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‘The first duty of the Labour Party is to get itself into government’
In the conclusion of an exclusive two-part feature, David Nicholson speaks to MARK DRAKEFORD about education, benefits reform and the prospects of a Starmer government
First minister of Wales Mark Drakeford during the Labour Party Conference at the ACC Liverpool. Picture date: Monday September 26, 2022.

DURING Mark Drakeford’s campaign in 2018 to be elected Welsh Labour leader, he said there was a real correlation between the Brexit vote and the areas of Wales that had been hardest hit by austerity.

I remind the First Minister that pay rates in Wales were 20 per cent lower than in England, higher sickness rates, poorer communities, higher unemployment, a rising number of job losses and a budget worth £900 million less in purchasing power.

I ask him about the decision not to continue providing free meals for children during the summer holiday and how poverty campaigners have said it will mean malnourished children coming back to school in September.

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