Economic Growth

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:50 pm on 25 October 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:50, 25 October 2022

Well, Llywydd, of course I agree with Alun Davies that what this country needs is a general election—an opportunity for all parties to make their case to people and for the people to decide how they believe the crisis that we face should best be tackled. That general election is a democratic necessity, but it's also an economic necessity because you need a Government with a mandate and with the stability to take the difficult decisions that undoubtedly are there to be made. If we had that opportunity, I believe not only would Wales be better off, but the United Kingdom, of course, would be better off as well.

As to the point that the Member has made about the Treasury, I'm afraid I've long believed that the Treasury, driven by the Barnett formula, is essentially a Treasury for England, and that other parts of the United Kingdom simply get the consequences of decisions that are made in that way. We need a Treasury that is prepared to make the decisions that recognise the different needs of the United Kingdom and is prepared to invest in that way. Let's give one example of just how differently things are thought of in London and by the Conservative party: the now-discredited package of tax cuts made by Liz Truss would have resulted in three times—[Interruption.]