REMEMBER - AMBITION IS CRITICAL

Ambition is Critical

New Labour (or whatever they want to call themselves these days) are quietly hoping that we all suffer an attack of collective amnesia and by the Labour line that it's the Tories fault. It's a big simple lie, but, one that the Labour Party (both old and new) has used again and again over the years. It's also totally untrue - they held the reigns of power at Westminster between 1997 and 2010 and did nothing to curb the bankers, improve the NHS, and deliver fair funding for Wales. Lacking the ambition and the motivation to govern Wales effectively they should not be rewarded for their poor record over the past 12 years.

Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones has pledged that Plaid would bring about a ‘revolution’ in the way Welsh Government works for the people of Wales.The Plaid leader labelled Labour’s lack of policy ideas during this election campaign as tragic. Mr Jones said that their dearth of ambition clearly showed how electing a Labour government in Wales in this election would allow their Ministers to continue to manage failure and halt progress.

Mr Jones listed among Labour’s failures:

• Plummeting education standards
• Poor public health and bloated bureaucracy in the NHS
• Devastating handling of the UK economy and clueless approach to job creation in Wales
• Refusal to reform the way Wales is funded

Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones 

Speaking at a press conference in Cardiff, the Plaid leader also said that Labour had failed to lead and unite the Welsh Civil Service behind a clear sense of purpose and a determination to deliver – and had a devastatingly poor record in providing a strong voice for Wales in Westminster. He cited their failure to ensure fair funding for Wales whilst in power in London as a clear example of why Labour cannot claim to ‘stand up for Wales.’

Mr Jones was joined by Plaid’s candidate for Caerphilly Ron Davies who said that Labour’s record on education, health and the economy had been devastating for devolution in its first twelve years. Mr Davies said that despite their arrogance in this election, Labour had failed to produce any shred of evidence that they wanted to improve Wales’s social and economic prosperity. He said that their record of decline had given them no right to ask Wales to give them a majority on May the 5th.

Plaid Leader Ieuan Wyn Jones said:

“Despite weeks of campaigning we still haven't heard anything from Labour about how they will improve our education or health services, and how they plan to develop Wales's economy for the next generation. For a party which has held power for 12 years in Wales, their lack of vision and ambition is tragic. Wales cannot afford to reward Labour failure by giving them a free hand to manage decline for the next 5 years. Our people and our communities deserve so much more, and Plaid Cymru is the only party which believes that a better Wales is possible.”

Jocelyn Davies

Plaid Cymru’s candidate in South Wales East Jocelyn Davies said:

"We need to ensure that Welsh government is fit for the future and not a relic of the past. We also need a Welsh Government that can force the Conservative and Lib Dem Coalition in London to sit up and take notice of the needs of Wales. If Labour is given a majority on May the 5th the UK Government will yawn, roll over and go back to sleep again on matters relating to Wales. We cannot allow that to happen.”

Plaid’s candidate in Caerphilly, Ron Davies said:

Ron Davies

“Those who know Labour inside out understand what drives the party’s political aspirations –it's power for its own sake, rather than any ambition to make a real difference to people's lives. The Welsh Labour party lacks substance and ambition – and their claim that they will stand up for Wales lacks credibility after their failure to do so for the last 12 years. We can't go on like this. They want it to be 'business as usual’. My vision for devolution has always been of a Welsh Government which has the capacity, the solutions and the drive to really change Wales and to make it a more confident, more prosperous country. The only party in this election which has shown any evidence that it is in any way qualified to do this is Plaid Cymru.”

Ieuan Wyn Jones said that, in contrast to Labour, in this election Plaid is proposing a package of ideas to improve services and to reform the way government works in Wales. Plaid’s manifesto will be designed to

• Transform our schools, health service and economy
• Save money and increase transparency
• Devolve further key services to Wales and ensure fair funding from the Treasury
• Improve efficient working within the Welsh government and local government
• Strengthen Wales’s voice in London and Brussels by creating new formal intergovernmental relationships

AMBITION IS CRITICAL

Plaid's spring conference was interesting, with a real air of ambition and aspiration for this nation, as opposed to party political self interest. I caught a number of key-note speakers including Nerys Evans, Helen Mary Jones, Leanne Wood and Ieuan Wyn Jones, but, it was Ron Davies, Plaid's Caerphilly Assembly candidate who, in my opinion hit the nail on the head, when he said:

"The limits to our ambitions should only be set by the people of Wales. This process of building our democracy and a better Wales which goes with it should both challenge us and reassure us. We in Plaid speak for an increasing majority who want a greater degree of self government. After all, we as a party have done so much to get us where we are today."

He rightly laid into Shadow Secretary of State Peter Hain.

"It was so kind and generous of Peter Hain to remind us right at the start of the campaign that we wouldn't be having a referendum at all if it were not for Plaid.

"I am not entirely convinced his intervention was intended to foster inter-party unity in the driver for a 'Yes' vote. In fact, I am not all convinced.

"If ever there was a case of getting your retaliation in first that was one. As far as the Labour Party is concerned when it is a choice between party interest or national interest there is only one winner.

"Peter Hain knew full well how de-stabilising his comments could have been but the calculation was 'so what, there's a party game to be played'. Ill-judged and mistimed maybe, but you were right, Peter. Without Plaid there would have been no referendum on 3rd March."

The former Welsh Secretary said that Labour had failed to stand up for Wales during its years in office.

"Pity they didn't stand up for Wales for the last 10 years and help rebuild our economy or get fair funding for public services. They couldn't even stand up to their own backbenchers and get us a proper Parliament. Now Labour is adrift. Values abandoned, no direction, no strategy, no plan. They won't even  acknowledge how deep our economic and social crisis is. Just spin and excuses."

Leanne Wood AM, was also spot on when she said that its time for Wales to control its own resources. One of the key themes of this weekend's Plaid Cymru conference was the economy. Our economy is in a poor state and not getting better despite billions of euro-cash being poured in.

We cannot allow or afford for the Welsh economy to continue to decline over the next five - this is not an acceptable option. We need fresh ideas and need to make best use of the new legislative powers (such as they are) to make sure that the next National Assembly punches well above its weight and begins to really deliver for all parts of Wales following the Welsh Election on May 5th.