Fay Jones has accused the Welsh Government of mismanaging public services in Wales.
The Brecon and Radnorshire MP, speaking in the Commons in her capacity as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales, was responding to criticism about funding in Wales from Cynon Valley MP Beth Winter.
The Brecon and Radnorshire MP, speaking in the Commons in her capacity as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales, was responding to criticism about funding in Wales from Cynon Valley MP Beth Winter.
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00:00 The UK economy has outperformed expectations this year, and the Prime Minister has delivered
00:05 his pledge of halving inflation. Following the Chancellor's announcement of the autumn
00:09 statement, the Welsh Government will receive £305 million in additional funding, which
00:14 can be used to support public services in Wales.
00:17 >> Beth Whish-Hill (Belfast North) (Lab) Tory inflation and austerity mean that the
00:23 Welsh budget is worth £900 million less than when it was set, and the autumn budget consequentials
00:28 do not make up for that. The Institute for Welsh Affairs has called the autumn statement
00:34 "a return to austerity, tax cuts at the cost of cuts to public service delivery",
00:39 and it is the people of Wales who are suffering poverty and cuts to public services. Instead
00:46 of the autumn statement tax handouts to the wealthy in London and the south-east, will
00:51 the Secretary of State not urge the Chancellor to tax the wealthy to better protect Welsh
00:57 public services?
00:58 >> The Prime Minister It will not surprise you to learn that I
01:02 completely disagree with the hon. Lady's assessment. It is not the amount of money
01:07 that the Welsh Government are receiving; it is the way in which they are mismanaging public
01:10 services in Wales that is the problem. The 2021 spending review delivered the Welsh Government
01:16 a record settlement of £18 billion a year. I think she needs to recognise that the problem
01:22 is on her own side in Wales.