This Queen’s Speech offers no hope and no change in Wales. It is the point at which we face the sad truth that we have wasted two years due to the madhouse economics of the Tory Lib Dem coalition. It is the point at which the deep and fast cuts made by Chancellor George Osborne are exposed as having failed our nation. As a result there is no growth in the economy and we face the increasing problems of a lack of work for our unemployed youth. One million young people are now unemployed. This is a recession made in Downing Street. Yet it was this same Chancellor who provided a tax break for millionaires while placing an extra tax burden on pensioners.
This Queen’s Speech will do nothing offers no hope for Wales. It is in fact marked by an unsightly spat within the Tory Lib Dem Coalition over reform of the House of Lord’s -while the rest of the country wishes to focus on jobs, the economy and growth. David Cameron and Nick Clegg making a visit to a tractor factory won’t make a difference when the wheels have come off their grand economic plan.
There is a better way, and across Europe we can now see people voting for an alternative to the austerity plans that are plunging economies in to deeper crisis. We need a clear focus on stimulating growth and securing greater fairness in our society. It is a time for action to deliver the investment in infrastructure that can help the long term future of our country and provide a boost to employment. In these tough times when there is less money around, only Labour has an agenda for change which would improve living standards for families, ensure security for pensioners and get our young people back to work.
That is what should form the core of this Queen’s Speech. Labour would deliver a living standards bills.
If Labour was in government now and writing this year’s Queen’s Speech, five of the Bills which we would be introducing would be to help families immediately by tackling rip-off prices and creating real jobs for young people. These measures offer practical, affordable ways to help people right now and get our economy moving again. But to bring them about requires a government in touch with the needs of families in this recession.
It requires different choices and different priorities.
Five Labour Priorities for the Queen’s Speech:
• A Fair Deal on Tax. Alongside implementing Labour’s five point plan for jobs and growth, Labour’s Finance Bill would reverse tax cuts for people earning over £150,000 a year. We would use that money to help pensioners on fixed incomes hit by the “granny tax” and we would restore cuts in tax credits which have hit families.
• A Fair Deal on Energy. Labour’s Energy Bill would break up the dominance of the Big Six power companies and require them by law to offer 4 million elderly people the lowest rate available.
• A Fair Deal on Transport. Labour’s Transport Bill would stop train operators raising fares by more than one per cent above inflation, stop them exploiting commuters with unadvertised rates and give local authorities more control over bus firms. A UK Labour Government would work with the Welsh Labour Government to deliver this in Wales.
• A Fair Deal for Consumers. Labour’s Consumer Bill would give new powers to the Financial Conduct Authority and Competition and Markets Authority to stop rip-off surcharges by banks, low-cost airlines and pension firms.
• A Fair Deal on Jobs. Labour’s Jobs Bill would ensure some of the money raised from a tax on bank bonuses is used to provide real jobs, with real wages and responsibilities, to more than 100,000 young people aged 18-24.
Last week the results of the Council elections in Wales show that people believe there is a better way.
Welsh Labour has pledged to stand up for Wales and is delivering practical actions to deliver on that promise: opportunities for young people through a Jobs Growth Fund which can help to offset the waste of talent in such high youth unemployment. Employing extra CSOs to help keep the streets safe, rather than the Tory cuts to Police Officers. An economic renewal package to help stimulate the welsh economy and support firms who can provide jobs and deliver apprenticeships for our young people.
Welsh Labour’s very encouraging results in the Council elections tell us many things, but one message is very clear. The people of Wales believe there is a better way. A way that is providing greater fairness across our society. Labour’s priorities for this week’s Queen’s Speech are measures that would help families immediately by tackling rip-off prices and creating real jobs for young people. Labour’s Queen’s Speech would speak to the challenges of our time and not the unfair priorities of this UK Tory Lib Dem Coalition.
Last week I sent in my response to a consultation on train services, to be more precise the consultation on the Great Western franchise, namely the trains that we have to use if we want to travel beyond Cardiff and Newport to Bristol and London. I am sure that many of you who use the trains like me will have bemoaned not just the high prices but the miserable waits on Swansea station, the infrequency of services and the overcrowding. With only a couple of through trains a day, you have to change somewhere, so my typical journey, for example, back from London to Llanelli takes four hours, two hours from London to Cardiff ( 150 miles) and two hours from Cardiff to Llanelli ( 60 miles) – largely because of the 25- 30 minute wait at Swansea.) An improved service is vital for the economic development of our area, and, if we are to encourage more people to use the train, thus keeping down road congestion and reducing our impact on the environment, then we need electrification not just to Cardiff but to Swansea and West Wales, more through trains, or, failing that, better connections and trains which stop at all our local stations including Kidwelly.
In just a few weeks’ time, changes to tax credit rules mean that many low-income couples with children will have to find more hours’ work, or face losing a staggering £3,870 per year in tax credits.
The Government doesn’t seem to realise that it is really difficult to find extra hours of work, or alternative jobs at the moment because there are just no jobs and many employers are cutting hours.
