The tourism sector in Wales is of significant importance to the Welsh economy and to the people who live and work here in Wales. Tourism plays a huge part in my constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire, from Ystradgynlais to Llanbadarn Fynydd, the town of books in Hay-on-Wye, the Greenman festival. I could go on, because Brecon and Radnor is the tourism hub of Wales.

Too many people in this place see our tourism sector as a cash cow. I take a far more positive view. Yes, there are difficulties facing our country, but taxing our tourism sector is not the answer. Councils across Wales will be potentially implementing an increase in taxes on genuine holiday lets of up to 300 per cent. This will have a huge impact on the local economy and our business owners here in Wales.

I can see why the Government wants to tackle the issue of second home ownership, and I am sympathetic to your aims. Is it right that someone 500 miles away can purchase a house in rural Radnorshire and use it as a holiday let for a few weeks of the year to avoid paying tax, driving locals away from the area and pushing house prices up? I doubt that many would say that this is acceptable. By taxing genuine tourism businesses, some of which face planning restrictions on occupancy, they will be penalised and forced out of business. The tax policy, however well intentioned, will come with unintended consequences for our business community. What we need to do is tackle the large number of empty homes and vacant homes or the lack of house building. These homes should be prioritised for local people to help solve the housing crisis. But what do we see from this Welsh Labour socialist Government? No plan, just a tax plan. 

This policy, as well as a tourism tax being planned by the socialists in front of me, is a recipe for disaster: a double whammy of tax on businesses and people who are providing a vital service and giving people who visit Wales a fantastic experience. I know that many across the floor and my new colleagues to the right will say that we need a tourism tax. They compare us to Europe and say that cities such as Amsterdam and Budapest have a tourism tax. So, why don't we have one here in Wales? We hear the First Minister quite regularly saying, 'In Wales, we will do it our way.' So, why do we have to follow everybody else? We can do it differently. Let's not have a tourism tax. Let's have a genuine conversation about the situation.

We simply don't have the numbers of people visiting the vast numbers of our Welsh destinations as many European locations do. We should be encouraging tourism and promoting Wales as a place that people want to come and visit, to grow our economy, providing jobs and opportunities for everyone. A tourism tax puts our economy at risk. This in turn puts jobs at risk at a time when people need jobs more than ever. The people of Wales and the people in Brecon and Radnorshire need a Government that is supportive, that's tackling the housing crisis and supporting our businesses, not using visitors and employees as a scapegoat to fill the coffers of this Government's failings. The Conservatives support our business community, the Conservatives support tourism, and we will oppose any obscene regulations brought in by this coalition of chaos between Labour and Plaid Cymru. We are the party of business and that is why I encourage everybody in this Chamber to support the Conservative motion today.