Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:10 pm on 4 February 2020.
Well, there's a question. Thank you for the question. Gosh; in at the deep end today, isn't it? I don't know that mayor specifically, but I would question what he paid for the airport to start with, did he pay over the odds for it and whether he has a strategy for that airport. I've not been questioning during this, the ownership of the airport, but I am questioning the strategy behind the running of that airport and I'm also questioning a blank cheque being provided for that and continual money. So, let's see a strategy, let's see a vision and I'm more than happy to look into the mayor of—was it Tyne? Tees valley. I'll look at what the mayor is doing up there, because perhaps we all in this Chamber could actually learn from what a Conservative mayor in the north of England is doing.
If I can just briefly turn, in the last few minutes, to supporting the economy and business taxes, Welsh Ministers could, of course, have lowered punitive business taxes to regenerate high streets, which are often talked about in this Chamber, to boost the Welsh economy. Look, we are still left with some of the most expensive business taxes in Great Britain, whatever reasons might be given for that. Both land transaction tax for non-commercial properties over £1 million and business rates outstrip our counterparts in both Scotland and England, and are set to do so again. Perhaps we need to look at all this afresh. Perhaps we've got the powers here to do something different. I think that other parties—Plaid Cymru might have mentioned this in the past. Perhaps we need to be looking at whether business rates can be addressed in a completely different way. At the moment, we're not at that point, so let's see some all-important relief for our businesses.
Now that we are the other side of the Brexit deadline, it's clearly important that we get on with developing our own external relations. Rightly or wrongly, Wales is too often perceived as trailing the rest of the UK when it comes to global investors' perceptions. The draft budget allocates an additional £2.5 million of EU transition funding in 2020-21 to support export, trade and inward investment activities, but we need to see more use of existing devolved economic levers, such as the taxation system, to provide a welcoming environment for businesses to invest and grow. Scotland has really built on this connection between the tax system and inward investment. It's something that we need to see in the future and it's a shame that we haven't seen more of that in this budget.
So, to finish off, Llywydd, let's drive Wales forward. The UK Government is delivering record investment this year with £790 million into growth deals and £500 million to the capital region city deal. There is money going in. Let's see similar investment from the Welsh Government. Wales has two Governments: it has a Government here; it also has a Government in Westminster. Those Governments need to work together to drive the Welsh economy forward now and in the future.