Politics

Conservatives take aim at own Achilles Heel

Published

5 years ago

August 6, 2020

by Jon Coles

ANDREW RT DAVIES, the new and combative Conservative Shadow Health Minister, stepped into new territory for him and the Conservatives in Wales this week.
In recent weeks, the Conservative group in the Senedd has stepped up its attacks on the Welsh Government’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, highlighting instances where Wales has failed to follow the Westminster Government’s lead on policy decisions.

TURNING A BLIND EYE

With Westminster’s current response to the COVID crisis at sixes-and-sevens, the Shadow Health Minister put in his boot to criticise the Welsh Government for following Westminster’s lead on a contentious policy decision.
In March, the Westminster Government – followed by the UK’s devolved administrations – began discharging hospital patients into care homes. Discharged patients were not tested for coronavirus.
The Herald reported on the scandal at the time. We highlighted instances where care providers, in both Wales and England, were pressurised by health boards and trusts to take untested patients into closed residential settings.
The outcome of that disastrous policy decision was easily predictable. Its likely consequences were well-known – at least by the Westminster Government – at the time it made that decision.
Introducing a virus known to be lethal to vulnerable and elderly patients caused a wave of deaths in care homes across the UK. The virus spread among an isolated and largely defenceless population.
The foreseeable result was a calamity.
Deaths in social care settings spiralled. They remain high even after the first spike of the virus in the general population and its decreasing incidence across the UK.
Wading into the scandal this week, Andrew RT Davies criticised Welsh Government without a moment’s apparent reflection on the wider context of his words.
In a press release, Mr Davies commented: “There can be no excuse for such an ill-thought decision which, of course, will have had a profound impact on some of our most vulnerable in care homes. I cannot comprehend where the government’s thought process was in pushing care homes to accept hospital patients who had not received a COVID-19 test.
“The bullish act by the Welsh Labour-led Government in applying pressure is truly scandalous and as a result, the people of Wales deserve an apology.
“The most pressing question now is to address how many patients were infected after being admitted and then discharged from the hospital. To address people’s serious concerns, this must be a priority for the Welsh Labour-led Government.”
On receipt of the press release, we replied and asked whether Mr Davies wished to extend his tart observations about the discharge of untested hospital patients to include the Westminster Government.
After recent press releases in which the Conservatives have not hesitated to compare Wales unfavourably with England, we believed Mr Davies might reflect and provide a balanced response: possibly to praise the Welsh Government for following Westminster’s lead; possibly to take the chance to even-handedly criticise the Westminster Government’s policy which the Welsh Government followed.
We did not receive a reply.

POLITICISING A PANDEMIC

Over recent weeks, the Conservatives have ramped up partisan rhetoric over the Welsh Government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former Shadow Health Minister, Angela Burns, managed to navigate a path between scoring political points and attacking the Welsh Government for its multiple early failings in Wales’ response to the virus.
Those failings include setting a testing target, failing to secure the testing kits necessary to meet the target, saying a testing target didn’t exist, announcing a revised testing target, and then abandoning testing targets altogether.
On each of those, Mrs Burns made telling points and held Wales’ Health Minister, Vaughan Gething, to account – often leaving him wriggling on a hook made of his own contradictions and evasions.
Similarly, when Wales entered the strictest phases of lockdown, Paul Davies was able to highlight the enormously disproportionate impact of them on Wales’ rural economy without indulging the fantasy that somehow things were any rosier over the border.
As the Westminster Government began to ease lockdown restrictions in England, and under pressure from both the Westminster Government and Conservatives on either side of Wales’ border with England, the tone of Conservative briefings changed sharply.
Repeated releases from the Conservatives demanded that the Welsh Government lift the lockdown in Wales in step with England. The Welsh Government was accused of ‘dither and delay’, the phrase ‘catch-up Cymru’ began to appear. Fighting talk appeared in the names of shadow ministers who previously expressed themselves cautiously, occasionally critically, and usually constructively.
With one eye on the next round of elections to the Senedd, the Conservatives moved away from consensus and criticism to outright attack.
Having watched the reopening of schools in England unravel into chaos, Conservative attacks on the reopening of Wales’ schools lost step with reality. Now, the Welsh Government was criticised for taking steps that England failed to take to keep schools open there. The desperate floundering of Westminster’s Conservative Education Minister, Gavin Williamson, stood in stark contrast to the determined and unflustered approach of his Welsh counterpart, Kirsty Williams.
Darren Millar, the Senedd Member charged with speaking for the Conservatives on COVID in Wales, began to speak of Wales’ failings – and particularly those of the Welsh Government – for not reopening pubs, restaurants and holiday accommodation. With Wales’ hospitality and tourism industries on their knees, it appeared that approach would serve the Conservatives well.
As the easing of lockdown in parts of England has unravelled, however, Mr Millar has gone noticeably quiet as Wales continues to lift restrictions now re-imposed in significant areas of England’s north-west.
The Prime Minister’s warnings of the risks of a second wave of the virus should focus Conservatives in Wales’ attention on what preparations the Welsh Government is making to head-off that eventuality or at least ease its impact if or when it arrives. Instead, Andrew RT Davies is fighting four-month-old battles seeking headlines.

