A row over government spending broke out in the Senedd yesterday as James Evans accused the Welsh Labour Government of wasting taxpayers’ money.

Mr Evans, Conservative MS for Brecon and Radnorshire, asked at the Senedd what the Government is doing to “identify and eliminate wasteful spending and reduce bureaucracy” across its departments and publicly-funded bodies.

He told First Minister, Eluned Morgan: “People across Wales are angry, and rightly so.

“While they face real struggles on a day-to-day basis, with housing, NHS waiting times and poor educational performance, the Welsh Labour Government is hell-bent on wasting their money.

“Let me go through some of the wasteful spending. £1.5 million on a commission to look at Welsh independence; £120 million on more politicians; £150 million on an M4 relief road - the road to nowhere - £2.8 million on business rates for half-empty Welsh Government buildings; and £250,000 spent on a project to count moths. You couldn’t make it up.

“The public are angry, and they want every element of public spending scrutinised properly.

“Can you explain to those people why this Government is not reducing bureaucracy and waste, and why it is spending their hard-earned taxpayer money?”

Ms Morgan said everyone working in the public service in Wales shares a personal responsibility for the stewardship of taxpayers’ money.

She told Mr Evans: “Managing Welsh public money sets out the framework and principles which must be applied in the Welsh Government and its sponsored bodies.”

As the exchange got more heated, the First Minister said: “You want to compare stats? I’ll give you some stats. The Tory Government wrote off £10 billion when it came to PPE. That was enough to pay for the entire NHS in Wales for a year.

“We’re not talking millions - we’re talking billions. £140 million on a Rwanda deal that never materialised, £1.7 million on painting the Prime Minister’s plane; £3 billion on hiring temps to do civil servant jobs; and £0.5 billion on post-Brexit inspection sites that were never used.

“I could go on. Don't you come to me in the Tory Party and talk about waste. You are the experts on waste.”