Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 3:20 pm on 7 May 2025.
Lord Wigley
Plaid Cymru
3:20,
7 May 2025
My Lords, the noble Baroness referred to an election. Is she aware of the polls this morning showing Plaid Cymru on 30%, ahead of Reform UK, and with Labour in third place on 18%? In those circumstances, does she not feel it beholden on the Government to take note of the representations of the First Minister of Wales, who wants to see some parts of the social packages announced by the Government reconsidered, particularly the announcements on disability benefits, which she wants to see totally scrapped? Can the Minister give an assurance that there will always be an open door for those representations from Wales and that they will be considered on their merits, rather than being rejected because they do not fall in line with the vision seen from London?
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.