Tories on Trump trip miss vote

The leader of the Senedd’s Conservatives and one of his colleagues has missed a vote on the Welsh government’s draft budget after they went to the US for a prayer meeting.

Darren Millar and Russell George are attending the National Prayer Breakfast where President Donald Trump is expected to give a speech.

It meant the pair missed the first opportunity to debate Welsh government spending plans for next year.

Labour won the vote on Tuesday, assisted by the abstention of Welsh Lib Dem Jane Dodds, as well as the absence of the two senior Conservatives.

The governing party has half the seats in the Senedd and cannot win if the opposition is united in voting against.

Before the news emerged that Millar was not present the vote had looked difficult for the government, as it was not clear what Dodds would do until late on Tuesday.

The vote was largely symbolic ahead of a final vote in March, but losing on Tuesday would have embarrassed the government.

Dodds has been in discussions with the government on a potential deal to help the spending plans pass next month, but has not yet announced an agreement.

On Tuesday Plaid Cymru accused the Tories of giving up on being an opposition party, while Reform said the Conservatives “don’t care about Wales”.

The prayer meeting on 6 February is an important date in the American political calendar and the first since Trump’s inauguration.

Both Tories are trustees of a Christian charity, the Evans Roberts Institute.

The institute last year funded Rhys ab Owen to go to the same American event, while he was under investigation for his conduct.

Conservatives have strongly criticised the spending plans and said on Monday night: “It must be voted down.”

But it emerged on Tuesday morning Millar would not be there because of what was described as “a long-standing commitment in the US where he will be meeting a number of high-profile politicians”.

Absent Senedd members can ask a member from another party to sit out the vote, an informal arrangement known as pairing.

It is understood the Conservatives asked Labour to pair, but the request was rejected.

In the debate, Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford told the Senedd he had been able to “provide an uplift to every part of the public service here in Wales, as well as to many other important areas”.

“Key areas such as the NHS, local government, education, transport and climate change will all benefit from this additional funding,” he said.

But Conservative Finance Spokesman Sam Rowlands accused the Welsh government of an “obsessive focus on centralisation and government jobs at the expense of trusting people to spend their own money in the way they see best for their families”.

He called on ministers to use their tax powers “to reduce the tax burden on people across Wales and put more money back in the pockets of hard working people”.

Plaid also voted against the budget.

Plaid Cymru’s Heledd Fychan said “every independent analysis [and] every sector that is in crisis demonstrates in stark terms that the draft budget is not going to lead to a brighter future for Wales, as we were told when it was published”.

She said the Senedd should be “recommitting” to “ensure fair funding for Wales, along with the powers to enable us to manage our resources more effectively here in Wales”.

Labour won the vote: 29 for, 26 against, with one abstention.

Earlier, in First Minister’s Questions, Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said Mr Millar’s absence was “remarkable”.

He said the party had “clearly given up even on being an opposition party”.

A Newport Conservative councillor, David Fouweather, said on X: “If this is true it’s an absolute disgrace that two of our members are missing. By not being present they are letting Labour do as they wish.”

A spokesman for Reform, which has no Senedd seats, said: “Today, the Senedd opposition had the opportunity to stand up against Mark Drakeford’s disastrous draft budget.

“Instead, the Tory leader of the opposition is in Washington DC proving yet again that the Conservatives don’t care about Wales. They are opposition in name only.”

By Gareth Lewis, BBC Wales political editor

Politics can move in mysterious ways at times, but this development has come as a huge surprise.

Yes, the vote on the draft budget was symbolic, but it was a rare opportunity to embarrass Labour.

Now it’s the Conservatives in that position, especially after a punchy press release last night saying the budget should be voted down – something they knew could not happen.

To say Labour and Plaid Cymru have been taken aback by events would be an understatement.

Conservative sources are trying to play it down, saying Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds would have abstained in any case.

And this does not take away from one final manoeuvre – Labour still needs to do a deal to get its budget through the Senedd in March.

A Welsh Conservative spokesperson said: “There is a vote today to “note” the draft budget. It is not the final vote which will be next month. The Welsh Conservative group will certainly be voting it down because we believe Labour have the wrong priorities.

“Darren had a longstanding commitment in the US where he will be meeting a number of high-profile politicians.

“Following the decision of Keir Starmer to allow around a hundred Labour activists to campaign abroad against President Trump, Darren’s presence will help rebuild relationships between the US and Wales more broadly.”