This week’s announcement that the new Tory Chancellor of Exchequer will deliver an emergency budget on June 22 is something we all should be worried about as the reality of having a Tory government in London is beginning to emerge. Their proposed £6 billion budget cuts and the effect the size of these cuts will have on Wales demonstrates how far removed the Conservative party is from our communities in Pembrokeshire.
We all agree that we need to tackle the financial deficit that has been created in the UK but the plans by the new Tory-Lib Dem Government will potentially have a massive detrimental impact on public services across the county. Most leading economies are waiting for a sustained recovery before cutting public funding but the Tory – Lib Dem Government’s proposed savage cuts will undermine our economic recovery and could potentially lead to a double-dip recession.
Even more worryingly, the planned emergency budget will impose ‘in-year’ cuts on the Welsh Assembly Government. In simple terms, the new Tory – Lib Dem Government is going to cut the budgets that the Welsh Assembly Government has already allocated to front line services such as local Government, hospitals and schools across Pembrokeshire for a financial year that has already started.
These budgets have already been set, and these plans will be disastrous for public services here in Wales. The Assembly and Assembly Government have no power to prevent these cuts. These cuts are of course a double whammy for us in Wales as four independent reports have also identified that the Welsh Assembly Government has been underfunded by £8.5 billion over the last decade.
The Tories need to fully understand the situation here in Wales and I hope the new MP for the area understands the seriousness of his party’s actions. I would urge him to make representations on behalf of his constituents in London.
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