Summary

  • Leading representatives from the five most prominent political parties in Wales have taken part in a live televised debate ahead of the general election on 4 July

  • Welsh Secretary David TC Davies for the Conservative party, Welsh Labour leader and first minister Vaughan Gething and Plaid Cymru leader, Rhun ap Iorwerth took part

  • Jane Dodds, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and Oliver Lewis, from Reform UK, were also part of the debate

  • They clashed on immigration, the cost of living and the NHS, while Mr Gething defended himself following controversy over donations to his leadership campaign

  • Scroll through for all the key moments as well as reaction and analysis from Friday's debate

  1. And that's all from uspublished at 21:26 British Summer Time 21 June

    Thanks for following our coverage of BBC Wales' election debate.

    Here's some of the key moments:

    • Conservative Welsh secretary David TC Davies blamed the crisis on the war in Ukraine, but Welsh Labour leader Vaughan Gething said the UK was still paying for former PM Liz Truss’s tenure
    • Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds challenged the Tories and Labour to "abolish the two child cap on benefits"
    • Reform UK's Oliver Lewis denied his party would cut welfare and said the party was "the new Labour party"
    • Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said his party would increase child benefit by £20 a week, while claiming both Labour and the Tories were wedded to £18bn worth of cuts

    We're bringing to live page to a close now but you can read more about all of tonight's action here.

  2. Voters denied chance to hear 'radical bold vision', says Green leaderpublished at 21:18 British Summer Time 21 June

    Oliver Slow
    BBC Wales News

    Anthony Slaughter, the Green Party leader for Wales, has also appeared on BBC Radio Wales, saying it was "deeply frustrating" that his party was not invited to participate in the debate, while Reform was.

    He said the debate did not have any winners and that the "losers were the Welsh voting public, who were denied a chance to hear a radical bold vision".

    "We saw lots of acknowledgement of the problems facing Wales, but no solutions – lots of finger-pointing, but no one offering bold solutions to this crisis," he said.

    BBC Wales said it has invited parties "in line with BBC’s election guidelines as well as Ofcom rules".

  3. A heated moment in debatepublished at 21:08 British Summer Time 21 June

    Oliver Slow
    BBC Wales News

    Oliver Lewis

    A heated moment in the debate came when Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth clashed with Reform candidate Oliver Lewis on comments about schooling – Mr Lewis responded to it, although Mr ap Iorwerth was in fact referring to Reform leader Nigel Farage.

    Speaking on BBC Radio Wales, Joe Rossiter said Mr Spencer showing "righteous indignation" about the topic would not have chimed well with the public, as they struggle with issues such as the cost of living crisis.

    "Getting righteously indignant about that... seems a bit out of whack with what people listening probably think," Mr Rossiter said.

  4. Plaid leader declared 'winner' by analystspublished at 21:07 British Summer Time 21 June

    Oliver Slow
    BBC Wales News

    Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth

    Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth was the “winner” of the debate, according to Sian Jones, a former Conservative adviser to ex chancellor Philip Hammond, who was speaking on BBC Radio Wales.

    He came under attack from Reform candidate Oliver Lewis at one point, but was able to deflect it, she said.

    "I think his closing statement was the strongest, where he said don’t take Wales for granted," Ms Jones said.

    Joe Rossiter, from the Institute of Welsh Affairs, agreed that the Plaid leader had a largely successful night, likely "going in hot" from the series of debates he has taken part in in recent weeks.

    "I think he nailed down his position... while I think some of the other parties may have had a slightly more negative tone of what they were putting forward," he said.

  5. What have we learned?published at 21:03 British Summer Time 21 June

    Debate

    Across immigration, the cost-of-living, the NHS and the economy, Wales' five main parties clashed in BBC Wales election debate, so what have we learned?

    Read BBC Wales' Rosie Mercer's top five takeaways here.

  6. Cost of living a key part of debatepublished at 20:43 British Summer Time 21 June

    Oliver Slow
    BBC Wales News

    Also speaking on BBC Radio Wales, Joe Rossiter, from the Institute of Welsh Affairs, said he found the most interesting part of the debate the audience questions on the cost of living crisis.

    "There were so many questions, and really emotive questions from the audience as well," he said, although he said many of those questions were not effectively answered by those on stage when it came to policy.

