Responding to the Welsh Government’s announcement of a 10 day Wales-wide lockdown starting on the 23rd October, Paul Davies MS, the Leader of the Opposition in the Welsh Parliament, has called the lockdown “dis-proportionate” and is calling on the Welsh Government to be “open and transparent” on the evidence to support a lockdown and if the First Minister is committing Wales to rolling Wales-wide lockdowns every month.
Paul Davies MS said: “Sadly, the First Minster has failed to get public support for this second Wales-wide lockdown, failing to be open and transparent about the evidence to justify this lockdown and what his actions will entail for the future.
“The Welsh Government also has to be honest that this road they are taking us down is committing Wales to rolling Wales-wide lockdowns. This is not a two-week break to solve the pandemic, it is likely that we will see regular lockdowns across the rest of the year. The Welsh Government must be clear what actions they are taking during the lockdown to prevent further Wales-wide lockdowns that will further impact on people’s lives and livelihoods.
“However, the main concern is that this national lockdown is not proportionate. The impact on businesses in areas such as Powys, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion, who have the lowest rate of Covid-19 cases in Wales, will be severe at a time when they are desperately struggling to recover from the pandemic so far this year.
“The Welsh Government needs to provide sufficient financial support to businesses and others who are going to be hurt by this lockdown. The UK Government has provided more than £4 billion to Wales to fight Covid-19, which the Welsh Government must use to support communities during this second lockdown. This support must come quickly, as previous Welsh Government support packages have taken months to get off the ground.
“The First Minister needs to urgently come to the Welsh Parliament and answer these questions, to face effective scrutiny by elected representatives and not run his government by media.”