SAVING LIBERTY STEEL

Plaid Cymru has called on the Welsh Government to take action to save to save the jobs of up to 200 steelworkers in Wales.

Delyth Jewell, Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd for South Wales East, said:

“Amid the discussions of the future and fortunes of Liberty Steel are the employees, caught in the middle, and who are desperately seeking reassurance that their governments are doing everything in their power to secure their jobs. For the near 200 workers in Wales, it’s imperative that the Welsh Government acts quickly and ensures that no stone is left unturned in the effort to save jobs in this key industrial sector. The only secure and sustainable future for Welsh steel plants in the long run is to return the ownership of the Welsh steel industry to Welsh hands – and ensuring that our workers and their communities have a seat at the table.”

ENDS

7 REASONS

1. We will launch the biggest public house building programme for fifty years. We will create 50,000 public homes over the next five years, including 30,000 social houses, 5,000 homes with fair rent, and 15,000 genuinely affordable homes to buy. These will include some of the 26,000 empty homes, and empty flats above shops, across Wales that will be brought back into use.

 

2. We will create a £6bn Green Economic Stimulus which, together with our investments in healthcare, education, and the local economy, will generate up to 60,000 jobs over the five-year term. This programme of investment will support Wales’ ongoing economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and will reabsorb workers who have lost employment due to the Coronavirus pandemic. It will entail  investing in projects that will lay the foundations of a new resilient Wales, including expanding and electrifying the rail network, developing a sustainable Welsh food and farming system, and investing in decarbonisation.

 

3. We will extend Free School Meals to all primary school children by the end of our first term, beginning with all children in families who receive Universal Credit. These scheme will emphasise the development of local supply chains - supporting local farmers and local businesses, promoting sustainability, and children will learn where their food comes from and develop the habit of eating nutritious, locally produced food early in life.

 

4. We will have a five-year plan to recruit and educate an additional 4,000 nurses, 1,000 doctors, and 1,000 allied healthcare professionals such as physiotherapists and occupational therapists. Our workforce strategies will look to educate healthcare students in a way that provides the consultants and specialists we will need in twenty years.

 

5. We will provide good quality and safe green space within a five-minute walk of all Welsh households. The pandemic has highlighted more than ever the importance and value of access to green spaces – we will use the planning system to make natural green spaces available in people’s communities as a basic right, a necessity for our physical and mental health as well as for nature’s recovery.

 

6. We will reform council tax to make it fairer and more progressive, cutting the average household bill. We will undertake a revaluation to ensure that that council tax is more proportional to the value of properties - a more proportional council tax will narrow the gap in property wealth between owners of high and low value properties. We would expect that 20 per cent of households in the bottom fifth of income distribution will see their council tax bills fall by more than £200.

 

7. Plaid Cymru is the only party in the Senedd that has committed to an independence referendum. We believe that Westminster isn’t working for Wales, that we aren’t properly represented nor heard, and that Wales should be an independent nation that governs itself. Devolution can only take us so far, as demonstrated by the pandemic – with our own treasury, Wales could have started a Furlough scheme sooner, locked down sooner, and driven down cases sooner.

THE VIEW FROM THE EDGE

The view from the periphery, or the edge often largely depends on where you stand and how you look at the map, a change of economic focus in Wales is long overdue, perhaps ironically where ever we end up post Brexit may well finally compel us to think and act differently.  

It is clear we cannot go on as we have, our country is literally littered with the tombstone like remnants of failed models of economic development. Most of them having failed to deliver long-term economic benefits and more than a few long-term jobs to our people and our communities.

What is badly needed is the courage to step away from the over centralised state agency dependent model of economic development as applied by successive Westminster and Welsh governments. Successive  Westminster Governments have consistently failed to deliver beyond the short-term for Wales. 

With the crutch of EU regional funding about to be kicked firmly away, despite the weak and wobbly promises from Westminster to the contrary, we in Wales find ourselves desperately needing some fresh economic thinking and action rather than more words.

