Plaid Cymru MP Jonathan Edwards will table an amendment to the UK Government's Finance Bill in a bid to speed up transfer of control of Air Passenger Tax to the Welsh Government.
Devolving the airport duty is one of the recommendations of the recent Silk Commission Report. Mr Edwards is urging Labour MPs to support his amendment.
The UK Government-sponsored Silk Commission in its first report recommended the full devolution of minor taxes such as Airport Duty, Aggregates tax, business rates, landfill tax and Stamp Duty, in addition to a tax-sharing arrangement for income tax.
There are three important reasons why the Welsh Government should be empowered with fiscal powers as advocated by the Silk Commission.
Plaid Cymru's Treasury spokesperson Jonathan Edwards has criticised the Chancellor's budget for failing 'to transfer key job-creating powers to Wales.' And he added
It is disappointing that the Chancellor failed to adopt a range of progressive policies advocated by Plaid Cymru such as reversing the tax cut for those earning over £3,000 a week due to be implemented in April and scrapping the Trident renewal that is set to cost £100bn over the lifetime of a new system.
He also failed to make progress on introducing a Financial Transaction (Robin Hood) Tax that would raise £20bn a year and help curb the speculative behaviour in the financial sector which caused the crash in the first place. The decision to scrap the stamp duty on shares trading is a regressive move as it’s the only thing in the UK currently resembling this tax.
Plaid Cymru MP Jonathan Edwards is criticising Budget proposals on Regional Pay . The Chancellor has said some Government Departments will have the optlon to allow local pay when the current public sector freeze ends . Mr Edwards warns this is the introduction of Regional pay by the back door
Carmarthenshire MP Jonathan Edwards has asked the Westminster government for assurance that everything possible is being done to help secure the release of a Welsh cameraman being held in Lybia. Gareth Montogmery Johnson was arrested by members of the Misrata Brigade in Tripoli last Tuesday.
