Attempts by Welsh Conservatives to put clear water between themselves and other political parties slipped into confusion this morning with a letter to the Western Mail from their health spokesperson, conceding all the ground they may have made up with their core vote over the pledge to abolish free prescriptions.
In his letter Andrew R.T. Davies states:
Welsh Conservatives will not scrap free prescriptions and have announced proposals which will safeguard free prescriptions for most people in Wales.
Allowing those who can afford to make a small contribution towards the cost of their prescriptions is a key segment of the Welsh Conservative approach to creating a fairer and more equal society. Savings accrued from this policy can then be reinvested in stroke services and palliative care.
So they are not abolishing free prescriptions and yet at the same time they are. Despite this they are actively offering a saving of over £30 million from this policy, which they say can be reinvested in the NHS but that they have already spent several times over in recent weeks. In reality it is unlikely that the Tories will be able to realise most of this amount from their proposals.
Welsh Tories are trying to have things both ways. They are planning to reintroduce prescription charges but are trying to spin it as no change. You would have thought that after such a big fanfare for their policy, when they presented it in a motion to Plenary they would be a bit more honest about what it means for people in Wales.
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