AN ECONOMIC CHOICE OF 'BAD' OR 'WORSE'?

Plaid Cymru has rightly accused Labour's Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls of hypocrisy following his attack on Tory spending plans in the next parliament. Mr Balls rounded on the Conservative Party during a speech earlier today in which he accused them of planning £70bn of cuts to public services should they form the next government. This comes just weeks after Labour MPs marched through the voting lobbies with Tory MPs in favour of at least a further £30bn more cuts over the next five years.

Plaid Cymru Treasury spokesperson, Jonathan Edwards MP, said:

"It is clear that the Westminster parties' economic plans boil down to a false choice between bad or worse.

"Wales has already suffered enough as a result of austerity. The people of our nation deserve a true alternative to this race to the bottom between Labour and the Tories.

"Only a few weeks ago, Mr Balls' alongside his colleagues in the Labour party marched through the voting lobbies with Tory MPs to vote in favour of at least a further £30bn cuts to public services. 

"Welsh communities cannot take any more. Our public services are buckling due to underfunding by the UK Government and mismanagement by the Labour government in Cardiff.

"We urgently need a change of direction. Austerity has failed on its own terms and it is high time to invest for growth.

"Tomorrow, Plaid Cymru will be outlining our fiscal envelope for the next Parliament.

"We must rebalance the economy, invest in infrastructure, and make radical changes to the labour market to put more money into people's pockets.

"Only a vote for Plaid Cymru on May 7th will ensure that there are MPs from Wales who speak up for our communities and against Westminster's destructive cuts agenda, supported by Labour and the Tories alike."

FOR OR AGAINST AUSTERITY?

Wayne David (Lab)	Caerphilly	FOR
David Davies (Con)	Monmouth	FOR
Chris Evans (Lab)	Islwyn	FOR
Paul Flynn (Lab)	Newport West	FOR
Dai Havard (Lab)	Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney	FOR
Jessica Morden (Lab)	Newport East	FOR
Paul Murphy (Lab)	Torfaen	FOR
Nick Smith (Lab)	Blaenau Gwent	FOR

(Source: Hansard Parliamentary Record)  

On Tuesday Plaid Cymru MPs stood up against the Conservative and Labour party shared austerity agenda by voting against proposals for tens of billions more cuts as part of the Westminster Government's Charter for Budget Responsibility. Jonathan Edwards MP, the party's Treasury spokesperson, branded the vote "judgement day" for Labour and warned that the people of Wales will not look kindly on this decision to back Tory cuts when they go to the polls on May 7th. He added that ending austerity lies at the heart of Plaid Cymru's General Election campaign and that it was time to put a stop to Westminster's failed and deeply flawed economic plan.

Speaking soon after the vote in the Commons, Mr Edwards said:

 "We have now had five years of pain under Westminster's austerity agenda with ordinary people paying the price for the collapse of the banks.

 "Over a billion pounds has been wiped from the Welsh economy due to welfare cuts alone. This simply cannot go on.

 "It beggars belief that the Labour party was willing to follow the Tories through the lobbies and back another five years of cuts that amount to tens of billions of pounds.

 "Plaid Cymru is absolutely committed to ending austerity and providing the people of Wales with a positive alternative.

 "Through investing in infrastructure, scrapping Trident, and tackling the scandal of tax avoidance and evasion, we can secure strong, sustainable economic growth rather than leave the lives of ordinary Welsh people at the mercy of London bankers. 

 "In May, the people of Wales have a once in a lifetime opportunity to make their vote truly count. With the anti-austerity parties likely to hold the balance of power, a strong group of Plaid Cymru MPs would mean a strong voice for Wales.

 "The Westminster parties offer nothing but the same cuts in a different colour. With clear plans to recruit a thousand extra doctors, deliver a living wage and secure fair funding, only a vote for Plaid Cymru will make Wales matter in May."

FIND(ING) THE MONEY

The UK's growing inequality and concentration of wealth and resources in the South East of England means that most people are not seeing any signs of economic recovery. The bad news that by election day we may be around 40% through the planned cuts something that is unlikely to bring much comfort as we (save for the happy sons of bankers) will all face the consequences of future cuts which will only lead to more suffering. 

The austerity experiment has failed failure to balance the books, yet there is still time for the Chancellor to change course so that the economy can recover. The recovery has not been helped by the Labour in Wales Welsh Government's decision to effectively blow the Welsh borrowing budget on a single infrastructure project – the few miles of the M4 – at a time when every corner of Wales is crying out for infrastructure investment.

Responding to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, Plaid Cymru Treasury spokesperson, Jonathan Edwards MP said:

"While we welcome the devolution of business rates which the Labour Welsh Government must now use to secure a far more business-friendly environment in Wales, there is little here on offer to our nation.

"Northern Ireland is set to be offered powers over corporation tax and, as the Smith Commission recommended last week, Scotland will get powers over income tax. Wales should have the same powers without delay and Westminster needs to stop treating Wales as a second class nation.

"The current Wales Bill is now no longer fit for purpose. If we are to tackle unemployment and generate economic growth, Wales must be handed the same job-creating powers as Scotland or risk being left behind.

"Plaid Cymru is committed to a genuine Wales-wide recovery driven by well-paid, high-skilled jobs. Our policy to pledge an extra 1% of UK GDP to infrastructure investment would have delivered £800m to fund Welsh roads, railways, schools and hospitals. Sadly this was a missed opportunity for the Chancellor.

"With Labour and the Tories fully signed up to further austerity after the Election, it is clear that Wales must return as many Plaid Cymru MPs as possible after May if our nation's best interests are to be protected from the Westminster elite."