Minister apologises for saying Welsh Government economy comments

Lee Waters was made a minister last year

A deputy minister who said the Welsh Government did not know what it was doing about the economy has apologised to a senior colleague.

Ken Skates said Lee Waters was trying to say that Wales is in an "incredibly fast moving environment globally".

"We do know what we are doing on the economy," the economy minister told BBC Wales.

The Welsh Conservatives last week criticised Mr Waters comments, saying they were "deeply concerning".

Mr Skates' deputy had told an audience in Cardiff: "For 20 years we've pretended we know what we're doing on the economy - and the truth is we don't really know what we're doing on the economy.

"Nobody knows what they're doing on the economy.

"Everybody is making it up as we go along - and let's just be honest about that. We've thrown all the orthodox tools we can think of at growing the economy in the conventional way, and we've achieved static GDP over 20 years."

Ken Skates: "There would have be consideration of the environmental impact"

Mr Skates told BBC Wales that Mr Waters, deputy minister for the economy, has apologised to him.

He said Mr Waters was trying to articulate "the fact that we are operating in an incredibly fast moving environment globally with automation... [and] the need to respond the climate change".

"With all of these moving parts it's difficult to cut through and navigate a direction that is going to offer a sustainable employment base but we have developed the economic action plan to do just that," he added.