Wales cannot afford five more years of Gordon Brown and Labour, Welsh Conservatives said today.
Labour’s reckless policies have destroyed the Welsh economy, leading to higher unemployment and worklessness, and a widening gap between rich and poor, senior figures said on the eve of the party’s Welsh conference in Llandudno.
Shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan MP said voters had a chance to vote for change in an election which would determine the future of Wales for a generation.
She added that 13 years of Labour government had left Wales with the highest unemployment rate of any UK nation, one in four adults economically inactive, thousands of children in severe poverty, and a national debt equivalent to £24,000 for every person in the country.
Mrs Gillan also called for the election campaign to be conducted on the issues affecting Wales and criticised the “sour and corrosive political rhetoric we have heard from Peter Hain and Labour”.
Assembly leader Nick Bourne AM accused Labour of “staggering complacency” over the state of the Welsh economy after claims by the First Minister that dire economic figures “aren’t that bad”.
He also accused Labour of spreading malicious, inaccurate scare stories about Conservative policy ahead of the election.
Cheryl Gillan MP said:
“Labour talk of choice at this election. We agree. It is a choice between five more years of Gordon Brown or change under David Cameron and the Conservatives.
“Led by Gordon Brown, Labour took us into the worst recession for decades.
“Led by Gordon Brown Labour’s policies drove up debt and threw thousands of Welsh workers onto the scrapheap.
“Led by Gordon Brown Labour’s policies have seen the gap between rich and poor get wider.
“And led by Gordon Brown Labour’s policies have seen businesses close and investment drain away.
“That’s why Wales can’t afford another five years of Gordon Brown and Labour.
“And that’s why at this election it is so important people vote for change under the Conservatives.”
Nick Bourne AM said:
“Labour has taken Wales down the road to economic ruin.
“They’ve forced up taxes for families and businesses. They’ve decimated communities, wasted valuable resources, and failed to invest in the future.
“This election is about change and which party can give this country new leadership and set it in a new direction.
“Labour has shown staggering complacency over Wales’ economic plight, while their malicious, inaccurate scare stories show how desperate they are to cling onto power.
“The people of Wales are looking to us to rescue them from Gordon Brown and Labour.
“That’s why this election is so important. And why a vote for change and the Conservatives will set Wales on the new direction it so badly needs.”
