Wales has a golden opportunity to succeed, not flounder under Tory cuts and Labour complacency
For our General Election series, Plaid Cymru's Liz Saville Roberts writes that Plaid Cymru will put an end to the Brexit fiasco, create tens of thousands of jobs and take urgent action to tackle the climate crisis.
This election presents a golden opportunity for Wales.
The opportunity to reclaim our future from the clutches of a chaotic Tory government in Westminster and a lazy Labour government in Wales.
Neither of the two big Westminster parties is promising anything that would offer Wales the transformation it so desperately needs.
Indeed, despite being the party of government here in Wales, Labour promises no new capital investment in Wales, and they have been totally unable to answer for their failings.
From healthcare to housing, Labour’s government in Wales can be described as nothing short of shambolic.
Labour even recognises it themselves. Just two weeks ago, one of their own shadow ministers called for a public inquiry into the failings of a health board in Wales, which had already been investigated earlier this year.
Meanwhile the Tories are so ignorant of Wales, they seemingly forgot to find candidates for a third of the constituencies here.
All that, of course, is on top of the Tories’ reckless pursuit of a Brexit that would be a disaster for Wales, and Labour’s shameful ambivalence about the whole thing.
If it wasn’t clear already, it is now: neither party is fit to govern Wales.
Plaid Cymru wants to see Wales succeed, not flounder under Tory cuts and Labour complacency.
Our manifesto sets out what we believe is the best version of Wales’ future, a future in which we finally realise our potential.
We have no doubt that Wales can prosper, if only we backed ourselves.
Under a Plaid Cymru government we could see an end to the Brexit fiasco with a final say referendum in which we would campaign to remain.
Remember when Boris Johnson went to the DUP conference and promised he wouldn’t put a hard border in the Irish Sea?
We now know that’s exactly what his fudged deal would do, thereby putting the port of Holyhead and the 400,000 lorries that pass through it every year at perilous risk.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn still can't bring himself to be upfront with people about Brexit, claiming to be some sort of neutral broker.
On the biggest, most pressing political issue of our time, neutrality is not an option that should be open to any candidate who aims to be prime minister.
For Plaid Cymru’s part, we are clear. There is no such thing as a good version of Brexit for Wales, and we will always put the Welsh national interest first.
And the truth, of course, is that Wales only ever gets a look-in when Wales’ party - Plaid Cymru - are in the room.
On Thursday, we have the opportunity to send Plaid Cymru MPs to Westminster in greater numbers than ever. In every community across Wales, we can elect local champions who will fight our national cause.
We can once and for all declare that the answer to our problems is not to keep putting our faith in the Westminster parties, and instead to back ourselves and our own party.
Plaid Cymru isn’t in the business of administering Wales. We want to transform it. We’re not in the business of managing our problems. We want to solve them. We’re not in the business of putting up with our lot. We want Wales to be the best country it can possible be.
With massive investment in our green infrastructure, we can create tens of thousands of jobs and take serious and urgent action to tackle the climate crisis.
By showing the necessary political will, we can see to it that no one in Wales has to sell their home to pay for social care, and offer everyone in Wales free social care at the point of need.
By putting our money where our mouth is, we can lift 50,000 children out of poverty overnight and give all our children the best start in life through a new Welsh Child Payment for every child in a low-income family in Wales.
This is the kind of ambition Wales needs. Not politics driven by despair, but by the hope of what our nation can achieve together.
So on Thursday, let’s vote for hope. Let’s vote for our nation’s future. Let’s back our own party: Plaid Cymru.
Liz Saville Roberts is Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader and prospective parliamentary candidate for Dwyfor Meirionnydd.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
Get the inside track on what MPs and Peers are talking about. Sign up to The House's morning email for the latest insight and reaction from Parliamentarians, policy-makers and organisations.
