Plaid launches Welsh election campaign with pledges 4 a better Wales
06/04/2011
Plaid Cymru will launch its election campaign today pledging to transform Wales and to make the renewal of the country’s economy and education system the success story of the next decade.
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During the launch, the party will outline its four key pledges for the election – ‘4 A Better Wales.’ The party’s priorities will include commitments to tackle illiteracy, to create jobs, to ensure quicker and more effective healthcare, and to invest in transport and technology links fit for a 21st century nation.
Llyr campaigning in Aberconwy
The party’s leader Ieuan Wyn Jones will say that there will be a clear choice in this election between the party that has the vision and the ambition to present a clear and progressive plan to change Wales – and the other parties which are devoid of ideas. Mr Jones will say that there will be a choice between Plaid, a party which aims to transform Wales over the next decade, or the other parties who are treating this election merely as a mid-term Westminster poll. He’ll say that only Plaid Cymru is ready to shoulder the responsibility and make it the party’s duty to create a better Wales.
Plaid Cymru leader, Deputy First Minister and candidate for Ynys Môn, Ieuan Wyn Jones, will say:
“There is little doubt in my mind that the Assembly has now won its place as an established and instrumental part of our ever evolving, modern nation. The ‘yes’ vote on March the 3rd demonstrated beyond doubt that in the north, south, east and west, the Assembly is now recognised for the role it plays in our daily lives. These elections should therefore no longer act as referenda on the role of devolution, but as a verdict on which party has the vision, the passion and the energy to create a better Wales.
“Plaid Cymru is the only party in this election which will seek to transform Wales, not simply to manage Wales. Of course it will be a challenge given the financial and economic climate created and perpetuated by the three Westminster parties. But Plaid pledges that unlike Labour it will not use this as an excuse for low standards and poor performance.
“We will raise the game. A Plaid government will step up to the plate. And we believe that our four key pledges for the next Welsh Government will raise the expectations of the people of Wales.”
Plaid Cymru’s President, Jill Evans MEP, will say:
“Plaid Cymru is the only party in this election which is rooted in the communities of Wales and which represents the whole of Wales. In the Plaid driven One Wales Government we have Plaid Cymru Ministers who understand the needs of rural Wales as well as our urban areas, the south as well as the north. For the first time since devolution, the regions of Wales have been united behind a programme of government which was tailored to meet the needs of the entire nation. It would be a total disaster for Wales if Labour were allowed to return to the days when they didn’t serve communities beyond the M4 corridor.
“Labour’s record clearly demonstrates that it cannot be trusted to be left to its own devices in running Wales. Its record on education is disastrous. It took Plaid being in government to save vital local hospital services, and Labour is still in denial about the state of the Welsh economy. Wales cannot afford a decade of decline under Labour. For the sake of the next generation, it is time to elect a party with ambition for Wales.”
Speaking ahead of the campaign launch Plaid Cymru’s candidate on the South Wales West list, Bethan Jenkins said:
“We in Plaid have and will continue to do everything in our power to shield Wales from the worst effects of the Tory and Lib Dem cuts. We will defend jobs, communities and services from their axe. People expect nothing less from us as a party which has spent its 86 year history standing up for Wales when Labour was letting our country down.
“But in this election, we are not just standing up for Wales – we are fighting for a better Wales when all the other parties around us are caught up in serving their own narrow, party political self-interests. That’s not Plaid’s way – it never has been - and in this campaign, we will be going out to every street in every community across Wales to promise a government under Plaid that can and will do better.”