Janet Finch-Saunders, the Member of the Senedd for Bangor, Conwy and Môn, has raised deep concerns about the priorities of the Plaid Cymru Welsh Government following the announcement of a collaboration between Disney and S4C to produce a Welsh-language dub of the 1977 film Star Wars: A New Hope. It is claimed that around £100,000 of public money has been allocated to the translation.
While it is essential that we champion the Welsh language, the focus of the Welsh Government should instead be on tackling the challenges facing the Welsh NHS. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board area, where corridor care continues, causing immense concern and distress for both patients and medical practitioners. This comes at a time when, in the two years leading up to September 2025, 8,500 people died while on a Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board waiting list.
Janet commented:
"Of course we should celebrate and promote the Welsh language, and I welcome efforts to see it reach audiences across the world. However, at a time when patients across North Wales are enduring unacceptable waits for treatment, corridor care continues to blight our hospitals, and families are losing loved ones while waiting for care, the Welsh Government's priorities appear completely out of touch.
"The Welsh Government should be focusing every available resource on fixing our health service.
"Supporting the Welsh language and delivering a functioning NHS are not mutually exclusive, but when patients are being treated in corridors and staff are working under intolerable pressure, the Welsh Government must get its priorities right. The people of Bangor, Conwy and Môn deserve a Government that puts their health and wellbeing first."
ENDS
Photo: Janet Finch-Saunders MS/AS
