---

Legislative Programme and Budget Statement (Wales)

The right hon. Lady will know that identifiable public expenditure per head in Wales is higher than in the UK: £9,200 compared with £8,200. Given that there is more public sector employment in Wales, at a time when she is cutting public sector wages and jobs, and threatening public sector pensions as well as raising VAT, does she not accept that there will be a disproportionate impact on Wales? Will she comment on the Chief Secretary’s insinuation that perhaps we will be looking downstream to a situation when Wales will be told, ““You will have more cuts, fewer MPs, and if you do not like it, raise your own tax from a lower tax base””? Is that the intention?