The older economic models which reduce Cymru / Wales to simply a region (or more ominously simply  the peripheral part of larger cross border regions) where we have provided relatively cheap labour with industries that were heavily dependent on grants for funding just won’t wash or work anymore. 

We need to find other economic models that can deliver long-term jobs and lasting material benefits to our communities and to our country. 

We have been historically over dependent on Westminster or the old Welsh Office or Cardiff Bay waving their magic wand to solve our economic problems, this is entirely understandable considering the nature of our economic and political history, but this simply compounds the error and just won’t solve our economic problems or create sustainable jobs. 

The days of bringing in significant amounts of ‘inward investment’ are over, Westminster has better things to spend its money on in England - Cymru / Wales does not matter electorally (or economically) as far as the Conservatives are concerned. 

Post the CORONA virus and Post BREXIT it’s time to be honest to ourselves and admit that ‘The Union’ as it has been, even with devolution has failed to deliver for Wales. As far as it is concerned the current Labour in Wales government is fresh out of ideas, unless compared to the current Conservative Westminster government. 

We desperately need indigenous home grown businesses (small, medium and larger scale) which will put down roots and stick around when economic times are tough rather than pulling up sticks and bugging out when the grant money runs out and be more able to resist being hovered up by multi nationals. 

We need to develop small to medium sized enterprises or local co-operative industries that could provide medium to long-term sustainable job opportunities and an economy where they can thrive.

Part of the economic mix should include developing and encouraging the co-operative model of economic development. The co-operative model works well in a number of countries including both Ireland and in the Basque country, there is no reason why it should not work well here. 

The Basque cooperative model, as personified by Mondragon co-operative suggests what can be accomplished. If we are to grow local businesses and local jobs we are going to have to create a real Bank of Wales, perhaps using the German Sparkasse and Landesbanken model. 

For too long far too many small and medium sized businesses in our country have been denied access to credit by banks and this has prevented the growth of our private sector.

Our over centralised dividend driven pretty much rootless London based banking model that has been followed in the UK is incapable, indifferent or simply unwilling to deliver or support economic development in our country. 

In Germany, the Sparkasse and Landesbanken operate on a geographical basis, and have developed special expertise in the local industries so that they are better equipped to make investment decisions and should offer a real alternative.

Mondragon a collective of over 264 companies and organisations mostly based in the Basque Country has proven to be one of the more resilient economic success stories in recession-hit Spain. It has a revenue of 12,215 million euros, with 81,837 employees with 15 technology centres in 41 countries and sales in over 150 countries. 

The Basque co-operative may well be the world's largest worker co-operative, it has certainly assisted the Basque economy to try and resist the worst ravages of the recession in Spain. The company was established in 1956, in the province of Gipuzkoa; with a business philosophy built around co-operation, participation, social responsibility and innovation. 

It began small (this may very well be the key to its success) and form the bottom up with a group of workers in a disused factory, literally using hand tools and sheet metal to make oil-fired heating and cooking stoves.

The Cooperative continues to compete on international markets using democratic methods within its business organisation, helps to create jobs, and is committed to the human and professional development of its workers and pledges to development with its social environment. 

Some parts of the co-operative are wholly owned, others are run as joint venture operations. 

Co-operative members as equal co-owners of their own workplaces enjoy job security and individual capital holdings, with an equal sharing of profits on a proportionate basis and an equal ‘one-member one vote’ say in the way their enterprises are run. 

Pay within the cooperatives is strictly egalitarian, with the highest rates payable other than in exceptional circumstances being refreshingly no more than six and a half times the lowest rate. 

The Basque country has Spain’s highest GDP per capita, its richer than even Catalonia and Wales is the poorest nation in the British Isles, and in northwestern Europe. 

We in Wales have much to learn from the example of Mondragon and its methods when it comes generating and retaining sustainable jobs, simply remaining poor (or increasingly poorer) west Britons is not an option. 

There is no reason why the co-operative approach combined with a rich mix of small to medium sized enterprises cannot be used to bring in a community focused upward economic slow burn approach to economic development.

