Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 6:59 pm on 22 July 2024.
Lord Wigley
Plaid Cymru
6:59,
22 July 2024
My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lords, Lord Vallance and Lord Petitgas, on their maiden speeches. I welcome the timely reminder from the noble Lord, Lord Heseltine, about the economic cost of Brexit, and indeed follow the noble Lord, Lord Birt, on that matter.
The economic mismanagement of Wales led to the Conservative Party losing every Welsh seat on
I have no doubt that Plaid’s surge in support arises from the failure of UK Labour at the recent election to address the economic problems of Wales or to commit on key economic issues, and this led to a 23% reduction in Labour’s vote compared to 2019. Specifically, despite Welsh Labour having repeatedly demanded that the Barnett formula be replaced by a needs-based formula—something recommended by a Lords Select Committee over a decade ago—this issue was totally ignored by UK Labour, leaving Welsh Labour legless. If we are to continue with the discredited Barnett formula, why oh why have the Labour Government not taken the opportunity to ensure that Wales has full Barnett consequentials to the spending on HS2, as is enjoyed by Scotland?
We had hoped that we might have had a commitment to transferring the Crown Estate in Wales to Senedd Cymru, as happened in Scotland in 2016, and which—yes—the Welsh Labour Government have supported. But the King’s Speech, in flagging up a Crown Estates Bill, makes no such proposal.
Economic development is a devolved subject, but the Welsh Government need the tools and the resources to do the job. The EU recognised the depth of that crisis by according Wales the top level of regional support, and we were promised by Brexiteers that the UK Treasury would replace the EU aid. That just has not happened. The Welsh Government have placed the blame for this on the UK Conservative Government, so at the recent election there was an expectation that UK Labour would make a manifesto commitment on such matters to Wales. Alas, that did not materialise, and judging by the King’s Speech those economic and financial expectations are not going to materialise now, either.
Wales needs a new deal to enable the Senedd to take economic initiatives as well as maintain public services to an acceptable standard. Without such a change, the Welsh Government face a £700 million further cut in public services. Are we to see Tory austerity replaced by Labour austerity under this Government? Talking of austerity, will the Government please commit to the removal of the two-child cap, which would help 65,000 children in Wales?
Where do we now stand? The UK Government indicated in the King’s Speech their intention to legislate in matters such as transport and planning, matters that have economic significance but which are largely devolved. They did so without prior discussion with the Welsh Ministers, informing them of their intentions on the morning of the King’s Speech. Will the Minister please give an assurance that such legislation in devolved portfolios will not be applicable in Wales without the prior consent of the Senedd?
Considerable emphasis has rightly been given by the Government to the generation of electricity from renewable sources, and Wales has huge potential for offshore generation, including tidal and estuarial schemes, but the time profile of such sources may not coincide with demand. So will the Government also please press ahead with the SMR plants planned for Wylfa and Trawsfynydd, generating electricity to meet the baseload? Will the Government also speed up the programme for pump storage schemes to reschedule available electricity to the times of greatest demand?
The cost of energy is a significant factor for Tata Steel at Port Talbot. If Britain has no steel industry, it will not have a credible independent defence capability. Will the Government urgently discuss with Tata whether building new electricity generation capacity at Port Talbot could help Tata to reconsider its present plans?
Agriculture in Wales is the source of secure food supplies and the bedrock of the rural economy. Will the Government end the policy of encouraging meat imports from other continents, undermining domestic agriculture and worsening the carbon footprint generated by shipping meat half way around the world?
Finally, can we agree across this House that the key to economic improvement is to raise the economic activity rates in all parts of this island? How are the Government going to achieve this?
An economic mechanism used by the Treasury to adjust automatically the amounts of public expenditure allocated to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, to reflect changes in spending levels allocated to public services in England, England and Wales or Great Britain as a whole.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
