PLAID ISN’T too happy with the London government attitude to the amount of money which Cardiff gets to run Wales each year, writes Clive Betts from writes the Assembly press gallery.
The Assembly is worse than even a community council; they can raise their own rates while the Assembly has to depend 100 pc on London.
The commission set up by the Assembly to investigate the workings of the Barnett formula – which decides how much goes to each of the devolved administrations – uncovered that Wales is underfunded.
Surprise, surprise !
But the Treasury decided to do nothing about it. Mr Darling’s department argued there was currently no problem.
The lack-of-cash problem is caused by something known as the Barnett Squeeze. This squeeze is caused by the amount of money Cardiff receives rising each year. But each year the increase is less than the previous year.
The Treasury argued that this squeeze happened only when total UK funding is rising each year.
Which isn’t happening at the moment.
But Plaid leader Ieuan Wyn Jones that the squeeze is in fact still happening.
That is because while the amount of money being sent to Wales each year is no longer rising in real terms, it is in cash terms – which means the squeeze is still active.
Mr Jones said, “The Treasury was saying, it will happen in the future [meaning, in the long term]. We are responding by saying, it will happen in the next five years.”
I somehow think that can be better phrased. It’s surely happening now; so what this about five years ?
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