Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:41 pm on 10 January 2023.
I thank Alun Davies for that question, Llywydd. He reminds us of how fiercely Aneurin Bevan was opposed by the Conservative Party at the time. There never would have been a national health service had that party had its way. Where he is certainly true is this: Llywydd, if you look at satisfaction levels with the national health service, they were at their height in the year 2010, and they've been at their lowest in recent months. Why is that? It's because, in 2010, there had been a decade of investment in our public services. The level of investment in our NHS had reached the level that was available in our European neighbours. A decade of austerity has eroded all of those gains. It lies at the root of the difficulties that we currently face—the difficulties we face with people feeling obliged to go on strike to express their dissatisfaction at the impact that pay held back over a decade has had on their lives, and we see it in the investment that has been available across the United Kingdom to keep that service in good order. I'll certainly make that point when I next see the Prime Minister, but it's a point we make more generally to people across the United Kingdom: this country needs a Government prepared to invest in the NHS and to repair the damage done by the last 12 years.