Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 1:52 pm on 15 December 2021.
But it's not just rejecting furlough when Wales really needed it that worries me, Minister; the arbitrary way in which the Conservatives treat Wales in other areas of funding is also apparent. The HS2 scandal and the rejection of billions of pounds that should come to Wales—money that Scotland and Northern Ireland are receiving, of course—is another example, as is the way they've broken their word on European funding, with the loss of hundreds of millions of pounds that would have come to Wales, but is now being pocketed by Westminster. There is no strategic focus to the shared prosperity fund—again, something that operates according to the whim of the Chancellor in Downing Street. And there's a pattern here, isn't there? A pattern that is being reflected across the Westminster Government.
Now, I know that you're as frustrated as I am because of the transformational impact that this funding would have if we were to receive it, but can I ask, therefore: what more can you as a Government do and can we as a Senedd do in order to ensure that Wales receives the money owed to us, and that we are treated more fairly by the Westminster Government?