Laura Anne Jones MS: Welsh Government “have caused chaos and confusion”

Laura Anne Jones, who represents the Welsh Conservatives, is one of four regional Senedd Members serving the South Wales East region.

We have now entered a Wales-wide lockdown for a period of over two weeks.

Although I have no doubt the Welsh Government did so with the best of intentions, they have caused chaos and confusion with people unsure what products they are allowed to buy, and shops confused as to what they’re allowed to sell.

Clothes have been designated as non-essential items and customers have been refused sanitary products.

Goods such as kettles and saucepans cannot be bought in supermarkets but are available online.

Businesses have been plunged into uncertainty with ministers forced to publish revised guidance to provide greater clarity on items such as baby clothes.

One thing that is clear is that the Welsh Government has no exit strategy for getting us out of lockdown.

The First Minister announced a Wales-wide lockdown without publishing the full data to justify it, the details of what they are going to achieve during the lockdown and now we don’t know what the situation is going to be at the end of it.

People are concerned that this lockdown is just the start of rolling lockdowns over the coming months.

The deputy minister for economy and transport has warned that another firebreak lockdown is possible in January or February next year.

A national circuit break does not take into account the different circumstances in different parts of the country.

By contrast, the UK Government continues to take a localised and regional approach to control the spread of the virus.

People are right to question why the whole country is shut down when the  virus is spiking in particular locations, unnecessarily threatening jobs and damaging businesses in communities across Wales with low levels of infection. 

Businesses that rely on the visitor economy have been particularly hard hit by the Welsh Government’s lockdown and the travel restrictions that preceded it.

Without certainty over freedom to travel after this lockdown comes to an end, many business owners will simply throw in the towel and we will lose loyal visitors to other parts of the UK for good. 

The Welsh Government needs to give us hope and clarity of what it will actually achieve and what life will look like post lockdown.