Plenary Contributions 22/01/15
Welsh Conservatives Debate : UK Government Economic Policy
Janet Finch-Saunders
In 2010, Britain was facing the deepest recession for almost 100 years, the biggest budget deficit since the second world war, largest structural deficit of any western economy, and nowhere was it harder than here in Wales. Our unemployment rate doubled between July 2005 and March 2010; 92,000 Welsh children growing up in a home where no parent had ever had employment; 200,000 never having worked a single day in their lives. Yet, roll the clock forward, and, after only five years of Conservative Party-led governance, our UK economy has been transformed. From the great recession, there has been a great revival.
We now have the fastest-growing economy of all G7 countries. The deficit has halved. We have a record number of people in employment—1,000 jobs are created per day, and more jobs have been created in the last five years than in all other EU states put together. Incomes rising by 2.2 per cent in February this year, with inflation at its lowest. Income tax cut for 26 million people. The state pension increased by £950. And it is clear that our long-term plan to secure a strong, healthy economy is now working for Wales. How? Since 2010, those in work have increased by 52,000. There are 46,000 fewer workless households in Wales, and more women are now working in Wales than ever before.
David Rees
Could you clarify for me the number of people who are in work now on zero-hours contracts?
Janet Finch-Saunders
Well I do know that, certainly, Welsh Labour employ many on zero-hours contracts, so you tell me. [Interruption.] Opposition parties continually talk of zero-hours contracts with such hypocrisy, having used them also.
Bedroom tax: introduced in 2001—[Interruption.] You use that term. Introduced by Labour, extended to the private sector in 2008: more hypocrisy. There are now 35,000 more people in full-time employment in Wales since the last general election, with around 1.2 million people in Wales taking home more money each month because we have increased the income tax personal allowance, with 144,000 taken out of income tax altogether.
It was during 2009, under the Labour Government, that the private sector took the brunt, yet it is now thriving once more, thanks to a Conservative-led Government. Our industry in Wales is coming back to life, with foreign inward investment at its highest level for almost 25 years; 22,500 more business start-ups; employment with micro and small businesses in Wales up more than 25,000 from 2013 alone. And, thanks to the Conservative-led UK Government, Wales is now back on its feet. Conservatives have put in place the right conditions for growth, giving Welsh families ambition, aspiration, and then rewarding them for their achievements. Our Government has tackled the reduction of childcare costs, we’ve addressed the agenda pay gap and we’ve increased flexible working, introducing shared parental leave.
But our work is not finished. In order to ensure that Wales remains an increasingly attractive and viable place to do business, the UK Government wants to continue investing heavily in Wales by promoting it on the world stage. Our Prime Minister, David Cameron, will continue to keep our economy secure, by running a surplus so that we can start paying down the debt left by Labour, who simply maxed out the credit card with a culture of spend, spend, spend. History always reminds us, doesn’t it, that it’s always Labour that breaks the economy and it is left to the Conservatives to rebuild it?
After 7 May, hopefully, the next Conservative Government will eliminate the deficit, increase the tax-free personal allowance to £12,500, make banks work for the public by continuing the successful funding for lending scheme, roll out Help to Grow, creating 2 million more new jobs. The Conservative Party’s economic long-term plan is working and there must be no going back. I am proud to be part of a political party that has secured a better future for our children, our pensioners, our hard-working families and our business owners in Wales. There is more to do; roll on 7 May.