Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:42 pm on 4 October 2022.
Delyth Jewell
Plaid Cymru
1:42,
4 October 2022
The people of Blaenau Gwent and across the Valleys have suffered disproportionately from Tory misrule. This is a direct consequence of the failure or, rather, the deliberate policies of successive UK Governments that continue to funnel wealth and investment to London while communities in the south of Wales get next to nothing. The Truss Government is probably the worst yet. The Tories won a mandate based on the lie of levelling up, and now they are unashamedly doing the opposite. People in Blaenau Gwent and the Gwent Valleys are now facing gargantuan energy Bills, higher prices, and rocketing mortgages and rent, as we've heard. Westminster rule means ruin for Wales. So, I'd ask you, First Minister, will you do all you can to secure every power that Wales, the Valleys and Blaenau Gwent need not only to protect ourselves now, but from future Tory Governments as well? Will you make those demands of Keir Starmer in the event of him becoming Prime Minister, and do you agree that the powers Wales needs include those over tax, welfare, justice and policing?
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.
A proposal for new legislation that is debated by Parliament.
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