We desperately need something that will not just provide local jobs but real community beneficial sustainable developments which can transform our communities and fundamentally boost our country’s economic potential. 

Perhaps we can take that first important step in May 2021 at the Senedd elections and put the firmly past behind us.

SUPPORT OUR SMALL BUSINESSES

The Labour Government is treating Welsh businesses with “contempt” by not providing enough support and a clearer route map out of lockdown, Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price has said.

 

Mr Price said that whilst the Labour Government was ready to go the “extra mile” for large multinational companies like Aston Martin, Amazon and Ineos they were not giving “near enough support” for grassroots and independent Welsh businesses.

 

The Plaid Cymru Leader added that Welsh business had been “left in the dark” when it came to re-opening with no targets or dates on when they can expect to re-open safely for trading and called for a clearer roadmap to provide businesses with greater clarity.

 

Mr Price also called for more financial support for Welsh hospitality and leisure businesses in the form of one-off restart grants to help with the costs of re-opening.

 

Applications for the Labour Welsh Government’s Restrictions Business Fund will close on 31 March 2021 with no successor scheme announced yet. The Scottish Government has already pledged grants of up to £7,500 for retailers and up to £19,500 for hospitality and leisure businesses paid in April to help businesses re-open progressively

 

Leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price MS said,

 

“The Labour Government – always ready to go the extra mile for multi-national companies like Aston Martin, Amazon and Ineos – is treating Welsh home-grown independent business with contempt by not providing them with enough financial support or a route map out of lockdown. The lack of a level playing field for small non-essential retail is also part of this wider syndrome of letting Welsh business down, while spouting platitudes about the foundational economy. 

 

“With the latest round of economic support ending on 31^st March and with no real certainty on when they can be expected to re-open for trade, Welsh businesses have been left in the dark to wither on the vine. Where’s the practical support for Welsh businesses wondering whether they should recruit or retain staff and take on additional risk? There’s nothing but stony silence.

 

“Meanwhile, the Scottish Government has said it will provide restart grants to help Scottish businesses with the costs of reopening alongside a much clearer route map, without resorting to false assurances or premature certainty.

 

“The Welsh Government must follow suit and provide financial support for Welsh hospitality and leisure businesses in the form of one-off restart grants to help with the costs of re-opening.

“The balance between providing hope and raising unrealistic expectations is a fine line to tread. But what Welsh businesses, particularly the hospitality sector, currently face is a prolonged guessing game with vague plans, more roadblock than roadmap.

 

“We’re not calling for an arbitrary date for the ending of all restrictions – only greater transparency between now and the end of June on what’s likely to happen to allow businesses room to plan ahead. To not provide that level of openness means Labour is badly failing Welsh business and the workers and communities that depend on them.”

 

DIWEDD / ENDS

TWO OUT OF THREE

The current (and also future) Welsh Government will receive less money to spend on transport for the foreseeable future, thanks to HS2 being designated as an England and Wales project - this is despite the fact that no part of the track is included in Wales. This decision has excluded Wales from receiving any of the  additional funding that will flow to Scotland and Northern Ireland over the lifespan of the HS2 project.

A report produced by Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre has noted that for life of the HSR Project, perhaps for several decades the Welsh Government will receive a much smaller share from any increase in the Department for Transport’s budget. This is part of what  has been described as a "historic under-funding" thats locked into the system for Wales. 

Wales suffers because there is no fully devolved control over transport, if this was the case then Wales would have been  £514 million better of in terms of investment in its rail infrastructure between 2011-12 and 2019-20. As well as perpetuating underinvestment in Wales’ rail infrastructure, the Cardiff researchers have also warned that the non-devolved system will also lead to a funding squeeze on the Welsh Government’s future budget.

