Supporting the Economy

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:59 pm on 5 November 2019.

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Photo of Mr Neil Hamilton Mr Neil Hamilton UKIP 1:59, 5 November 2019

The First Minister probably knows that Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs have calculated that Wales contributes approximately £5,800 per head in tax, and Her Majesty's Treasury calculates that public expenditure, at all levels in Wales, amounts to about £10,300 per head. And so that, in effect, is a massive subsidy, largely by the taxpayers of London and the south-east. Therefore, the future of the British economy is vitally important to economic prosperity in Wales. But there has been no desire on the part of either Labour or Conservative Governments in the last 20 years to adjust the Barnett formula, which produces significant injustice for people in Wales, because it's not based on actual needs. And in view of this, does he think that the devolution process has actually produced this unintended consequence that Wales is now largely forgotten by parties at Westminster because the powers that this Assembly has can be exercised here, but they have to be paid for, to a great extent, by taxpayers in England? So, it's a case of out of sight, out of mind, and therefore perhaps the devolution process has not been quite so beneficial to Wales as we might have thought.