PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Impact of the Budget - 6 November 2024 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

I have regular discussions with the First Minister of Wales on a range of topics, including, of course, the autumn Budget. This Budget has delivered for Wales for the first time in a generation. The Welsh Government are receiving the largest settlement in real terms since devolution, to support public services such as the NHS. More than 100,000 workers in Wales benefit from increases in the national minimum wage and the national living wage each year.

In the Budget, the Chancellor announced that the Barnett formula would apply to funding for agriculture, rather than the devolved Governments receiving a ringfenced amount. The Farmers’ Union of Wales says that the Barnettisation of funding could lead to a cut of £146 million a year, or more than 40%. Can the Secretary of State say whether that figure is correct, and whether she believes that her Government’s Budget has shown any consideration at all for our farming communities?

I was very pleased that the Budget was able to protect the current farming budget for the next financial year, despite the difficult decisions that we had to make because the Conservative party had trashed our economy. [Interruption.]

Order. Mr Griffith, you are continually being a nuisance on the Front Bench. I want you either to restrict it or to go and get yourself that cup of tea.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Obviously, farming is devolved in Wales, and the decision on how to spend that budget will be up to the Welsh Government.

I welcomed last week’s Budget announcements about improving rail transport, and I want to bang the drum for a most excellent project in Monmouthshire, the Magor walkway station, which is ready for investment—indeed, we might even call it oven-ready. Will my right hon. Friend commit to working with the Rail Minister and me, and Welsh Ministers, to deliver the five Burns stations, and will she meet me to discuss progress?

My hon. Friend is a wonderful advocate for her constituency and for the Burns commission’s recommendations for her constituency, and I would be very happy to meet her to discuss them.

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

Will the Secretary of State express her regret about the impact of Labour’s Budget on Wales? It will undoubtedly make the people of Wales poorer. Pensioners have been left wondering whether they should turn on their heating this winter, and family farms will be destroyed. The Budget is affecting business confidence and employment across the nation.

The Budget provides the biggest ever settlement in real terms since the dawn of devolution, a protected £80 million for steelworkers and businesses, £88 million for city and growth deals, £320 million for funding through investment zones, £25 million for coal tips and a protected £440 million for local communities— I could go on. It was a great deal for Wales.

Order. You cannot just keep asking questions, shadow Secretary of State. You are allowed only two, and that was your second.