A Fair Deal for Wales is a chance to end poverty and rebuild communities
Ian Parry, Welsh Labour’s lead Senedd candidate in Gwynedd Maldwyn
When I was a kid growing up in Welshpool, going into the town centre from the housing estate I lived on was like going to the centre of the universe. There was a vibrant local economy with thriving local shops and people felt hope for the future.
Then came fourteen years of Tory austerity and slowly, the buoyancy of the town faded away.
This was the story for many small towns and villages across Mid and North Wales. Public services were eroded, confidence was lost and hope for a brighter future disappeared in the rear-view.
Poverty is the biggest source of social division. Because of austerity resulting in less money for our communities and the withdrawal of public resources, poverty across Wales has skyrocketed in the last 15 years.
The most important thing for working class people is how much disposable income they have left after paying the bills each month and how quickly they can get a hospital appointment, should they need one.
Families are tired of being forced to choose which bills to pay, and communities are tired of being forgotten.
Welsh Labour has a proud redistributive record. The Prime Minister just celebrated freezing prescription charges in England, well, we do not have to worry about that in Wales. Our prescriptions are free, thanks to Welsh Labour.
We also have free school meals and the Future Generations Act, which sets out to build a prosperous and more equal Wales – which again, is thanks to Welsh Labour.
Scrapping the Barnett Formula
During my selection campaign, I promised Labour members across Gwynedd Maldwyn that I would fight for a Fair Deal for Wales. That means scrapping the Barnett Formula and demanding the renegotiation of the devolutionary settlement to ensure Wales gets its fair share of funding, accounting for our post-industrial and rural deprivation.
But a Fair Deal for Wales is not only about constitutional change, it is about what we do with the powers that we deserve. Welsh Labour will win this election if we get back to basics: improving living standards, tackling inequality, protecting workers and the NHS.
We need to massively expand social housing, have a real conversation about rent controls and give young people a chance by finally introducing free childcare starting at nine months.
A Fair Deal for Wales also means expanding rural transport so everyone in every community can get everywhere with ease. People in Gwynedd Maldwyn know how much of a barrier poor public transport can be.
By connecting towns and villages through better, faster, and cheaper public transport we can create more jobs and opportunities and make Mid and North Wales a more appealing place to live in the process.
Investment
If we want Wales to thrive it means putting investment directly into communities. We need fund innovative ways to bring foot traffic into town centres and support our struggling village halls and pubs, the heart of rural life.
Let us also recognise the threat of AI, which poses the single biggest challenge to workers in human history. AI, while a tool to make life more efficient, will soon displace both blue-and white-collar jobs. Welsh Labour, as a democratic socialist party, needs to be prepared to face this challenge and protect Welsh workers.
We cannot fight 21st century problems with 20th century powers and we cannot protect workers unless we get further economic power.
While we have no say over it in the Senedd (yet), we should be shouting about a standalone wealth tax and a more equitable distribution of economic power across this country. Taxing the rich to fund prosperity for all is a must.
Patient-centric
A Fair Deal for Wales means the funding needed to build a patient-centric NHS by weakening out of touch, non-transparent health boards. We should give local healthcare decision-making power to local healthcare practitioners, expand community hospitals, open more GP surgeries, pay nurses more, fund mental health support and make dentistry free again as Aneurin Bevan first had it. It is also high time for a National Care Service fully integrated into the NHS.
I fear without more money for our communities, the vulnerable will continue to suffer and working families will continue to be squeezed.
For some reason we have grown resistant to spending public money. Well, we recovered from WW2 by spending public money to build the NHS, to build social housing, nationalise industries and build modern Britain. It was a Labour government that did this.
We must remember the good that the government can do when it acts in the interest of the people.
Fighting for a Fair Deal for Wales is a chance to end poverty, rebuild communities and put working people first again. We must be progressive, and we must be bold.
It is time to fight for a Fair Deal for Wales.
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If you were that concerned about your country and her people, you wouldn’t be a member of , effectively, a foreign political party whose main consideration, always, is their home country
Couldn’t agree more with your comment Steve. It is time we collectively stopped referring to the British Labour party in Cymru as Welsh Labour. The Labour party is a unionist political party. Its members love the Labour party first and their Britishness second. Their promotion of Britishness via the denial of the teaching of Welsh history in our schools contributed to the tragedy of the Brexit vote and the rise of Reform in Cymru. As they say, you reap what you sow.
Labour have had 26 years to do all that, instead Wales is at the bottom of the pile, highest number in child poverty, highest number of unemployed, bottom in education, bottom in health care, bottom in waiting times, failed to get our share of the HS2 payment, failed to get the Crown Estate devolved in parity with Scotland, but don’t worry, Labour will sort it all out this time round, Labour, you have had more than enough time to improve our lives, education, health, transport and after 26 years Welsh Devolution is still under threat from England & the BritNats.… Read more »
In 1990s the European Union set transport policies that included non-stop passenger and freight train routes Holyhead and Fishguard to the Channel Tunnel; plus advised on creating integrated transport hubs (buses connect to train networks) and developing economies at those hubs – reduces car utilisation rates. Cardiff and Haverfordwest have developed their economies at the centre of integrated transport hubs; Newport, Swansea, Port Talbot, Machynlleth and Rhyl all have excellent train connections and main bus networks hubs. Before asking Westminster for more handouts / state aid for rail; why are new organisations not being attracted to the empty Debenhams stores… Read more »
This is really just a cynical rebadging of a Plaid manifesto to state the obvious and say what we in north and mid-wales feel. It in no way reflects what Labour is doing. And there is no Welsh Labour party, it is just a grouping ignored by Westminster and the unspeakable Jo Stevens. If you really believe what you are saying, Mr Parry, resign from Labour and join Plaid.
Good grief. Not a single figure in this piece. What do we get from Barnett, how much do we provide in terms of tax receipts etc in return, and how much will ‘Fair Deal’ be asking for?
Now where have I heard all this before? 🤔 Of course, the last time someone wanted me to vote for them! Promises, promises. Welsh Labour? 😂
The Labour party in Wales have no shame. 100 years of failure, we’re one of the poorest countries in western Europe and they still lecture us about what we need to do.
As the Senedd election approaches, I note a worrying trend…are Labour candidates suffering from memory loss?
The party has been in power for over a quarter of a century, including a Labour government in Westminster twice. So…why haven’t you done all this before?
You’ve had long enough to do things but have become too complacent. Labour in Westminster have (in a surprisingly short time) have proved that they don’t care about Wales. (They don’t really care about the general population of the uk.) All that you’ve written is really a load of waffle. Labour have let us ALL down.
I find it strange that the people who write these NC articles never respond to the comments. The people who respond are voters so you’d imagine the writer, especially if he/she was a politician looking for those votes, would respond. Ian ? This is the line that made me splutter – ‘Welsh Labour has a proud redistributive record’. I’ve lost track of how many times i’ve written about the disparity in investment in Cardiff compared with the rest of Wales. Look at rail investment. 1 The South Wales Metro has had about £1.2 billion spent on it so far as… Read more »
The fairest Fair Deal for Wales is to consign Welsh Labour to the bin.