A New dawn for Wales?

Plaid had a very important descion to make today, do they join the All Wales Accord and form a coalition with the Tories and the Liberal Democrats, or to form a coalition with Welsh Labour and deliever a strong, centre-left, progressive government. The anwser was that they would form a progrssive coalition with Labour, and the "One Wales" document is a very good one, that offers a real opportunities to improve Wales.

One of the first commitments in the documents is a referendum on a scottish stlye parliament (finally), if public opinion permits it that is, and with a recent BBC poll giving support for a full-law making parliament with power to vary taxes being at 47%, with 44% against, if this poll is accurate then it indicates that there is still a sizable propotion of Wales that wants a parliament,however I believe that they can be won around, and have to be, because if we don't and hold a referendum that fails, it would be disasterous for both Plaid and devolutionists in other parties.

The next big thingis the ideas for the NHS, this document will end any threat and what little Privatisation that had happend in the NHS in Wales (and it was little) and will make sure that the Welsh NHS is fully publically owned, and remains true to the socialist principles, that the great Welsh man, Nye Bevan, founded them on. With no internal market,

The ending of PFIs in Wales, and private sector NHS hospitals is a huge, and positive step for Wales to take, and will greatly improve our health service in Wales, I think, since PFIs have shown to be a waste of public money in England and would have done the same here, Wales must show that an NHS true to it's socialist principles can work, and that it works better then the New "Labour" model, that would might help the centre-left in England win the arguement on the NHS, and end the PFI, privatisation programmes there, with Wales once again, leading the way.

The suspention of the right to buy, in areas were there is housing shortages, is another positive and progressive step, and another example of what the new Prime Minister Gordon Brown, can learn from this "One Wales" document. The housing crisis in Britain vcalls for radical action, and this kind of action might help end the crisis, along with the other actions also promised in the "One Wales" document, which includes more funding for social houses, and more. This again is a quiet a strong, social democratic, move by the "One Wales" document, and something which both members of Plaid and Labour should be proud of, if it is delieverd on.

The Welsh Language also does well in this, with extra funding, a new Welsh language act and more Welsh medium education, all of which will help protect and promote the Welsh language, which needs to be protected since it is a vital part of Welsh society, our culture and pyshe (although it should not be protected at the expense of English speakers, it does not have to be a "Zero Sum Game", as some in both Welsh Labour and Plaid seem to think.)

Even though I haven't gone through that I think is fantastic in this document (and there is a lot I really like), I think that this document is a radical, progressive piece that, if implement, will go a long why to improving Wales for everyone.


The Red-Green coalition is a sign that both Welsh Labour and Plaid has matured as political parties, and that the Welsh Assembly, after 8 years, has finally come of age, and is functioning like it is meant to, as a system of coalition government, of co-operation and that will improve the lives of the Welsh people, and when that starts to happen, and is showing to happen, I am sure that the Welsh people will entrust the Assembly with Scottish stlye, full law making and tax varying powers.

More radical policies needed to tackle Child Poverty

A report today by former welfare minister Frank Field, has critised the government's policies on tackling child poverty, however not the sentiment, nor the ambitious and progressive targets set by the government.

The biggest problem with the system, the reprot argues, is that it discriminates against two parent families, especally those working, and it claims that levels of working poverty for children have returned back to 1995 levels, and that the government is set to miss the targets it set for itself.

The government must take a more radical approach to tackle and eradicate Child Poverty, which is a long term and one of the major goals of every Labour govenrment since the creation of the Labour Party. The progress that has been made so far has been very good, with the government lifting millions of children out of poverty.

However the targets are ambitions, and we need to have ambitions and radical policies to meet them. Labour must make sure that two-parent families and working families are not left behind in the welfare state, that they get the money, the help and the ability to get out of poverty.

This doesn't only mean increase the money they get, of course not. It requires more programmes to give families living in poverty help to climb out of it, it requires investing in education and also giving children living in poverty an equal chance in education, and making sure they start on even footing with the peers. It also means making progreess in changing the minimum wage to a living wage, ensuring that everyone can survive on minimum income, making sure that everyone gets a decent income for their work.

Free child care is also a must to help fight child poverty, this would allow more people to get into work if they have young children, of course they should not be forced into work, and forced to sue the free child care. However it should be there for those who do want to work.

As I said earlier, the progress that has been made so far is good, however the ambitious goals set by the government, mean that ambitious and radical policies are needed, if this Labour government is to eradicate child porverty, which would be an amazing legacy for any social democratic government.