Dafydd Wigley in Monmouth

A very useful flying visit from Dafydd Wigley (Plaid Honary President) to the constituency, visiting Abergavenny - where he touched base with members and supporters. We both had a very productive meeting with members of KALM (Keep Abergavenny Livestock Market) campaign, who briefed us on current developments in the campaign to save the livestock market in the town.

(Thanks to Fi@2010 for the pic).

THINK DIFFERENT - INVEST IN RAIL

The National Assembly’s recent commitment to finish the work on Gaer junction, so that direct trains can run between Newport and Ebbw Vale is to be warmly welcomed, along with a possible new railway station in Ebbw Vale town centre and an hourly service. Much more obviously needs to be done, and despite the threat of potential or immanent cuts, there is much that can be done to improve our rail services.

There is a need for railway station's at Caerleon and Magor and consideration should be given to reopening the line to Usk from Little Mill, There have been improvements at Severn Tunnel Junction, there is room for improvements in facilities and access at Caldicot, Chepstow and Abergavenny Stations, not to mention more frequent stopping services.

We also need get freight off the roads and onto the rails which would along with rail electrification cut both pollution and road congestion. If Government wants to change the way we use public transport when we need a public transport system that’s fit for purpose and fit for us to use.

PLAID BUDGET RESPONSE 2010 (from Elfyn Llwyd MP)

"Last year I warned that the Welsh budget – the money that pays for our public services, our health, our education – was under threat because of cuts made at Westminster. The London parties said we were scare-mongering, but Wednesday’s UK Budget confirmed our worst fears.

The figures published yesterday showed a 5% real terms cut in the Welsh budget, hundreds of millions of pounds, not from some fantasy point in the future but in the 2010-11 financial year which starts in two weeks time. We will have £800m less to spend on Welsh public services in the next year than we should, and between now and 2014 we are likely to be much more than the £3bn worse off that we first thought a year ago.

This is neither fair funding nor a fair deal for Wales. Plaid Cymru were the only party to see this. We were the only ones who cared about our Welsh public services, about our council jobs, health and education, and the only ones facing up to the reality of the situation.

But we in Wales have no have say in these cuts. These are cuts imposed upon us by Labour and Tory masters in London, at Westminster. What’s worse is that Wales has been under-funded for many years and will continue to lose out in the future, as shown by the independent Holtham Commission, which estimates that Wales is losing at least £300m per year under the current system.

Under Labour, public spending in England and Scotland grew faster than in Wales. We in Wales have been taken for granted, and it is still only Plaid Cymru who are fighting for fairer funding, based around the needs of the people of Wales, the outcome recommended by the Holtham Commission.

Despite the successes of the One Wales Government such as ReAct and ProAct, hard working families and businesses all across Wales will still be feeling the pinch when new fuel duty rises kick in next week on what will inevitably go down as ‘April Fuels Day’.

By next January Labour will have increased fuel duty by a massive 17% since December 2008. This means that fuel duty will make up 59p in every litre when people go to the pump. It is a regressive tax that will hit families, businesses and public services budgets hard, and especially those in more rural areas who have less choice in how they travel or how far they have to go for the services they use.

When the time comes we will be fighting these tax rises and repeating our call for a fuel duty regulator which would cap prices at the pump. Labour introduced an even stealthier tax when they froze the income tax threshold. This will increase the amount of tax being paid by hard-working people and impact strongly upon low-paid families here in Wales. In contrast, Plaid would have increased this threshold by £1,000, taking thousands of people in Wales out of paying income tax altogether and putting more money in people’s pockets.

That’s why, in Plaid Cymru, we’re different. We put people first

We would also have increased the basic state pension for over-80s to the level of pension state guarantee to fight pensioner and fuel poverty, whilst increasing taxes on those who are very well off through bringing down the threshold for paying the 50% tax rate and levelling capital gains tax with income tax for example.

This can be afforded – by taking away tax breaks from the already well-off. They don’t need it… our pensioners and those on low incomes, do.

When times are tough it is a question of priorities – and only Plaid Cymru would put the people of Wales first, while Labour and the Tories are more worried by fat cat pin-striped City bankers who are back to their old tricks now after we risked billions of pounds of our money to bail them out.

Our economic future in Wales depends on there being a hung parliament, with neither Labour nor the Tories in overall control. It’s only when your votes matter that they start to pay attention to ordinary people. Plaid Cymru doesn’t owe anything to the City of London, only to the people of Wales – that’s why we’re different. Our policies reflect that and we go to Westminster to get the best deal for Wales, not to listen to anybody else."

SUPPORTING OUR SOLDIERS

Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Elfyn Llwyd MP was absolutely right to question the New Labour Government about the levels of assistance given to former service personnel facing drug problems following their eviction from the forces. Mr Llwyd asked the question of the Veterans Minister Kevan Jones about the services that are available to former service personnel thrown out of the forces for use of illegal substances. The answer received from the government was that no support mechanism is in place - which just about sums up the attitude of the current New Labour Government towards our veterans and serving soldiers.

