The Welsh budget should, of course, be about how the Welsh Government cuts its cloth, about its spending priorities, but listening to the exchange between the First Minister and the leader of the opposition this morning, I have to wonder why we're having this debate. Too often, I wonder why constantly the Welsh Government points its finger at Westminster rather than making this about the Welsh Government's priorities. This should be about the Welsh Government's priorities, and that's what this budget debate should be about. I couldn't follow the First Minister's logic earlier toda. He seems to want the UK Government to raise taxes so Wales can have more funding, but then makes the argument that he won't raise taxes in Wales because they're too high. We can't have it both ways, and it seems to me that what the First Minister is effectively saying is that he's not prepared to make decisions within his competence. 

The subject of the exchange this morning between Andrew R.T. Davies and the First Minister was about nurses' pay. Well, £133 million was spent on agency nurses in the 2021-22 financial year. If successive Labour-led Welsh Governments managed the workforce better, that funding could, if the Welsh Government chose, be spent on raising nurses' pay. Andrew R.T. Davies was making the point this morning about the tools that the Welsh Government has got to raise nurses' pay, the ability it's got to do that, but I would also point to the past 20 years as well. There are decisions that have been made here, due to the poor workforce within the Welsh NHS, that mean that the Welsh health budget does not have the capacity that it could have to raise nurses' pay, had it made decisions better. You can't possibly point the finger to Westminster when it comes to the management of the Welsh NHS workforce.

The health Minister also often makes the point about capital funding—a lack of capital funding for hospitals or regional surgical hubs. It's a lack of capital funding, when I've raised those questions previously. But we have to address the backlog within the Welsh NHS with some urgency. This has got to be a priority for the Welsh Government in its budget this year. We've got tens of thousands of people suffering in pain across Wales, waiting for more than two years for treatment, and that figure has virtually been wiped out in England. When it comes to capital spending, I'd ask the Minister for finance: are other Cabinet Ministers making better cases than the health Minister for capital spending within their portfolio? Surely health has to be priority for the Welsh Government, to reduce the backlog times. Tell us what's in the budget to deliver regional surgical hubs. And again, no finger-pointing to the Westminster Government here: we know that, for every £1 spent in England on health, there's a Barnett consequential of £1.20. England have 91 surgical hubs with more en route, and you have none.

I would ask the Welsh Government and the finance Minister to set out in this budget: what are you going to do to support reducing the waiting times in Wales, in terms of those who are waiting in pain for more than two years? What are you doing to reduce the backlog and support our Welsh NHS in this budget?