Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:11 pm on 16 January 2018.
I've had it put to me that that's the 'ladybook' analogy of what you want for the economic future, First Minister, because, in fairness, there are 17,000 words in this document. I had hoped that you would have given us something firm, a road map, which would lift Welsh wages. As I've highlighted, over the 20 years, a Scottish worker is taking home £49 more in their pay packet than a Welsh worker is taking home, and GVA has increased by half of 1 per cent over the 20 years. That is hardly a record to be proud of. I want to see Wales thrive economically just like the picture you've painted, but I had hoped that you would have drawn something out of this document that was brought forward by the Cabinet Secretary, because this is the blueprint that you're basing your economic model on, and it doesn't offer much hope when taxes are mentioned once, when wages are mentioned twice, and automation is only mentioned six times.
And if I could ask you on taxes in particular: do you believe that the tax environment the Government is putting forward will make Wales a more competitive tax environment to attract businesses into Wales? I've had representations brought to me by businesses on the land transaction tax, the LTT, that show that Wales will ultimately be at a disadvantage. I know the Cabinet Secretary for Finance has met with industry leaders on this particular issue—who are really concerned that the write-downs that businesses are going to have to put into their balance sheets because of the higher tax environment that your Government is putting forward. So, do you believe that the tax environment that you will be creating here in Wales will put Wales at an advantage in attracting some of these new jobs and new enterprises that will help us tackle the automation generation that is coming our way?