Question
That is a screeching U-turn for us all to see. As we have heard today, matters could go from bad to horrendous for M4 drivers. With the separatist Plaid Cymru Welsh Government now threatening to close multiple junctions, the Wales Office has sat on its hands. Compare that to my Conservative colleagues and me, who scrapped the Severn bridge tolls. Where is the action? Where is the pushback? After this failure, can the Secretary of State tell us why drivers and businesses should have any confidence that the Labour Government will stand up to Plaid for them?
Answer
The hon. Lady talked about the Budget. I remind her of what the Budget does for drivers: it extends the temporary 5p per litre fuel duty cut for a further six months; it makes permanent the 55p per mile tax-free mileage rate for the first 10,000 business miles, which will save a worker travelling 6,000 business miles at least £120 a year in tax from 2027-28; and it extends the 3.7p cut to red diesel duty to 1 July 2027. I respectfully suggest to the hon. Lady that she has another look at the Budget and comes back when she has got her facts right.14% point-scoring
Verdict: RED (4/100)
The reply does not answer either part of the question. The first part asked about the Welsh Government's plans to close M4 junctions and what the Government was doing in response, but the reply never mentions the junction plans and instead repeats Budget measures on fuel duty, mileage and red diesel. The second part, asking why drivers and businesses should trust the Government to stand up to the Welsh Government, is also unanswered, as the reply lists Budget benefits and suggests the Member check her facts. The asker would almost certainly need to resubmit the question to get any answer on the M4 junctions.
Verdict: RED (4/100)
The reply does not answer the question that was asked. The asker wanted to know what the Government is doing about the Welsh Government's plans to close M4 junctions, and why drivers and businesses should trust it to stand up to the Welsh Government on M4 matters. Instead, the reply discusses Budget measures on fuel duty, business mileage and red diesel, which are unrelated, so none of the three parts of the question received a substantive response.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| What action and pushback is the Wales Office making in response to the Welsh Government's plans to close multiple M4 junctions? | Not Addressed | Generic MISREADS QUESTION | The reply never mentions the Welsh Government's plans to close M4 junctions or any Wales Office action or pushback on them. It instead rehashes the Budget's fuel duty, mileage and red diesel measures, which answers the earlier question about the Budget rather than this one. |
| What action is the Government taking in response to the Welsh Government's plans to close multiple junctions on the M4? | Not Addressed | Generic MISREADS QUESTION | The question asks what action the Government is taking against the Welsh Government's plan to close M4 junctions, but the reply only describes Budget measures on fuel duty, business mileage and red diesel, which are unrelated to M4 junction closures. |
| Why should drivers and businesses have confidence that the Labour Government will stand up to the Welsh Government on this issue? | Not Addressed | Generic MISREADS QUESTION | The question asks why drivers and businesses should trust the Government to stand up to the Welsh Government on M4 junction closures. The reply only lists Budget benefits for drivers and tells the Member to check her facts, saying nothing about confronting the Welsh Government or the junction plans. |
| What pushback has the Government made against the Welsh Government's plans to close multiple junctions on the M4? | Not Addressed | Generic MISREADS QUESTION | The reply contains no pushback against the Welsh Government's junction-closure plans. Its only engagement is a rebuttal of the asker's Budget criticism, which answers the preceding exchange rather than this item. |
| Why should drivers and businesses have confidence that the Government will stand up to the Welsh Government on their behalf? | Not Addressed | Generic MISREADS QUESTION | The item asks why drivers and businesses should trust the Government to stand up to the Welsh Government on M4 matters, and the reply never mentions this; it only tells the asker to revisit the Budget, which is a different subject. |