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The Welsh Government has hit back at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over his recent comments on the introduction of 20mph speed limits.

Laying out his ambitions for next year’s UK General Election, Conservative leader Mr Sunak has attacked what he described as a “war on motorists” and pledged an end to “hare-brained” road safety schemes.

Since Sunday September 17, Wales is now one of the few countries in the world to have a default 20mph speed limit in residential and busy pedestrian areas.

The Labour-run Welsh Government has said reducing the speed limit on many roads from 30mph to 20mph will make streets safer, encourage people to walk and cycle, improve health and wellbeing, as well as protecting the environment.

Before the changes were introduced, around 2.5% of roads in Wales had 20mph limits. This has now risen to 35%. However, not all 30mph zones are affected.

The decision on which roads will be affected was made by councils. The Welsh Government says reducing the speed limit could result in:

• 40% fewer collisions;
• Between six and ten lives being saved every year;
• Between 1,200 and 2,000 fewer people getting injured every year.

Speaking to a national newspaper, Mr Sunak attacked the Welsh Government’s “blanket 20mph speed limits” and said: “What we want to do now is make sure that all these hare-brained schemes that are forced on local communities, whether it’s Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, blanket 20mph speed limits, all of that… need to stop.”

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “It is profoundly disappointing the Prime Minister is inadvertently or intentionally, choosing to mislead people about the introduction of 20mph.

“It is not a blanket restriction. Speed limits on a great number of roads in Wales are unchanged and journey times take around a minute longer. This will save lives and make our communities safer.”