Caerphilly Labour MP Wayne David has said welfare cuts by the UK Government are hitting the Valleys the hardest.
In a recent Westminster Hall debate, Mr David referred to a report by the Centre for Regional, Economic and Social Research published in September.
The report suggested the Valleys of South Wales were losing £430 million a year as a result of the Government’s welfare cuts – an average of £650 per adult of working age.
In the debate Mr David said: “The Government’s welfare cuts are hitting the poorest hardest. Communities as well as individuals are suffering. In my constituency of Caerphilly the overall financial loss per adult is £820 in Bargoed and £790 in the St James ward of Caerphilly town.
“These cuts are taking money out of already poor local communities and causing further impoverishment.”
Mr David said that if a Labour government were elected in May 2015 then scrapping the bedroom tax would be one of their top priorities.
Conservative MP for the Vale of Glamorgan Alun Cairns rejected Mr David’s claims.
Mr Cairns said: “Will the Honourable Member recognise that Wales is the poorest part of the UK and that this wasn’t the situation that the last Labour government inherited. Wales, relative to the rest of the UK, became the poorest part of the United Kingdom.”
He added: “The benefits system was clearly broken and it did not work for the claimants, or the economy.”
No it’s not the UK Government who are hitting the poor, it is in fact the unjustified, unfair and frankly disgraceful higher than inflation council tax rises that are hitting families where it hurts. In England council tax has remained almost unchanged since 2010 but in Wales it continues to go up and up year on year and if the Welsh Assembly are ever given the powers to raise income tax Wales will be finished, stop blaming the UK Government for the shortcomings of Wales, it’s local governments fault for wasting so much money.
The welfare cuts have so far been shallow, far below what is required to return the benefits system into a safety net providing the bare minimum only.
As Paul has already pointed out high council taxes is the biggest cause of distress. The council tax is raised due to council incompetence in spending and the need to foot a huge legal bill following on from the day the Muppet Show met the finance department.
The council are’nt helping by putting up-YET AGAIN-the council tax by above the rate of inflation. This is in stark contrast to England where the council tax has been frozen since 2010. Welsh Labour have questions to answer over why they are allowing the councils to do this.
Scotland in 2015-16 will be in the 8th year of council tax freezes, England as stated have not increased council tax since 2010.
Wales Gov receives the Barnett allocation of the Council Tax Freeze Grant in England, the Labour Welsh Gov choose not to pass that grant on, preferring to spend the money allocated on their own preferred matters.
Blame Labour’s Welsh Gov, its not Westminster.
No Labour Donkey is smack on. Last year Labour in the bay kept £50,000000 for its own use, rather than keep council tax rises the same as England.
How much longer can we afford to just vote for the Labour donkey in Parliament in the bay in local government, they are sucking the life out of Wales and its people.
This one party state only generates poor desperate people.
Toby you are spot on…..yes Labour are sucking the life out of Wales and then blaming Westminster for cutting their funding, let’s hope that they get voted out of power because as I said if they ever get the power to raise income tax every worker in Wales will be bled dry by huge tax increases, they don’t encourage business or help the Welsh economy grow all the do is increase taxes and put the toll up on the bridge yet again.