Fury as Welsh Labour splurges tens of thousands in taxpayer cash on 'embarrassing gimmick'

The Welsh Labour Government has sparked fury after the eyewatering cost of its new ‘Welsh Metaverse’ project was revealed.

Launched earlier this month, the Welsh Government boasted that they were becoming the “first UK nation to launch a Metaverse experience” on Mark Zuckerberg’s platform.

The “immersive experience”, they wrote, would “inspire future tourists by showcasing the range of experiences, places and attractions available to explore across Wales in real life”.

Featuring an historic castle, a Llandudno-style cable car ride and an amphitheatre, it was blasted as “tragic” and a waste of money.

A freedom of information request submitted by the Express has now revealed that the total cost of the project came to “less than £16,000” - something the Welsh Government appears boastful about.

However they are also spending an additional £30,000 to promote the Metaverse project as part of the ‘Visit Wales’ digital campaign activity, taking the cost up to a whopping £46,000 over the next six months.

Furthermore, the FOI also revealed that a paltry 4,800 people visited the Welsh Metaverse in the first two weeks of its operation.

Responding to the revelation, The Taxpayers’ Alliance said Welsh taxpayers will be “furious”.

Head of campaigns Elliot Keck fumed: “Welsh taxpayers will be furious that they're having to cough up for this embarrassing gimmick.

"Public services are on their knees and household budgets are at breaking point, yet civil servants are choosing to spend their time on pointless pet projects that no one but them will care about.

"Ministers should put an end to the metaverse before a single penny more is spent.”

The wasteful spending by the Welsh Government also comes just one day after the Express revealed that the Labour-run administration splashed out tens of thousands of pounds sending an official to an alcohol-soaked property jamboree on the French Riviera.

It was among several public bodies who lavished almost £400,000 of taxpayers' cash at the conference in the chic Hollywood haunt of Cannes.

Dozens of government and town hall officials spent three days in the sunshine at the annual MIPIM event in March - at a time when hard-pressed householders across England and Wales braced themselves for steep increases in their council tax bills.

Critics blasted the largesse and said the money should have been spent on essential services instead.

The biggest cost per attendee came from the Welsh government, who spent £51,046 of taxpayers' cash with just one official attending.

Sir Keir Starmer is in Wales today alongside embattled First Minister Vaughan Gething who faces a vote of no confidence next week after a run of scandals during his first two months in the job.

Sir Keir has previously been criticised for saying Labour-run Wales is a “blueprint” for what he will do in Government.