Welsh Secretary amazed at Tory "underspend"

Tories Accused of Spending Too Little on Wales

The Welsh Secretary, Ron Davies, claimed his predecessor, John Redwood, who is now the Shadow Trade President, had tried to boost his Tory party leadership bid by not spending millions of pounds allocated to the principality.

The Conservatives hit back by insisting their policies had both benefited Wales and secured value for money for the taxpayer. They taunted Mr Davies over the fact that the proposed Welsh assembly would not have the tax-raising powers to be enjoyed by the Scottish Parliament.

Mr Davies told a news conference at a Cardiff school: "I was amazed to discover that under John Redwood, enormous sums of money available to be spent on Welsh Office programmes were not actually spent during the year.

"For example, in 1994-95, the underspend on that year's budget was a massive £112 million. This is yet another example of how John Redwood's madcap regime in the Welsh Office harmed Welsh interests."

Mr Davies alleged: "John Redwood used this underspend in an attempt to bolster his right-wing credentials for his abortive attempts to win the Tory leadership."

Redwood "underspent to boost leadership bid"

The Welsh Secretary claimed that when Mr Redwood challenged John Major for the party leadership in 1995 he had "boasted" that he had "saved some money ... but not as much as I could have done".

Mr Davies said the decision had been taken "without public consultation or debate", and promised that the proposed Welsh Assembly would be more responsive to people's needs, as well as ensuring better value for money. He is campaigning in the run-up to next month's referendum on the assembly proposal.

Mr Davies said £112 million would have bought 62,000 computers for schools, 8,400 primary school teachers' salaries, 11 million school books, 25,000 NHS hip replacement operations or 77,000 cataract operations.

"Unlike John Redwood and the other Tory politicians who occupied the position of Secretary of State for Wales over the past 18 years, a Welsh Assembly would be in touch with the people of Wales and more responsive to their needs. It would ensure better value for money, guaranteeing that every penny that could be spent on better schools and hospitals and creating jobs was actually spent on these vital areas.

"We need a Welsh Assembly that will ensure Wales is never again subjected to the whims of a politician like John Redwood, an assembly that will provide a guarantee that the people's priorities can never again be ignored."

A Conservative spokesman responded: "Under successive Secretaries of State, Conservative governments pursued policies which benefited Wales and ensured that the taxpayer received best value for money.

"If Ron Davies is so concerned about Welsh funding, why did he accept a proposal that gives Wales a second-class assembly without tax-raising powers, compared to Labour's proposals for Scotland?"