Plaid Cymru outlines ‘plan for Wales’ ahead of Kings Speech
Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts has set out what a “fair and ambitious plan for Wales” would be ahead of the King’s Speech on Tuesday.
The plan includes five bills which Plaid Cymru says should be included in the UK Government’s legislative programme next week.
Among the proposals is scrapping the Barnett formula, the system through which the Welsh Government receives its funding according to population share and replacing it with a system based on need.
Ms Saville Roberts says the current system is vulnerable to “political manipulation”, citing the disparity in how Wales is denied consequential funding from English rail projects, despite Scotland and Northern Ireland receiving full funding.
The five bills on the party’s wish list are:
Affordable Energy Bill: An Energy Social Tariff to help combat fuel poverty, ensuing that those struggling with energy bills pay discounted prices. This will help households and boost local economies.
Fair Funding Bill: Replacing the Barnett formula, ensuring Wales gets the funding it needs for important infrastructure projects and fair consequential funding from projects built in England such as HS2.
Welsh Justice Bill: The transfer of justice powers to Wales, in line with cross-party calls in the Senedd, creating a Victims Commissioner and focusing on crime prevention.
Social Security Bill: The devolution of social security, introducing new benefits, creating a fairer and more efficient system for Welsh households.
Crown Estate Bill: Bring the £853m-worth Crown Estate under Welsh control, benefiting local communities and funding a wealth fund.
Targeted support
Liz Saville Roberts said: “People are struggling to make ends meet and the Prime Minister is too busy courting billionaires to care. For this King’s Speech, Plaid Cymru is calling for a fair and ambitious plan for Wales, which would ease the cost of living and lay the foundations for a more prosperous future.
“Plaid Cymru is calling for targeted energy bill support in the form of a social tariff to be included in the King’s Speech. Record numbers of people are seeking energy debt support in Wales – underscoring the impact of extortionate energy bills on people from all walks of life. We need innovative ways to ensure fair energy bill pricing for all.
“A fair and ambitious King’s Speech would address the chronic injustices faced in Wales. As a nation rich in natural resources, we should be reaping the benefits of green energy. Instead, profits from renewables on the £853m-worth Crown Estate are extracted from Wales to London. Our Crown Estate Bill would rectify this and bring millions to invest for the people of Wales.
“This speech is also an opportunity to put Wales’s finances on a sustainable footing, by replacing the Barnett Formula with a funding formula based on need. As we’ve seen with the HS2 funding saga, Wales is denied funding due to political manipulation of the formula.
A funding settlement that seeks to address our decades-long underfunding by Westminster would lay the foundations for a more prosperous future for Wales.”
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More in hope than expectation, unfortunately.
A rather bizarre tradition now, the Monarch is sat in a seat and told what to say. Political reform is a must but we have two parties invested in power. Perhaps the kings speech should reflect on the damage done and promises not kept, scandals, e.g. who was the MP that phoned the whips at silly o clock for help after going to a brothel and wakes up with his cloths missing not knowing where he was. Come on, someone in the press must have a clue. But Charlie boy will not want to lose Wales from his best dress… Read more »
Where Plaid Cymru has always had an ambitious plan for Wales, Tory Whitehall prefers the status quo of poverty and dependency. They along with Blue Labour have cynically weaponized poverty to limit any aspiration Wales or the Welsh have, who actively encourage a brain drain of talent to England. And where we Welsh nationalists want Wales to stand tall, British unionists demand those little ungrateful Taffys crawl! Dependency has worked so well over the centuries for the British/English establishment. A divided nation. Poor education system. Fragmented nonexistent infrastructure. Then add into the equation a politically ignorant population advantageous to those… Read more »
‘I never knew the sky was a prison’ and ‘If you tolerate this, your children will be next’. Most apt and applicable words from Nicky Wire of Manic Street Preachers. We need everything that Liz Saville Roberts outlines but will get none of it until and unless we take our country back.
