The corporate takeover of vets is leading to skyrocketing prices (up 63% in 5 years) and demoralised, underpaid staff being made to upsell unnecessary products and procedures. A change in the law is needed to reverse this. Watch Panorama at 10pm tonight on BBC1 to see their investigation.

Curse of Private Equity. Vets under pressure to increase revenue, Six companies control 60% of the UK's pet-care market Prices up by 63% between 2016 and 2023. Vets pressurised to meet financial targets by offering costly tests and treatment options. Govts do nothing. Now handing the NHS to PE.

🚍 🪙| Since becoming a Member of the Senedd, and long before, I've been campaigning for capped bus fares in Wales. So I was delighted to be in Wrexham at the launch of Welsh Labour's Senedd manifesto pledge to cap bus fares across Wales at £2, plus 100 new bus routes to be picked by the public.

🎄☃️| I'd like to wish everybody a wonderful Christmas & a Happy New Year. My Christmas card this years features my grandson and I on a recent trip to the Santa Express at the fantastic Llangollen Railway. Here's to a relaxing and fun-filled festive period - Nadolig Llawen! 🥂

Another respectable profession ravaged

How Corporate Giants Took Over our Vets - and Why Pets are Paying the Price | @nation.cymru "Veterinary care has been subject to a monopolisation which has resulted in poorer services and increased prices, whilst staff have seen their pay & conditions eroded." nation.cymru/opinion/how-...

When a beloved family pet falls ill, owners need & expect compassion & care. But increasingly, what they are met with instead is confusion, eye-watering bills, & an industry which is increasingly putting profit before animal welfare ✍️Carolyn Thomas MS

Delighted that the Senedd has voted to pass the first stage of a bill to ban greyhound racing in Wales. It's the result of years of hard work by charities, animal welfare groups, & campaigners. We must now see the legislation through so Wales puts animal welfare before gambling profits #CutTheChase

Many people don't realise their practice has been taken over by a corporate group. Move to an independently owned vet if you can.

It's a useful model for what would happen to UK healthcare if our adversaries ever succeeded in disbanding the NHS.

£400 for a blood test for our sick dog. It's criminal. My jaw hit the floor with that quote.

Private equity firms preying on vets practices. 6 firms control 60% of UK practices. Same firms control pet food, insurance. Wages down, fees up. Pet owners skipping meals to cover costs, hand pets to rescue organisations or euthanising them. Change law. Only qualified vets to own vet practices.

When a beloved family pet falls ill, owners need & expect compassion & care. But increasingly, what they are met with instead is confusion, eye-watering bills, & an industry which is increasingly putting profit before animal welfare ✍️Carolyn Thomas MS wp.me/p8Mk4U-1aLU

If handing someone their arse, was a video clip

Private equity firms have been accused of collaring the market in a corporate “feeding frenzy” that has seen local, independent vets gobbled up by global giants

The unveiling on the newly wrapped train marked the first six months of Network North Wales, a long-term plan to build an integrated public transport system for the region.

A great evening at the Colwyn Bay theatre organised by @northwaleswt.bsky.social listening to the inspirational broadcaster @lizbonnin.bsky.social in conversation with Craig. Lots of brilliant work being done by everyone, all the amazing volunteers and officers helping nature. 🌳🍄🍂🪻🐝🐞🦋🐛

Natural Resources Wales’s (NRW) Four Rivers for LIFE project has completed work to remove a culvert on the Afon Lwynor

The B.T Big Band, formed by Ben’s friends in his memory, will be performing at St Mary’s Church, Treuddyn - Sunday 14th December at 3pm. 🎶 Expect carol singing, mince pies, and plenty of festive cheer! The church will be beautifully filled with Christmas trees as part of the 2-day festival.🎄

A lovely honour to be invited to cut the ribbon at the opening of the Santa Express at the beautiful Llangollen Railway at the weekend. I used to take my children on the Santa Express, and now take my grandchildren too. The railway is one of the many reasons why Llangollen is such a special place.

Great to be in beautiful Llangollen - one of the areas that could soon be part of the new Glyndŵr National Park. North East Wales deserves the same protection & investment as Eryri and Pembrokeshire. Log your support before the 8th of December: ymgynghori.cyfoethnaturiol.cymru/north-east-g...

A view from Carolyn Thomas – Welsh Labour’s North Wales Member of the Senedd Wrexham.com has invited the four North Wales Members of the Senedd to write a monthly column with updates on their work. You can find their updates – along with contributions from the local representatives – here. In this…

A commitment from the Welsh Government to make the Blue Badge renewal process simpler and fairer for people with lifelong disabilities and long-term health conditions has been welcomed✍️ Emily Price wp.me/p8Mk4U-19iH

Nothing screams Rule Britannia like your former leader in Wales being locked up for being a Russian asset. Reform UK: constantly telling us it is immigrants & refugees who threaten 'British values' whilst they're busy taking bribes from foreign governments. You couldn't make it up! 🤡

I am delighted that over 21,000 potholes have been repaired across North Wales in just the last 6 months. This comes after more funding was released by the Welsh Government on the back of my campaign for highway improvements to be prioritised. I will continue to push for more!🛣️

This week, at FMQs, I asked Eluned Morgan for the adoption of a 'not for reassessment' marker for a fairer Blue Badge renewal process. I’m pleased the First Minister confirmed this approach is now being strengthened with new guidance and training for local authorities. A positive step forward! ♿🚗

Patriotic Millionaires came to Stroud and ‘parked the bus’. On their way to London campaigning for a wealth tax. Seems an overwhelmingly popular idea to me, in all my interactions - fans according to all polling, our Giga Poll and the polling of millionaires that PM did.