Once you start to factor in the lost funding by way of comparison with the projected cost of several major Welsh rail infrastructure projects that have been estimated by external sources, including:

• The Carmarthen to Aberystwyth line (£620-775 million)
• Electrification of the North Wales Coast mainline (£764 million)
• Electrification of the South Wales mainline between Cardiff and Swansea (£433 million)

With the additional funding, the powers and the vision to use it for our priorities rather than Westminster priorities, people may well begin to wonder what might have been achieved over recent years. That extra £500 million (since 2011) could have enabled us to start and complete significant improvement projects. 

The half devolved cobbled set up in relation to powers over funding, transport, infrastructure and infrastructure planning is unsustainable, the ownership of this problem lies with the Labour Party in Westminster, as much as it does with the Labour Party in Wales as it does with the Conservatives. 

In relation to the lost opportunities it makes you think what might have been achieved… had we had fair funding, a government in Cardiff with the political will, and also the self belief... two out of three would have been nice.

IT’S TIME TO PAY UP

Plaid Cymru has called for reform of pay, terms and conditions to bring in equality of treatment for health and social care staff.

In a debate on Wednesday 17th March in the Senedd, Plaid Cymru called for disparities to end, and for care workers to be paid a guaranteed minimum of £10 an hour.

 

Under current arrangements, all health workers in the NHS are paid at least the real living wage. That is not the case in the care sector.

 

A Plaid Cymru government would create a National Health and Care Service, with free social care at the point of need, with health and social care workers put on the same pay scales.

 

In the Senedd debate today, Plaid Cymru will call on the “next Welsh Government” to introduce a guaranteed minimum of £10 an hour for all care workers.

 

The Labour Welsh Government has tabled an amendment which deletes this requirement and replaces it with a mention of a new forum - the Social Care Fair Work Forum - which it says is “looking at how to improve terms and conditions in the sector.”

 

Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Minister for Health, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS said,

 

“The public has clapped for our carers, now it’s time for government to step up and put a value to the clapping.

 

“Plaid Cymru has made its commitment to our carers - in government, we will create genuinely seamless National Health AND Care Service, which will give care workers the respect they deserve, putting them on the same terms and conditions and pay scales as health workers.

 

“If the other political parties in Wales are serious about this, they will have the chance to back Plaid Cymru’s motion in the Senedd today, and commit to delivering a reformed pay and retention settlement for health and social care staff, including a guaranteed minimum of £10 an hour for care workers.

 

“For our carers, who have put so much into looking after us during the biggest public health crisis in our lifetimes, it is the very least government can do for them”

 

DIWEDD / ENDS

 

NODIADAU I’R GOLYGYDD / EDITOR’S NOTES:

 

           1.     NDM7655 Plaid Cymru Debate - NHS Pay Review: https://business.senedd.wales/ieIssueDetails.aspx?IId=36894&PlanId=0&Opt=3

To propose that the Senedd:

1. Condemns the UK Government’s recommendation to the NHS Pay Review Body for a wholly inadequate 1 per cent pay rise to nurses and other NHS staff which would amount to a real terms cut in their wages.

2. Calls on the Welsh Government to make further representations to the NHS Pay Review Body supporting the specific calls of the trade unions and other bodies representing health and social care staff in Wales for a fair and well deserved pay rise to reflect the sacrifices made during the pandemic.

3. Calls on the next Welsh Government to deliver a reformed pay and retention settlement for health and social care staff, including a guaranteed minimum of £10 an hour for care workers to end the current disparity between health and care

 

2.     Plaid Cymru commitment to create a seamless health and social care system: https://www.partyof.wales/health_and_care_speech_araith_iechyd_a_gofal

A TIME FOR AMBITION

“Settling for 2050 isn’t good enough” – a Plaid Cymru government would adopt more ambitious net zero carbon emission target

 

Commenting on the new carbon emission targets debated in the Senedd today (Tuesday 16 March), Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Minister for the Environment, Llyr Gruffydd MS said:

 

“Wales must reach net zero carbon emissions much sooner than 2050 and a Plaid Cymru Government would adopt much more ambitious targets for tackling the climate and nature crisis.

