A Response to Lesley Griffiths’ article on 28 May 2020 - letter to the editor
There is no doubt that the impact of the Coronavirus is reaching every aspect of our lives, both here in Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom. People have made huge sacrifices to ensure that they, their families and friends stay safe throughout this crisis. Like many, I have followed the response of the Welsh Government in handling this situation here in Wales and there are many areas that will need questions answering in the fullness of time.
Besides the death toll, for which each one is a terrible heartache for the family and friends and the sympathy of the nation is surely with them, there is the uncertainty of how people will recover financially from the impact that the measures taken will have on our people and local businesses. From the start of this crisis the UK Government laid out clear financial recovery methods and a way to assist our economy, both in the budget and with later announcements as required, including a £2.2b allocation from the Treasury to Welsh Government.
I was therefore surprised to see that in the article dated 28th of May regarding the announcement of the Welsh Government supplementary budget made no mention of the £2.2b support given to the Welsh Government from the Treasury, and in fact seemed to suggest that the UK Government was limiting the ability to deal with the Covid-19 crisis.
Labour’s past record of borrow and spend have been proven to not work, and whist clearly the recovery from Coronavirus will be a challenge, the removal of the cap on borrowing will only cause the people of Wales to suffer the effects of Coronavirus long after the disease itself is gone.
The allocation of money to the Welsh Government from the Treasury is relative to the money that is being spent in England on areas such as the NHS. Due to devolution the UK Government can only suggest how this money is being spent and it is up to the Welsh Government to ensure that it does so in the best manner.
I only hope that the funds are used to deal with the situation now, when it is required and not syphoned off for vanity projects that the Welsh Labour Government are so good at. Thus forgetting us here in Wrexham and North Wales, especially with Welsh Parliament elections on the horizon next May. We will be watching!
Jeremy Kent
Chairman of Wrexham Conservative Association