CONSERVATIVES NOT ALONE

One of the features of the crisis has been how Plaid Cymru has used it to propel its own message for an independent Wales – or at least a Welsh legislature with far stronger powers than the current arrangements.
‘Westminster doesn’t work for Wales’ is how Plaid has pitched its message. Its fire is concentrated on the shambolic approach of the Westminster Government’s response to the crisis. The Prime Minister’s endless capacity to make up policy on the hoof when caught out or tell outright lies when questioned about details has given Plaid Cymru ample opportunity to illuminate the gap between Westminster’s rhetoric and reality.
The Westminster Government’s hectoring approach to the UK’s devolved administrations, which includes gazumping the Welsh Government on a deal for testing kits with pharmaceutical giant Roche, and its constant inconstancy and inconsistency has also allowed Plaid to deploy
its choir of voices demanding more autonomy – preferably independence – for Wales.
When attacking the Welsh Government, however, Plaid has taken a different approach to the Welsh Conservatives. It has clamoured to keep restrictions in place – for example on schools – and for existing restrictions to be strengthened and reinforced – for example on face coverings, a policy on which it is eerily close to the Conservatives’.
However, Plaid – and the Conservatives – have fallen well short of saying what they would have done differently in the same situation and what they would do now to improve things during the continuing COVID age.

ONE EYE ON THE ELECTION

By the time next May comes around, both of Wales’ principal opposition parties need to set out defined messages that are both less negative and more grounded in current reality if either is to shift Labour from power in Cardiff Bay.
For the Conservatives, the challenge is finding a voice for Wales which is not an echo of Westminster. The events of recent weeks demonstrate that efforts to reform the Conservatives in Wales to forge a distinct identity from the UK party are likely to be seed falling on stony ground. Darren Millar is Boris Johnson’s representative on Earth and Simon Hart his rock. A more constructive approach from the Conservatives is, therefore, highly unlikely.
For Plaid Cymru, the challenge is moving beyond dreams of jam tomorrow in favour of policies for today. Plaid need to focus less on what Westminster isn’t doing for Wales but what Plaid CAN deliver for the whole of Wales and not just its existing voters. Plaid’s problem is systemic. It lacks resources and, while it well-organised in pockets of Wales outside ‘Y Fro’, it has not found the key to unlock monoglot Anglophone voters in sufficient numbers across Wales.
As for Labour in Wales, all it can promise is more of the same. It’s been in power for over twenty years and it isn’t likely to change a formula that’s kept it in power for so long. And, when it comes to the economy, Labour can point out that the big levers are held by the Exchequer in London.
The Conservatives and Labour have the advantage of a large electoral base across most of Wales. If they can energise those voters to turn up and vote next May in anything like the numbers they did in the General Election, Plaid will have to watch out for a massive squeeze on their far smaller electoral base

Farming

‘Poor decision’ New Creamston housing condition overturned

Published

7 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

A “POOR DECISION” agricultural worker-only imposed nearly 40 years ago has been removed from a Pembrokeshire property by county planners.

In an application recommended to be approved at the December meeting of Pembrokeshire County council’s planning committee, Tim and Cathy Arthur sought permission for the removal of an agricultural worker-only condition at New Creamson, Creamston Road, near Haverfordwest.

An officer report for members said the agricultural condition was imposed when the dwelling was built in 1988/89, with a later certificate of lawful development granted this year after it was proven the site had been occupied for more than 10 years on breach of that condition.

An application for a certificate of lawfulness allows an applicant to stay at a development if they can provide proof of occupancy over a prolonged period.

Speaking at the meeting, agent Andrew Vaughan-Harries of Hayston Developments & Planning Ltd told members the original agriculture-only condition was a poor decision by planners back nearly four decades ago.

