Ynys Môn MS left ‘disgusted’ by Conservatives’ attitude during Covid restrictions debate

A Senedd Member had said he was left “frankly disgusted” by the attitude of Conservative politicians during a debate on Covid restrictions.

Ynys Môn MS Rhun ap Iorwerth also accused the rival party of attempting to play down the seriousness of the threat posed by the virus.

The Plaid Cymru member’s remarks came during a discussion on a motion tabled by the Conservatives last week calling on the Welsh Government to ease restrictions on hospitality businesses and outdoor events.

The motion turned out to be largely redundant after ministers set out the process for lifting the measures on Friday.

However, a fierce debate still took place on whether they had been necessary in the first place.

The Welsh Conservatives were also criticised for appearing to take credit for the decision by ministers to ease restrictions.

In moving the motion, Conservative MS Russell George said: “This motion was of course tabled at the back end of last week, just before the government made its announcement on the easing of restrictions.

“I’m always pleased when the Welsh Government pays heed to our motions.

“I’m glad that the Welsh Government has listened to calls from ourselves and from others in terms of outlining a road map for easing restrictions.

“I would say that the current restrictions, the restrictions that were brought in on Boxing Day, were an overreaction.

“I’m glad that the government has changed position in terms of easing restrictions now, but we’ve got to assess at what cost these restrictions were brought in.”

Mr ap Iorwerth, Plaid’s shadow minister for health and finance, defended the stance taken by the government in light of the threat posed by the Omicron variant.

He also made reference to reports of parties being held at Downing Street while lockdown restrictions were in place.

He said: “Hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? And listening to Russell George there passing judgment on something several weeks after the evidence that was presented to us on the threats that the scientists that had advised the government thought that we faced at that point.

“They came to conclusions based on what they had in front of them at that time.

“The suggestion perhaps that Wales shouldn’t have taken steps because England was taking a more cavalier approach is strange to me.

“It was about protecting and safeguarding the people and health service of Wales.

“That is the task for the Welsh Government, and, in general, people will find it very difficult to take any lessons from the party of parties at Downing Street.”

Interventions followed from Mr George and Aberconwy MS Janet Finch-Saunders, with the latter pointing out they hadn’t been given sight of the evidence behind the decision at the time.

Further criticisms were made regarding the impact of the restrictions on businesses, along with claims that not enough support funding had been made available.

It was comments from Vale of Clwyd MS Gareth Davies though that triggered Mr ap Iorwerth’s angry response.

Mr Davies said: “We know full well that measures such as those recently reinstated by the Welsh Government are doing real harm to the people of Wales.

“You would be hard pressed to find anyone who can honestly say that the past two years haven’t impacted their mental well-being.

“We spent, and continue to spend, eye-watering amounts during the past two years in order to shut down large parts of our economy. Think how those billions could have been spent.

“We can’t carry on doing this forever and the SARS-CoV-2 virus is not going away.

“We have to learn to live with it, and I may be the fourth or fifth to say that now from the Welsh Conservatives, so you might want to tick that one off as well on the Plaid Cymru benches.”

The Ynys Môn MS responded: “I’ve got to come in here and say I am frankly disgusted with the Conservatives’ attitude in this debate this afternoon.

“It’s the most COVID-denying, the most dismissive of the realities of the losses of the past couple of years, that I have ever heard.

“Are you ashamed that you’re a party whose own leader rubbed our faces in it through his flagrant disregard for the sacrifices all of us have had to make?

“Do you really think that what we should be doing now is just wishing somehow that this had never happened?

“Is that the best that the right-wing Welsh Conservatives have got to offer now?”

Mr Davies hit back by saying he was “disgusted” by Plaid Cymru’s own stance on the measures.

He said: “I think it’s quite rich for the member for Ynys Môn to be calling the Welsh Conservatives’ stance disgusting when they’re not prepared to take a stance on it themselves.

“As my colleague Russell George outlined when opening the debate, he welcomed the Welsh Government delivering on the Welsh Conservatives’ demand for a road map out of lockdown restrictions, and we welcome a road map to more liberty, to more freedoms.

“He mentioned some of the effects on businesses and that each pub in Wales is due to lose £16,000, and some of the issues near the border, with people travelling to Shrewsbury from his own constituency, and to Chester from mine, just to have a night out and a little bit of freedom for a weekend or so.

“It’s not too much to ask when the evidence supports it, I don’t think.”