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Legislative Programme and Budget Statement (Wales)

I agree with the hon. Gentleman. Wales has been through a difficult time, as has every other country in the world, but the Government are repeating the mistakes of the past, when cuts were made with no regard to the consequences. We have no argument over the need to reduce our borrowing. That is why Labour set out a plan to halve the deficit over four years, cutting borrowing by £70 billion—a huge reduction involving very difficult decisions and cuts. What we were not prepared to do—as this Government obviously are—was top that up with a further £32 billion of spending cuts and a further £8 billion of tax rises, over and above Labour’s plans. Tories, using the Liberal Democrats for cover, have made the wrong choice. They are gambling with the recovery and it will not be bankers or the many millionaires in the Cabinet who suffer; it will be the people of Wales who pay the price.