Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:44 pm on 2 July 2024.
Vaughan Gething
Labour
1:44,
2 July 2024
People in Wales have chosen to support Welsh Labour in devolved elections over that period of time because we've never taken them for granted. We now find a situation, after 14 years of the Conservatives, where there is an election. You can have more of the same from the Tories, or you can have change with a UK Labour Party, working in partnership with the Welsh Government that I am proud to lead. Think back to my first few days in office and the three groups of people that I met. With the doctors, we've now resolved the strike action. There are days of strike action taking place in England. There are the farmers, who understood and understand now that, because of a betrayal of manifesto pledges, £250 million, or £0.25 billion, if you like, that should have been invested in the rural economy has not because that money stopped in Westminster—a Tory choice to break their clear manifesto pledges. And think again about where we are with steelworkers. You'll hear a statement later today from the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Welsh language about the work that we have practically done to make sure there is a possible better deal for steel if we get past Thursday with a Labour Government prepared to invest. That is what partnership looks like, that is what this Government wants to see in the future. The way we have worked with colleagues in our Shadow Labour team to make sure we can have real conversations about the future for steel is what is on the ballot paper on 4 July. I'm proud of what we've done and I look forward to working with Keir Starmer if people across Wales and Britain choose to elect a UK Labour Government.
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.
The language of Wales spoken by around 25% of the population. It is an Indo-European language and belongs to the Celtic group. It was made "offical" in Wales by the Welsh Language Act 1993. It is known in Welsh as Cymraeg.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
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.
The shadow cabinet is the name given to the group of senior members from the chief opposition party who would form the cabinet if they were to come to power after a General Election. Each member of the shadow cabinet is allocated responsibility for `shadowing' the work of one of the members of the real cabinet.
The Party Leader assigns specific portfolios according to the ability, seniority and popularity of the shadow cabinet's members.
The Conservatives are a centre-right political party in the UK, founded in the 1830s. They are also known as the Tory party.
With a lower-case ‘c’, ‘conservative’ is an adjective which implies a dislike of change, and a preference for traditional values.
