I am surprised that we are having this debate today because there was no mention of a tourism tax in Welsh Labour’s 2016 manifesto—a manifesto on which they were elected as the largest party to this Assembly. When there was a Labour Government also elected at UK level, there was a promise not to raise certain taxes, but this promise was broken and a raft of other stealth taxes was introduced when you came into office. Increases in national insurance and council tax became the norm. I do not want this past behaviour to be replicated or normalised in Wales. I appeal to the Welsh Labour Party and the Welsh Labour Government, therefore, not to prioritise the exploration of a tourism tax, but instead to concentrate on implementing the parts of their manifesto that encourage economic growth and the creation of well-paid jobs—these parts of the manifesto that are positive for Wales.

The tourist areas within my region, such as Gower and Porthcawl, try to promote the beautiful, unique country that we have, and I want to see the tourist industry in Wales flourish. The Welsh Government’s exercise on the tourism tax will continue to divert the resources of Government employees, special advisers and the like from implementing the manifesto priorities in order to explore a tax that is not a manifesto commitment. Consequently, I support the Conservative motion. It is my firmly held view that we should always strive for low taxation, giving individuals the opportunity to spend and invest in Wales. Now, it is possible to make a case for a tourism tax, but only in countries that already have a thriving tourist sector and low taxation levels applied to tourists. Such countries will prosper regardless of whether or not there is a tourism tax. This is because they have already engineered the best environment for tourists and businesses in the areas outside of any tourist tax. However, this is not the case in Wales. Wales, and the UK, is not a low-tax environment for anyone, and especially not for tourists. For approximately 20 years, the UK’s VAT rate for the hospitality and tourism sector has remained one of the highest in Europe—[Interruption.] Sorry? Did someone want an intervention?