“When this application was made in 1988-89 we go back to the Preseli District Council – I was still in school – it was only a 50-acre farm, it should never have been approved as it shouldn’t have been viable.

“The current applicants have owned it for the last 20 years; they’ve tried to grow apples but couldn’t make a go of it and then went in to holiday lets. We can’t enforce redundant conditions from bad decisions made years ago.”

Approval was moved by Cllr Brian Hall and unanimously supported by committee members.

Health

‘We are on our own’: Unpaid carers forced to ‘beg’ for support

Published

7 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter

UNPAID carers are being left to “pick up the pieces” of a broken system due to a lack of respite, unsafe hospital discharges and carer’s assessments that result in “nothing at all”.

The warning came as the Senedd’s health scrutiny committee began taking evidence for an inquiry on access to support for more than 310,000 unpaid carers across Wales.

Chris Kemp-Philp, from Newport, who has been a carer for 33 years, gave up her career to become a full-time carer after her husband medically retired from the civil service in 1990.

Ms Kemp-Philp, whose husband died in April, told today’s (December 4) meeting: “I thought he’d been really badly treated… The last four months of his life were dreadful for both of us.”

She was only offered an updated carer’s needs assessment – a right under the 2014 Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act – the day after her husband died.

Ms Kemp-Philp did not realise she had become a carer at first. “But, of course, having lost two incomes and to survive on a half civil service pension wasn’t great,” she said.

She told the committee how the couple “shielded” during the pandemic, saying: “For the past five years, basically, apart from going to a hospital or… a medical facility – I didn’t leave the house because if I’d have gone out, I could have brought something home.

“So, we spent five years literally avoiding people. The experience was unpleasant, I had two great-grandchildren born in that time and I only saw them on video.”

Ms Kemp-Philp said her husband was “pingponged” back and forth after unsafe discharges from hospitals in Gwent. He was put in a car by two nurses then she had to get him out on her own at the other end, with clinicians effectively telling her: it’s your problem now.

“Every time he was sent home, nobody came to help at all,” she said, explaining how she struggled to cope and her husband’s death brought a tragic sense of relief.

Judith Russell, who moved back to Wales to care for her mother 23 years ago, told Senedd Members the responsibility grew greater over the years.

Ms Russell, whose mother died last Saturday on the eve of her 102nd birthday, told the committee: “It’s been my privilege to care for her but I wish other people—I wish there had been more actual care for her. That’s it.”

Ms Russell also cares for her husband who has Alzheimer’s disease, acts as guardian for her disabled sister and cooks every week for her sister-in-law.

“It’s quite a responsibility,” she said. “My life is taken up with caring. I didn’t actually know I was a carer, I cared for my mother because she was my mother – I looked after her, of course I did – and it wasn’t until about three years ago that I identified as a carer.”

Ms Russell warned: “All through this last 23 years, I’ve had to fight and struggle to find things out… there’s very, very little help out there.”

She said she was given a carer’s assessment earlier this year but “there was nothing they could offer me, quite frankly – nothing at all”.

Ms Russell told Senedd Members: “We had a diagnosis [but] there’s no offer of help, there are no directions to find help, somebody to point you – you should be doing this, this is available, that’s available – nothing, you’re on your own completely.”

She joined the Bridgend carers’ group which opened a door to other people grappling with the same weight of responsibility and helped navigate the system. Ms Kemp-Philp added that joining a similar peer support group saved her life.

Ann Soley, who is originally from France and has been living in Wales for eight years, described how life was turned upside down when her British husband had a stroke.

She said: “We are stressed, we are lost. A lot of carers have lost their friends, that is just unbelievable for me because I realised society is not there – there is no compassion.”

Kaye Williams, who works at Bridgend carers’ centre and is herself a carer, warned the witnesses’ experiences are commonplace across the country.

Sue Rendell, from Caernarfon, has cared for her husband who has vascular parkinsonism for nearly 14 years and was waiting for a doctor to call as she gave evidence remotely.

She told the committee: “You go in in the morning to see if he’s still breathing to be honest. We’re at the later stages of his disease and it’s physically demanding, it’s mentally demanding and it’s administratively difficult as well… it’s just very wearing.”

Ms Rendell, who was shattered after a late night caring, said she has tried to get respite but has been told there’s nothing available in Gwynedd nor Anglesey for her loved one’s needs.

She told the committee unpaid carers in Wales are “expected to pick up the pieces” but “nothing much happens” after an assessment. “Fine words butter no parsnips,” she said.

