Starmer not doing enough to tackle child poverty, Welsh minister says at Big Issue debate

Welsh cabinet minister Julie James refused to condemn Keir Starmer’s Labour government in Westminster despite admitting that the prime minister had “not done enough” to tackle child poverty.

Welsh first minister Eluned Morgan has criticised Starmer’s planned welfare cuts, which are set to plunge an extra 50,000 kids into child poverty, and “divisive language” on immigration in recent weeks.

Speaking at the Big Issue’s Big Debate event on Wednesday (14 May), Welsh minister for delivery James blamed austerity for rising child poverty but said more was needed from Westminster to turn things around.

When asked if the Westminster government is doing enough. James said: “No, not yet. They haven’t even been in power for a year so I don’t think they’ve done enough yet. I very much hope they will do more in the future.

“There are some things we fundamentally disagree with because in Welsh Labour we are different – our politics are further to the left than it is in England – and there have definitely been decisions that we as Welsh Labour wouldn’t have made.”

She added: “I think there are quite a lot of things that we would like to see happen over the five-year term of this government. Nobody thought they’d see out austerity in a single bound in all fairness.

“The first thing that happened when they were elected was that we got an enormous boost to our funding because they invested in public services for the first time.”

James was part of the panel at the Big Debate at Cornerstone in Cardiff to bring Big Issue’s Community Roadshow in the city to a close.

She was joined by Big Issue founder Lord John Bird, investigative journalist Will Hayward, children’s commissioner for Wales Rocio Cifuentes, future generations commissioner for Wales Derek Walker and entrepreneurial expert Dylan Jones-Evans for a lively debate on the future of Wales.

Panellists clashed over some big issues in what, at times, was a fiery discussion.

Lord Bird and Cifuentes disagreed over whether to pursue the ultra-rich or lifting people out of poverty was the right approach to tackling inequality before acknowledging that it wasn’t a binary choice.

Panellists also debated questions submitted by Big Issue readers, including whether measuring success through GDP is fit for modern Wales.

Hayward said GDP acted as a tool but the “relentless pursuit of profit has an impact on the climate crisis”.

Cifuentes also said challenging GDP was an “essential place to start” in order to change course on the “current system of unfettered capitalism the evidence is overwhelming that is killing the planet”.

But Lord Bird pointed out the need for creating wealth and growth to boost communities and lift people out of poverty. He said: “My plan before I leave this earth is to resocialise capitalism.”

The rise in student accommodation being built in Cardiff in favour of social housing also drew criticism from the panel.

Jones-Evans pointed out “the value that students bring to communities” but warned that the reliance on student accommodation in cities risked hollowing out communities.

James agreed and said her Swansea constituency had suffered from “studentification”. She added that students had been treated as “cash cows”.

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