 

“Many nations and regions around the world are aiming for a faster transition to net zero. Sweden is heading for net zero emissions by 2045, Iceland and Austria by 2040 and Finland by 2035. The Jamtland region in Sweden is aiming for net zero by 2030 and Copenhagen the capital region of Denmark by 2025.

 

“Settling for 2050 isn’t good enough. A Plaid Cymru Government after May’s Senedd election will introduce new regulations that go further and faster in driving down Wales’ carbon emissions.”

 

DIWEDD / ENDS

 

NODIADAU I’R GOLYGYDD / EDITOR’S NOTES:

1: Item SL(5)749 - The Environment (Wales) Act 2016 (Amendment of 2050 Emissions Target) Regulations 2021: https://business.senedd.wales/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IId=35625

HOW TO MEASURE SUCCESS?

Let’s be honest, if you live in Newport or various parts of Gwent and are reasonably familiar with your home community, then over the years you may have noticed that redevelopment / regeneration comes and goes over the years, in any particular community or town.

Regeneration schemes will have cleaned areas up, built in cycle routes, created transport plans, pedestrianised streets, reopened them to traffic, re-pedestrianised them and (as is the case in Newport and no doubt elsewhere) made certain streets shared space with both cars and pedestrians (this is not as crazy an idea as it sounds, and it actually works) and so on. 

Parking has been restricted, created and removed, made free and charged for, bus lanes have been created, removed and the hours when bus lanes operate varied. 

Now this is all well and good and may reflect the latest trend in regeneration and development, but at the end of the day has it made the places where we live, work and shop any better? 

The one question that tends not to be asked, and hence not answered is: Has the regeneration process or scheme increased or generated wealth in our communities or provided people with the opportunities to get jobs, to go into business for themselves or generate wealth? 

One of the unintended features of redevelopment is that quite often it is (or is perceived as being) driven from the top down i.e. by elected bodies whether they be County Councils or the Senedd. 

Regeneration should never be a process that merely consults after the plans have been drawn up - thats not confutation thats simply window dressing.

Real and meaningly consultation should take place before, during and after - any process not run this way runs the real risk of becoming deeply flawed. 

Local communities and towns and cities of South Wales have over the years has been the recipient of much grant aid, development and redevelopment schemes and initiatives - how can we measure success? 

Measuring a regeneration schemes success should be a key factor in any regeneration scheme. 

This is the key question that needs to be asked - after the cement and the paint has dried, after the development / redevelopment / regeneration professionals have banked the cheque and moved on - have the various schemes made a difference. 

I mean beyond any immediate physical improvements to the environment, have they made a real difference when it comes to wealth generation in the area affected by the regeneration scheme and can the people who live here actually see and benefit from the change? 

If the end result is in reality a makeover, and the targeted community is no better off, save for being bereft of the 'regeneration funds' that have been effectively hoovered up by professional regeneration companies - some of whom make a good living out of regeneration - then we should ask is this success? 

How do you make regeneration projects work beyond the tick box list of the regeneration schemes managers? 

One key component that is often ignored or marginalised during the regeneration process is the communities greatest resource - its people.

If we really want to develop strong sustainable communities, then any regeneration scheme should from the start and at every stage of the process involve the people who are going to live and work in the redeveloped area after the scheme has been completed. .

 

We don’t need regeneration professionals coming into an area and engaging in a largely token consultation process. 

They should directly talk to local people (who are an asset to the process) rather than at them, and actually find out what they would like to be done, what they actually want for their community and their town.

If you are reusing or renovating old buildings then any regeneration scheme needs to ensure that old buildings can make a sustainable contribution after the regeneration scheme is finished. 

If we do this rather than merely making a token gesture towards public consultation, then any regeneration schemes will, with hard work, really begin to deliver tangible benefits to our communities. 

Regeneration schemes and projects should be bottom up rather than the top down. 

The bottom line should be when spending public money, work it extra hard and squeeze out every single possible benefit and maximise the impact locally of the regeneration process and make every effort to build in local benefits into the tendering process - whether by employing local people, using local resources, local skills and local input. 

