First Minister pressed on demands for Wales ahead of Autumn Budget

Emily Price 

Wales’ First Minister has been quizzed on what she has asked Rachel Reeves for ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget tomorrow.

During Questions to the FM on Tuesday (November 25) Baroness Eluned Morgan told Senedd Members she had a “long list” of asks from the UK Government ahead of the Treasury’s spending plans for the following financial year.

The Senedd’s opposition leader Darren Millar accused the First Minister of “shouting from the rooftops” her demands for Wales from previous UK Governments.

The Welsh Conservative leader asked Morgan: “Have you asked for the family farms tax to be scrapped? Have you asked for the family firms tax to be axed? Have you demanded from the Chancellor the money that we were shortchanged by as a result of the increase in the employers national insurance last year?

“Have you asked for the consequential funding from HS2 and the Oxford to Cambridge rail line? Have you asked for the reinstatement of the cash for the north Wales mainline electrification which was promised by the previous UK Government?

“Because if you haven’t asked for any of those things you are clearly not sanding up for the people of Wales.”

The First Minister responded saying the UK Labour Government had delivered “far more” for Wales than the previous Conservative government had.

Listing her asks, the First Minister said she didn’t want the basic rate of income tax to go up because people were already struggling with the cost of living crisis.

Instead, she said she would like to see people with “real wealth” and “broader shoulders” taking on the responsibility.

Baroness Morgan also said she wanted to see more support to get younger people into jobs and called for more support for low paid pensioners and those on low pay generally.

Increases

She said: “It is important that this dialogue has been going on for a while and I do hope that she [Rachel Reeves] will be delivering on certainly some of those issues in the Budget tomorrow.”

The Welsh Conservative leader hit back – saying Reeves had so far overseen tax and inflation increases.

Morgan responded: “Don’t forget it was your party that crashed the economy. It was your party that had the highest tax rate in a generation.

“It was your party that were determined to see through austerity – seeing people in this country suffer over a prolonged period of time.

“What we are hoping to see tomorrow is people in this country being given the support they need, certainly to support their public sectors but also to support them with the cost of living crisis.”

Pantomime

Later during FMQs, Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth described the run up to Reeves’ Budget as a “pantomime”.

He said: “It’s ‘Oh yes she will’ one minute and ‘Oh no she won’t’ the next. And it’s all denting this UK Government’s credibility.

“First, she was going to raise income tax, then she wasn’t, was willing to break on a manifesto pledge and then wasn’t. And as for Wales, ‘Oh yes we are set to be short-changed again’.

“And let’s deal with that false claim about the so-called benevolence of this UK Government towards Wales.

“Welsh Government’s day-to-day spending in this UK parliamentary term will grow by 1.6 per cent per year in real terms, on average. From this financial year on, it’s just 1.4 per cent.

“Even the last Tory Government managed 2.6 per cent—how damning is that of Labour under Starmer and Reeves?

“But can this First Minister tell us whether she expects that derisory settlement to be overturned tomorrow so that the next Welsh Government can start to get to grips with the problems in public services in Wales?”

Investment

Baroness Morgan responded saying the Welsh Government had just had the highest increase in this financial year.

She said: “That is being spent. Let’s not forget that you tried to block that money; let’s just remind everybody once again that those people on the front line would’ve been a lot worse off were it not for other people supporting us with that budget.

“I don’t think that the kind of investment we’re seeing in Wylfa, which is going to support thousands of people in your constituency, is something to be derided. I think that is something to be celebrated and this is just the beginning.

“This is just the beginning, because alongside the Wylfa investment, we’ve got the AI growth zone bringing in thousands of new technological jobs for local people, so instead of training people up where they have to leave, as happened under the Tories, in Wales, under Labour, what you will see is local people being trained up and being able to find jobs in their own constituencies.”

Ap Iorwerth hit back saying he was “amazed” that a Welsh First Minister believed that spending in non-devolved areas somehow makes up for a “fundamentally unfair funding settlement for Wales”.

He said: “Now, the First Minister won’t tell us what her asks are of the Chancellor, so let me set out some of mine: reclassify unfair spending decisions that deny Wales billions; unlock Wales’s borrowing powers to address historic underinvestment; halt Labour’s damaging taxes on work and introduce a tax on extreme wealth; cut the cost of energy; give Wales control of the Crown Estate. Does the First Minister agree with those – yes or no?”

The First Minister responded saying: “We do have a vision for Wales. It’s a vision that lifts people up. That encourages people to make the most of themselves.

“That’s why next week we are hosting the investment summit which will be welcoming top companies here to Wales to make sure that they see the opportunities and the potential in our nation.”