Rebecca Evans – 2022 Comments on Impacts of Austerity on Wales

The comments made by Rebecca Evans, the Welsh Minister for Finance and Local Government, on 25 October 2022.

By announcing reckless uncosted tax cuts for the rich, the UK Government lost control of the economy. Now the new Chancellor wants us all to pay for its failures with deep spending cuts.

We are facing a new damaging era of austerity, which would threaten jobs, businesses and public services.

The Chancellor could protect public services by using his tax levers more fairly and increase investment to get the economy moving in the right direction. He could help people pay their bills by increasing benefits in line with inflation.

As we look ahead to our Budget, we need the UK Government to take action to avoid the type of destructive austerity that will further damage our economy and the public services so many of us rely on.