Costing £20m, last month it was announced that around 500 care leavers in Wales would receive a fixed sum of money - £1,600 - every month for two years, in what the Welsh Government claims as is a "radical experiment".
Speaking in the Senedd today, Janet, a long-term opponent to the trial and Universal Basic Income (UBI), said:
“Not even a month into the pilot scheme, the Welsh Parliament is facing a nightmare suggestion that UBI, the provision of free money to people for absolutely nothing in return, be rolled out to workers in industries that will undergo significant change as part of Wales's transition to a zero-carbon economy.
“What the Welsh Government and some Member of the Welsh Parliament fail to see is that what the people of Wales need is opportunity not free hand outs. When they have failed to implement core manifesto commitments and recommendations from the Senedd on issues such as a clean air act, environmental governance, and legislation on marine planning in Wales, it highlights how miss directed the priorities of the Welsh Government are.”
Commenting further, Janet said:
“A brain drain era has swept across the nation, leaving our industries, civil service, and hospitals short of staff and without room for growth. Under its very premise, UBI presents the notion that we are all entitled to a pay out from the state and that we as individuals are owed something from others.
“The Welsh Government has failed to provide adequate education to take forward new thinkers and pioneers. It has failed to mount a health care system that looks after people from day one and it has failed to build the basic foundations of a state that nurtures growth and facilitates a modern era of Welsh statehood. As a result, the Welsh Parliament, and in particular the Liberal Democrat, is now seeking to broaden a UBI scheme that in other cases around the world has failed to mobilise a new workforce which here in Wales, is desperately needed.
“At a time of a cost-of-living crisis, huge inflation, and when productivity needs to be boosted, the last thing we need is giving even more taxpayers’ money out for nothing”
Janet will continue to oppose UBI in Wales and instead campaign for apprenticeships and new work opportunities to brought to Wales that give people the opportunity to build on new skills and experiences.
