First Minister criticised by Labour Senedd members over 'scattergun' Welsh Government policy
First Minister criticised by Labour Senedd members over 'scattergun' Welsh Government policy
Eluned Morgan faced tough questions over her government's international strategy
First Minister Eluned Morgan
(Image: PA Media )
Wales' First Minister Eluned Morgan was criticised over the Welsh Government's international strategy, including by some of her own party's Senedd members. She appeared at the Senedd's culture committee and was asked about international strategy and plans for an investment summit in December at the Celtic Manor in Newport.
Labour's Llanelli MS, Lee Waters, asked what a planned summit would actually achieve. "You've created a summit. Well, having organised lots of conferences – conferences can take a lot of energy and deliver very little, so [it's] interesting how you measure that."
The First Minister responded there were three priorities – to raise the nation's profile, grow the economy and establish Wales as a globally responsible country. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
When she was further questioned, she said: "We've got a lot of ambitions and we're doing a lot of work on it and we're expecting it to deliver quite a bit.'
Asked again what December's summit at Celtic Manor will deliver, she said: "Well, you'll have to wait and see because we don't know until it's actually happened."
The First Minister who was previously accused of undermining scrutiny by earlier declining to give evidence, said she would not give "chapter and verse" on expectations for the summit.
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Plaid Cymru's Heledd Fychan then said: "I have to say I'm really unclear about what the answer was to Lee Waters' question there.
"It seems very scattergun rather than strategic – that's my impression from the evidence I've just heard – how are you able to reassure me, that's not the case?"
Mrs Morgan deferred to Welsh Government officials: Andrew Gwatkin and David Warren. Mr Gwatkin said:
"It's not a case of us being headless, jumping from one thing to another.
"There is a constant and core to what we do…. but, of course, we're a small team – we can't adapt to everything… we can't do everything and our budgets, similarly, are what they are."
The questioning then turned to the international strategy, which in a previous role, Mrs Morgan was responsible for. It contains 270 actions. During the meeting on June 18, she pointed to the impact of the pandemic, Brexit, war in Ukraine and US president Trump on that.
However, another Labour MS then had his say. Blaenau Gwent MS Alun Davies, said: "What we want is to understand how the government is spending public money… to hold [the] government to account for that and that's a fair and reasonable request to make."
She responded that "over the summer" the 270 actions would be looked at "so it's clear and more transparent".
"There will be some things in there we haven't been able to achieve because the world has changed." She then added: "Just to manage your expectations, we've got one person working on this,' with Mr Davies earlier joking: 'I've been a member here for 20 years, first minister, my expectations are well managed."
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