Rhun ap Iorwerth (Image: PA Images / Alamy)
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With just under two weeks until voters head to the polls on 7 May, Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth has faced scrutiny over how his party would pay for a flagship promise to extend free childcare across Wales.
Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast on Thursday, ap Iorwerth pushed back against suggestions his spending plans don’t stack up, insisting the policy could be delivered within the Welsh Government’s existing budget.
The pledge
Plaid’s manifesto commits to offering 20 hours of free childcare per week for children aged nine months to four years old. The party would also maintain the current entitlement giving working, studying or training parents of three and four-year-olds 30 hours of weekly provision.
Rather than pledging new money, ap Iorwerth said his party would “reprioritise” existing government spending – pointing to what he described as a record of waste under the current administration.
‘Judge us on outcomes’
Ap Iorwerth told BBC Radio Wales: “This is all based on what [amount of money] we have in the pot already.
“We have made careful decisions and choices in order for us to be in a position where we are confident we can deliver that within the funding that we have.”
He added: “We are asking people to scrutinise us not on how much we spend, but on what we achieve.
“This will be a government, if we have the honour of forming it, that will be focused on outcomes – what difference we make to people’s lives – and in that respect it doesn’t matter how much we spend, it’s what we do with that money.”
Pressed further on whether the figures held up, he responded: “Absolutely. And we’re confident that the sums do add up.”
He also criticised the Welsh Government’s approach to child poverty, arguing that persistent levels of deprivation despite billions spent showed “they are celebrating how much they spend without celebrating how much they are doing”.
Opposition reaction
None of the parties contesting the Senedd election have published detailed costings during the campaign, but rivals were quick to challenge Plaid’s position.
A Labour spokesperson said: “Plaid need to be honest with voters on how they will pay for their promises.
“Again Rhun ap Iorwerth can’t say what he’d cut to fund their unaffordable childcare pledge.
“He says they’ll spend money dedicated to tackling child poverty ‘differently,’ but can’t say what vital services he’d scale back.”
Reform UK’s leader in Wales, Dan Thomas, dismissed the manifesto as “a work of fiction”, adding: “If Plaid will release their figures, we will do so as well.”
A Welsh Conservative spokesperson said: “Ahead of an election, it’s easy for Plaid Cymru to make big spending promises, but simply claiming the sums add up is not enough.”
Israel and Gaza
During the same interview, ap Iorwerth was asked about comments made on social media by Plaid candidate Vivek Thuppil, who is standing in the Bangor Conwy Môn constituency and had described Israel as a “terrorist state”.
Ap Iorwerth repeated his own position that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
“I believe Israel has been responsible for genocide in Gaza,” he said. “I will use that word and I believe the people of Gaza have been terrorised over the last two and a half years.”
Asked whether Thuppil’s remarks were acceptable, he said: “I will use very very strong terms to condemn the actions of Israel in Gaza. In the same way as I condemned the action of terrorists who attacked innocent Israelis in October 2023.”
