<p>Borrowing</p>

Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:11 pm on 2 May 2017.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 2:11, 2 May 2017

The UK has far more fiscal tools available to it than the Welsh Government in terms of the way in which it can borrow and in terms of the taxation policies available to it. We know that your party—or the party that you sit on that side of the Chamber with—will not rule out a rise in income tax. I appreciate that honesty, but I think it’s right to say that even the Conservative Party is considering increasing income taxes in the future in order to provide more money for the public purse. They’ve been asked several times to rule it out, and several times that has not been ruled out. The point is this: borrowing for infrastructure investment is important. It must be prudent—I take that point—and it must be affordable. But what is affordable for the UK is many times more than what is affordable for Wales because of the tools at the UK’s disposal and its ability to raise money. It was done in the 1940s, when the situation was far, far worse than this. The infrastructure was rebuilt. The UK got back on its feet into the 1950s. If it could be done in the 1940s, when borrowing rates were higher and the situation much worse, then why is it so unreasonable to say that it can’t be done now?