    "It was good to see that all of the candidates and party leaders were all acknowledging the cost of living as a really key challenge at this election," he said, describing these as "humanising" moments.

  7. Gething looked 'very uncomfortable' on donations - ex-Tory adviserpublished at 20:38 British Summer Time 21 June

    Oliver Slow
    BBC Wales News

    We’ve been getting some reaction to the debate on BBC Radio Wales, where Sian Jones, former special adviser to Philip Hammond – who was chancellor under Conservative prime minister Theresa May – said the "theatre" around First Minister Vaughan Gething being asked about the donations to his leadership campaign was "probably the stand out moment".

    "I think he looked very, very uncomfortable," she said.

    Although, as a member of the Senedd, Mr Gething is not running in the general election, she said he could be concerned that the controversy could "resonate with voters" when it comes to trust in politicians, and trust in the Labour party.

  8. Analysis

    Fact check - Truss and the UK economypublished at 20:29 British Summer Time 21 June

    Felicity Evans
    BBC Wales money editor

    While it is the case that the Liz Truss budget resulted in an economic backlash that required intervention from the Bank of England, it is also true that international events were major contributors to rising inflation.

    The Bank has identified "three large economic shocks" which it said caused high inflation in the UK.

    It lists them as supply issues after the Covid pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which affected food and energy prices and a shortage of workers within the UK.

    TrussImage source, Getty
  9. A record year so far for small boat crossingspublished at 20:27 British Summer Time 21 June

    Steve Duffy
    BBC Wales News

    As well as legal immigration - the issue of illegal migration was also touched on.

    The first five months of the year have brought record numbers of small boat crossings for the period, into the UK.

    Home Office figures show 10,448 migrants detected between January and May.

    So far in June, 1,867 migrants have been detected, including 882 on Tuesday.

    Small boat chart
  10. Analysis

    Oliver Lewis, new kid on the blockpublished at 20:13 British Summer Time 21 June

    Gareth Lewis
    BBC Wales political editor

    Oliver Lewis

    You might have heard Vaughan Gething, David TC Davies, Rhun ap Iorweth and Jane Dodds speak before.

    But you might've been less familiar with Reform’s Oliver Lewis, who is doing his best to make up for lost time.

    He was involved in a ding-dong with Mr ap Iorwerth after assuming the Plaid leader had said that he’d gone to private school – Mr ap Iorwerth was speaking about Nigel Farage.

    Mr Lewis said he also blamed all the other politicians in the room for the troubles faced by the NHS, and at one point tried to direct Bethan Rhys Roberts to speak to the audience.

    Both Mr ap Iorwerth and Mr Lewis said the audience should decide about their little spat… over to you then.

  11. Analysis

    Welsh children's care fact-checkedpublished at 20:10 British Summer Time 21 June

    Owain Clarke
    BBC Wales health correspondent

    Earlier Oliver Lewis, from Reform UK claimed there were no specialist children's hospital in south Wales.

    The Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales, based at the University Hospital of Wales, does provide more specialist (tertiary) care for children across mid, west and south Wales.

    It is true to say that for that level of care children in north Wales are likely to have to travel over the boarder to hospitals like Alder Hey in Liverpool.

    But that has always been the case.

  12. The debate endspublished at 20:09 British Summer Time 21 June

    Jack Grey
    BBC Wales News

    The debate has wrapped up.

    But keep following here where we'll continue to provide coverage and expert analysis from our team of correspondents.

  13. I would ditch European human rights over Rwanda, says Daviespublished at 20:07 British Summer Time 21 June

    Jack Grey
    BBC Wales News

    On immigration, Mr Davies says he would be happy to leave the European Convention on Human Rights if it were to get in the way of the Conservatives' Rwanda plan.

    "I would absolutely leave it," he says.

    "If a foreign court stops us from doing something which we as a democratically elected sovereign parliament have elected to do, then yes of course.

    "We have every right to implement immigration policy that this country has voted for."

    However, he adds: "We will always need and welcome legal migration for people with specialist skills."

  14. Gething says Labour will scrap Rwanda schemepublished at 20:06 British Summer Time 21 June

    David Deans
    BBC Wales politics reporter

    Vaughan Gething says the Rwanda scheme is an attempt to be "divisive" and will not solve "our problems".

