Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has attacked the Welsh government over speed limits and waiting times, on the first full day of general election campaigning.
Speaking at a brewery in Barry, he accused Labour of pursuing a "war on motorists" and said Welsh patients were being let down by the state of the Welsh NHS.
He was mocked by a senior Labour MP, however, after he asked whether people were looking forward to a football tournament that Wales had not qualified for.
First Minister Vaughan Gething said the attack was "what you'd expect from a Tory prime minister who knows he's in desperate trouble".
Earlier, a Labour MP appeared to distance herself from the Welsh Labour leader over donations to his leadership campaign.
Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth urged voters to back his party to ensure Wales is "never ignored at Westminster"
The Welsh government runs health, education, councils, transport policy and agriculture, among other matters.
It is made up of Labour Members of the Senedd (MSs) who are not up for election this year.
Mr Sunak, who was joined at the brewery by Welsh Secretary David TC Davies and local Vale of Glamorgan MP Alun Cairns, was shown how the business worked on the second stop of his tour of the UK's four nations.
The constituency was Labour during the Blair years and is a target seat for the party in the July poll.
Speaking to BBC Wales, Mr Sunak accused the Welsh government of pursuing a "war on motorists with top-down blanket 20mph speed limits".
Mr Sunak said small businesses owners were facing "thousands of pounds of higher tax bills" as a result of changes to business rates.
"The Welsh NHS, run by the Labour government, is the worst performing in Great Britain - waiting times the longest, emergency times the worst. That's the reality of Labour in Wales."
The Welsh government objects to the term blanket - saying it is an incorrect way to describe a default speed limit limit which applies in most residential areas which were previously 30mph.
Mr Sunak said he had a “strong record of investing in Wales”, saying his decision to scrap the second leg of the HS2 high speed rail line, between Birmingham and Manchester, was “going to mean a billion pounds” would be spent electrifying the north Wales main line.
Earlier in the visit Mr Sunak was met with a moment of silence when he asked if the European football championships would be a source of revenue.
"So, you're looking forward to all the football?," he asked. Wales did not qualify for the tournament.
One individual answered: "We're not so invested in it," to which another responded: "That's because you guys aren't in it".
The prime minister added: "It'll be a good summer of sport."
Labour's shadow Welsh Secretary, Jo Stevens, said on social media platform X it was "another own goal for Rishi".
Later, one of the business owners pictured sat next to Mr Sunak suggested he would not be supporting his party.
Lee Skeet, owner of Jackson's oyster bar in Cardiff, said on X he was "just asked to be there to talk about hospitality".
First Minister Vaughan Gething said on Thursday: “We know the difference that a Labour government makes, and we know that two Labour governments at either end of the M4 can transform Wales and transform Britain.”
In an interview Mr Gething said the criticism of the Welsh government was “what you’d expect from a Tory prime minister who knows he’s in desperate trouble.
“I want a change election for people to look at the position you find yourself in with your family.
“Are you better off now than four and a half years ago or 14 years ago?
“Are you optimistic about the future of the country with four more years of Rishi Sunak, after Liz Truss, after Boris Johnson, after David Cameron?”
Asked about a poll by Redfield and Wilton Strategies which suggested his approval rating had fallen in recent weeks, Mr Gething said: “I think you look at what’s happened in the last few weeks, it’s no surprise people take a different view.”
He said the donation row will not overshadow Labour’s campaign, and that voters were not asking about it.
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