Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:04 pm on 11 June 2024.
Vaughan Gething
Labour
2:04,
11 June 2024
I think that's an extraordinary analogy to draw. I think when you look at where we will be with a manifesto that will be published in the coming days across the UK, with, as usual, a Welsh Labour manifesto as well to accompany it, I think you will see real ambition for the future of families, to grow the economy, to have a positive partnership to provide the high-quality jobs that we could and should have in Wales. You'll also see ambition to ensure that people don't have to live with the indignity of low pay, what that will mean across a range of different sectors, and I think you'll see a genuine reforming approach to what has happened in the mess that is our current UK-wide benefit system.
I think, when the manifesto is published, the Member will have good cause to think again about the ambition of what a future UK Labour Government could do, in partnership with this Government, in addition to what we already do to directly put money into people's pockets: the way that we look to help and support families beyond that, not just the universal free school meals that we should all be proud of—more than 20 million of them delivered here in Wales—but the help we provide, whether it's prescriptions or a whole range of other areas, including school uniform as well. We do those things deliberately to make a practical difference. Our means to make that difference needs to increase, and we need a different partnership with a UK Government that understands why child poverty is a scourge, with the commitment to address and tackle it, as indeed the last Labour Government did, in lifting hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty. I'm proud of what we did in the past. I'll be prouder still to play a part in making a difference for children living in poverty here today.
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.