Welsh government budget: Tories on Trump trip miss vote


The draft budget proposed by the Welsh government caused a significant upset on Tuesday due to the absence of the leader of the Senedd’s Conservatives, Darren Millar, and one of his colleagues, Russell George. Millar and George missed a key vote on the government’s spending plans whilst they attended the National Prayer Breakfast in the US, in an event at which it was expected Donald Trump would deliver a speech. Their absence allowed the Labour party, which controls half the seats in the Senedd, to win the vote in which Welsh Lib Dem, Jane Dodds, abstained.  Both Millar and George have defended their absence, saying it was due to their role as trustees of a Christian charity, with Millar adding that he was attending a long-standing meeting of high-profile politicians in the US.

Before the absence of Millar and George was known, the vote was expected to be difficult for the Labour party, but their abstention gave it a workable majority. While the vote was not binding, losing on Tuesday would have caused embarrassment for Labour, with many still unhappy about the proposed spending plans.

A Plaid Cymru representative criticised the Conservative party’s action saying they have given up being an opposition party, while the Reform party said the Conservatives “don’t care about Wales”. By contrast, the Welsh Conservative party said the budget should be voted down and will do so next month, however as Labour controls half of the seats the vote will not be successful, regardless of the Conservatives’ opposition.   Meanwhile, Jane Dodds has been in negotiations with the government to help its financial plans pass in March.

The instinct of opposition members to abscond at critical junctures was also seen in the UK in 2016, when Labour MPs resigned en masse from shadow government positions due to a loss of confidence in Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, saying they wanted a change of direction

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