Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iortwerth calls on the future Welsh Labour leader to fight for fair funding for Wales. With a general election later on this year, and the Welsh leadership race in full swing, the time is now to make sure Wales has its fair share of what its owed.
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00:00 >> Mr Speaker No matter how many points are in the plan,
00:07 there is no more important priority now, I guess, than fair funding for Wales. The First
00:11 Minister will know that, given the Budget we are going to be debating later on. One
00:15 pledge by the Minister for Education and Skills in his leadership bid is to reverse the cuts
00:19 that are due to come in in his own Budget, but only if he gets more money from Whitehall.
00:26 He is making my argument for me, but of course the Tories will not pledge more money for
00:32 Wales. They are not interested. As we have seen with HS2 consequentials, Keir Starmer
00:36 is refusing to make that pledge too. The First Minister has not been able to get that pledge
00:41 from him. What makes him think that either of his potential successors will be able to?
00:46 >> Mr Llywydd, the leader of Plaid Cymru's obsessive interest in the Labour Party continues.
00:53 I am quite happy to start the new year by sending him an application form, and then
00:57 he will be able to take part in the affairs of the party to which he devotes most of his
01:02 attention here on the floor of the Senedd. >> The First Minister agrees with Plaid's
01:09 leader and says that backscrapping the dated Barnett formula and giving Wales a voice in
01:13 funding is essential for the country, putting the emphasis on a needs-based system.
01:19 >> The position of this party has always been that fair funding needs to come to Wales,
01:25 that the Barnett formula is well past its effective date, and that funding based on
01:33 need would see a different flow of funding here into Wales. That is the policy of the
01:39 Welsh Labour Party and the Welsh Labour Government, and we will continue to mount the arguments
01:44 for it. >> Matt Biorworth says the leadership hopefuls
01:48 in the Labour Party are right to emphasise the need for proper funding in the NHS, but
01:53 says that their promises so far do not go far enough to create real change. He also
01:58 argues that money is not the only element that needs changing, and creative thinking
02:02 of great importance to make sure the health system in Wales has everything it needs to
02:07 care for the people in the country. >> For fairness for Wales, both candidates
02:13 to become the next Labour leader in Wales want to prioritise the NHS. Few would disagree
02:19 with that. One has a vague pledge that spending per head on the NHS in Wales would not fall
02:24 below England, which is a pretty weak promise, if we are honest, and which also suggests
02:28 it is all about money. As the director of the Royal College of Nursing in Wales said
02:33 last week, we keep being told there is no money, yet we are not thinking creatively
02:37 about how we use the money that is in the system.
02:42 The leadership battle is clearly of great importance not only to the Labour Party, but
02:46 everyone in the Senedd. The Welsh Labour leader will be our next First Minister. So what happens
02:50 over the next few months is critical. With promises already being thrown around, it seems
02:54 all the parties scrutinising the race and want to know that Wales is being taken care
02:59 of. J.P. Watkins, reporting from Wales.
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