2. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the impact the UK Government’s fiscal statement will have on people in Blaenau Gwent? OQ58496

Llywydd, the unfunded tax changes in the fiscal statement will widen inequality across the United Kingdom. Areas such as Blaenau Gwent, which already face economic challenges, will be the most adversely affected.

I'm grateful to the First Minister for that. At one level, of course, it's possible to ridicule the chaos that exists in Westminster at the moment: a Prime Minister that models herself on Margaret Thatcher—the lady who is not for turning is spinning like a top, and, no, she doesn't herself know what decision she's going to take tomorrow. We know that the impact of her chaotic couple of weeks in Government has already sent the pound plummeting, the Bank of England being forced to promise to spend £65 billion just to hold the currency. We know that they are already ensuring that costs for business, for Government and for householders are rocketing. The Chancellor, in a moment of self-pity, said he'd had a tough time. Well, let me tell you, the people who've seen their mortgage rates rocketing are having a tougher time. And we know that these people, at the end of the day, still want to pay for tax cuts for the rich by cutting public services for the poor and vulnerable. First Minister, the people of Blaenau Gwent have always borne the brunt of Tory Governments in London. They've always borne the brunt of cuts to public services, cuts to benefits and lack of investment in an economy. First Minister, will the Welsh Government stand up and defend the people of Blaenau Gwent, and the people of Wales, against this chaotic regime in London?

Llywydd, of course the Welsh Government will do that, but the whole of this Senedd should do that. There are real questions for the Conservatives in this Chamber this afternoon. Do they defend the Prime Minister's wish not to increase benefits in line with inflation? What will that do to people in Blaenau Gwent, already living on bare-bones benefits, when she is prepared to lift the cap on bankers' bonuses but not prepared to provide a guarantee that the manifesto, on which those MPs were elected, that manifesto promise, she will not guarantee that that will be kept? [Interruption.] I look to you this afternoon—I look forward to hearing from the leader of the opposition when he has his chance to be on his feet rather than shouting from where he is sitting. Let him tell us this afternoon that the Conservatives in this Chamber will add their voice to Penny Mordaunt's, and other Conservative MPs, refusing to sign up to the Prime Minister's ambition to cut the benefits of people who already have almost nothing to live on. Llywydd, will they say it this afternoon? We'll say it, and other people in this Chamber will say it. Will they say this afternoon that they are not prepared—that they are not prepared—that the cost of funding unfunded tax cuts will be in cuts to public services—. Are you prepared to say this afternoon that, for people in Wales who rely on public services, teachers in the classroom, nurses in the wards, people waiting on housing lists, are you prepared to say this afternoon that you will add your voice to protect them? I see that you don't. I see that you don't. Alun Davies, I'll tell you this: this Government will raise our voice to make sure that those people are defended—people in Blaenau Gwent and people right across Wales. They will look to see whether there is any opportunity that Conservatives in Wales will do the right thing by them, but I can see already this afternoon that they're likely to wait a very long time before there's any sign of that. 

I think that's a bit rich, First Minister—you standing there and saying that, with your record on delivery in Wales—[Interruption.]

I don't think the Member has even started her question yet. Laura Anne Jones.

First Minister, do you, like me and the rest of my party, welcome the huge energy package that the UK Government have announced that will directly benefit the people, our constituents, of Blaenau Gwent? How are you going to support businesses in their fight for survival over the winter months coming?

Well, Llywydd, a fortnight ago, I welcomed the fact that there was to be help for people with their energy costs. What I don't welcome—I said it then, and I'll say it again now—is the fact that the price of that Conservative Party package will be paid in the debts that will lie with our children and our grandchildren to pick up, when there was a choice to take back the unlooked-for, enormously inflated profits being made by companies who will now see all those profits protected, protected by the public on whose shoulders the consequence of that party's decisions will be levied. I'm glad of the fact that there is help to be had; I do think that it's being done in exactly the wrong way.

The people of Blaenau Gwent and across the Valleys have suffered disproportionately from Tory misrule. This is a direct consequence of the failure or, rather, the deliberate policies of successive UK Governments that continue to funnel wealth and investment to London while communities in the south of Wales get next to nothing. The Truss Government is probably the worst yet. The Tories won a mandate based on the lie of levelling up, and now they are unashamedly doing the opposite. People in Blaenau Gwent and the Gwent Valleys are now facing gargantuan energy bills, higher prices, and rocketing mortgages and rent, as we've heard. Westminster rule means ruin for Wales. So, I'd ask you, First Minister, will you do all you can to secure every power that Wales, the Valleys and Blaenau Gwent need not only to protect ourselves now, but from future Tory Governments as well? Will you make those demands of Keir Starmer in the event of him becoming Prime Minister, and do you agree that the powers Wales needs include those over tax, welfare, justice and policing?

Well, Llywydd, Delyth Jewell makes an important point. We know from independent analysis that London and the south-east will benefit from the changes that the Liz Truss Government has introduced three times more than Wales will benefit and the north of England will benefit. Let's be clear, Llywydd: this is a Government that believes in redistribution; it believes in taking money from the poor and giving it to the rich. The idea that distribution is—[Interruption.] Of course, the figures are as plain as they possibly can be, Llywydd, and just shouting, sitting there, does not alter the fact that the top 5 per cent—this is after Liz Truss was forced to abandon her decision to abolish the 45p rate of tax—of the population will still get a quarter of all the cash gains as a result of the remaining aspects of the budget package. The richest 5 per cent of households will gain 40 times more—can you imagine that, Llywydd: the richest, top 5 per cent will gain 40 times more—than the bottom fifth of the population. It is so disgraceful that it is no wonder that that party is in complete free fall in the opinion polls. And, of course, we will use all the powers we have and the capacity we have to defend people here in Wales from this onslaught.