Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:39 pm on 7 March 2023.
Thank you. I think I wasn't down to speak, but I will speak, because I think it's very important that I do speak on education. I can't believe that Plaid Cymru just stood up and said that they were going to support a budget that is, in real terms, cutting education—cutting education by £6.5 million in real terms. That is disgraceful. This Government has a missed opportunity with this budget. It has missed an opportunity to reverse the damage that's been inflicted on the children of Wales for the last 23 years. You have done everything that you shouldn't do in terms of education, when you should be concentrating on getting the basics right, rather than concentrating on headline-grabbing stuff. This Labour Government here has not just—[Interruption.] It hasn't just neglected Welsh education, it has effectively harmed it by cutting this in real terms. Would the Minister agree with me that, unlike what the First Minister said earlier, being at the bottom end of the PISA table for the last two decades is no good reflection on Wales's state of education, and, in fact, we need to get those basics right. It's absolutely imperative; it's nothing to be proud of that we've improved just a little bit on those few areas of PISA. We should be near the top; we should be the top of the UK. We should have a vision here that's laid out, where you increase the education budget, ensuring that we get those basics right, ensuring that we deliver the best education in Wales, and, quite frankly, you should be ashamed of yourself for this budget.