Wales continues to underperform after decades of Labour rule, GPs warn of a fit-note system that is too easy to use, fresh data concerns undermine digital ID, and the economy is still stuck in neutral
I read that the current first minister of Wales has said that her Finance Minister Mark Drakeford (former first minister) has no interest in economics. And what you say about Labour being about inputs is right. Wales is like a family on benefits who could work but don't and then complain that they are not given enough money. I'm Welsh but I live in England and when I go back one thing I hear a lot is that Wales is losing out after Brexit because Wales no longer gets all that EU money. I try to point out that it was never EU money it was always our money because the UK was a nett contributor. We give the EU £100 and they give us 50 quid back. But you can't convince them.
Spot on, Steve — and that detail about Drakeford having "no interest in economics" is quite the admission from the current First Minister. It says a lot about the culture that's been allowed to develop in Cardiff Bay. Your analogy about the family on benefits who won't work but complain about not getting enough is a blunt way of putting it, but it captures the mentality well — the argument is always about the level of the transfer, never about what's being produced with it. And you're absolutely right about the EU money point. The UK was a net contributor, so Wales was always getting back a portion of its own money via Brussels — with strings attached and a Brussels logo on it. The fact that that narrative has stuck so hard shows how effective the rebranding was. Keep making the argument — it matters even if it doesn't always land immediately.
Thanks Angelique, really appreciate you taking the time to share all of that — and I'm sorry to hear about the situation you've found yourself in. You're far from alone in that experience, unfortunately. The combination of a stagnant housing market, rising costs, and stretched public services is hitting a lot of people who did everything "right" and still find themselves worse off. Pembrokeshire really is beautiful — it's one of those parts of Wales that still holds something genuinely special, and it's a shame the broader picture around it doesn't match. The point about NHS language standards is one I hear regularly — and it's a legitimate concern about communication in clinical settings where precision really matters. It's not about where someone is from, it's about whether a patient can actually understand what they're being told about their own health. That's a basic standard any system should be able to meet. Hope things start to look a bit more positive for you soon.
I read that the current first minister of Wales has said that her Finance Minister Mark Drakeford (former first minister) has no interest in economics. And what you say about Labour being about inputs is right. Wales is like a family on benefits who could work but don't and then complain that they are not given enough money. I'm Welsh but I live in England and when I go back one thing I hear a lot is that Wales is losing out after Brexit because Wales no longer gets all that EU money. I try to point out that it was never EU money it was always our money because the UK was a nett contributor. We give the EU £100 and they give us 50 quid back. But you can't convince them.
Spot on, Steve — and that detail about Drakeford having "no interest in economics" is quite the admission from the current First Minister. It says a lot about the culture that's been allowed to develop in Cardiff Bay. Your analogy about the family on benefits who won't work but complain about not getting enough is a blunt way of putting it, but it captures the mentality well — the argument is always about the level of the transfer, never about what's being produced with it. And you're absolutely right about the EU money point. The UK was a net contributor, so Wales was always getting back a portion of its own money via Brussels — with strings attached and a Brussels logo on it. The fact that that narrative has stuck so hard shows how effective the rebranding was. Keep making the argument — it matters even if it doesn't always land immediately.
Thanks Angelique, really appreciate you taking the time to share all of that — and I'm sorry to hear about the situation you've found yourself in. You're far from alone in that experience, unfortunately. The combination of a stagnant housing market, rising costs, and stretched public services is hitting a lot of people who did everything "right" and still find themselves worse off. Pembrokeshire really is beautiful — it's one of those parts of Wales that still holds something genuinely special, and it's a shame the broader picture around it doesn't match. The point about NHS language standards is one I hear regularly — and it's a legitimate concern about communication in clinical settings where precision really matters. It's not about where someone is from, it's about whether a patient can actually understand what they're being told about their own health. That's a basic standard any system should be able to meet. Hope things start to look a bit more positive for you soon.