Senior Conservatives have been telling porkies to get electoral advantage over the Labour Party in Wales, it seems.

Leader of the Welsh Conservatives Andrew RT Davies and Secretary of State for Wales David TC Davies both endorsed a claim that the Welsh Government is planning to give asylum seekers £1,600 per month.

But it seems the claim is utter bunkum, based on a letter that was not what The Sun had claimed. But then, why would anybody believe The Sun? Here’s Nation.Cymru:

The letter – which has been obtained by Nation.Cymru – was not an attempt to create a new asylum seeker policy, but involved three Welsh ministers seeking clarification on a pilot that already exists in Wales regarding 18-year-old care leavers.

The Welsh Government launched the Basic Income for Care Leavers scheme in July 2022 which ensures eligible young people leaving the care system receive £1,600 a month for the first 24 months of leaving care.

The Basic Income for Care Leavers only focuses on the category of care leavers which does include some unaccompanied asylum seeking children who were looked after by a local authority up until the age of 18.

The inclusion of asylum seeker children who were raised in care was always a factor that had been budgeted for by the Welsh Government from the outset of the pilot.

Eligibility for the scheme has not changed since it was set out in a written statement by the Welsh Government in February 2022.

Although it has not yet confirmed how many young asylum seekers leave care on average every year, a Welsh Government source said the number is “a very small proportion of those taking part in the pilot”.

So there’s nothing dodgy about this scheme at all.

But Andrew RT Davies said it was “creating an even bigger pull factor to bring people across the Channel”.

Welsh Secretary David TC Davies said: “Incentivising illegal migrants to risk their lives by crossing the Channel in exchange for taxpayers’ cash is wrong, dangerous and hugely irresponsible. That is why I have denied the Welsh Labour Government their request.”

One of the letter’s signatories, Mick Antoniw, pointed out to him: “This is nothing to do with you. No request has been made to you. Your permission is not required for anything.”

The lunacy even reached as high as prime minister Rishi Sunak, who said the pilot could incentivise people smuggling.

Nation.Cymru has acquired a comment from the Welsh Government that makes Sunak look like a simpleton:

“It is disappointing that inaccurate and misleading claims are being used to trivialise these sensitive issues.”

Source: Senior Tories accused of ‘distorting’ truth over ‘inaccurate’ reports of £1,600 payment for asylum seekers in Wales

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