Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:36 pm on 11 June 2024.
Vikki Howells
Labour
1:36,
11 June 2024
Thank you, First Minister. Now, the UK Tory Government's shared prosperity fund was, of course, billed as one of their key schemes to replace European Union funding lost after Brexit, and we know how important this funding is to Wales. Of course, we learnt in recent weeks that Rishi Sunak plans to raid the coffers of the shared prosperity fund in order to finance his deeply unpopular plan to bring back national service. And if this isn't bad enough, I was very concerned to read a briefing from the Industrial Communities Alliance, which states that 2,000 directly employed posts are set to be lost in Wales when the latest round of SPF funding comes to an end. And when the indirect impacts of this are accounted for, then we could be looking at up to 10,000 jobs lost in Wales. First Minister, what assessment can you make of the impact that such losses would have, and what would be your message to the people of Wales about how such a calamitous conclusion can be avoided?
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.
In a general election, each constituency chooses an MP to represent it by process of election. The party who wins the most seats in parliament is in power, with its leader becoming Prime Minister and its Ministers/Shadow Ministers making up the new Cabinet. If no party has a majority, this is known as a hung Parliament. The next general election will take place on or before 3rd June 2010.
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.
