Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood has quizzed the First Minister on the “dearth” of Olympics contracts awarded to Welsh companies.
The South Wales Central AM said it was a missed opportunity that only £500,000 out of more £6 billion worth of Olympic contracts had been won by Welsh firms.
Ms Wood also condemned the Labour Party’s double standards after their leader Ed Milliband stigmatised benefit claimants in a speech just weeks after the party in Wales pledged to stand-up for voters in the May elections.
Ms Wood said: “My Plaid Cymru colleague Hywel Williams MP has discovered that less than £500,000 of Olympic contracts has gone to Welsh firms out of a pot worth £6 billion.
“During the election, you made a great deal of being a protective shield for the people of Wales.
“Do you have a view on the dearth of Olympic contracts to have come to Wales, and do you agree that such investment, had it been made, could have provided jobs for unemployed people in South Wales Central, some of whom were described yesterday by your leader, Ed Miliband, as ‘ripping off’ society?
“This was a statement—to use your words, First Minister—in which someone used unemployment to attack his own people. It plays into the hands of the Tories and their right-wing friends.”
In reply, the First Minister conceded Ms Wood had made “a serious point” and agreed that more needed to be done to raise the confidence of Welsh firms.
