Labour and Plaid accuse each other of arrogance as election looms
Senedd CymruThe Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru leaders have accused each other of arrogance, in the last First Minister's Questions before the Senedd election.
Plaid's Rhun ap Iorwerth said Eluned Morgan had claimed a non-Labour first minister "can't have an effective relationship with the UK prime minister", this "arrogance is why people are so fed up of Labour", he said.
First Minister Morgan told him "you're counting your votes already, aren't you? And the people of Wales are clocking that - the arrogance".
Also rehearsing his campaign lines was Conservative Senedd leader Darren Millar, declaring "the best way to help people with the cost of living is to put more money into people's pockets".
It was the final session in chairing the proceedings for Elin Jones, the Llywydd.
Jones will be seeking re-election as a Plaid Cymru Senedd member on 7 May but has already said she does not want remain presiding officer.
In an often noisy, but not rowdy, session on Tuesday, she jokingly commented to the laughter of MSs.
"I've adopted a kind of laissez faire, let it all go, last week of term to this [today] to see if it strikes a different chord but it doesn't seem to have worked!"
Morgan has extolled what she sees as the advantages of having Labour in power in both Wales and Westminster, since the 2024 general election, and being able to "pick up the phone" and speak to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Rhun ap Iorwerth sees things differently, characterising that relationship as one in which Morgan defers to Starmer at the expense of Welsh interests.
Ap Iorwerth said it was "profoundly undemocratic" for Labour to be "claiming that a future first minister of Wales can't have an effective relationship with the UK prime minister if they don't belong to the same Labour Party".
"This arrogance is why people are so fed up of Labour and why Welsh voters are crying out for new leadership and new ideas."
"You're counting your votes already, aren't you?" Morgan responded.
"And the people of Wales are clocking that, the arrogance - the taking for granted of what might happen next."
Opinion polls suggest Reform and Plaid Cymru are vying for first place in May's election, while the Labour Party may lose power after being in charge of the Welsh government since devolution began in 1999.
Senedd CymruUnsurprisingly so close to an election, highly partisan exchanges came thick and fast on Tuesday.
Darren Millar told the first minister that "every single Welsh Conservative knows that the best way to help people with the cost of living is to put more money into people's pockets and to reward hard work".
"That is why we have proposed a tax and waste cutting agenda for Wales."
Citing the Tory wipeout in Wales at the UK general election, Morgan said "I think the people of Wales have had enough of the Conservatives"
She also accused the opposition party of being "indistinguishable these days from Reform - that is the truth of it".
Talking of Reform, in earlier exchanges that parties MS Laura Anne Jones accused the Welsh government of having an energy policy "driven by ideological net zero targets" without "regard for costs, reliability, rural impact of democratic consent".
She added that "despite huge subsidies for inshore wind, Welsh households still face some of the highest bills in Europe while the grid grows more unstable".
The first minister responded: "I'll tell you what we are opposed to is ideological positions that fail to recognise that climate change is real.
"Climate change is happening" adding "you're continuing to deny its existence".
Senedd CymruIn the final pre-election First Minister's Questions (FMQs) exchange, Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds paid tribute to the social care workforce, calling for what she called "a real commitment" to social care in the next Senedd.
Morgan concurred.
"Let's end this First Minister's Questions on a note that I hope we all can agree on and that is that the people in our communities who need respect, who deserve our respect, are those care workers and in particular those unpaid carers who are doing so much to contribute to our communities," said the first minister.
A spokesperson for the Wales Green Party, which is confident it is about to win its first seats in the Welsh Parliament, said: "You could tell this was the final FMQs as parties tried to find lines to put on election leaflets.
"It showed us many missed opportunities for Labour to change people's lives.
"Greens in the Senedd will be pushing after the election for faster action on living costs, rent controls and making peoples lives better."
