Labour ministers have been accused of “purposely ignoring” some of the most vulnerable in society when it comes to promoting fair work.
Welsh Conservatives levelled the accusation after the Labour Government gave an annual update in the Senedd yesterday (March 29) on its progress to promote and enable fair work.
Hannah Blythyn MS, Labour’s deputy minister for social partnership, failed to mention in her statement any work being undertaken by the government to help disabled people access a fair working environment.
Joel James MS, the Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Social Partnership, accused her of ignoring some of society’s most vulnerable and called on her to outline what action her government was taking.
But Blythyn – who made no mention of help for disabled people in her original statement – also failed to do so when directly questioned.
Commenting outside the chamber, Joel James – who is also the MS for South Wales Central – said:
“Disabled people want to work and to contribute fully to society. I was very disappointed with the Deputy Minister’s refusal to outline what work her Labour Government is doing to improve working environments to enable disabled people to be independent, because it just shows that Labour are failing to recognise the needs of the disabled community.
“We need to work to close the disability employment gap, break down barriers disabled people face in the world of work and strive to make sure everyone is in fair work, and frankly the Labour Government is not providing enough support.
“Despite having more than one opportunity to explain what this Labour Government was doing to help some of the most vulnerable in society, the Deputy Minister instead decided to purposely ignore them and make a shameless sales pitch aimed at trade union membership.”