MIKE HEDGES CRITICISES AUSTERITY AS A POLITICAL CHOICE NOT A NECESSITY

MIKE HEDGES CRITICISES AUSTERITY AS A POLITICAL CHOICE NOT A NECESSITY

Speaking from The Senedd after the Debate on Welsh Government Funding, Mike Hedges AM said.. ‘For the last 7 years I have maintained that Austerity was a political choice, not an economic necessity and it seems as if the facts are now bearing this out; not much has changed in recent months but with the new government in Westminster has come a change in Government Policy and the spending tap has been opened. Thus my view that what was needed was a change in government policy is borne out. What a sad legacy for 9 years of Tory rule though – a decade of underfunding for Welsh services. Shame on the Tory Party for inflicting this on my constituents.’

Mike Hedges AM – It’s always nice to find out you were right. I have said continually since 2011 that austerity is a political not an economic policy. I’m sure the Conservatives would like to apologise to public sector workers and users of public services for the austerity measures that have slowed down the economic growth and led to a mass use of foodbanks and the increase in homelessness. Just to help the Conservatives, it was not a magic money tree that was needed, just a change of Government policy.371
The Welsh Government receives around £15 billion a year to spend on its various priorities, activities and projects, which support our economy and public services across Wales. However, as a result of the Tory UK Government’s ongoing policy of austerity, the Welsh Government’s funding has been cut year on year in real terms. The Welsh Government’s budget is 5 per cent lower in real terms in 2019-20 than it was in 2010-11—equivalent to £800 million less to spend on public services. Our revenue budget is 7 per cent lower per person than in 2010-11—that’s equivalent to £350 less to spend on front-line services for each person living in Wales.372
We are now in the ninth year of austerity, and Wales is suffering the consequences of damaging Tory policies. Continuing with austerity is a political choice. It is a fact that, in spite of sluggish growth, tax receipts more than cover current public expenditure.373
What have we got to show for almost a decade of Tory cuts? The Tories have presided over the slowest recovery since the 1920s. Last year’s growth in our economy was the lowest in the G7 and the slowest since 2012. UK productivity is barely above pre-recession levels, and pay, adjusted for inflation, still remains below 2010 levels. Growth in tax receipts has been sluggish, reducing resources to fund public services.374
The Welsh Government’s budget would be £6 billion higher in 2019-20 if, since 2010, it had increased in line with long-term public spending growth. Putting money into the demand side of the economy leads to economic growth. We know that.375
I, of course, support more money for health and education. Education excellence, providing high-level educational attainment, is our best way of achieving economic growth. It is our best and should be seen as our most important economic policy—putting money into the education of highly skilled individuals. Something that is rarely said is that if you have to bribe a company to come to Wales, they do not really want to come. High growth areas do not have to provide incentives for inward investment; companies come because the skills they need are there. They come voluntarily. That is why I continually urge support for the university sector as the best way of generating high-skill and high-paid employment.376
Education is not just schools. The role further education plays in producing skilled employees, from traditional trades through accountancy and ICT technicians, does not appear to get the credit it deserves. Further education really is the poor relation inside education.377
Schools of course need additional funding in order to reverse the cuts that have taken place in recent years. I don’t think you can overestimate the importance of education. It’s what gives young people the opportunity to go on and earn large sums of money, it’s what gets them skills, it’s what produces our doctors, our nurses, our engineers—the people who we really need inside our economy. And far too often education is seen as something distinct from economic development. It is a key part of economic development. You get skilled people, you get highly qualified people, and then all of a sudden the employers come. Just look at Cambridge. Look at places like Sheffield. Look at these places that have done that: they’ve got the skilled people, they’ve developed through the university, and the companies have come.378
Turning to health, additional money is needed, but what is needed is to improve public health. Which child do you think is more likely to be ill and need hospital treatment: the one in a cold, damp house who is poorly fed or the one in a warm, dry house who is well fed?379
Plaid Cymru call for all the economic levers, which of course is code for independence. Just as they cannot answer the question regarding their view on nuclear power, they cannot answer the following: what currency would you use? What is going to be the central bank or lender of last resort? Who will set interest rates? How do you fund the Welsh share of the national debt? Are you really going to enter the euro? Are you going to let the European Central Bank be your central bank? That gives you less control than what we’ve got now. Also remember that Wales’s major trading partner, in terms of both goods and services, is not the rest of the EU, but England.