Excellent work by @recommon.org exposing the government funded #BlueHydrogen and #CCS scam being peddled by #HyNet, #EETFuels and #Eni at #Stanlow. CCS is dangerous, expensive, energy intensive and unproven at scale. Shout out to @carolynthomasms.bsky.social. #StopFundingCCS

Lovely to take in the stunning Welsh countryside this weekend on a trail walk in the Eryri National Park. In North Wales, we are particularly lucky to live with so many areas of natural beauty right on our doorsteps. As custodians, we must protect them so they can be enjoyed by future generations.

Patriotic Millionaires UK have stopped off in Wales as they travel across Britain in a custom bus with a clear message: ‘Tax us, the super-rich’

“I fled Ukraine at 13 – now I could help the world reach net zero.” This is what the Nation of Sanctuary makes possible, despite the cheap attacks. Now this exceptional young girl is considering leaving the UK because of threats to deport migrants. We must do better. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The number of employee-owned businesses in Wales has hit 100 – confirming the Welsh Government’s commitment to the employee ownership model and the benefits it provides for both the economy and communities across Wales

Wales has been ‘hurt hardest’ by Brexit amid a ‘mess’ of trade barriers, cultural blockades and a ‘fading’ Welsh presence in EU relations, Senedd committees have warned

Something that is never factored into the published cost of nuclear energy, a near century long clean up. We pay for this. Current bill, £120 billion and climbing. Sizewell C will be just more of the same. Expensive power and a toxic legacy for thousands of years. buff.ly/fvUNHbs

Nigel Farage thinks the minimum wage for young people might be “too high”. When many are struggling to make ends meet, Reform UK’s answer is to make life harder for young workers. While they talk about cutting young people’s pay, Labour in Wales is capping their bus fares at £1.

🚍| From Monday, bus fares across Wales will be capped at £1 for 5–15 year olds, with £3 day tickets. A 38% rise in MyTravelPass applications shows how much young people value affordable transport. I want to see capped fares made permanent - for a fairer, greener, and better connected Wales. 🌍

Delighted to have already had over 1,000 responses to my survey of North Wales residents. I want to know the priorities of the region so they can guide my campaigns moving forward as your Member of the Senedd. If you'd like to fill out the survey, please go to: forms.gle/LBxnMMsnEV2V...

Due to a central government preventing Wales investing directly in public services, the Welsh government adopted this damaging new private finance model in the NHS. It is really good to see @carolynthomasms.bsky.social speaking up on this.😍 vist.ly/4bwjs

Senedd members called for lifelong blue badges for people with permanent conditions, labelling the current renewal system as unfair, stressful and potentially discriminatory

Carolyn Thomas, Senedd member for North Wales, expressed concerns about people being forced to re-prove their disability every three years to keep their parking permit. 

It was brilliant to host Basketball Wales in the Senedd & I'm looking forward to working with them to deliver a national facility here in North Wales. Basketball is one of the most inclusive sports in Wales - bringing together young people from all backgrounds, abilities and communities.🏀

This is Reform's only Senedd Member Laura Anne Jones. She is very angry about the Wales' Nation of Sanctuary that mainly supports Ukrainian refugees. However she didn't always feel this way. Here are two speeches she has given where she says opposite things.

It has been one year since the launch of the North Wales medical school in Bangor, with the first students set to graduate in 2028. They are the doctors of the future who will help our NHS deliver better services for patients in Wales. 🧑‍⚕️🚑🏥👩‍⚕️

Labour MS carolynthomasms.bsky.social has raised concerns in the Senedd about the environmental impact of the #HyNet carbon dioxide pipeline which will plough through communities, conservation sites and watercourses in #NorthWales. She's the only politician to speak out.

The Welsh Government says the Wrexham–Deeside hydrogen pipeline could createthousands of jobs, but concerns have been raised in Senedd that it may harm the River Dee and local protected habitats.

"There is no good reason why Wales should be held back from using the same borrowing tools as others. If we want a stronger economy and better public services, we must have the powers to deliver them." My latest @wrexham.com column on the need for Welsh borrowing powers: wrexham.com/columns/a-vi...

Beavers are set to be legally recognised as a native species in Wales, the Welsh Government has confirmed, paving the way for their managed reintroduction

🎥 This week in the Senedd, I asked the Cabinet Secretary for an update on the Programme for Government commitment to double the number of employee-owned businesses in Wales. 👉 You can watch the Cabinet Secretary’s response in the video below.

Long awaited capital funding for our NHS in North Wales! After 14 years of Tory austerity blocking investment, we’ll see: 🏥 Modern facilities at Royal Alex in Rhyl 🦴 £29.4m orthopaedic hub in Llandudno Better care for patients, less pressure on Glan Clwyd. 💙 www.rhyljournal.co.uk/news/2551228...

Swifts are amazing! @jennyrathbone.bsky.social and @carolynthomasms.bsky.social supported the petition to include swift bricks in all new buildings this week: nation.cymru/news/swift-a... You can read more about their needs in our Species Champion briefing here: waleslink.org/wp-content/u...