Friday, February 09, 2007
Repenting at leisure
The revelation today that the Assembly Government has a £67.5 million underspend this year must leave Plaid Cymru feeling very foolish. They rushed to do a deal with Labour to get the budget through in return for an extra £300,000 for schools. That is equivalent to 10 extra teachers across the whole of Wales.
Prior to Plaid breaking ranks the combined opposition parties were seeking £17.9 million extra for schools or 200 more teachers and were confident of getting it. We also wanted more money for Tir Mynydd and to close the funding gap between England and Wales in Higher Education funding. All of that went out of the window when the nationalists ran for cover, arguing that they had got the best possible deal. That claim has now been shown to be a fallacy.
As Jenny Randerson said in today's Western Mail, if Plaid had stuck to their guns then we could have had more money for schools in the budget. Instead they sold out teachers and pupils. They will have to answer for that at the ballot box.
Prior to Plaid breaking ranks the combined opposition parties were seeking £17.9 million extra for schools or 200 more teachers and were confident of getting it. We also wanted more money for Tir Mynydd and to close the funding gap between England and Wales in Higher Education funding. All of that went out of the window when the nationalists ran for cover, arguing that they had got the best possible deal. That claim has now been shown to be a fallacy.
As Jenny Randerson said in today's Western Mail, if Plaid had stuck to their guns then we could have had more money for schools in the budget. Instead they sold out teachers and pupils. They will have to answer for that at the ballot box.
