Public want any further taxes to go to Welsh rather than UK Government, poll finds

Over half of people in Wales want any tax rises to go to the Welsh rather than the UK Government, according to a new poll.

Think tank Demos found that almost six in ten (59%) of people in Wales preferred to pay more tax, if they had to, to the Welsh government. Just 24% preferred to pay more tax to the UK government.

Support in Wales was very similar to Scotland, where 61% would rather the Scottish rather than UK Government received any new tax money.

“These results are very similar to the results among Scottish respondents, suggesting support in Wales
for more tax revenue for the Welsh government is similar to that in Scotland,” the report said.

“This result is somewhat surprising, given the extent to which political nationalism is more deeply established in Scotland than Wales.”

Support

In Wales, 76% of Labour voters at the last General Election supported paying more tax, if they had to, to the Welsh government, while 12% supported paying it to the UK government.

In contrast, almost half (48%) of Conservative voters supported paying more tax, if they had, to the UK government, with 33% paying it to the Welsh government.

Responses were not as polarised as in Scotland; many more Conservative voters in Wales support more tax revenue for the Welsh government than Conservative voters in Scotland, for example (33% vs 19%).

In the poll, a plastics tax payable on plastic packaging composed of less than 30% recycled plastic was relatively popular in Wales, with 56% either supporting or strongly supporting this, and just 8% opposing or strongly opposing it.

However, a tourist tax at £3 per night found less favour in Wales, with 45% either supporting or strongly supporting it, and 32% opposing or strongly opposing it.

Demos’ polls included a representative sample of 2,008 UK adults interviewed online between 1 August – 5 August 2020, with boosted samples of 500 for Scottish and Welsh respondents.