

Speaking during a Westminster Hall debate on the Welsh economy on Wednesday 17 April, Liz Saville Roberts MP said:

“The Chancellor announced departmental spending cuts of up to £20 billion in the spring Budget. Let us be clear that those cuts will make a wasteland of our public services, and they will do so in a country, our country—Wales—where we place a high value on how a community works for everyone.

“I fear for the future of Welsh public services. We have already seen the Welsh Government’s refusal to step in when they defended cuts to Wales’s National Museum. I am sad that, rather than demonstrating the political courage to protect our cultural institutions, First Minister Vaughan Gething tells us to wait patiently for a future Labour Chancellor to start properly funding Wales. I fear that he is referring to the same shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, who drops heavy hints that Labour will go ahead with public spending cuts if it forms the next Government.

“My party believes that the people of Wales should have the ability to grasp the means to build our own economic destiny. Why should we not take control of our natural resources through the devolution of the Crown Estate? Why should we not create a funding system that addresses our needs and makes best use of our fair share of money from HS2 and other projects?”