We know that the conflict in the middle east is placing pressure on the cost of living and household bills, including for those in rural communities. That is why this Government are providing £3.8 million to the Welsh Government to support households in Wales that use heating oil.

My hon. Friend is proud, as am I, of the steps that [4D [K that both our UK and Welsh Labour Governments have taken to support childre [7D [K children and families with the cost of living. We have scrapped the two-chi [7D [K two-child limit, provided 50 million free school meals since 2022, created [K 100,000 apprenticeships, and devolved £20 million to help more young people [6D [K people into work. Contrast Labour's record with Plaid's admission that it w [1D [K will cut child poverty budgets and plans to hike taxes on working families. [9D [K families.

I do not think the hon. Gentleman can have been lis [3D [K listening when I mentioned that Plaid has admitted it will cut the budget f [1D [K for child poverty. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has made clear that Pla [3D [K Plaid would need to make spending cuts or raise taxes to fund its manifesto [9D [K manifesto pledges.

We promised that we would be a Government for worki [5D [K working people, and that is exactly what we have done. Our industrial strat [5D [K strategy is set to support tens of thousands of new jobs across Wales. We h [1D [K have provided more employment support to help people get into work, increas [7D [K increased the national minimum wage and the living wage, and strengthened r [1D [K rights and protections at work, making work pay, and making it more secure [K and fairer through our Employment Rights Act.

Whether it is young people, families or pensioners, this Labour Government are determined to tackle the cost of living, both for my hon. Friend’s constituents and for all our constituents. We inherited a broken welfare system from the Conservatives that has failed people and trapped them in a cycle of poverty. We will not allow that to continue, which is why we are helping people into work through new employment programmes and increasing universal credit for those who need support. As my hon. Friend mentioned, 700,000 pensioners are being helped through the state pension rise. We are absolutely laser-focused on tackling the cost of living.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for acknowledging the work that this Government have done on the cost of living. Red diesel continues to benefit from an 80% tax discount, which is saving farmers almost £300 million a year. We have already brought in a 5p fuel duty cut, which will last from this month until September. We have raised industry concerns about red diesel prices, and the Under-Secretary of State for Wales, my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff North (Anna McMorrin), has also met farming unions to discuss red diesel. We have looked at price transparency with the Competition and Markets Authority, and we are keeping everything under careful review.

I am really surprised that the hon. Member has rais [4D [K raised the expansion of the Senedd, because the accepted rationale of those [5D [K those who support the expansion is that it was necessary to improve scrutin [7D [K scrutiny of the Welsh Government. What a terrible indictment that is of the [3D [K the inadequate performance of her party, whose job it has been, as the Oppo [4D [K Opposition in the Senedd for the past 27 years, to carry out that scrutiny. [9D [K scrutiny.

Plaid's manifesto, and specifically the childcare p [1D [K policy to which the right hon. Lady refers, exposes that Plaid is not on th [2D [K the side of working people in Wales and is not serious about tackling the c [1D [K cost of living. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has been clear that Plaid [K would have to make spending cuts or raise taxes to pay for its manifesto pl [2D [K pledges. Families will be worse off with Plaid's policy.

The answer to that question is no.