Labour Leader Defends Welsh NHS

20 June 2014, 16:41 | Updated: 20 June 2014, 16:49

Ed Miliband is defending the way the Welsh NHS is run.

The Labour leader has brought his shadow cabinet to Caerphilly to meet ministers here for the first time.

He and First Minister Carwyn Jones held a question and answer session with workers from GE Aviation.

Prime Minister David Cameron has previously said the state of the health service here is a "scandal".

Ed Miliband said: "David Cameron wants to talk about the Welsh health service because he doesn't want to talk about what's happening in England - where things are going backwards.

"The second thing I'd say is that there have been independent investigations looking into this and they say no one health service is doing better than any other in the UK."

"Nobody in Wales is saying we want the Tories back because the last time they were in power here waiting lists were two years long.

"By anybody's standards - even David Cameron's - things are better here in Wales than they were when they were in power."

The Labour leader also says if he becomes Prime Minister he would be keen to introduce a programme similar to Jobs Growth Wales.

He said: "The 10,000th person is about to get a job under Jobs Growth Wales. We don't have that scheme in England, we're doing worse under the Tory government in youth unemployment than they are here in Wales.

"It's something to learn from and it's something a Labour government would want to do."