The Government is punishing families who are trying to do the right thing and going out to work. It is taking nearly £4,000 from them, which is an enormous amount for anyone to lose, and will mean families struggling to afford the basics. It is unbelievable that the Government plan to do this to low-income families at the same time as considering abolishing the 50p rate of tax to help people earning over £150,000!
The Government’s own figures show that after 6 April many of these families would be better off on benefits than in work, which is madness, so that’s why I am calling on the Government to abandon this change, for the sake of all the families involved.
Well you know that you are getting old when you watch a rugby international and you can remember seeing the players when they were toddlers – as indeed I remember Ken and Vicky Owens when they were round at their grandparents’ house – former councillors Ken and Lorraine Maynard. Now you will all instantly recognise the name Ken Owens as a member of Wales’ great international team who produced that amazing win at Twickenham last week, but, unless you read the Carmarthen Journal last week, you may not know that his sister Vicky also played in the Women’s Wales v England match later that same evening.
And that is just one example of how, although we have made huge progress in terms of attitudes and opportunities, in sport alone women have got a long way to do go in terms of finance and kudos, as anyone who has tried to get sponsorship for women’s teams will tell you, as indeed my former colleague from Gowerton School Anne Ellis OBE, Wales and GB hockey captain, frequently has. So whilst some people may question whether there is any need for international women’s day on 8th March, I would say it is a timely reminder that there is still a lot of room for improvement.
Nia Griffith MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Wales, is calling on the Tory Chancellor George Osborne to take action in the March budget to cut the cost of petrol and diesel at the pump to help hard-pressed families who are already feeling the pinch from rising prices and increased taxes.
Nia Griffith explained
“We are seeing petrol and diesel prices at record highs with diesel prices at some garages in rural Wales practically reaching £1.50 a litre. These prices are really hitting people hard, putting even more strain on household budgets which are already being squeezed by rocketing prices and the VAT rise. The Tory Chancellor George Osborne should take concerted action in the coming Budget to ease the squeeze and boost jobs and growth. A temporary cut in VAT would give immediate relief to hard-pressed motorists by taking almost 3p off the price of a litre of petrol, meaning a saving of some £1.35 on an average tankful of petrol, and it would help get our economy going too.”
“People in rural areas are particularly badly hit with greater distances, higher prices at the pump and limited public transport – and getting about is an essential part of everyday life, not a luxury. That’s why I am also very disappointed that the Secretary of State for Wales, Cheryl Gillan, has made no attempt to get rural Wales included in a pilot discount scheme the UK government is introducing this month on remote Scottish islands. Drivers in those areas will benefit from a 5p a litre tax discount on fuel. It’s about time the Secretary of State realised how much fuel prices are affecting people across Wales.”
Last week we heard the very worrying news that Britain could lose its treasured triple A rating, the very justification the Chancellor has used for his overly severe austerity measures. Furthermore the experts explained that the threat of losing this prized rating is because there is no growth in the economy – something that Labour has been warning of for some time – the Chancellor is cutting too fast and too deep, choking off any economic growth.
You only have to ask local businesses to know that cuts and job losses mean that people simply have no money to spend. I hope last week’s warning will be a wake-up call to the Chancellor to change course, because we have only seen the very beginning of his planned cuts. Figures I’ve obtained from the House of Commons Library show that the Chancellor plans to take over £6 billion out of the Welsh economy in the next three years, including nearly £800m cuts in tax credits – cuts which will hit lower and middle income households hardest – leaving people struggling to make ends meet and cutting back even on very basic items such as food and heating.
Making hard-working families in Wales pay for the fallout from the banking crisis is not only blatantly unfair, it is economic madness as low income households spend their money most immediately back into the local economy – madness which will undermine the best efforts of the Welsh Government to create jobs and provide help for business. That is why I am calling on the Chancellor to listen to the experts, to change course, before it is too late, before more businesses go to the wall. Let’s have a proper strategy for growth.
While it may seem as if Christmas decorations have only just come down, the February half-term has already come and gone. School pupils struggling through A Level Winter modules or fighting off cough and colds have had a chance to recharge their batteries. School life for children and teenagers can sometimes be a mad dash between rugby and swimming and choir and homework; it’s important that every so often they get a chance to stop and rest.
The February parliamentary recess- Westminster’s version of half-term- gives MPs a chance to work in their constituencies – and I have had a very busy schedule including two very important public meetings about the hospital. But half-term is also an opportunity to take stock of the year so far. The economic outlook is again bleak as the impact of Tory cuts and disastrous economic policies continue to restrict economic growth and dominate concerns at Westminster.
However, some events in January were worth celebrating: Ed Miliband’s principled stand against huge pay-outs to bankers which has resulted in the Chief Executive of RBS handing back his bonus. We now need to pursue reform the financial sector. As the Labour Party looks forward to the rest of the parliamentary year, we will continue to push this Tory coalition to stop putting their top banker friends first, and instead focus on fairness for all.
