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Wales Online
Wales Online
Politics
Will Hayward

Mark Drakeford speaks out about his Senedd outburst for the first time

Mark Drakeford has said he was "cross" with himself after a furious tirade in the Welsh Parliament went viral.

On October 18 the First Minster won both praise and criticism after he seemed to genuinely lose his temper with the Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies. Mr Drakeford was being questioned over shortcomings in care people using the Welsh NHS had received. The Welsh NHS is the responsibility of the Welsh Government but the Labour led administration argue their hands are tied due to underfunding from Westminster.

When Mr Davies challenged the First Minister on the state of the Welsh NHS, Mr Drakeford pointed to the recent economic catastrophe caused by Liz Truss' economic polices. You can see the exchange above.

Read more: The simply terrible response the Welsh secretary gave when challenged about Wales missing out on HS2 funding

Speaking to the i, Mark Drakeford explained that he regrets his fury in the Welsh Parliament.

"I was cross with myself," he said. "You should not lose your temper, you should not allow yourself to be provoked. I left the chamber angry with myself. I was thinking this is not a good look for how we conduct politics in Wales.

"But by the time I got home, people were saying: 'Thank goodness you said it, it was about time.' It did strike a chord."

Speaking about the case studies put forward by Mr Davies, the First Minister added: "I don't deny there are people who don't get the service they deserve, but to call the Welsh NHS a third-world service was just such an insult to people who work so hard in it that I just couldn't react in my generally calm way."

Andrew RT Davies has branded the First Minister's outburst as a "tantrum". He told WalesOnline: "It tells you everything that the First Minister would resort to self-righteous indignation when confronted with his Labour Government’s appalling record in managing the health service over the last 23 years."

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