    "We will stop the Rwanda scheme and invest that money in a border security command", he says.

    "I'm proud of the generosity we've showed to a number of people around the world."

    "I'm the son of an immigrant," he says. "I recognise that this is a debate that needs to be managed sensitively."

  15. Reform says immigrants not in firing linepublished at 20:02 British Summer Time 21 June

    David Deans
    BBC Wales politics reporter

    Reform's Oliver Lewis denies his party was scapegoating or demonising immigration.

    He says the party's "scorn" was aimed at the UK government.

    Mr Lewis says the "crisis" was so serious the political class "had caught up with it".

  16. What are the net migration figures for Wales?published at 20:01 British Summer Time 21 June

    Steve Duffy
    BBC Wales News

    Net migration in Wales

    On international migration, we only have figures to the end of 2022 in Wales - which showed record net migration.

    These are people moving in and out of the UK legally, to work or study.

    There was a net international migration of 21,854 in Wales. That is 33,204 people coming in – and 11,350 leaving.

    Around half the net figure for Wales involved Cardiff alone.

    The provisional figures for 2023 estimates for the UK suggest figures have gone down by 10%.

    And experts predict net migration is set to fall over the next few years.

    In 2023, the ONS said non-EU nationals’ dependents have overtaken EU nationals for visa applications

    Non-EU nationals make up 85% of visa applications to the UK.

    Rise in work-related visa applications, almost half from Nigeria and India.

    China, Pakistan and Zimbabwe applicants also rising since 2019.

  17. Allow asylum seekers to work, says Ms Doddspublished at 20:00 British Summer Time 21 June

    Jack Grey
    BBC Wales News

    Ms Dodds says refugees and asylum seeks need "safe and legal routes" into Wales and the UK.

    She says a "fast asylum process" is essential and they should also be given "a fast asylum process"

    "In Wales there isn't a community without a poster up saying 'we need staff'.

    She says she is "with Rhun on this" about the demonisation of refugees, adding that Wales should be a "nation of sanctuary".

    Jane Dodds
  18. Third question - immigrationpublished at 19:58 British Summer Time 21 June

    David Deans
    BBC Wales politics reporter

    Alun Roderick asks the third question - is the way that immigration is being discussed in this election too negative?

    Rhun ap Iorwerth says his party would have more immigration "into some sectors".

    "I don’t like the tone of the debate on immigration," he says.

    He appears to suggest Reform wants to exploit people's fears and anxieties on immigration.

    "Don’t be ridiculous," replies Oliver Lewis.

    Mr ap Iorwerth continues: "We are talking about people. Many of them because of war."

    "Let’s remember the humanity in all of this," he adds.

  19. Gething's donations issuepublished at 19:57 British Summer Time 21 June

    David Deans
    BBC Wales politics reporter

    Labour have found themselves having to frequently defend the subject of Vaughan Gething's campaign donations during this campaign.

    In his run to become first minister Mr Gething took £200,000 from a company owned by a man twice convicted of environmental offences.

    David Neal, who owns Dauson Environmental Group, was given a suspended sentence in 2013 for illegally dumping waste, and another in 2017 for not cleaning it up.

    It later emerged that Mr Gething had lobbied Natural Resources Wales for one of Mr Neal's companies.

    Mr Gething says he has followed all the rules on campaign donations, and says he would never take a decision in relation to the companies.

    He later said he regretted the impact the donations had had. Mr Gething recently lost a vote of no confidence, after two of his Labour Senedd members stayed away ill.

    Vaughan GethingImage source, PA Media
    Image caption,

    Vaughan Gething's early weeks as first minister have been dominated by his campaign donations

  20. Analysis

    Donations row being used by partiespublished at 19:55 British Summer Time 21 June

    Gareth Lewis
    BBC Wales political editor

    Labour’s opponents see the Vaughan Gething donations issue as a potent line of attack.

    It took until about halfway through the debate for it to really come up.

    Depending on which politician you’re speaking to, it is also coming up on the doorstep even though the Labour first minister sits in the Senedd and isn’t on the ballot paper at the general election.

    The attack and the FM’s defence aren’t new, but for his political opponents questions over his judgement – and the support he’s receiving from senior UK Labour figures – are something they sense gain traction with voters.