Welsh Labour sets out to woo voters

19 Apr 07
The Labour Party in Wales, which fears losing control of the Welsh Assembly in the May 3 elections, accused its rivals of not presenting coherent proposals for new laws.

20 April 2007

The Labour Party in Wales, which fears losing control of the Welsh Assembly in the May 3 elections, accused its rivals of not presenting coherent proposals for new laws.

In a manifesto presentation on April 16, Welsh Labour leader Rhodri Morgan set out proposals on environmental protection, child poverty, home care charges, education and the NHS.

He also outlined six areas where Labour would seek extra powers from Westminster, including on environmental protection and waste management, child poverty and introducing 'fairer charging' for non-residential social services.

'At the heart of our proposals are plans to make communities more pleasant and cleaner places to live, work and play in,' he said.

Labour currently holds 29 of the 60 seats in the Cardiff assembly, but opinion polls suggest it faces losses to the Conservatives (who hold 11 seats) and Welsh nationalists Plaid Cymru (on 12).

Morgan, the first minister for the past seven years, said that three laws would be introduced in the first year of a newly elected Labour Assembly government, using powers already devolved.

These would aim to improve school and college transport, enhance education and learning for 14-19-year olds and bring in a system of redress for NHS patients when problems had occurred.

He was backed by Welsh Secretary Peter Hain, who said: 'Compared with the impractical and vague wish lists that the Tories, Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru have put forward, these are concrete practical proposals that can go straight into Parliament.'

But a Plaid Cymru spokesman said: 'The mess Labour has created will take some time to put right, but our first steps as a Plaid government will be to scrap Labour's NHS cuts, cap council tax for the elderly and backdate nurses' pay to April 1 in one instalment.'

For the Tories, party policy director David Melding said: 'We are proposing a fully costed, workable, properly consulted legislative programme, which addresses key issues such as mental health reform and care for looked-after children.'

Opposition parties are particularly focusing on hospital closures in the continuing shake-up of NHS services. The Tories say they will spend more on health than Labour by earmarking funds made through efficiency savings.

The Conservatives said they would monitor the impact of free prescriptions, introduced in Wales this month, during the Assembly's next four-year term, but would not bring back charges.

Labour has responded by guaranteeing the future of individual hospitals in regional manifestos, and has accused Plaid Cymru of 'scaremongering'.

The Liberal Democrats, who currently hold six seats, this week launched a mini-manifesto for young people.

There are also 25 independents contesting seats around Wales, including former Welsh Secretary Ron Davies. On April 16 Davies launched a 'charter' setting out what independents could achieve if elected.

It has been endorsed by John Marek and Trish Law, the only two independents in the last Assembly.

Davies described the charter as laying out a 'framework of policies' they would press a future Welsh Assembly Government to follow. 'People are suspicious of political parties which put their own interests before the interests of people,' he said.

PFapr2007

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