Speaking in today’s Senedd debate on the size of the United Kingdom’s budget deficit, William Graham AM said:
‘It is remarkable to think that little over ten years ago, Gordon Brown was known as the ‘Iron Chancellor’ with UK Government spending flat for the first two years of the Blair administration.’
‘Shortly afterwards the floodgates opened and there is a growing realisation that the Governments books of account are worse than the Country was led to believe prior to the election. No-one in Wales or the wider United Kingdom is exempt from the need to improve the public finances.’
The Conservative AM for South Wales East continued:
‘Welsh Conservatives believe the best way to minimise the damage of spending reductions in Wales is to target cuts carefully and grow our private sector. The potential exists for Welsh Businesses to significantly increase their market share abroad, but our entrepreneurs are hamstrung by a third rate domestic transport infrastructure and a false perception that London is the only realistic option for a UK business’s headquarters.’
‘The short term pain of the cuts required to bring our debt under control must also be seen as an opportunity to fundamentally re-balance the Welsh economy in the long term.’
