Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 3:22 pm on 9 February 2021.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 3:22, 9 February 2021

Well, Llywydd, the final point is a piece of nonsense, isn't it? We publish figures monthly. The so-called offer from the Secretary of State was sent to us just at the point when English hospitals became overwhelmed by the level of coronavirus that they were facing. There's no offer of mutual aid in a system where they have twice the level of infection that we do here in Wales. It really—. To be honest—to be frank, Llywydd, it's just a piece of political games playing and it undermines the efforts of those of us who want to have a serious four-nation approach to recovering from this pandemic.

I've set out the plan already, Dirprwy Lywydd. The first part of the plan is to get coronavirus under control. I note that, for the second week in a row, neither opposition party leader wants to ask me any question about the most vital part of the health service in Wales today—the outstandingly successful vaccination programme here in Wales. As ever, with opposition parties, whenever anything is going well in Wales, they don't have a good word to say for it. For two weeks running, they couldn't find even a single question to ask about that outstanding success. That success will allow us to do what I explained to the Member, and that is to help us to get coronavirus under control, to draw out of the health service the pressure that it currently feels in dealing with the pandemic, and then to recover and to restore services outside coronavirus on the basis of clinical need. That will of course be designed with the professional groups that we are lucky enough to have in the health service in Wales. The serious job, rather than the petty, point-scoring approach to health service recovery, is one that people in Wales can be sure that this Government will pursue on their behalf.