A senior Conservative MP has said he wouldn't move to Wales due to the policies of the Welsh Government. Lee Anderson, MP for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire and the deputy chair of the Conservative Party, told Tory supporters he would use Labour-led Wales as an example of "what happens when people have a Labour government."
Mr Anderson, who has previously caused controversy due to his remarks about food banks and the death penalty, was addressing the audience at a Welsh Conservative Party conference panel in Newport on the past 25 years of Labour government in Wales.
After hearing the opinions of Senedd members Mark Isherwood, Joel James and Darren Millar about Labour's record, he joked: "I was thinking about moving to Wales but after what you’ve just told me I’ll stay clear."
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He said he would make an example of Wales, adding: "I’m going to go away from this place saying to people: ‘Look at Wales, that’s what happens when people have a Labour government.’ If you show people Labour’s record, they’ll think twice."
During the panel, Joel James MS accused the Welsh Government of having the "arrogance of power" and prioritising "socialist utopian ideals," citing the £1,600-a-month basic income trial for around 500 young people leaving the care system and calls from Labour MSs to implement a four-day working week.
Of the basic income trial, Mr James said: "I think we all recognise that care leavers need that extra help," explaining that the question was whether or not to "give them £1,600 a month for two years then cut it straight off."
The panel, which was in front of an audience of Conservative delegates, was heavily critical of Labour. Darren Millar opened the discussion by telling the audience "I hope you've got your sick bags," saying the Welsh NHS had been run "into the ground," that the economy was "grinding to a halt" and that Wales had become the "sick man of Britain."
He then introduced Mr Anderson, whose seat, in a former coal mining area, had a Labour MP from 1979 until he won it in 2019. Mr Anderson claimed the Labour Party were "not interested in helping people" and that the Labour politicians he dealt with were "champagne socialists" who had "never done a proper day's work in their life."
Mr Anderson has previously defended his claiming of £220,000 in expenses in one year after saying "generation after generation of British people... cannot budget." Managers of food banks in Wales said his comments were "a little out of touch" and "don't reflect the reality for people in Wales."
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