No meeting date set for Burnham talks, First Minister confirms
Wales’ First Minister has said he has “a lot to talk about” with Andy Burnham if, as widely expected, he becomes Britain’s new Prime Minister this month.
The former Mayor of Manchester was a hot topic in the Senedd as Rhun ap Iorwerth clashed with Reform’s Welsh leader Dan Thomas over the Welsh Government’s relationship with Westminster.
During a fiery First Minister’s Questions on July 7, Mr Thomas asked if Mr ap Iorwerth had “directly spoken” with Mr Burnham or if he has set a “firm date” for a meeting.
In response, Mr ap Iorwerth noted Mr Burnham is not currently the Prime Minister and said: “The very early conversation that I had with Keir Starmer that didn’t lead to a meeting because of chaos in Westminster, I sincerely hope will be replicated in a very early meeting with Andy Burnham, should, as we expect, he become the Prime Minister of the UK, because I’ve got a lot to talk to him about.”
Mr Thomas told the First Minister that if he was in his position, he would have been “demanding” a date be put in the diary for him to meet Mr Burnham.
The opposition leader continued: “You’re obviously having trouble getting through to London. I don’t know if you’ve got a Reddit account, but you can get through to Andy Burnham on Reddit quite easily. He’s very responsive on there.
“You promised the people of Wales that you would stand up for Wales and you would get a better deal from London but you haven’t met with anybody from the government, as far as we can tell. It’s clear that the UK Government isn’t taking you very seriously.
“The reason for that is quite obvious, it’s because demanding extra money alone that’s not going to open doors in London.”
Mr Thomas, who used to lead Barnet Council in London as a Conservative, added: “I know that as a former council leader who managed to secure hundreds of millions of pounds for infrastructure.
“You have to convince government that you will spend the money wisely. So, is it not the case that the UK Government doesn’t trust Plaid Cymru with extra funding?”
Responding, Mr ap Iorwerth said: “It’s nice to get lessons in spending money wisely from the man who spent so wisely so as to build a property portfolio spanning at least five houses and four acres in three countries, and a party leader [Nigel Farage] who has taken £5 million in donations from cryptocurrency billionaires internationally”.
He continued: “There’s no question of this government missing a single minute, a single opportunity to stand up for the people of Wales, as the people of Wales put their trust in us to do.
“It’s not our fault, the shambles at Westminster, which could even include his party leader [Nigel Farage] standing down, I don’t know, in a statement at 2 o’clock—who knows?
“That’s the chaos within the Reform leader’s party, and it’s chaos at Westminster that has stopped us from being able to take that face to face between the Welsh First Minister and the UK Prime Minister. I’m looking forward to putting that right very, very soon, when they sort out their leadership issues there.”
Nigel Farage announced today that he would make a statement on his “future in public life” at 2pm following scrutiny on the £5 million he received from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.
Questions to the First Minister began prior to Mr Farage’s statement but it has since been announced that Mr Farage will resign as MP for Clacton-on-Sea to force a by-election in which he intends to stand as the Reform candidate.
Mr ap Iorwerth also fielded questions on additional learning needs (ALN) funding and education standards, defending his administration’s work so far heading into the summer recess on July 20.
“Vulnerable”
Ken Skates, Welsh Labour’s interim leader, noted Plaid Cymru’s 2024 acknowledgment that schools are forced to make difficult decisions about the support they can provide – quoting Mr ap Iorwerth as saying: “Wales can do better than this. Under Plaid Cymru, the pupils who need support will receive it.”
Mr Skates therefore called on the First Minister to reveal why not “a single extra penny” was allocated towards ALN in the first supplementary budget.
Describing creating a “sustainable” ALN framework as a “priority” for his government, Mr ap Iorwerth told the Labour leader that he is as “keen” as he is to work on ALN.
However, the First Minister also acknowledged the “tight constraints” within which his government
must work, noting the “hundreds of millions of pounds of overspend” that his government “inherited from the last”.
Mr Skates called for the First Minister to avoid “abdicating responsibility for the most vulnerable children in Wales”.
He told the Siambr that he had heard from two headteachers recently, Nia Goldsmith and Richard Hatwood. Ms Goldsmith, headteacher at Ysgol Tŷ Ffynnon. told the Labour leader that she had concerns about the pressure on staff in school budgets.
Mr Skates added that Mr Hatwood had informed him that the chair of the Primary Headteacher Federation has requested a meeting with the First Minister – and called on Mr ap Iorwerth to confirm if he will be agreeing to the meeting.
The First Minister said: “The problems that we face in ALN have been caused by 27 years of Labour education ministers. We want to work with this current group and anybody else to make sure that we build up sustainability for the future.
“The plans that we have in the supplementary budget stick with the previous government’s spending plans, whilst making allocations in areas I know the member’s party supports.
“I hope we can make positive progress on this, because we owe it to the people who are quite right in pointing out that we have a depth of problem in ALN in Wales and in England that deserves to be resolved. But it’s not going to be resolved by a one-off payment.”
“Huge distraction”
Darren Millar, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, told the First Minister he would present a question on something that would not cost him “a penny”.
Mr Millar pressed the First Minister to confirm when a ban on mobile phones in schools will be in place in Wales.
He said: “Mobile phones can be a huge distraction for young people and a disruption for them in the classroom. It can undermine their education and cause them challenges with their mental health as well.
“As a result of that, in England, last week, the UK Government issued its statutory guidance and the effect of that is a ban on mobile phones during the school day in schools across the country.
“The situation, as you will know, here in Wales is very different. It’s inconsistent from one school to the next, and one local authority to the next, in spite of the fact that 82% of the education workforce want a statutory ban in place.”
Mr Millar then referenced a statement made by the education minister Anna Brychan, who said she will consult on guidance in September.
Continuing, the Welsh Conservative leader said: “That means that no guidance will be issued until beyond September, with no ban coming into place. We don’t need words, we don’t need waffle. Why are you dragging your feet and when are we going to get the ban that people in Wales want?”
Noting that his government also wants to bring in statutory guidance on mobile phone usage in schools, the First Minister told Mr Millar that the timing of the consultation is due to the summer holidays.
Mr ap Iorwerth added: “We could open that consultation before the summer, but because of the summer we’d have to continue it afterwards anyway.”
The Welsh Conservative leader went on to quiz the First Minister on independent schools and the policy changes made by the UK Government, including changes to VAT on education fees.
He called on Mr ap Iorwerth to say what discussions he is having with the Independent Schools Council in Wales and whether the Welsh Government will petition the UK Government to reverse the “damaging policies” that are resulting in the closures of independent schools.
Noting that decisions on VAT and national insurance for independent schools are reserved to Westminster, the First Minister said: “My concern, when it comes to the closure of an independent school, is for the learners, the families and the staff affected, and the impact of the moving of students into the state school or college sector.
“My government will be working closely with authorities to make sure that those pressures are dealt with.
“Our job is to support that state school sector now. There may be the need for more support when we have independent school closures.
“That’s why we have put those incentives in to bring more teachers into the profession, so we strengthen the workforce. It’s why we are putting in place the framework for improved numeracy and literacy within schools.”
Ella Groves – ICNN Senedd Reporter
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