7. What discussions has the First Minister had with the UK Prime Minister in respect of ensuring fair funding for Wales? OAQ54876

Llywydd, repeated assurances have been sought from both the Prime Minister and the Treasury that his Government will distribute spending power across the United Kingdom in a way that allows an equivalent level and quality of public goods and services to be provided in each of the four nations.

Thank you for that answer, First Minister. If the spending of this Assembly had been increased by the Conservative Government in line with growth of the economy since 2010, we would be £4 billion better off than we are now. Effectively, the Tory austerity programme has robbed this country and the people of Wales of £4 billion. First Minister—[Interruption.]—First Minister, if we had been given that £4 billion that we should have been given, what difference might it have made to the lives of the people of Wales and the quality of our public services?

Llywydd, of course, had the spending available to the National Assembly still maintained the share that we had back in 2010, we would have had an enormous additional scope to invest in the public services that make a difference every day in the lives of people here in Wales. Had that Conservative Government been able to match the level of investment in public services managed by Mrs Thatcher and by John Major, we would have been over £6 billion better off by this point in the Assembly's history. That's the level that previous Conservative Governments believed—[Interruption.] Well, I can understand why Conservative Members are shocked to learn that, during the period that they've been involved in the stewardship of public services, we have fallen so far behind what was achieved by their own predecessors. That investment would have made a difference, wouldn't it, in every aspect of the responsibilities that this Assembly discharges. It would have allowed us to have done even more to provide affordable housing for people in Wales. It would have made sure that the investment that we could make in education, in health, in social services, in our economy—. Think what we could have done here in Wales if we hadn't been robbed of that £4 billion by the flawed and failed policies of austerity that the party opposite is now turning its back on, and no doubt we will hear cheers from them as they stand on their heads to celebrate the latest turn of their policy wheel.