Internationalism, trade unions, the Green Party and universalism raised in the Senedd

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Reform UK’s Francesca O’Brien wanted to know about the impact on government effectiveness of the relationship with trade unions.

The Reform member for Gwyr Abertawe also asked Minister Dafydd Trystan Davies about the amount of money spent on trade unions, saying it totalled £13 million by the last Welsh Labour government.

Mr Davies said: “We recognise the value that trade unions bring to government effectiveness.

“They provide structures for meaningful dialogue, negotiation and problem solving, enabling early intervention that saves time and money.

“Social partnership ensures workforce voices are heard early in decision making and remains the most effective way to address Wales’s challenges.”

Reform’s David Mills wanted First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth to outline how the government’s international offices deliver value for money.

Mr ap Iorwerth said he was an internationalist, and his government will always seek opportunities to sell Wales to the world.

“I know that the Member is isolationist in the way that he sees the world, but I am somebody who will always seek to promote Wales’s place in the world for the benefit of all the people who live in Wales.”

Welsh Tory Sam Rowlands jumped in to defend Mr Mills, saying the irony of the FM calling a Member of the Senedd an isolationist when you are desperate to break up the United Kingdom.

Mr ap Iorwerth said: “I think your leader had his head in his hands, trying to put distance between himself and Reform, and there we are banging the tables on the Reform benches at your isolationist arguments for Wales.”

Reform leader Helen Jenner said left-wing parties had an issue with antisemitism and castigated a recent Green Party conference decision on zionism.

“Do you believe that supporting the existence of a Jewish state is in itself racist—‘yes’ or ‘no’?” She asked.

The First Minister said he had always advocated the two-state solution, and thought the decision taken at the Greens’ conference was ill-judged.

Welsh Labour leader Ken Skates wanted the government’s free childcare policy to be limited to those earning less than £100,000 per year.

Mr ap Iorwerth said: “I’m surprised the Labour leader is undermining those principles of universalism that have given us the NHS, free bus passes and prescriptions.”

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