The Party of Wales leader Leanne Wood has announced that her party is to withdraw from negotiations on the Welsh Government’s budget in response to the “reckless” way the government has made its decision on the M4 relief road.
The party leader said that the Welsh Government’s decision to spend £1 billion of the Welsh taxpayers’ money on a new road when there were more effective options which would allow for investment in infrastructure across the whole of Wales.
She said that the people of Wales had been let down by the undemocratic way that the Minister for Transport had taken the decision to spend a billion pounds on 12km of new road around Newport.
The Party of Wales leader Leanne Wood said:
“This is a stand that Plaid Cymru has been compelled to make.
“The Welsh Government acted with complete disregard for the democratic institution when it took this decision without proper scrutiny and with no business case.
“Plaid Cymru wants the M4 congestion problem resolved now and resolved properly. There is an option to do this at a more reasonable cost giving us the same answer and that is why Plaid Cymru in government turned down this more expensive and environmentally damaging option.
“In budget negotiations, we would have worked hard to ensure the best value for money for the Welsh taxpayer, and yet the Welsh Government has blown a billion pounds on this extravagant project when there are more efficient and more cost-effective alternatives.
“It is a decision that will tie the hands of future Welsh Governments for at least a decade.
“For that reason, Plaid Cymru is not able to go into budget negotiations with a government that makes such reckless spending decisions and avoids scrutiny in this way, and so we are now withdrawing from talks.”
