Carwyn for Labour

Time to get real - on the nation's health

An end to health service re-organisation, continuing action to reduce waiting times, a new focus on primary care, enabling patients to see their GPs in the evenings and at weekends, and public investment in the air ambulance service are just some of a progressive and innovative set of health policies that have been unveiled by Welsh Labour Leadership candidate, Carwyn Jones.

Carwyn has made public his forward-looking policy statement to improve the NHS in Wales by saying: "The NHS has looked after my family well, and continues to do so. I love the NHS and will defend it against any attack. It is a service for the people, and I am proud that in government in Wales we have delivered real and lasting improvements for patients in Wales.

"My agenda for Welsh Labour will focus firmly on the issues that matter to ordinary people - continually improving healthcare, with better access to GP services, and working with staff and their unions to improve areas like the Ambulance service.

"I want to deliver more convenient services for patients - making access easier, enabling patients to see their GPs in the evenings and at weekends, and make it possible to book an appointment online. I want to see GPs surgeries to be electronically linked to hospitals - for Wales to learn from the e-referral system currently operating in Scotland."

Time to get real - and deliver for children, families and communities

Welsh Labour Leadership candidate, Carwyn Jones, has set out his policies to deliver a new agenda for Wales's children and raft of initiatives to help Welsh families and create stronger communities.

Unveiling a comprehensive set of forward-looking and progressive policies, Carwyn said: "We are proud in Wales of our community socialist values – core values that have stood our people well in times of hardship. I want to see the public pound go further in creating stronger communities across Wales, whether it is providing good housing, promoting shared neighbourhoods, reducing crime and violence or rewarding creativity.

"In tough times, we will be judged as socialists by how we treat the most vulnerable. Social justice is our defining principle.

"If I am successful in this election, I would wish to look again at the following priorities delivering more affordable housing, with local authorities able to build new council housing if they reach the Welsh Housing Quality Standard. More spending on housing, recognising that spending on construction maintains jobs in local communities.

"I will ensure there a new requirements on local authorities to include Communities First partnerships when planning community strategies. We will ensure public bodies do more to bend their programme services to the real needs of our poorest communities.

"Child poverty remains the scourge of too many of our communities. The deprivation grant previously paid to local authorities is now part of the Rate Support grant. It should be distributed in line with the new Children's Index of Multiple Deprivation.

"I will commit to redouble our efforts to tackle the hidden epidemic of violence against women in our communities. It is totally unacceptable that a quarter of Welsh women will suffer violence because they are women. We should continue support for organisations such as Welsh Women's Aid and also look at one stop shop services for victims."

Time to get real - on Wales's natural assets

Welsh Labour Leadership candidate, Carwyn Jones, has set out his vision on a range of policies including rural affairs, heritage, sport and language, saying that Wales can be proud that it has some of the finest natural assets in the world.

Speaking on a visit to Conwy Castle, at which he unveiled his policies on the countryside, environment and food, Carwyn said: "Having served as Minister for many years in this area, I have developed good relationships with rural communities across Wales and I know that our countryside policies will become increasingly important in response to the climate change agenda. Wales has some wonderful natural assets which we need to cherish and preserve.

"As First Minister, I will pledge to maintain my commitment to our GM-free status and continue support for the development of organic farming.

"I want to continue schemes that enable farmers to diversify and ensure that quality Welsh food products receive full marketing support abroad. I will also spread co-operative best practice in rural communities and incentives for farmers and others to move into activity-based tourism. “In recent years, there has been a need to open up more land for allotments. In the future, I will work with local authorities to make this happen.

"I will also respond to the need to promote local food sourcing through the procurement system and I will seek to open up local school and hospital meals to more Welsh products and by supporting the Slow Food and Transition Towns movements.

"Wales has led the way in supporting the Fair Trade movement and the Wales for Africa programme. I will maintain that backing as First Minister.

"We must also take every opportunity under new legislation, to conserve our marine environment for future generations."

