6. Welsh Conservatives Debate: COVID restrictions

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:39 pm on 19 January 2022.

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Photo of Dawn Bowden Dawn Bowden Labour 4:39, 19 January 2022

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm pleased to be able to respond today to this debate, and would say at the outset that the Welsh Government rejects the overall motion that's before us today. But I am also delighted to see that the latest evidence supports our plan to move to alert level 0, as set out in our amendment. From a personal point of view, I'm particularly looking forward to seeing sporting events return in the normal way, and, as Ministers have made clear throughout our engagement with the sectors affected, nobody in Welsh Government wants to hold on to pandemic protections for any longer than they are necessary, and it is a cause for shame that the Welsh Conservatives continually suggest otherwise. Their arguments often slip into suggestions that there are some ulterior motives driving decisions in Wales, which is indicative of their drift to a paranoid, negative and increasingly irrelevant form of right-wing politics, and the contribution from Laura Jones this afternoon absolutely typified that.

Llywydd, that poor judgment is leading them to talk down the responsible sacrifices made by the people of Wales in recent weeks. Prior to Christmas, Welsh Government, along with all other Governments of the UK, was presented with very worrying evidence about the spread and the speed of infections of the new omicron variant surging through our communities. That evidence was available through TAC and SAGE reports that are regularly published on the Welsh Government website and that accompanied the announcements that were made at the time. In fact, Janet Finch-Saunders, in her contribution, referred to the TAC and SAGE advice when she referred to the fact that the infection rates are coming down now. That's the same TAC advice and SAGE reports, Janet, that we were using to make the decisions on restrictions back in December. 

The public health consensus, not just—