Now a plea for a more people focused and community driven regeneration is not driven by nostalgia or about living the past - we have to re-image our urban spaces for the 21st century - but not at the expense of the people who live and make their living within them. 

 

As had been said elsewhere, regeneration should be a beneficial process community rather than a cash extracting event, that delivers unmeasurable success. 

TALKING ABOUT HOUSING

We need to talk about our Housing crisis, Labour in Wales is silent on the matter and the other Unionist or anti devolution parties are silent on this issue. I see few any positives for Cymru / Wales simply being a simple adjunct to England, or Newport being a simple dormitory town for Bristol or Cardiff. I can never subscribe to the Severnside agenda, no matter how many times it gets rebranded and relaunched. 

In our south east, along the coastal belt and in and around Newport and Torfaen (not to mention around Cardiff and Caerphilly) and across Monmouthshire the last thirty years we have seen a significant if not spectacular growth in the amount of housing. A significant percentage of which in recent years has quite failed to fulfil pressing local housing needs. Second homes are an issue even in our south east, especially in the Wye Valley and adjoining parts of Monmouthshire - but the real issue is access to affordable primary of first homes. 

Quite frankly for serious challenging times, we need serious government and serious leadership. We lack both at all levels of government. That is why we need a Plaid government in Cardiff - with a new agenda which will aim at retrofitting 100,000 homes as part of a £6 billion green economic stimulus package. 

A Plaid Cymru government will create a long-term energy efficiency infrastructure plan to retrofit existing homes to the highest environmental standards. This will contribute to our aim of abolishing fuel poverty and decarbonising our country. Plaid will prioritise houses in fuel poverty. 

As part of the biggest public house building programme for 50 years, Plaid will build or convert 50,000 public homes over the next 5 years, including 15,000 genuinely affordable homes to buy. These will include some among the 26,000 empty homes across Wales that will be brought back into use.

Despite the Labour in Wales Government estimating that we will need an additional 110,000 homes across Wales up to 2039, of which half should be affordable, they have never delivered more than 7,000 new homes a year over the past 10 ten yours: out of which have been a maximum of 1,500 affordable homes. We need a step change in Welsh capacity to provide housing.

A Plaid Cymru government’s definition of affordable homes will mirror the mortgage lending rule of 4.5 times the average local household income or around £125,000 – half the Welsh Government’s definition which includes properties up to £250,000. 

CALL FOR EVICTION BAN EXTENSION

Plaid Cymru calls for private tenants to be given security needed while coronavirus restrictions remain in place

 

Plaid Cymru has called for the Welsh Government to make a decision to extend the ban on evictions beyond 31 March 2021.

 

While a new law was passed in the Senedd on 23 February that provided more security to tenants, this doesn’t come into effect until ‘spring 2022.’ While the new law will ensure the minimum notice periods in the case of ‘no fault evictions’ must be extended from two to six months it is unclear what happens to private tenants in the interim – and indeed, what will happen after 31 March 2021 for all types of evictions.

 

Under current regulations (The Public Health (Protection from Eviction) (Wales) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021), the ban on evictions, ban on bailiffs going to houses and the extended notice periods will all come to an end on 31 March 2021. These regulations were brought in on a temporary basis to prevent the risk of private tenants being made homeless during the pandemic.

 

The Welsh Government committed to review these regulations at least every three weeks, but at the last review point on Thursday 18 February, it was decided that no changes would be made. This means that these additional protections will draw to a close on 31 March 2021.

 

The next review point falls on Thursday 11 March, and with an announcement not expected until Friday 12 March, means that this will be the last review point before the end of March.

 

Welsh Government has previously indicated that coronavirus restrictions are unlikely to be lifted in any significant way until Easter at the earliest.

 

Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Minister for Housing, Delyth Jewell MS said,

 

“To delay announcing an extension to eviction protection is an assault on private tenants’ stability.

 

“In one breath, the Labour Welsh Government is at pains to tell us that restrictions are unlikely to be significantly changed until Easter, and yet in another, fails to extend security to private tenants, who fear being evicted in the middle of a pandemic.  

