Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:38 pm on 4 June 2024.
Vaughan Gething
Labour
1:38,
4 June 2024
Well, it's an extraordinary thing for a Conservative representative to stand up and talk about taxes. We have the highest tax burden in peacetime, under this UK Conservative Government—the highest tax burden in peacetime. We have the second lowest growth in any G7 country over the last year—all on the Tory watch. And they now say they're the party of business and the party of the economy. Well, people will make a judgment on that on 4 July, and I look forward to that judgment. We are dealing with a deliberate reduction in our budget—£700 million in real terms—and the deliberate taking away of money and powers of more than £1 billion of money that this Parliament and this Government should have determined, to invest in the long-term future of our economy. All of those choices were made by a UK Conservative Government, with cheerleaders in this place. Not a single Welsh Conservative raised their voice in Opposition to the taking away of money and powers from Wales. I am confident that we will make a positive case to people in Wales in this election, for our future. And I say again, who on earth would want to stand with the Tories in what is to come after what you have done to Wales?
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 House of Commons.
The Opposition are the political parties in the House of Commons other than the largest or Government party. They are called the Opposition because they sit on the benches opposite the Government in the House of Commons Chamber. The largest of the Opposition parties is known as Her Majesty's Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is to question and scrutinise the work of Government. The Opposition often votes against the Government. In a sense the Official Opposition is the "Government in waiting".
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.