Mr Llwyd who launched Plaid’s ‘Support for Veterans’ policy discussion document which called for a separate strategic review of expenditure spent on personnel leaving the forces to be conducted. The paper also outlines current areas of deficiency such as the lack of welfare support available and rising numbers of veterans ending up in the Criminal Justice system or with drug and alcohol problems.

Following on from the spiralling cost of military procurement and the government’s inability to keep within its budget, especially over the war in Afghanistan, Mr Llwyd is campaigning for priority to be given to veteran welfare.

Plaid’s Elfyn Llwyd MP said:

“This situation is absolutely shocking. Former service personnel often find themselves in the situation where they turn to alcohol and drug abuse as a direct result of their time in the forces.

“I do not dispute the fact that they should have to leave the forces but what is lacking here is a duty of care towards them. Very often these problems come around because of the unique and intense combat situations soldiers find themselves in. The situation is only set to get worse in coming years given the sheer volume of personnel involved in wars.

“Military hospitals are already stretched with the numbers of wounded coming back from Afghanistan for example. Where is the funding that will deal with after care for the large numbers of veterans and their very wide ranging mix of needs? Veterans need access to a wide range of treatment services including mental health.

“I’ve said before that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to identifying, or treating, PTSD and other mental health problems associated with the after-effects of time spent in a combat zone.

“Soldiers thrown out of the forces for drug abuse are often only at the start of this vicious cycle which can lead to a life of addiction, crime or homelessness. Their situation is unique because of the situations they’ve been through and this government needs to be doing more to nip such problems in the bud.”

TRELLECH HUSTINGS

The first Hustings of the final stages of this Westminster campaign took place last night in Trellech - very well organised (by the Trellech Big Issues Forum, well chaired and well attended (and well lit by Mon TV's TV lights). With six candidates who covered a wide range of topics from the economic crisis through Development Aid and Climate Change / Global Warming and Votes for 16 year old's and much else along the way.

My Conservative opponent (aside from being blinded by the light (just like the rest of us to varying degrees) made much of his opposition to extending the franchise to 16 years old's - I suspect much of what he said, was also said about extending the franchise to women, about abolishing the business vote and extending the franchise to those under 21. One thing to remember is that at 16 you will (if you have a job) pay tax, so where's the representation?

And a final thought, have the Conservatives ever been in favour (as opposed to being against things) of anything?

THE BUDGET

Now that the dust has settled, it's pretty clear that once again that the New Labour Government failed to announce a fair funding system in this year’s Budget, which means that we in Wales will be hit hard by a 5% real terms cut when the new financial year starts. The failure to ensure fair funding for Wales, with either a fair system or a fair deal has sadly become a signature failure of what's now nearly 13 years of New Labour Government.

The Budget Red Book, suggests that there will be a real terms cut of around 5% once inflation is taken into account –which will start not next year but in little less than two weeks time.There can be little doubt that there are deep cuts coming, which we can be sure will hit Wales hard before we begin to leave this recession behind. initially it was estimated that the Welsh budget would be hit by £2.8bn over three years, but recent revisions by independent bodies such as the Auditor General for Wales estimate £3bn or more over three years - however you spin it that's a big ouch"!

The failure to hold a Comprehensive Spending Review before the General Election and the failure to make it clear exactly where proposed cuts are going to being made, once again leaves the people of Wales well and truly in the dark – and unable to see what the effect will be upon Welsh public services. It is ironic that both New Labour and David ('Call me Dave') Cameron's Conservatives are very happy to tell us what they will keep in the UK Budget, but much more reticent when it comes to telling us what they will cut and where, which is the real issue.

The current funding formula for Wales, where the money for our public services comes from is decided by spending priorities of London, we in Wales will not know the effect upon Welsh public services over the next three years until they have been announced in detail in England. The Holtham Commission recommended that the Treasury in London produce an annual publication
which provides details of changes to the Assembly budget arising from decisions made in London - this has not happened.

The Welsh Department Expenditure Limit for 2009-10 was £16bn and will be £15.7bn in 2010-11 which begins on 6th April, 2010. Taking inflation into consideration this will be a cut of 5% year on year to the Welsh block grant.When it comes down to brass tacks, while this is an unacceptable state of affairs is acceptable to new Labour and Conservative MP's in Wales it is no and never wil be acceptable to Plaid and many people within Wales.

The only way this unacceptable state of affairs will be rectified is by ensuring that Wales has a strong voice in Westminster and the only way that is going to happen is by sending more Plaid Cymru MP's to Westminster. The old two parties have failed us, failed our communities and failed Wales. We need to think differently, we need more Plaid MP's something that will ensure
that people in Wales will be electing MP's who will actually stand up against these cuts wherever they will have a negative impact upon our communities and our public services. It's time to think different, its time to think Plaid.

AN INTERESTING EVENING IN ABERGAVENNY

A very interesting evening in Abergavenny with John Davies, the historian ('The History of Wales') who gave an absolutely fascinating talk, about Monmouthshire and the historic role it has played in Wales over the last 2,000 years. A packed out venue at the Kings Arms and an audience hanging of every word - amongst other things, Mr Davies firmly killed of the entirely erroneous notion that the old county of Monmouthshire (1536 - 1974) was ever in England - very good stuff. Have a candidates Hustings in Trellech on Friday, which should also be interesting!