Labour’s Shadow Wales Minister Nia Griffith MP has claimed that headline benefit cap figures based on London rents are masking what will be a grim reality for many households in Wales as the UK Government’s proposals will introduce a series of much lower local caps on housing benefit which will leave almost 50, 000 households in Wales with too little money to pay their current rents and put Welsh councils “in an impossible situation”, as they struggle to deal with families evicted by private landlords.
The Westminster government’s proposals to make substantial cuts to the Housing Benefit budget, part of the controversial Welfare Reform Bill, which has been criticised by a range of charities, will affect almost 50 000 Welsh households. Housing benefit is paid to people on low pay and low-income pensioners as well as those who are out of work. The range of reforms include local caps on the maximum allowance households can receive to help them pay rent, penalising those with spare bedrooms and forcing single under-35 year-olds into shared accommodation. The Department of Work and Pensions has predicted that the average loss in Wales will be £9 a week, and as families struggle with rising food and fuel bills, by the Chartered Institute for Housing Cymru estimates that 30,640 homes in Wales will be put out of reach of people on housing benefit as a result of changes brought in by the UK Government in 2012.
Ms Griffith said, “Government Ministers are living in cloud cuckoo land if they think that by cutting back on the money families receive to cover their current rent, private landlords will miraculously lower their rents. That is simply not going to happen, certainly not in the short term. The reality will be that we will see low income families either having to use money they now spend on essentials like food and heating to pay their rent or getting into serious debt. If private tenants then get evicted from their homes, it will be local councils across Wales who are left to pick up the tab for botched Tory cuts, putting them in an impossible situation. As Labour MPs, we have proposed amending the bill to say that a cap should not apply if it will make a family homeless. The precise effects will vary from area to area depending on what rented accommodation is available. The real way to lower the housing benefit bill is to stimulate the economy to create more jobs and get people back to work, and build more affordable social housing. ”
Local residents are warmly invited to join Nia Griffith MP to discuss meeting the challenges of an ageing population at 11 am Sat 21st January in the Lliedi Suite of the Selwyn Samuel Centre, a discussion on how we rise to the challenge of providing a high-quality, affordable care and support system for a rapidly ageing population.
“We all recognise that medical advances mean that more people are living longer, and that this in turn puts pressure on services. We can all have fine aspirations and we appreciate that many dedicated staff are working hard to deliver services. However, family members, particularly but by no means exclusively women, often find themselves both looking after an elderly parent, and helping out with the grandchildren. We know that women have been particularly badly hit both by the Chancellor’s budget and public sector job losses, but many may soon find themselves picking up the pieces as the Tory-led UK government cuts the block grant to Wales and leaves councils struggling to maintain services.
If we are going to improve services, we need feedback about how current support systems are working out in practice. We need to hear about people’s real-life experiences of what works well and where there is room for improvement. This is not about being negative; it’s about being constructive about how we could do things better. What is actually happening on the ground? Are needs being met? How easy are services to access? Are the right sort of services being provided? What could be improved? How should we be planning for the future?
I know many of you are already involved in discussing these matters, so let’s channel that thinking and feed back our ideas to the policy -makers.”
We in Llanelli believe firmly in our National Health Service, and so does our Labour Welsh Government – a very different picture from over the border in England where the Tory Government’s latest legislation threatens to destroy the NHS as we know it.
We know that with greater life expectancy and medical advances there is ever-increasing demand, and costs are escalating. At the same time we know that the Tory-led coalition at Westminster is making savage cuts, including cuts to the Welsh Government’s budget which is bound to put pressure on the health budget.
We are all quite naturally apprehensive when we hear the local Health Board talk about change, and whilst people accept that for very specialist services they may have to travel elsewhere, we want to keep more routine services here.
Impact on the ambulance service – the more people have to be transported long distances, the greater the burden on the ambulance service – and we have had some very worrying examples of long waits for an ambulance – which is why Keith Davies AM and I have set up a meeting with the ambulance service.
Board members should be constantly vigilant, and seeking to eliminate wasteful expenditure. We have recently seen figure of paying over the odds for agency staff.
The Health Minister in the Assembly government has made it clear that she wants to see a proper meaningful consultation.
At the end of the day, it is the local health board the Hywel Dda Health Board that does the detail on any plans to move services around and it is absolutely vital that we make our views very clearly known – we have to argue the case clearly and logically – that’s what the Committee for Hospital Services SOSPPAN campaign ( SOSPPAN stands for Save our Services Prince Philip Action Network) is preparing to do at present, with the first formal meeting between members of the Committee and Health Board chiefs scheduled for 25th January. I am working hard with the committee to make the strongest possible case t the Health Board to keep services at Prince Philip Hospital, the hospital that is in the largest town in West Wales and that is in within 20 minutes drive of 50% of the population of Carmarthenshire.
An important date for your diaries is Tuesday 14th February when the Health Board will be in the Selwyn Samuel Centre from 11.30 until 6.30 – a chance for everyone to find out more, and to make our views known. The SOSPPAN campaign will then be holding a public meeting – details on http://www.sosppan.co.uk
