Local MP Chris Elmore has challenged the Prime Minister on the mismatch between UK Government rhetoric on support for Wales and the reality of the funding that is given.

During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday 24 March, the Ogmore MP challenged the UK Government’s suggestion that the Community Renewal Fund was a fantastic opportunity for Wales with the example of the Prime Minister’s previous error suggesting that employment would be arriving in Bridgend in the form of a battery plant that is instead going to Blyth in the North East of England.

Chris Elmore MP said:

“The Prime Minister and the UK Government talk continuously about levelling up in the hope that if something is said often enough then it is taken as the truth.

“We know all too well that we in Bridgend and Wales are an afterthought for this UK Tory Government and that their claims of ‘not a penny less’ for Wales are more rhetoric than intention.”

The Prime Minister mentioned the now infamous Bridgend battery plant in response to criticism from Liz Saville Roberts MP of Plaid Cymru that Wales receives the lowest research and development spend per head of the four nations.

Chris added:

“It’s clear that this UK Tory Government are determined to undermine both devolution and the Welsh Labour Government, who are trying to do the best by our constituents with the meagre scraps Westminster deign to throw them. Wales deserves better, the people of Wales deserve better, and at the very least we deserve a Prime Minister who can distinguish between South Wales and North East England.”

The Prime Minister’s response during PMQs on 10 February. Hansard: https://tinyurl.com/5ans8ub5