As the Labour and Plaid Cymru coalition government get ready to celebrate two years of being in power in Wales, there won’t be much of a celebratory mood across the country. With unemployment levels getting higher, business going to the wall, support for education and training dwindling and the economic downturn taking an even bigger bite of the Welsh economy, this ‘One Wales’ government seems to be keeping two parties together but failing to stop Wales falling apart.
If you think that the UK Government’s record on the economy has been poor, the picture in Wales is even poorer. The Welsh Government has hosted a series of Economic Summits, calling on businesses and government to come together to work through difficult time. Four Economic Summits later and there are no major initiatives to ease the recession in Wales.
The economic downturn has already caused devastation, putting many families in a desperate situation. There are few signs that it will ease soon and yet the Labour-Plaid government seems happy to talk about it instead of doing something about it.
First Minister’s Questions take place every Tuesday and this is a rare opportunity to scrutinise the First Minister on his actions, or lack of them.
I challenged him a few weeks ago about the lack of credit available to struggling companies. Over the last six months, the Labour-Plaid government had not spoken to the three main credit providers about the availability of credit in Wales. No discussions with the banks, no discussions with the UK government and no discussions with the European Union. It is only in the month after he was challenged that the First Minister even made a trip to London and a trip to Brussels and even now cannot tell us whether his Government has spoken to the banks about the availability of credit to struggling businesses.
Remember, it is the Plaid Cymru leader who is responsible for the economy in Wales. He has played a role in creating an uncertain economic climate by calling for £3 billion from the Chancellor to help the Welsh economy one week and then launching an independence campaign the next. It seems Plaid Cymru, like the SNP, are putting separatist ambitions ahead of economic recovery.
We are also seeing what Plaid Cymru in Government is really like– and it is deeply worrying. You may know that the National Assembly pays top-up fees for some Welsh students. This is one of the most recognisable and successful achievements of devolution and the Government is proposing to remove it. Plaid Cymru stood for election promising to keep this grant and are going to break that promise. What is worse, they expelled a 17 year-old member for writing to the party leader opposing Plaid’s decision. Expelled for adhering to party policy!
Being in Government is the greatest honour for any politician. It is a tool for making the changes that we promised during election. There can be no greater disappointment than failing to live up to those promises. What a contrast to how things were when the Welsh Liberal Democrats were in Government. We fought for our values and principles around the cabinet table instead of leaving them in the ministerial limo!
Just over a hundred days ago, I took over the responsibility of leading the Welsh Liberal Democrats. It was a great privilege for me, as a young woman, to be able to lead a political party.
In the next decade, Wales will need a new and style of political leadership. If we are to involve more people in this new and vibrant political system then the tired, stale and grey approach of the last decade has to be a thing of the past. Wales belongs to everyone, not just old white men in grey suits.
This new style of leadership will need leaders who stand up for the people who elected them. It will need leaders that are prepared to make the bold and, often, controversial decisions that have to be made.
I am not afraid to make those bold decisions. And I am not afraid to lead the Welsh Liberal Democrats into Government – where we will stick to our principles.
Kirsty Williams is Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats
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