11. Plaid Cymru Debate: Cost of living

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:22 pm on 21 September 2022.

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Photo of Luke Fletcher Luke Fletcher Plaid Cymru 5:22, 21 September 2022

Okay, well, clearly you weren't listening well enough, Gareth, because Sioned had mentioned that in her contribution. I would just say, stop deflecting all the time. We've seen a Prime Minister advocate for trickle-down economics, tax cuts, removing the cap on bankers' bonuses, and, by the way, no windfall tax at all on energy companies, who are making billions while people see their bills go up—billions, hand over fist, they're making—and instead you expect the people to pay. Get real. For God's sake, get real. I can't take anyone who is still advocating for trickle-down economics seriously at this point. It never worked, and it will never work. 

What I would say to the Welsh Government is, in the face of ever-increasing hostility to working-class people from the UK Government: step up. The Government's response to some of the policies proposed by Plaid have been absolutely shocking. Is this the state of radical socialism in Wales? A reluctance to freeze rent and evictions in the private sector in Wales, where proposals to help people are only met with 'How are you going to pay for them?' That's not the language of socialism. That's the language of the managerial class, of people who have accepted unconsciously, or consciously, the ideology of austerity. To paraphrase, the language of socialism is priorities, and above all else, like many of the Labour Members in this Chamber, to be fair, my priority is the people, and protecting the people from the cost-of-living crisis—the people who thrive when there's a Government who looks out for them, and suffer when there is not. This will be a pandemic of a whole different sort. While the size of the crisis means it is impacting almost everyone in our society, it is absolutely devastating our poorest and most vulnerable.

We have already heard how children and young people in Wales are being disproportionately affected, alongside disabled people and renters. For families with young children where there is just one parent, more than one in four are struggling to afford everyday stuff—not luxuries, everyday essentials.