By Ruth Mosalski

Copyright walesonline

The leader of the Conservatives in Wales has defended his opposition to the Welsh Government’s Nation of Sanctuary scheme. In the weekly First Minister’s Questions session, Mr Millar called for the scheme to be scrapped, but the First Minister criticised him saying he was only doing so because of the threat his party faces from Reform UK, which is vocal in its opposition to immigration. Between 2019 and 2025, the Welsh Government has spent £55m on its Nation of Sanctuary plan, of that £45.4m has been spent supporting Ukrainian refugees in Wales. It has helped 8,000 Ukrainians find refuge in Wales. The scheme was originally made up of 23 points, including: In his question on Tuesday (September 23) to the First Minister, Darren Millar said: “Your nation of sanctuary plan, which is supported, of course, by Plaid Cymru , is funding support and services, including for illegal immigrants. That’s tens of millions of pounds that could and should be spent on people in Wales and our public services. Now, the Welsh Conservatives are absolutely clear: the nation of sanctuary plan should be scrapped, and it should be scrapped immediately. So, will you now scrap this wasteful policy on a matter that you do not have to spend money on and instead put the people of Wales and our public services first?” The First Minister told him: “This is a dreadful way for us to carry on. I think it’s really important for us to focus on the things that matter to the people of Wales and let me tell you: listen, this dog-whistle politics of trying to compete with Reform is not going to get you anywhere, Darren, and you know it. You know it. “Let me tell you: you were in the front line of people telling us that we had to hold out our hand and help the people of Ukraine. “You were the first person there. That’s where the nation of sanctuary money is going. The vast, vast majority of it was spent on supporting people from Ukraine for years and years. “You supported that, Darren. You cannot change your mind because we’ve got an election coming up and you find Reform breathing down your neck. You don’t really believe this stuff, Darren. You don’t really believe this stuff. “The important thing for us to understand is that dividing our communities is not going to help any of us. The political temperature in this country is high enough already; it doesn’t need you to add fire to the flames,” the First Minister said. We asked Mr Millar to explain his opposition to the scheme. “Because it’s not something immigration that the Welsh Government is responsible for. I’ve made it clear ever since I became leader [of the Welsh Conservatives] that the Welsh Government needs to focus on the things for which it is responsible and not spend money on things which is not responsible.” After that plenary exchange, we put to him his comments in a piece for WalesOnline offering his support to the Ukrainian people where he said his visit to the war torn country “was a powerful reminder of why our continued support for Ukraine is not only necessary, but a moral duty”. He said: “I’m not saying that I don’t want to support Ukrainian refugees. Ukrainian refugees are supported by financial contributions from the UK Government and that’s why England is full of Ukrainian refugees without a nation of sanctuary, label or status and Scotland is full of Ukrainian refugees as well and Wales, of course, would have still been taking refugees with UK financial support to make sure that they were getting everything that they needed without this additional tens of millions of pounds being spent by the Welsh Government,” he said. “The Welsh Government didn’t need to spend that £45 million on the Ukrainian refugees, because the UK Government was already spending money on the homes for Ukraine scheme and everything else,” he said. In response to his comments, Welsh Government confirmed that it did receive UK Government funding, but said the extra money it provided from its own budget paid for welcome centres, secure accommodation, and comprehensive wrap-around support. In a Senedd hearing in November 2011, Sioned Evans, said initially, the UK Government provided £10,500 for those arriving in the first tranche of arrivals, and then for subsequent tranches it was £5,900. People received an emergency cash payment on arrival of £200, while they applied for benefits. Support was also put in place for people to get jobs too. Councils asked Welsh Government for an extra £9.6m to fund school places too, Ms Evans said, as well as £94,000 in emergency support. The Welsh Government say that its support has meant that many of the 8,000 people who came to Wales are now “contributing to their communities; working, volunteering, and enriching local life”. Asked about helping those refugees if his plan to scrap the scheme went ahead, Mr Millar said: “We still have a moral duty to support refugees. Wales is part of the United Kingdom. “We’ve got a long history of supporting genuine refugees. The Nation of Sanctuary scheme though is beyond the remit of the Welsh Government, and in addition it also spends money on people who arrive in Wales who are asylum seekers no matter how they arrive here, including those people who arrive here by illegal means, such as people who make small boat crossings. That’s not acceptable.” Asked how many people arrive in Wales by illegal means, Mr Millar said he did not have a number. The First Minister told him in her answer he was only calling for the scheme to be scrapped because his party is facing a threat from Nigel Farage. WalesOnline asked Mr Millar if that was true. “I want the Welsh Government to focus on the things for which it’s responsible, and it’s getting very poor results,” he said. “It’s my job as an elected representative to talk about and discuss and debate the things which my voters talk to me about. And of course, they talk a lot about the health service. “We talk a lot about the economy, and they do talk a lot about immigration and they talk about the failure of the Welsh Government to focus on the things which is responsible. So it’s therefore my duty to raise those issues in the Senedd,” he said.