Wales
Wales’ economy is not a basket case
This is the opening page of the report “Wales: Time for a realistic perspective” I co-authored.
Wales is not an economic basket case or lost cause. Yes, there is significant scope for improvement, but with sensible policies and careful stewardship, there is little reason why we cannot grow our economy from its current base.
Interminable discussions about the Barnett Formula obscure the reality that, per capita, we receive more money from Westminster than a number of English regions. Our desire to compare ourselves to Scotland blinds us into believing that an increase to our funding is a game changer, when it’s not. An additional £300 million or so on top of a block grant of around £15 billion is not going to catapult our economy in any way.