"When I'm First Minister, we will govern as if we're independent," writes new Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price.
The Labour Party is the most successful political party in the history of modern Welsh politics. It has won the largest share of the vote at every UK General Election for nearly a century.
The first ‘independent’ UK Labour Party MP, Keir Hardie, was elected in Merthyr Tydfil in 1900. Then, as a result of their more radical and progressive political offer, the Labour Party proceeded to replace the Liberals as main party of opposition in Westminster by the 1920s.
But in Wales, the party that gave birth to the political giants of Aneurin Bevan and Jim Griffiths – both proud products of the Welsh radical tradition – has become the party of managerialism.
For the 20 years since the dawn of devolution, it has been passively overseeing the decline of the Welsh economy, falling education standards and a broken health service.
The Welsh people are in the unenviable position of being governed by two Conservative parties: the big ‘C’ Conservative Party in Westminster, and the small ‘c’ Welsh Labour Party in Cardiff Bay.
This is a party of government that recently granted permission for the energy giant EDF to dump its potentially radioactive mud from outside of Hinckley point in waters outside Cardiff Bay; that bankrolled companies like Aston Martin that has just raised £4.3 billion on the London Stock Exchange while keeping the details secret; and that is prepared to spend over £1.4bn on a new 14 mile section of the M4 motorway.
These are just some of the countless examples that proves why Labour in Wales represents the very essence of the politics of the past. Plaid Cymru must therefore become the party of the future.
When the people of Wales voted for devolution in 1997, they voted for powers to provide our people with the opportunity to have a greater say over their own lives for the first time in nearly 600 years. It was an opportunity to chart our own course and deliver radical Welsh specific solutions to problems that are unique to us as a country. People believed that a new Wales was possible.
But a new Wales will not be achieved by mirroring the regressive policies implemented by the Tories in England.
Take childcare, for example. Childcare costs Welsh families nearly a quarter of their income, even before tax. By replicating the Tory policy in England, the Welsh Labour Government’s recent childcare offer will provide families earning up to £200k a year with 30 hours a week free childcare for three year olds. Yet they do not provide this to parents seeking work or who are in education or training.
When I’m First Minister we will deliver a comprehensive childcare package making it possible for parents to return to work when they choose. This will give children from all backgrounds the best start in life with a healthy nutritious meal, clothes for school, support to attend field trips and receive a world-class education.
When I’m First Minister, we’ll create a real Development Bank to offer patient loans to help local companies grow and, when necessary, be bought by the staff themselves to help companies made in Wales both stay in Wales and prosper.
When I’m First Minister we’ll create a Welsh national energy company with the profit used to build up a basic income for all our citizens.
That’s how we win a new Wales – by governing as if we are already independent, in order to build the confidence to finally get there.
These are just some of the policy ideas that a Plaid Cymru government would include in its radical but realisable programme for government. It will demonstrate what could be achieved by a committed, determined party of government with the radical imagination and political will to carry it out.
Wales needs to turn the page on the politics of the past. Now’s the time for new energy, new ideas, a new direction and a new dynamic. Plaid Cymru means the Party of Wales – but not any old Wales. It’s the new Wales we’ve all been waiting for.
Adam Price is the Leader of Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales.
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