Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds slammed the MP for Brecon and Radnorshire for voting for increased National Insurance contributions.

Jane Dodds, who is the Senedd Member for Mid and West Wales, has accused Fay Jones of breaking the Conservative party’s manifesto promise not to raise taxes.

Conservative Fay Jones meanwhile has hit back at the Welsh Liberal Democrats over what she said was a “very difficult decision” saying that “doing the right thing is not always popular’.

Last Wednesday, September 8, MPs voted 319 to 248 for a 1.25 percentage point rise in National Insurance for workers and employers to help fund health and social care.

Both Fay Jones and the Montgomeryshire MP, Craig Williams were among those who supported the plan which which was rejected by all of the UK’s opposition MPs.

Jane Dodds has claimed that the National Insurance percentage point increase will “disproportionately hit” young people and lower earners and that it will affect “hard-pressed” small businesses who be left paying hundreds of pounds more in tax each year.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are now calling on the Welsh Government to use any additional funds to pay all care workers the real living wage to help the recruitment crisis in the sector.

Ms Dodds said: “Fay Jones stood on a clear promise at the last election not to raise taxes, including National Insurance. Their broken promise will hit low paid families and leave small businesses in Powys under even more pressure at a time many are still reeling from the impact of the pandemic.

“These plans won’t fix social care in England, let alone in Wales. If the Conservatives can’t find a fairer approach, it’s time the Welsh Labour Government has to step up and confront the social care crisis here in Wales.

“The Tories have gone from being the party of low tax to the party of broken promises. While Powys has low unemployment, we are also a low-income region. It’s those families on the breadline who will bare the brunt of this decision.

“We clearly cannot rely on the Conservatives in Westminster to act in Wales’ best interests, and Labour in Cardiff Bay have allowed the social care crisis to go on for far too long.

“I am calling on Labour Ministers in the Senedd to urgently set out their plans for social care reform and to use the additional funding the Welsh Government will receive to pay all care workers the real living wage to tackle the recruitment crisis in the Welsh care sector.”

The UK Prime Minister put forward the tax increase, breaking the Tory manifesto pledge, in the hope of raising £12 billion a year to help fund health and social care.

Boris Johnson said the majority of the £36 billion raised in the first three years will go to the NHS, with £5.4 billion for social care in England.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive an additional £2.2 billion in health and social care spending.

In the vote last week, five Conservative MPs - Sir Christopher Chose, Philip Davies, Neil Hudson, Esther McVey and John Redwood - voted against the increase meanwhile 37 Tory MPs abstained.

Fay Jones said that since she came into office in 2019, she has received thousands of complaints about the “condition of the Welsh NHS” and how it means residents struggle to access some services.

Ms Jones, who commented that the reform of the Welsh NHS is now “imperative, said: “Since the election in 2019, constituents complain to me in their thousands about the condition of the Welsh NHS. 

“Residents in Brecon and Radnorshire are unable to find dentists or to see GPs in a timely manner.  Last week, a constituent was advised by the Welsh Ambulance Service to fund his own taxi to A&E, rather than endure a three hour wait for an ambulance. 

“I am therefore astonished that the Member of the Senedd cannot bring herself to welcome an extra £700 million for the Welsh NHS which this increase generates.

“Doing the right thing is not always popular and voting for the increase was a very difficult decision.  But the pressures on the NHS are too great for the kind of complacency the Liberal Democrats want to see.  Governments of all colours have found the social care crisis too difficult to manage. 

“I am very grateful that the Conservatives are the only ones brave enough to take this decision.

“Reform of the Welsh NHS is now imperative. Increased funding alone will not solve the problem.  In England, the Conservative Government will now be bringing forward a Health and Social Care Bill to make meaningful changes to the structure of the NHS.  I urge the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay to do the same and finally provide a health service for people in Brecon and Radnorshire which is fit for purpose.”

It is not the first time that the Conservatives have come under fire in recent weeks as the part has also been criticised for its planned cut to universal credit next month.

UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the Prime Minister of hitting low-paid families with a “double whammy” with the universal credit cut and tax hike.

The Labour Party warned that the universal credit cut and national insurance contribution increase would cause some key workers to be more than £1,000 worse off.

The opposition party also claimed that the government was “putting the very wealthiest ahead of working people” in their most recent criticism of the changes.

Meanwhile Wales TUC reported that new analysis showed that the universal credit could would affect 280,000 people across Wales of which 104,000 - 37 per cent - are people in work.

A UK Government spokesperson said: “We’ve taken decisive and historic action, with out Health and Social Care Levy due to raise £12 billion a year for the NHS and social care. It is a progressive tax with those earning more paying more.

“We have always been clear that the uplift to universal credit was temporary. It was designed to help claimants through the economic shock and financial disruption of the toughest stages of the pandemic, and it has done so.

“Universal credit will continue to provide vital support for those both in and out of work and it’s right that the Government should focus on our Plan for Jobs, supporting people back into work and supporting those already employed to progress and earn more.”