Saturday, 16 April 2016

Not in Wales we didn't!

So many of the objections thrown back at us in campaigning in the Welsh general election are clearly echoes of criticisms from the dominant London-based press, which does not recognise what we have done in Wales. So, for the record, we did not:

Support PFI/PPP

In coalition with Welsh Labour between 2000 and 2003 we prevented schools and hospitals (Neath Port Talbot's was one that got away) being built under the private finance initiative which has lumbered the English NHS with crippling running costs and is now causing grief to local and national government in Scotland.

Go into coalition with the Conservatives

In 2007, Kirsty Williams' was the vote which prevented a LibDem/Conservative coalition with Plaid Cymru.

Betray the NUS

All our Welsh MPs kept faith with their pledge to the National Union of Students to vote against a rise in tuition fees after the 2010 general election. (Given that the party as a whole was outvoted ten to one on our manifesto aim to do away with upfront tuition fees, our ministers did keep the other half of the NUS pledge, to improve the system.)




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