Energy Bills

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 2:09 pm on 5 October 2022.

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Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 2:09, 5 October 2022

I'm absolutely astonished that you can stand there and have the gall to talk in that way, Janet Finch-Saunders, about the situation where we have people in Wales now who have not got their electricity on, who do not know where they're going to get their next meal from, as a result of your Government [Interruption.] I'm not going to repeat everything—I'm sure that the Llywydd will stop me anyway—but where are they going to get the £45 billion from? They've already had two u-turns. Where are they—? So, I'll tell you where—the Resolution Foundation says that it's either cutting public services, or it's going to cut welfare benefits, which will cause more poverty and destitution.

We've just got to recognise that uprating benefits, including the state pension, by earnings instead of inflation—. A 4 per cent real-terms cut would actually cost a typical low-income working family with two children over £1,000 a year. What are you going to do with those constituents, Janet Finch-Saunders? Can I just say that Wales Fiscal Analysis has noted that in Wales, nearly 90 per cent of the gains will go to households in the top 50 per cent? Do you agree with that? Ninety per cent of your policies, fiscally, will go to the top 50 per cent here in Wales; 40 per cent will go to households in the top 10 per cent in your constituency. Why can't the UK Government get its priorities right? They should target the windfall tax to pay for this, in order to pay for their tax-cutting budget. It is not going to deliver growth; it's going to deliver poverty and destitution, and that's a tragedy for the people we represent in Wales.