11. Plaid Cymru Debate: Cost of living

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:50 pm on 21 September 2022.

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Photo of Carolyn Thomas Carolyn Thomas Labour 4:50, 21 September 2022

I'll struggle to follow that, Delyth. It was very good.

I strongly believe that fossil fuel companies and shareholders should not be profiting from the high price of fossil fuel, while households, businesses and public services are suffering such severe hardship. Councils and community groups are looking at setting up warm homes and soup kitchens. How has this been allowed to happen in twenty-first century Britain? The EU is looking at charging 33 per cent tax on profit, and this will mean taking back £140 billion from the energy companies. But rather than a windfall tax, the Tories would rather working people shoulder the burden. One hundred and seventy billion in excess profits, the Treasury predicts, yet the Prime Minister's bailout will cost £150 billion in taxpayers' money, putting the country into further debt for generations to come. Workers are already working long shifts, often unsociable hours for the same pay, impacting on mental health, families and childcare. They have faced the consequences of a race to the bottom over the last decade or more.

The UK Government talks about growing the economy through business and the creation of good, well-paid jobs. Well, there are plenty of vacancies in health and the public sector that they are struggling to fill—jobs that were once well paid. It's time the UK Government started to grow the economy by properly funding our public services. We need them now more than ever. We can then invest in our transport infrastructure, rebuild our NHS and care homes, build zero-carbon social housing and put money back in people's pockets. We had a decent NHS and public services before austerity, but we were told that we had to tighten our belts year after year, shaving 30 per cent each time off social care, education and transport. It is the public sector that stepped in here in Wales to help with the pandemic, and it is the public sector who will have to deliver the grants, help create warm rooms and deliver food for people.

The UK Government blames Putin's war, but the cost-of-living crisis was an issue before then. Food prices have increased significantly because of the poor handling of Brexit. And I note from past debates that, despite a reduction in real-terms funding, the Welsh Government is delivering help to residents twice that it has received from UK Government for that purpose. The fuel vouchers and all the grant funding packages are great, but it's not sustainable; it's bureaucratic and costly to deliver.

I saw a local authority advertising for 12 benefits staff to deliver grant funding on £19,500 a year, which means that they will probably also need benefits—and so the circle continues—and help with heating and food. The energy price cap should not have been raised. The UK Government should have been bold and kept the pre-April price cap of £1,277. We need a real pay rise for workers and a significant uplift in universal credit. And we can do this by taxing the rich 10 per cent. And, Delyth, enough is enough.