Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:46 pm on 6 May 2020.
The cost of the current lockdown will be felt not just in financial terms but also in healthcare terms. Cancer Research UK recently said that we're missing 2,300 cancers a week because of the reduction in GP referrals. It's clear that we need to spend a lot more money on health in the future, but we'll only be able to do that if we have a successful and growing economy.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has estimated that the cost of this lockdown will be anything from £500 billion to £1 trillion. The Government deficit in the UK is going to balloon by, perhaps, £300 billion this year—that's 20 times the entire Welsh Government budget. If we don't take some risks in getting the economy moving, and we have to take the risk that the infection rate of coronavirus will continue as it is—. So long as we can protect the vulnerable, or the most vulnerable, then does the First Minister agree that, if we are going to spend more on the health service in the future, we have, therefore, to get the economy back on its feet?