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.
“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.”
And there’s the rub. I’m a Labour supporter, and I’m gutted that the child poverty agenda – that you claim to care so much about – received such short shrift in this budget. You, on the other hand, think it’s all about more powers. Which is really rather sad.
yes stevie- so we can address issues like child poverty in the Assembly properly. I do care grately about child poverty and about reaching the targets. Pity the Chancellor doesn’t feel the same way, and is more interested in giving tax breaks to the Royals!
“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.”
Bethan, the Plaid and its Labour government already have powers. And what have you done with it? Professor Kevin Morgan, the chairman of the Yes Campaign in 1997, tells us that “the absence of a link between prosperity and autonomy is “devolution’s dirty little secret”. Plaid as part of the WAG must bear some of the responsibility. It is not about more powers. It is about the quality of the current AMs. Professor Kevin Morgan said that for him “the biggest disappointment of all about devolution was the low calibre of AMs.” And as for blaming the London government what about Professor Brian Morgan of UWIC’s Cardiff School of Management pointing the finger of responsibility at the WAG for their failure in Wales. He says that there is a danger that Wales’s economic performance could “nose-dive” from 75% of the UK’s Gross Value Added (GVA) level – the standard measure of economic performance – to 70%. This disaster would be due to London but the ineffectiveness of the Cardiff based government. He says, “what we have in WAG is a complete logjam of decision-making.”
The one thing I do know is that this is a reason if ever there was one for NOT giving more powers to the National Assembly for Wales.
Given the relatively low tax base in Wales (much of which is also public sector), how would you envisage a future independent Wales being funded? This is after all the main objective for you and Plaid Cymru. The next few years are going to be tough for us all, but nothing like as harsh as it would be under independence. Ask yourself, in an increasingly fragile and energy-poor world, is Wales really better alone? And if you think Europe is the great hope, look eastwards, where there will soon be more or less complete dependence on Russian energy – with obvious consequences. It is energy and infrasructure which is going to drive politics from now on. The people of Wales will be far better-placed as part of the UK, a country that (despite its faults) has brought us all a good level of influence, comfort and security in an increasingly uncertain world. Can we maintain this? Yes we can, but we must change our ways, use our creativity, use our intelligence – and all of us on this small island must work together.