Welsh budget: Labour and Plaid Cymru strike a deal

Labour and Plaid Cymru have struck a deal to pass the Welsh budget, Plaid leader Leanne Wood has told BBC Wales.

The £15bn spending plans - to be unveiled by Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford on Tuesday - need the backing of some opposition AMs to pass.

The two parties have held budget talks under the post-election deal by which Plaid Cymru supported Carwyn Jones's return as first minister.

Ms Wood said Plaid "sought to be constructive" as official opposition.

She said the deal was a sign of how the party was cooperating with Labour, following criticism by Lord Elis-Thomas over Plaid's stance.

The Dwyfor Meirionnydd AM quit the party on Friday night, claiming Plaid was not "serious" about working with Labour.

"The talks have been productive and I'm very pleased with the deal that we've agreed with the Labour government," Ms Wood said.

"I'm not able to furnish you with details at this point, but there's plenty there that will demonstrate that Plaid Cymru's priorities will have been met."

The Plaid leader called for a by-election in Lord Elis-Thomas's constituency, saying party members there would be "very disappointed indeed" by his decision to sit as an independent AM, so soon after May's assembly election.

Ms Wood said she felt an "element of relief that I don't have to deal with that difficulty now, but I still think there is an element of disappointment and sadness that it has had to come to this."

A Welsh Conservative spokesman dismissed the budget deal, saying: "There's little reason to believe that this budget will be any different from those that preceded it - all of which have categorically failed to deliver the necessary levels of education, prosperity and health for communities across Wales."