10. Short Debate: Supporting people in a cost-of-living crisis

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 7:11 pm on 25 January 2023.

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Photo of Jane Dodds Jane Dodds Liberal Democrat 7:11, 25 January 2023

Thank you so much to Jack. You are a tireless advocate and champion for issues relating to people living in poverty, as I know are many around this Siambr. For those of you who don't know why I joined this mad world of politics, let me tell you what it was. For 25 years, I practised as a social worker, visited families where we were doing child protection work, found those families to be amongst the poorest. The poor just get poorer. The poor just have no resources to deal with what's going on. The poor have no options, have no hope, and I hope that myself, and I'm sure, all of us here—and I'm very sorry not to see anybody from the Conservatives, not even online any more—I know that we all want to see things change.

I would go one step further, I would say we should ban all prepayment meters, not just those who are forced to consider it, but all prepayment meters, because they are the devil incarnate in terms of looking at how we can help people who are in poverty. They don't have the resources, they don't have the energy, they don't have the strength to resist what's going on. So, I do call on the Minister to consider how do we ban them in Wales, how can we make sure that they don't get installed any further into our homes in Wales. Thank you. Diolch yn fawr iawn.