Support for Business

Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 2:49 pm on 18 March 2020.

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Photo of Alun Davies Alun Davies Labour 2:49, 18 March 2020

I'm grateful to the Minister for that answer, and I think all of us welcomed the fact that the United Kingdom Government has woken up to the crisis facing many people across the country. Members will be aware that it's over a decade now since we bailed out the banks—now it's time to support our people. Many of us feel that the Chancellor, in his statement yesterday, failed in three ways. First of all, the Chancellor's statement did not look at the impact that this is having on people and families. I've been contacted by many people who are self-employed and running small businesses, all of whom are frightened because of the virus circulating in our community, but also frightened because they may well be losing their jobs and losing their businesses. It is incumbent upon any Government to respond fully to the crisis facing people in our communities today, and the Government in the United Kingdom has not recognised this impact on small businesses and the self-employed. 

It has also, Deputy Presiding Officer, failed to recognise the importance of small businesses to the economy of Wales. It has failed to recognise the importance of these businesses to our wider economy and to our communities. The Minister has already stated in his answer that Barnett will not work. It has to be time now for Barnett to be put away and for a new needs-based formula to provide the full support that Wales needs and deserves. 

Finally, Minister, can I ask you about the way in which the United Kingdom Government is working at the moment? This is a crisis across the United Kingdom and across the world, but the United Kingdom seems interested only in one nation in the United Kingdom and not in the four nations of the United Kingdom. The Welsh Ministers, I am aware, have offered the United Kingdom Government private meetings and opportunities to work together to deliver the support that all businesses across the UK need. Isn't it time that the UK governed for the whole of the United Kingdom and ensured that the whole of the United Kingdom gets the support that businesses, the self-employed and our communities require, need and deserve?