Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood told a union rally that the movement needs to be united to if they are to successfully oppose the deep cuts of the “Con/Dem” Westminster Government.
Scores of trade union members gathered outside the Senedd today to register their opposition to the billions of pounds worth of cuts outlined in the Comprehensive Spending Review.
The rally followed an emergency meeting of the Welsh Assembly’s cross-party group for the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union this morning.
Ms Wood, who represents the South Wales Central region in the Assembly and chairs the cross-party PCS group, told the rally: “This Assembly government is trying to provide the conditions where new jobs can be created – their strategy will be undermined by the savage cuts to jobs that we can expect to follow from today’s announcement.
“How can it make economic sense to put more people on the dole at the same time as slashing the benefits bill? How can money be saved this way without people being plunged into poverty?
“What will people do if there are no jobs and benefits are not enough to live on. We already know that 500,000 jobs will be lost at a stroke this afternoon.
“If the post-war government in 1945 could build a welfare state when the government faced crippling debt, why is this Con/Dem coalition government insisting that deep cuts are the only option? We’re not buying it.”
She added: “We’ve just held an emergency meeting of the cross-party group for the PCS and we’ve agreed to work together to campaign against these job losses. This movement needs to be united and as strong as it can be – we all have to work together to stand up to the UK government.
“Then we can succeed.”