 

“Every incremental postponement in a landlord’s ability to evict serves to prolong tenants’ anxiety, since they don’t have a long period of time in which they can feel settled in their homes.

 

“With only one more regulation review period before the end of March, Welsh Government’s last minute approach only increases the cloud hanging over these tenants.”

 

ENDS

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE

We have to heal the deeper wounds of our nation with a post-Covid programme for government designed to create an economy that works for everyone and deliver a fair deal for families. 

A Plaid Cymru Government if elected on May 6^th would put in place policies to tackle child poverty and the housing crisis and invest to build the best NHS and social care services with more staff on better pay, and free social care for everyone who needs it.

• Universal free childcare from 24 months
• A council tax cut for thousands of families
• 1,000 new doctors and 5,000 new nurses

The grim statistics tell the story. There are 70,000 children in poverty in Wales that don’t even receive free school meals. 67,000 families on housing waiting lists. Over half of our care workers are paid less than the Real Living Wage. 

Let this be the year when we say no more. No more child hunger. No more homelessness and housing crisis. No more poverty pay. 

Britain isn’t working for us anymore – the Britain of my parents’ generation, a brave and hopeful place, no longer exists, it has been erased and, in its place, we have the moral vacuum that is Westminster. 

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the reality of modern Britain: a state defined by crushing poverty, ruled by a corrupt elite that gives contracts to its friends and denies furlough to its neighbours.

The future cannot be like the past, we cannot simply accept the fantasy island politics thats emanating from Westminster.  That is why we need to choose to decide our own future. 

The poverty we see around us as a nation is not our destiny. This is our moment of truth. Seize that moment and there is nothing that is impossible and nothing we cannot accomplish. 

MAKE WALES PROSPER

“Poverty is not inevitable – it is a lack of political decision” – Helen Mary Jones MS

 

Plaid Cymru has outlined its plans for a bold new freestanding agency – Prosperity Wales – which will be tasked with developing Wales’ economy.  

 

Speaking ahead of the party’s Spring Conference, Shadow Economy Minister Helen Mary Jones MS said that a Plaid Cymru government would have a clear economic policy to “create and share wealth” and to “build our national prosperity” to enable the “world-class public services that we all deserve.”

 

Prosperity Wales will be characterised by:

·      Spatial approach: Focussing attention where it is needed most

·    Rebalancing: Addressing historical patterns of discrimination that have led to chronic injustice and inequality

·      Growth: Nurturing local businesses, enabling export and improving productivity

·      Research & Development: Enabling existing businesses to innovate, decarbonise and thrive.  

 

Ms Jones says that the focus on foundational economy will ensure local procurement on a massive scale, “spending as much as possible of the Welsh public pound here in Wales.”

 

Prosperity Wales will be led by a Board made up not only of the best minds from the business world, but also experts in tackling inequality and in decarbonisation.

 

Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Minister for the Economy and Tackling Poverty, Helen Mary Jones MS said,

 

“There is nothing inevitable about the poverty that so many of our fellow citizens face. This poverty is both a direct result of, and a lack of, political decision.

 

“Prosperity Wales will be an economic development agency with a difference, drawing on expertise from the business world as well specialists in tackling inequality and decarbonisation. Tasked with developing our economy in such a way that opportunities are created fairly across our nation, there will be an emphasis on addressing historical patterns of discrimination that have led chronic injustice and inequality in the way our economy has functioned.

 

“Come the election in May, Labour will have had 21 years in which they have failed to deliver the transformation that Wales so desperately needs. A third of our children are in poverty, our Valleys still bear the scars of the ravages of Thatcherism and our rural communities remain fragile. And with a Welsh Tory party happy to hang on to the coat-tails of their Westminster parents, only a Plaid Cymru government will have the vision, ambition and passion to build the fair, green and prosperous nation - an equal nation - that we all want to live in.

 

“We are clear as a Party about the purposes of our economic policy. We have to make different decisions, and we have to do it now.”

 

ENDS