Budget
Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 4:35pm
4 responses
Today’s Budget announced by the Chancellor represents a severe blow to economic recovery in Wales. Judging by the very confused messages from Labour today, we are able to say that the cut to the Welsh budget will come to at least £1 billion between now and 2013 – a shocking figure that will have a significant impact on Welsh communities.
What strikes me is the argument put by Brown and Darling during the recession that spending and stimulus were needed to ease our way out of this situation, and yet given the opportunity, they duck from practicing what they preach and are now chocking vital funds to the Assembly government. It seems to me that this is yet more confirmation that Labour on a UK level is still obsessed with the South East of England and has little interest in helping Welsh communities withstand the current economic meltdown.
The London consensus will never deliver for families and individuals in Wales. Adam Price MP has appeared on BBC news to talk about his reaction to the budget, and you can see his initial opinions here.
The amount the Government is borrowing- estimated at £175 billion is truely shocking- perpetuating the culture of debt that New Labour initiated when they entered government. They have also initiated a 50% tax rate for earnings over £150,000 but people are already questioning whether this will in fact backfire on the Government. I hardly see the Tories supporting this one, do you?
One thing I do know is that this is a reason if ever there was one for more powers for the National Assembly for Wales.
I’ll be keeping a keen eye on people’s reactions to the budget, especially organisations that I work with in my region. I’ll try and blog more comprehensively on it when I have time.
