TIME TO VOTE FOR OUR COMMUNITIES

This election comes down to a choice between Tories and labour or cuts or chaos.

Plaid Cymru Leader Leanne Wood has today rallied support for her party on the eve of the local elections with an appeal for people to "vote for their community."

Highlighting Plaid Cymru's record of delivering where the party holds power in local authorities throughout Wales, Leanne Wood said that Plaid Cymru was the party best placed to defend local services and clean up communities. 

The Party of Wales Leader urged people to remember how the Tories had slashed the budgets of local authorities throughout Wales and how Labour neglect and mismanagement had compounded the problem.

Leanne Wood said:

"As Wales prepares to go to the polls tomorrow, I would urge people to use their vote to judge parties on their record.

"The Tories have slashed the budgets of local authorities throughout Wales while Labour's neglect and mismanagement have made many problems in our communities worse.

"Meanwhile, Plaid Cymru-led councils have a strong track record of delivering for our communities. In Ceredigion, more money is spent per pupil than any other area in Wales. In Gwynedd, we have defended 1,300 households from the Tories’ dreaded bedroom tax.

"On average, chief executive pay in Plaid-led councils is £22,000 lower than in areas where Labour are in power.

"The Party of Wales's record shows that it is the party best placed to defend local services and clean up our communities. The Tories are hell-bent on making further cuts and determined to sell-off our public services while internal fighting has left the Labour party in complete chaos.

"My message ahead of the local elections tomorrow is clear. Consider the parties’ record carefully, and cast a vote for your community with a vote for Plaid Cymru."

ENDS

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PROTECTING OUR LOCAL SERVICES

Across our city our bus service, along with many other previously provided services, have suffered as the Labour controlled city council has repeatedly failed to step up to protect services.  The City Council certainly did not feel the need to inform residents of the significant changes made to the City Bus Service until after the changes had been made.

Our bus services have been reduced to a minimum with reductions in the evening and Sunday services having been hit the hardest. The Labour dominated City Council has also failed to campaign for the security of our bus services.

At the most basic level quality public services are central to the prosperity of our nation. They are the very glue that binds our society together and the safety net that supports the most vulnerable in our society. The more Plaid Cymru councillors elected this May, the better the quality of services we can expect.

Since 2011-12, central Welsh Government funding for councils has decreased by 6.5%. This decrease in funding has a neglected some of the weakest and most vulnerable people in our communities, hitting them hardest. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that local councils could see their budgets cut again in the next few years.

Despite the threat of cuts, Plaid Cymru will continue to fight to protect the weakest and most vulnerable members of our communities – including the elderly, the disabled and children - who rely on key services provided by our councils.

Plaid recently demonstrated our commitment to protect council budgets by securing an additional £25m for our councils by in influencing the most recent Welsh Government budget. Our elected members will continue to fight for fair resources to protect services, which so many people rely upon. Plaid Cymru will also concentrate on protecting front-line staff and delivering first-class front-line services.

PUBLICLY OWNED BANK NEEDED TO REPLACE BRANCH CLOSURES

Plaid Cymru wants a “people’s bank” that does not abandon its customers

Plaid Cymru will push for the creation of a publicly-owned bank if elected in June, following a series of branch closures across Wales.

The party says that too many private banks are closing branches and neglecting customers and says it wants a “people’s bank” that “does not abandon its customers”. 

HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group are all among banks that cut 600 branches between April 2015 to April 2016. 90 per cent of those closures were in areas where the median household income is below the average of £27,600, according to the Office of National Statistics. By comparison, five out of the eight branches opened by these banks over the same period were in some to the wealthiest neighbourhood in Britain - Chelsea, Canary Wharf, St Paul’s, Marylebone and Clapham - all in London.

Communities across Wales have either already lost their last bank or are soon to lose them, with implications for residents and businesses who will be forced to travel to access their cash, which in rural Wales can mean upwards of a 90 minute round trip.

