Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:53 pm on 14 September 2021.
Diolch, Llywydd. When faced with the choice of using a regressive tax—like national insurance—to fund public services, or a progressive alternative, then a Tory Westminster Government will always choose the former. Do you think this strengthens the case for devolving national insurance to Wales, particularly given the prime Minister’s insistence on ripping the devolution settlement to shreds in dictating how the additional revenue is to be spent? Given also that the amount of money raised is going to be as inadequate to the task as the Prime Minister is to his job, does the Welsh Government believe there remains merit in pursuing a Welsh-made solution in the form of the Holtham levy or some other alternative? Will this be one of the questions addressed by the inter-ministerial group, which today you’ve announced you are reconvening?