Plaid Cymru has demanded an emergency support scheme to help Welsh farms survive the catastrophic impact of the covid-19 pandemic, describing the Welsh Government’s response as appallingly slow.

Plaid Cymru's Rural Affairs Spokesperson at Westminster, Ben Lake MP said it had been “clear from day one” that the majority of farm businesses in Wales were ineligible for the general business support schemes announced last month and that they had been hit hard by lowered prices, delayed payments and a reduction in production. 

Ben Lake, MP for Ceredigion, has backed a cross-party campaign by leading MPs calling on the Government to introduce a Coronavirus Compensation Scheme.

Public support for the campaign continues to grow, with over 8,000 members of the public having signed the petition.

Ceredigion MP winner in MP of the Year Awards

Plaid Cymru MP Ben Lake has said he feels “honoured” to receive the Overall People’s Choice Newcomer MP of the Year presented by the Patchwork Foundation.

The award, voted for by the public, was organised as part of the Patchwork Foundation’s MP of the Year Awards 2019. The Patchwork Foundation is a non-partisan charity focused on promoting and encouraging the positive integration of disadvantaged and minority communities into democracy and civil society.

Ben Lake, MP for Ceredigion, is supporting calls for the Government to support the WASPI women who have been badly affected by the Coronavirus crisis

Ben Lake has written to the UK Chancellor, supporting calls by Women Against State Pension Injustice (WASPI), for the Government to:

• Grant WASPI women access to pension credit
• Give early access to the State Pension for those WASPI women who are due to reach State Pension age this financial year

Ben Lake MP and Elin Jones AM have said the focus must now be on “testing, tracing and isolating” after the UK Government confirmed the UK would remain in lockdown.  

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Rabb confirmed measures would continue for another three weeks in today’s UK Government briefing. 

Ben Lake MP and Elin Jones AM have welcomed yesterday’s announcement. Mr Lake said the need to re-adopt testing and contact tracing was now “essential” to avoid “a second wave of infection” and “extended lockdowns”. 

In the three weeks since the UK and Welsh Governments announced support for small businesses and those in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, staff from Ceredigion County Council have worked to administer the scheme and pay grants as quickly as possible. 

Their efforts have won praise from Ceredigion MP and AM who has thanked staff for their ‘fantastic effort’ to distribute the grants so efficiently.

Ben Lake MP has written to the UK Government urging for veterinary practices to be covered in the scope of support measures for businesses affected by Covid-19.

Veterinary practices have so far not been included in the scope for this support, despite the fact that they will also be entering a period of significant financial difficulty and continuing to provide vital care and treatment to animals while contending with staff shortages and reduced turnover.

More than 100 MPs and peers from across the political spectrum have urged the chancellor to provide emergency funding to frontline charities at risk of collapse.

The letter was sent to Rihsi Sunak, chancellor of the exchequer, after charities warned that the sector is set to lose billions of pounds and organisations are at imminent risk of collapsing. 

Ben Lake MP urges the UK Government to strengthen welfare protections after new figures revealed almost a million people have applied for Universal Credit in the past fortnight.

Ben Lake MP said the current system of Universal Credit was not generous or flexible enough to properly support the millions of people that need help amid the coronavirus crisis.

Plaid Cymru has called on the UK Government to use the tax and welfare system to boost support and ensure no one is left behind – by introducing a temporary Emergency Basic Income for everyone.

New guidance, issued by the UK Government and public health authorities last Thursday, states that any clinician working in a hospital, primary care or community care setting within two metres of a suspected or confirmed coronavirus Covid-19 patient should wear an apron, gloves, surgical mask and eye protection. The guidance has been agreed by the four Chief Medical Officers, Chief Nursing Officers and Chief Dental Officers in the UK and is applicable in all parts of the UK.

Employers and unions have broadly welcomed the new guidance but warned that it must be backed by adequate supplies.