7. UKIP Wales debate: new Welsh taxes

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:22 pm on 22 November 2017.

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Photo of Mike Hedges Mike Hedges Labour 5:22, 22 November 2017

Yes, certainly. I've supported a tax on disposable expanded polystyrene packaging, especially that used for food trays in takeaway restaurants, for a very long time.

On the tourist tax, it's common around the rest of the world. I actually paid a tourist tax when I was in Dubrovnik; I just didn't know I was paying it. I only discovered it when I looked at places that had a tourist tax.

If you look at the cost of hotel rooms—for personal reasons, I spend a lot of time staying in Travelodges in Bangor and Caernarfon, and the price of a room there can vary quite dramatically. It's nothing to do with taxation; it's due to supply and demand.

If we desire quality public services, then we have to pay for them via taxation. This is not the start of a campaign for higher taxes, but it is linking taxation with expenditure. Can I just say—? I want to live in a country where, when you have an accident, the first responder checks your pulse, not your insurance policy.