YouGov Poll

Question:

"How well or badly do you think each of the following would do as First Minister for Wales?"

Carwyn Jones
Well (very or fairly): 32%
Badly (very or fairly): 14%
Don't Know: 54%
Rating: +18%

Huw Lewis
Well (very or fairly): 22%
Badly (very or fairly): 19%
Don't Know: 59%
Rating: +3%

Edwina Hart
Well (very or fairly): 27%
Badly (very or fairly): 28%
Don't Know: 45%
Rating: -1%

Neath supporters are rallying to Carwyn

Time to get real - on jobs, the economy and skills

Welsh Labour Leadership candidate, Carwyn Jones, has today set out his vision on how he hopes to transform the economic fortunes of Wales in the future - a Wales that in the years ahead, will will compete with skills and not low wages.

Speaking on a visit to Glyndŵr University, on his plans for the Welsh economy in the future, Carwyn said: "I want to help create a dynamic economy, growing well-paid jobs and providing apprenticeships with meaningful training, with a renewed focus on modernising Welsh manufacturing.

"Unlike the Tories, I don't want Wales to have an inward investment strategy based on cheap labour. I know Wales needs to do better in terms of business activity. I want to build a stronger private sector and that needs to happen by increasing the private sector, not decreasing the public sector. 

"I want to deliver an increased emphasis on green jobs with investment in insulation and renewables to tackle climate change and to boost the construction industry, and a renewed focus on digital jobs."

On his specific economic proposals, Carwyn will pledge to build on the strength of what he describes Wales's 'anchor companies' to attract new investment: "I want world-class companies able to compete in a world-class Wales. We need inward investment, and we want to grow our SME sector but it is the larger companies that bring the research and development and the added value and train the specialist engineers and others that we need to compete for the high value jobs. These larger companies – companies like Corus, British Gas, Airbus, BT, General Dynamics and the utility companies, are what I would call the anchor companies for our economy."

Time to get real - on Labour's future

Welsh Labour Leadership candidate, Carwyn Jones, has today laid out a clear and unambiguous set of 'bottom line' principles that members of the Labour Party can expect from him, if elected to replace Rhodri Morgan in December.

In a message to members, Carwyn warned his Party against taking the wrong direction in the future in three core areas:

• the constitutional relationship between the Labour Party in Wales and the UK party;
• conceding the next General Election; and
• not accepting opposition spin about future coalition Government.

In his message, Carwyn said on the constitutional relationship between the Labour Party in Wales and the UK party: "I do not believe we need to break up the existing constitutional relationship between Welsh Labour and the UK Labour Party. I believe Labour is at its best when Labour AMs and Labour MPs are working together. We do not need separatism or a blame culture. We fight together or we fall divided."

Time to get real - on the BNP

Carwyn on the BNP:

"The BBC made a dreadful mistake over Nick Griffin. Nothing forced them to put him on Question Time. The BNP Leader should have been subject instead to the most rigorous scrutiny from the BBC's toughest interviewers on its serious current affairs programmes.

"Instead, they gave him a platform on Question Time, then compounded their error by changing the format to make the programme about Griffin, giving him the opportunity to portray himself as a victim and claim that the BBC was fixing the programme.

"As we saw the European results come in, it was depressing to see the size of the vote for the BNP in Wales, even though it was small by the standards of places in England. What would those young miners have thought, who left the Valleys to fight Franco's fascists in Spain in the 1930s? We have fought against the BNP in Bridgend and we must continue to fight against them across the whole of Wales."

"We're backing Carwyn"

Time to get real - on climate change

Welsh Labour Leadership candidate, Carwyn Jones, will say later today that it's "time to get real on climate change".

Carwyn will say it's time for Wales to accept the threat from global warming has already radically changed the terms of debate on nuclear energy. Carwyn will make this significant policy announcement to coincide with a visit to Wylfa nuclear power station on Anglesey today (Saturday).