The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales, Dr James Davies MP, has criticised the Welsh Government for “punishing small business owners” with its ban on road building and tax on tourism.
Dr Davies, who is the Member of Parliament for the Vale of Clwyd, made the comment in the House of Commons on Wednesday when responding to ‘Wales Questions’.
After being asked about the potential impact of the UK Government’s Spring Budget 2023 on Welsh communities, Dr Davies said:
“The Spring Budget “delivered for Wales”. As announced, the Government will provide £20 million to restore the Holyhead breakwater, deliver at least one investment zone in Wales and provide up to £20 billion for the development of carbon capture usage and storage across the UK, which Wales is well-placed to benefit from”.
He later questioned the Welsh Government’s approach to supporting Welsh Communities.
Responding to concerns raised by Robbie Moore, Member of Parliament for Keighley in West Yorkshire, that “the Welsh Labour Government are advertising Wales as closed for business, with the recent ban on road building and tax on tourism”, Dr Davies said:
“I could not agree more. The Welsh Government’s response to the roads review was more of a roadblock.
“There has been widespread rejection of the tourism tax from the sector, including UK Hospitality, which has called it “anti-competitive”.
“The contrast between the approaches of the two Governments is stark: the UK Government are striking trade deals and promoting Britain as open for business, while the Welsh Government seem focused on punishing small business owners.”
When it was announced in February that the Welsh Government would be ditching all major road schemes, "placing the climate and ecological emergency at the heart of decision making on future infrastructure spending", Dr Davies urged them to “reconsider and resurrect much-needed projects upon which tens of millions of pounds of public money have already been spent”.
He said at the time::
“I am fully committed to achieving Net Zero as soon as possible but the approach being adopted by the Welsh Government woefully disregards the reality of people’s day to day lives in Wales, and the ability of green technology to decarbonise cars. It also makes too many questionable assumptions for it to be considered a sound decision.”
