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Vote 2010: policy guide - Wales

By Katie Razzall

Updated on 06 April 2010

Wales sends 40 MPs to Westminster but they vote on issues that, in many cases, do not apply to their constituents, writes Katie Razzall.

Welsh flag (Getty)

Wales sends 40 MPs to Westminster but they vote on issues that, in many cases, do not apply to their constituents.

Under devolution, the Labour/Plaid Cymru-led National Assembly has powers over areas including health, education and the environment. It has abolished prescription charges and instituted cheaper tuition for Welsh students at Welsh universities.



L A B O U R

Labour is calling this the "big choice" election and is running a "Tories don't support devolution" campaign.

It says it will protect popular policies like free breakfasts for primary school children, free prescriptions and free bus passes for elderly and disabled, and pledges to protect frontline investment in policing, schools, childcare and the NHS.

The Labour party is also pointing to the thousands of Welsh jobs that have been saved during the recession through schemes like ProAct, and says only it has the power to keep economic recovery on track.



C O N S E R V A T I V E

The Welsh Conservatives say they will develop a comprehensive "needs-based" formula to tackle poverty, pointing out that Wales has some areas with "needs and requirements greater than other parts of the UK".

However, their assembly policies include scrapping free prescriptions for non-priority groups in order to reinvest the £30m annual budget into hospice care and stroke services. They will also abolish the exemption from business rates for businesses with a rateable value below £10,000.

The Tories say they are open to requests from the assembly for a referendum on further powers for Wales.



L I B E R A L D E M O C R A T

The Lib Dems want to remove income tax on the first £10,000 earned. They say this will save a quarter of a million Welsh people from paying income tax.

They say they welcome calls for a single transferrable vote to provide proportional representation in all elections.
 
They are also promising to promote Wales as a business centre, claiming the Labour/Plaid Cymru coalition has not done enough to attract inward investment into Wales.



P L A I D C Y M R U

The national party's long-term aspiration is Welsh independence, and it will use this election to campaign for a "yes" vote in the future referendum to be held on further devolution. It wants the assembly to have the power to make its own laws in 20 areas. 

It is promising to hold off cuts in public spending "until there is clear and sustained economic growth over several quarters," and wants to reform the system used to allocate money to Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland which, it says, short-changes Wales by £300m year.

Plaid Cymru proposes higher taxes for the rich by lowering the income tax threshold from £150,000 to £100,000, while developing  a "living pension" policy by increasing capital gains tax to pay for a 30 per cent increase in state pension, initially for the over-80s.

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