Ms Russell added: “As carers, we save the government millions… and I asked for some help this week actually. I’m 258th on the list for a hip replacement… and I asked the doctor: as a carer, couldn’t I possibly go up the list a little bit? ‘No, we’re not allowed to do that.’

“It’s the only thing I’ve ever asked for.”

Education

‘Sink or swim’: Young carer sat exam hours after 3am hospital ordeal

Published

7 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter

A TEENAGE carer sat a GCSE exam only hours after getting home from a hospital at 3am following a family emergency, a Senedd committee has heard.

The warning came as witnesses highlighted a “sink-or-swim” reality where children as young as three are taking on caring roles while feeling invisible to schools and social services.

Elektra Thomas, 15, who cares for her autistic, non-verbal brother and her epileptic sister, was part of a remarkable and articulate trio of teenagers who gave evidence to a new health committee inquiry on access to support for unpaid carers today (December 4).

The teenager helps her brother Blake get ready for school in the morning and helps him communicate by acting as his voice, which she has done since about three years old.

Ms Thomas told Senedd Members her sister has two children, “so I’m either handling her having a seizure, running around with her medication… or I’m looking after her kids”.

She said: “I’ve been having school assessments at the same time she’s had a seizure. I’ve been in ambulances waiting for her to get into a hospital while also studying.”

Ms Thomas explained how she is unable to focus on her schoolwork if her brother has had an overwhelming day. “I can’t focus on myself and I don’t have time for myself,” she said.

The teenager, who is from Carmarthenshire, described how she was once in hospital until 3am then sat a test – which went towards her GCSE grades – that same day.

Ms Thomas warned young carers do not have time to manage their own mental health, saying: “I didn’t have time for myself, I had time for my brother and sister and that was it.”

She said: “As a young carer who wasn’t noticed for a decade, it was pure manic: I had no coping skills, I had no support – and this has been going on since I was about three or four.”

Ffiôn-Hâf Scott, 18, from Wrexham, who is working while studying in sixth form, has similarly been a carer since she was four years old.

“I used to care for my mum and my sister,” she told the committee. “My sister used to be in a psychiatric ward, she was there for seven years.

“And I care for my mum because she’s diabetic, classed as disabled, has a long list of mental health issues, she has in the past suffered a stroke and had cancer.

“I don’t know how she’s still standing.”

Ms Scott said: “The main challenge right now is looking after myself and learning that you actually have to keep yourself afloat… to keep looking after someone else.

“I think for a very long time I ran on nothing because of my caring role or I didn’t think about the things I needed to do for me, so respite and things like that.”

The Welsh Youth Parliament member warned a lack of support for young carers has been normalised, saying she has had to explain herself 70 different times while aged 12.

Ms Scott said: “I remember going to my teacher and saying – we had a piece of coursework – look I can’t do this right now… you’re going to have to fail me…

“Their response was just ‘well, you have too much on your plate and you need to take things off your plate’ and I was like: it’s very bold of you to stand where you’re stood and say that to me because it’s not a choice to take on the things that we do take on.”

She recalled receiving a phone call about her mum collapsing moments before a maths test and expressed concerns about the prospect of mobiles being banned in schools.

Albie Sutton, 16, a young carer from north Wales, looks after his disabled mother by doing things such as cleaning the house, budgeting and cooking for the family every day.

Mr Sutton said: “It’s a real struggle for her to move around the house, to even do stuff like getting dressed or moving to the toilet by herself… so I’ve got to help her.”

The teenager estimated his caring role takes up about 25 hours a week and makes it difficult for him to pursue some of his hobbies such as competing in powerlifting.

“My mind feels like a hive of bees,” he said. “There’s so many things going in and out… I get home at the end of the day and I’m like ‘oh my God, I’ve got to do this, I’ve got to do that’.”

Warning of the mental stress, he added: “It’s also really difficult for me to socialise… I feel very isolated in my caring role, especially at home. I’m always housebound, I never get the opportunity even just to go out in my local town.”

Mr Sutton told Senedd Members it plays on his mind that his younger brother may have to take on responsibility. “It’s got me debating whether I can go to university,” he said.

He called for a Wales-wide campaign to raise awareness among educators and employers of the issues young carers face and how to recognise the signs.

Ms Thomas agreed: “I’ve had multiple teachers look at me and go ‘what’s a young carer, sorry?’. I’ve had pharmacists go ‘are you sure you’re a young carer?’ and it baffles me.”