Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:04 pm on 20 October 2020.
Llywydd, Welsh Government has drawn together over £294 million from a range of sources within our own existing budgets, and we have drawn on some additional consequentials that have come through the UK Government as a result of support to businesses in level 3 lockdown areas in England. All of that will be used to support those businesses that are affected by this temporary firebreak period.
Let's be clear: the choice is not between doing what we are doing and simply carrying on as things are, because to do that will undermine businesses even more—businesses that find that workers can't come into work, because they are infected with this disease; people who are required to self-isolate because they've been in contact with a growing number of people infected by coronavirus; businesses who find that people are fearful of coming into their premises because coronavirus is escalating away from our ability to control it here in Wales. So, the actions we are taking will be to the benefit of business beyond the firebreak period. It will stabilise the numbers, it will bring things back under control, it will create the conditions in which business can go on trading up until Christmas. I would have thought the Member would have welcomed that. I haven't heard a single word from him this afternoon that suggests that he's doing anything other than continuing to undermine the efforts that are being made here in Wales to do the things that are necessary to protect our health service, to save lives, to invest in those businesses that have a future beyond coronavirus. It's a dereliction of responsibility, Llywydd, for a party in this Senedd not to put their support behind the measures that are necessary at this crucial point, this emergency point in a pandemic, to do the right thing by the people of Wales.