Thank you, Minister, for that statement. As I'm sure you know, Minister, Welsh workers take home the lowest pay packets in the United Kingdom—an astonishing £3,000 less than their counterparts in Scotland. The simple fact is that any rise in income tax would be a direct attack on hard-working people. So, I'm glad that the Welsh Government has chosen not to increase the Welsh rate of income tax this year. As it stands, around £2.8 billion of the Welsh Government's budget is raised through income tax alone. This is no small amount, as we know, and the people of Wales have trusted the Government with this money to deliver vital public services. With Welsh workers on the lowest wages in the United Kingdom, the last thing they need is to be dealing with politicians looking to take more of their hard-earned money. As many of us in the Chamber know, Wales has a large percentage of taxpayers who pay the basic rate—more than anywhere else in the United Kingdom. Whilst the basic rate taxpayers account for 92 per cent in Wales, that figure sits at 87 per cent across the rest of the UK.

I know there are some in this Chamber who would like to hike up income tax on the hard-working people of Wales, and I'm incredibly glad to see that they are in the minority. Such a move does not take into account the fact that this would disproportionately hit those who are struggling the most in society. It's also important to consider the very real implications that making changes to the additional rate of income tax would have to the tax base. We know that those paying the additional rate of income tax are most likely to migrate due to tax changes. Therefore, an increase to the additional rate would just result in fewer people paying taxes in Wales. I firmly believe that we should be looking to cut taxes whenever possible, not raise them, especially during a difficult time. We on the Welsh Conservative benches would certainly not raise income tax over the course of this Senedd term, yet Labour have made no such pledge, choosing instead to say that they would not raise income tax, as we've just heard, as long as the economic impact of coronavirus lasts. I would hope that, going forward, we see more of a concrete pledge from Labour Ministers so that people in Wales have more certainty surrounding the level of taxes they can expect to be paying.

On the wider point of devolved taxes, I want to stress the point that if the Welsh Government wants to introduce other taxes on the people of Wales, they must really consider what the economic and financial impacts would be on communities across the country. Minister, businesses in Wales are currently facing a cost-of-doing-business crisis due to global inflationary pressures as a result of Putin's barbaric invasion of Ukraine. I therefore strongly encourage you to urgently reconsider implementing a tourism tax by your Government.

To conclude, while I welcome the decision by Labour Ministers not to look to raise income tax this year, we need to be taking a hard look at current tax policies, ensuring the Welsh Government uses devolved powers to help foster business growth, increase wages and ensure that hard work pays off across the country for everyone. Thank you.