Plaid Cymru leadership candidate Leanne Wood today outlined her plans for creating a more prosperous, independent Wales that leaves no one behind and puts job creation at the forefront.
The Assembly Member for South Wales Central made it clear that independence would transform an “economy stagnant for the best part of a century” and rejuvenate areas of Wales with new “economic capitals”.
The AM makes the case on her campaign website leannewood2012.com, explaining the key to reviving the economy was the creation of a Building Wales jobs plan that features incentives and practical help for people to form their own job-creating enterprises.
Ms Wood said: “The biggest worry facing most people in Wales today is their own and their family’s economic security. Safe jobs have become unsafe. Public sector cuts will hit harder in Wales where the public sector makes up a larger proportion of the economy than other parts of the British state. The market has been failing to provide jobs in some parts of Wales since the 1980s, so the chances of the private sector filling the gaps left by the public sector during a deep recession are slim.
“Low pay and high unemployment already mean four in 10 Welsh households are in fuel poverty – the highest in the UK. Social problems, linked to high unemployment, will get worse unless bold steps are taken to reverse the economic decline of our country. Plaid Cymru must prioritise strategies that can deliver good quality jobs and full employment.”
Leanne Wood said the deepening economic crisis demanded bold solutions to combat unemployment now: “I want to see a ‘Building Wales’ jobs plan to ensure that everyone who can work gets a job helping to re-build the Welsh economic infrastructure. This would help the people of Wales and needs the Welsh Government to have Scottish-style control over varying taxation and other economic levers.”
Leanne Wood called for a Welsh ‘brand’ of locally-produced, fair-trade and co-operative products to be developed for export in key sectors:
- Food
- the creative industries
- green technology
- high-skilled manufacturing.
These niche markets are sectors which, with support, could also be expanded for both internal consumption and export.
Leanne Wood also insisted that the people of Wales must have full control and ownership of Welsh natural resources to stem the leaking of wealth from Wales.
Ms Wood added: “Our attempts to build the Welsh economy must provide alternative solutions for the people and places where the market has failed. Plaid Cymru’s vision for an independent Wales has to include an explicit aim to give everyone living in Wales an equal chance in terms of work and prosperity, no matter where they come from. Our economic plan must focus on those groups and areas that have been abandoned by an economy that overheats at the centre to the detriment of the periphery and cares more for the millionaires than the millions struggling to make ends meet.
“Recently unveiled plans to set up enterprise zones will not solve the inequalities facing many parts of Wales. Real enterprise zones would decentralise, for example, promoting the specialisation of particular sectors in geographic ‘centres of excellence’, away from the economically successful M4 corridor, allowing for the development of new Welsh ‘capitals’.
“Our west coast is one of Wales’ greatest assets and it is under-utilised. We should seek to stimulate Wales’ peripheral areas by developing ‘added value’ niche manufacturing sectors in new economic ‘capitals’ – Aberystwyth, Swansea, Bangor, Newport, Wrexham and in the valleys and using Holyhead, Fishguard and Milford Haven as centres for improving links with Ireland & beyond for export.
“The case for an independent Wales is a case for a better democracy where people are directly involved in decision making, something that does not currently exist in the UK. The case for independence can only be won through economic arguments. We in Plaid, and wider Welsh society, must rise to that challenge.”
Read more on Leanne’s campaign website at leannewood2012.com
