Plaid Leader Adam Price calls for honesty from Welsh Government amid collapsed deal mystery
Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price has called on the Welsh Government to be “honest” about why the agreement between themselves and an unnamed private supplier to provide an extra 5,000 Covid-19 tests a day had collapsed.
The Welsh Government said it was "disappointing" that the company had not been able to honour a “written agreement”.
The Plaid Cymru Leader said it “beggared belief” that the Welsh Government was refusing to say why the deal collapsed or who the company was.
Mr Price said it was in the “public interest” for the Welsh Government to be honest with the public and to “provide urgent answers” on what happened and why.
Some sources have suggested the UK Government was part of the reason the deal collapsed.
Mr Price said that Wales would now look at only 1,100 Covid-19 tests being done daily as opposed to the 6,000 tests that would have been conducted per day had the deal gone through.
The Plaid Cymru Leader said Wales would be “even further behind” on testing with “precious time” lost and “countless lives” at “greater risk”.
He said the Welsh Government shouldn’t be “disappointed – they should be furious”.
Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price said,
“Having blamed a company for failing to deliver on a vital agreement to provide an extra five thousand Covid-19 tests, it beggars belief that the Welsh Government is refusing to say why the deal collapsed and who the company was – especially if the actions of the UK Government scuppered the deal as some sources have suggested.
“It is in the public interest for the Welsh Government to be honest with the public and to provide urgent answers about what happened -- and why.
“We were assured by Vaughan Gething that by tomorrow [April 1st] six thousand tests would be done per day. Now, because the deal fell through, we’re looking at only 1,100 tests being done a day. Wales will be even further behind on vital testing than we already were. Precious time has been lost and countless lives may now be at greater risk.
“Testing is one of the best weapons we have to defeat this pandemic by tracking and tracing the spread of the virus, and ensuring frontline health and care workers are protected and can go back to work.
“The Welsh Government shouldn’t be “disappointed”, they should be furious.