Simon Thomas, the party’s spokesperson on Rural Affairs, has called for a publicly-owned bank to be created in Wales, similar to those seen in other European countries, and pledged that Plaid Cymru MPs would pressure the UK Government to take action.

He accused the Labour Party of failing to stand up to the Tories and for turning a blind eye to branch closures across Wales.

Simon Thomas AM said:

“It is vitally important that individuals and businesses in all communities have easy access to financial advice and banking services. Unfortunately we’re seeing the same centralisation process with the private banking sector as has been happening in the public sector.

“I am fed up of hearing that customers can choose online banking as this fails to take into account the poor broadband service experienced in many parts of Wales.

“It’s not just Plaid Cymru campaigning against this - the Federation of Small Businesses and the Farmers’ Union of Wales have raised concerns about this culture of centralisation. There will be towns across Wales with no branches at all with some forced to make 90 minute round trips to get access to money.

“Banks are abandoning their customers in pursuit of more and more profit and there should be a duty put on these banks, who provide an essential service, to put the customers’ needs before their own pockets, in the same way as postal services.

“The Tories are intent on putting profits before people and the Labour Party has turned a blind eye to the continuing programme of closures across our country. Plaid Cymru MPs will not just sit on their hands. Our MPs will stand up in Parliament and demand that changes be brought in. We would push for the creation of a people’s bank, owned by the public. It would co-operate, not compete with other financial providers, including the much needed Welsh Development Bank.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Branch closure figures covered by Reuters here: http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-banks-branches-idUKKCN0Z60BP

WALES “SHACKLED” BY WESTMINSTER

Plaid demands freedom to grow Welsh economy

Plaid Cymru has demanded that Wales be “released from its Westminster shackles” so that its economy can grow.

The party’s treasury spokesperson, Jonathan Edwards, has said that Westminster’s legacy is making Wales one of the poorest regions in Europe whilst inner London has become the richest, and pledged to “fight tooth and nail” if re-elected in June, for Wales to be “released from its Westminster shackles” and allowed to re-build its economy.

Mr Edwards said that people in Wales suffer with lower wages and a more challenging standard of living than their English and Scottish neighbours as a result of being unable to grow its own economy. He said that Wales has been “shackled” by Westminster, reliant on Tory politicians representing constituencies outside Wales to make decisions for Wales.

The Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP, who is standing for re-election in June, said that Wales must be given the freedom to “fix its own problems”.

Commenting, Plaid Cymru MP for Carmarthen East & Dinefwr, Jonathan Edwards, said:

“Westminster’s legacy is making Wales one of the poorest of all the nations and regions in Europe whilst inner London has become the richest.

“For how long will we put up with having to ask Westminster to build roads and railways in Wales as well as England? For how long will we put up with having to ask Westminster to support Wales’s exporters and manufacturers, as well as London’s banking sector? The reality is, no Westminster MP representing constituencies outside Wales will ever have the unique needs of Wales as their priority.

“People across Wales are suffering with lower wages and a poorer standard of living than elsewhere across the British State. And is it any wonder, when we see billions of taxpayers’ money being spent on projects such as HS2 and Crossrail, when the people of Wales can’t even travel from the north to the south of our own country on a train without leaving it?

“If we want our economy to grow, our wages to increase and our standard of living to be improved, we have to do it ourselves.

“We must demand that Wales be released from its Westminster shackles so that we can fix the problems that have been left unattended by Westminster and start building our country into the country it could and should be.

“We don’t have to put up with low wages. We can demand that we be given the responsibility to grow our own economy, bypassing the bureaucracy of Westminster. If Westminster won’t electrify our railways then we will, and if Westminster wants to spend all taxpayers’ money in one corner of England then they can allow us to make our own investments in Wales.

“It’s time Wales took control of its own future and stopped relying on a bureaucratic Westminster establishment who will never have Wales’ interests at heart.”

ENDS