The British empire has done the same to all its colonies – Until they woke up. The Americans had the Boston tea party. Africa also were forced to fight for their independence. So did Jamaica: Anybody know what the Jamaican Labour Party stand for? …And Ireland. The only time that independence was given to its former colonies was when the collapse of the Soviet Union but that was under Mr Gorbachev. But as events in the Ukraine has shown without a defence alliance a fascist dictator can try to regain its empire. The UK Tories are such fascists. Last hope… Read more »
I know and Cymru still has more Tory MP’s than Plaid. people seem to love being part of the Uk.
“King of England” – what precise event changed them from Anglo/Norman to British? The Fact people see them as British is why our ancient Kings and Queens aren’t called British (Brythonic).
Henry Tudor and the connection to Penmynydd?
They would argue that, but that only applies if the Tudors were the De Jure Rulers of Wales. And that wasn’t the case! They could have legally unified the two nations had they been.
Not a view that “they” or anyone else would have held at the time. A 20th century concept.
They aren’t british, or even english, they are German. It was in 1917, when they saw that Germany was going to lose world war one, they changed their surname from “Saxe-Coburg Gotha” to Windsor.
They have Welsh blood through the Tudors.
As if that is of any real significance to anyone besides those who crave some sort of legitimacy for an unelected head of state and ignore the tenuous and dubious procreative lineage used to justify succession.
Also ignoring the fact that by now hundreds of descendants and more most likely have a greater claim to the throne if the ‘rules’ were strictly applied over the past centuries.
The monarch’s lineage is no more exact than that of the leader of a troop of chimpanzees.
It’s about this time of the year my grandchildren start to make lists for Sion Corn. Plaid have a much less chance of getting their list as opposed to my grandchildren.
The plans outlined by Liz Saville Roberts, in this article, would be a great start on the journey to an independent republic of Wales.
As others have observed, Wales is held back by Westminster and it’s anglo-centric outlook.
Even if all Welsh MPs were members of Plaid Cymru we still face a democratic deficit with our grievances ignored, Cofiwch Dryweryn!
Cofiwch Lerpwl prif ddinas Cymru.
Not correct Liverpool was once referred to by some as the capital of north Wales. It was also referred to as ‘The Second City of Ireland’. Both due immigration because of the availability of jobs in a large expanding and accessible large city. Both terms have now been largely consigned to history. ‘The capital of north Wales’ being wheeled out when some promotion of Liverpool is required or when someone wants to try and suggest that Cymru is or should be split. For the benefit of Liverpool and Bristol that is but never for the benefit of Cymru or the… Read more »
Don’t deny history. It was Welsh enough to hold the National there and to be home to more native Welsh speakers than all the cities of Wales combined
The National Eisteddfod was also held in Chester and Birkenhead. Using your logic they’re both also the capitals of north Wales!
“home [Liverpool]to more native Welsh speakers than all the cities of Wales combined”
Now you’re being silly.
No only Lerpwl is known as prif ddinas Cymru, the National was held in many English cities reflecting the Welsh who left Wales for employment. That’s why there are more people of Welsh heritage in England than Wales. Liverpool was also home to 100 Welsh speaking chapels. That’s why there were so many Welsh speakers.
You stated “Don’t deny history. It [Liverpool}was Welsh enough to hold the National there “ Then following your logic Chester, Birkenhead and London (the only three venues it was held outside of Cymru) were also “Welsh enough to hold the National”. Info from the Pillars of Faith website- In 1905 the Rhondda Urban district alone had 151 churches and chapels so lets put Liverpool’s total of 90 Welsh churches, chapels and mission houses of 1900 into perspective. Liverpool has been referred to as the ‘capital of north Wales’ by some Welsh people mostly in the past. Referring to Liverpool as… Read more »
Most of those chapels you mention were English speaking non conformist. 0
Again from the Pillars of Faith website.
In the Rhondda urban district in 1905
96 Welsh chapels, 55 English chapels
27854 communicants at Welsh chapels, 6982 communicants at English chapels.
If you’re going to make a pronouncement to justify your opinion best to make it one that can’t easily be exposed as bogus.
Especially if you’ve already been informed of the website source of the data!