In the Senedd today, the Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Sam Rowlands challenged Mark Drakeford, Labour’s Cabinet Secretary for Finance to address his previous statement, that the Treasury “will provide full funding” to deal with the national insurance contributions of public sector employees.
We now know that there will not be ‘full funding’ and the Welsh taxpayer has been shortchanged by £72 million.
Welsh Conservatives have repeatedly called for the Chancellor to cover the cost of her Jobs Tax in full, unlike Welsh Labour, with trust in their so-called ‘partnership in power’ now plummeting.
Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Sam Rowlands MS said:
“Mark Drakeford promised full funding to cover public sector NI increases, but instead Wales is being shamefully shortchanged.
“The cost of Welsh Labour’s failure to stand up for Wales on this, is £72 million, and that’s not including the growth-harming effects of Labour’s Jobs Tax on Welsh businesses.
“How can Welsh Labour ever be trusted to deliver if they have no influence over their colleagues in London, simply acting as facilitators of Keir Starmer’s punitive policies?”
