ALLOW me to start this column by firstly sending my prayers to all those affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

The scenes coming out of those countries are tragic and I commend the first responders for working so valiantly to help those affected.

We can be really pleased with the role our country and government have played, where the total amount of aid sent to Turkey and Syria currently stands at more than £52 million.

Without doubt, this will make a huge difference.

I now turn my attention to matters closer to home: As I said previously, last week was one of the most important in the Senedd’s calendar; it’s when we come together to debate and vote on the Welsh Government’s draft budget for 2023/24.

We all acknowledge things are challenging at the moment, especially for families with the cost of living, plus the serious health crisis in Wales, and businesses are really struggling also.

But Labour has decided to oversee real terms cut to the health and education budgets, at a time when money should be prioritised to those areas.

Many people in Wales don’t realise that the Welsh Government receive £1.20 for every new £1 spent in England on services through what is known as the Barnett consequential, plus they receive billions of pounds in additional funding for Wales.

This means that the Labour Government here have the resources and the levers to improve things, contrary to their claims of the opposite.

To build on the UK Conservative Government’s support to Wales, in the Budget debate I outlined the Welsh Conservatives’ immediate six-point action plan that would have put the people of Wales’ priorities at the heart of the Welsh Government budget.

It was important to me that we find options to address the three worrying areas mentioned above.

The Welsh Conservatives’ action plan would directly reprioritise £100 million and realign other elements in the budget to put the people of Wales first.

Our six points are:

Clearing the backlogs with Care Hotels: Immediate action to clear the bed blocking, open up hospitals and end the disgrace of ambulances queuing outside of A&E.

Surgical hubs to end waiting Wales: Urgent delivery of facilities to clear the inhuman two year waits for treatment – England can do it, why can’t Wales?

Supporting microbusiness to grow: Creating jobs for local people and restoring aspiration to the economy – Wales needs more than one FTSE 100 company.

Future proofing Welsh businesses: Businesses want to do their bit to support the environment – and we will help them in a green revolution for Wales.

Freezing Council Tax to help with the Cost of Living: Councils collectively have a over £2.5 billion in usable reserves – this money should be used to help those that need it in these difficult times, not sat in council bank accounts.

Kickstarting empty houses back into homes: 20,000 houses sit empty in Wales – instead of punishing landlords, we need to get these houses back into being homes.

Wales desperately needs our potential to be unlocked by a Welsh Government that makes the right decisions.