Question Time: Audience member says ‘you made it worse’ to Labour MP

Welsh politicians faced fresh fury for spending more than £30 million on changing the speed limit to 20mph when “the NHS is dying”.

Wales became the first nation in the UK to adopt 20mph as the default limit on restricted roads – prompting widespread fury.

And Senior Labour MP Chris Bryant and Plaid Cymru leader Liz Saville Roberts came under fire tonight from members of the public on Question Time.

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford, praised by Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner during the party’s conference in Liverpool, has come under mounting criticism for the scheme.

One raged: “I’m speaking on behalf of nearly everybody in Wales

“Why have you spent £33million on this project when the NHS needs help? The emergency services need help.

“Potholes need doing in our roads.

“Dental Care is horrendous. I had my granddaughter I have custody of with my grandson, in the summer, five weeks in pain.

“Every day I emailed my surgery. I phoned my surgery, no appointments.

“In the end I had to take her overseas to be told the treatment should have been done weeks prior and it cost me $575 and she had to lose a tooth.

“The NHS is dying because it’s got no money.”

Another audience member said: “I’m annoyed with the amount of money spent. I live in Anglesey and they’ve cancelled a third crossing, they haven’t fixed Menai Bridge. If you’re going to do it, do it properly. Fix the roads. The village I live in has one bus a day.

“There’s a lot more that could have been done”.

Welsh Secretary David TC Davies told Question Time: “Every sensible person will support 20 mile an hour speed limits outside schools hospitals or where there are vulnerable people walking.

“The way this has been done, it is a blanket limit because it’s been brought in on all roads where there’s currently a 30-mile zone unless councils want to jump through a load of hoops.

“The Welsh Government themselves were bragging about the fact they were bringing this in.

“The second point is it is cost 30 million pounds to do that, at a time when the Welsh Labour Government is the only the only Government in the United Kingdom cutting NHS budgets.

“They’ve just ordered a cut of £65 million.

“They’ve certainly got money to spend where they want it and top of their list of things to spend money on it’s not the NHS, it’s 100 million pounds for dozens of extra politicians.

“And I hope you’re going to ask Chris, would you rather see more nurses, doctors and paramedics or more Senedd members, because I’d rather see the money going on the National Health Service, not on the members.”

A petition against the move by the Labour-run Welsh Government has now surpassed 465,000 names.

It means more people have signed the petition than voted for First Minister Mark Drakeford’s party at the Welsh Parliament elections in 2021.

The Welsh Government has said that cutting the speed limit would protect lives and save the NHS in Wales £92million a year.

But the project is costing around £33million to implement, while it is expected to hit the economy by up to £9billion.

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