Jones' budget plea to opposition

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  • xman
    Admin
    • Sep 2006
    • 24007

    Jones' budget plea to opposition

    </span> The assembly government's draft budget is published in November
    First Minister Carwyn Jones says spending cuts mean Conservative and Liberal Democrats must "behave responsibly" on the Welsh budget.

    Mr Jones has called on opposition leaders to "work constructively" over the Welsh Assembly Government's budget.

    Welsh ministers claim last week's spending review mean Wales' faces a cut of &pound;1.8bn over four years.

    But Welsh Tory and Lib Dem leaders have said the funding settlement was better than many people were forecasting.

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    The assembly government's draft budget for 2011-12 will be published on Wednesday 17 November, and will be debated the following January, ahead of expected final approval in February.

    The assembly government is a coalition of Labour and Plaid Cymru. The Tories and Lib Dems, who are in coalition in the UK government, are in opposition in the Welsh assembly.

    Carwyn Jones said: "These are exceptional times for Wales. The &pound;860m worth of cuts we were informed about last week was a real hammer blow.

    "We have repeatedly said that we will act responsibly given the hand we were dealt by the Tory/Lib Dem government in their [Spending Review].

    &ldquo;The ritualistic opposition-for-opposition's sake type of politics which usually comes into play at this time of year would be wholly inappropriate&rdquo;

    First Minister Carwyn Jones
    "We have also said on numerous occasions, we will be looking to protect community and secondary health services, schools and skills.

    "These are not just exceptionally difficult times for the Welsh government, however.

    "The current situation also puts an onus on opposition parties in the assembly to behave responsibly in how we decide on our budget.

    "The ritualistic opposition-for-opposition's sake type of politics which usually comes into play at this time of year would be wholly inappropriate in the coming months, as we seek to deal with the cuts that have been imposed on us.

    'Substantially better'

    "That is why I am calling on the leaders of the Welsh Conservatives and Welsh Liberal Democrats to work constructively with us in the assembly in the weeks ahead, to ensure we make this budget process as painless as possible for the people of Wales."

    Both Tories and Lib Dems have been asked to respond to his comments.

    But Welsh Conservative leader Nick Bourne last week said the cuts were not as deep as the assembly government's forecasts.

    He said at the time: "While any reduction in [the Welsh] budget would be challenging, it is clear that the assembly government had been preparing for a bigger reduction than the one announced today."

    Giving his response to the Spending Review, Peter Black, for the Welsh Liberal Democrats, has said: "The Labour-Plaid [assembly] government has indicated that it was planning real terms cuts of 5.8% a year.

    "In fact the coalition's settlement for Wales is substantially better than real-term cuts of less than 2% a year."

    This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.


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