I have heard statements recently saying that NHS dentistry is now a two or three-tiered system, and the fact is that there has always been a private dental system—an established alternative. I think that many people will find it staggering to hear a Labour Minister referring so casually to that very real divide between the haves and have-nots. The Minister refers there to just the two-tier system: the haves and have-nots. She can include me on that list of people who have been describing a three-tier system, which she chose not to address.

Perhaps I can explain what we mean by that third tier. It’s not around the affordability of NHS treatment. There are people who can afford to go private. There are people who can’t afford to go private and have NHS treatment. And then there are people who can’t access NHS treatment at all. That is the third tier. A lot of what is driving that lack of access is the growth that there has been in the private sector. People are going private and increasing that private sector precisely because they cannot get access to NHS dental care. This is a vicious cycle and it is getting worse.

When I hear dentists saying that there will not be an NHS dental service in Wales in a few years, do you know what? It’s not hard to believe when you look at the trajectory that we are currently on. We are not creating a tiered system, the Minister says. Well, this Government is presiding over a broken three-tiered system, and entrenching it day by day.