Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader has launched her party's General
Election manifesto today in Cardiff Bay by setting out plans to
fix the broken care system, invest in Welsh agriculture and
ensure everyone has a warm home.
The manifesto, published today will deliver £760 million extra
per year in funding for public services in Wales, significantly
higher than the Conservatives and Labour. The manifesto, which is
fully costed will be paid for by cancelling the tax breaks for
big banks given out by the Conservatives and by reforming capital
gains tax. The Party has ruled out any tax rises for working
people.
At the heart of the Welsh Liberal Democrat manifesto is a £470
million rescue package for the NHS pledging an extra £260 million
a year by 2028-29 in additional spending.
The Party's key focus is on fixing social care with a separate
£210 million allocated to the sector which the Party says will
help enable people to be released from hospital, relieve pressure
on the NHS and give a fair deal to family carers.
It will:
- Boost the Carer's Minimum Wage;
- Give unpaid carers a fair deal, lifting the Carer's
Allowance/Carer Support Payment by £1,040 a year and removing the
earnings cliff-edge.
The party's plans will also:
- Establish the world-class mental health services Wales needs,
meaning every school pupil has fast access to a mental health
counsellor, new mental health staff working alongside GPs and
A&Es, and extra help for businesses, backed by increasing
taxes on social media companies;
- Deliver £50m more a year for Welsh agriculture;
- Generate an extra £500 million in capital funding for Wales
which the party say could be used to build new local health
facilities, tackle the housing emergency, end the scandal of
crumbling concrete in public buildings, and stop sewage dumping;
- Make homes warmer and cheaper to heat with a ten-year
emergency upgrade programme, starting with free insulation and
heat pumps for those on low incomes;
- Deliver £500,000 per year in extra funding for Natural
Resources Wales to spend on the enforcement and monitoring of
sewage pollution in Welsh waterways.
MS said:
"Every vote for the Welsh Liberal Democrats at this election is a
vote to elect a strong local champion focused on getting you fast
access to GPs and dentists and will give our nation's carers a
fair deal.
"We will stop sewage being dumped in our rivers, protect our
children's mental health, and deliver warm homes that insulate
you from the cost-of-living crisis.
“Our vision is of a better Wales where we work in partnership
across our four nations, of restoring people's faith in public
service by cleaning up our scandal-ridden politics and in fixing
our broken relationship with Europe.
"Like the Conservatives, Welsh Labour have let communities down,
our NHS outcomes are some of the worst in the country and they
have all but abandoned rural Wales.
“Both large parties also refuse to scrap the two-child benefit
cap, a cruel policy that is helping to keep the 29% of children
in Wales living in poverty trapped there.
"Hope and change are just around the corner, you only need to
vote for them. Back the Welsh Liberal Democrats for a fair deal
for you, your family, and for Wales."
ENDS
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
The full manifesto is available here on the Welsh Liberal
Democrats website in both English and Welsh
