Social care, sewage and the single-market: Welsh Liberal Democrats launch manifesto
ITV Wales' National Correspondent Rob Osborne reports.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have launched their manifesto today (24 June) dubbing it "A Fair Deal for Wales."
The launch event was held in Cardiff Bay with Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds addressing supporters and presenting the party's pledges.
Politically speaking, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have been hanging on by their fingernails in Wales. They have one MS in the Senedd and no Welsh MPs in Westminster.
How things have changed
After the 2005 General Election, they were second to Labour in terms of seats with one Welsh MP at the time calling them "Wales' official opposition in Westminster."
However elections after the coalition years have not been kind to the party.
They want to move on and focus on the future, but the Lib Dem/Conservative deal still lingers in the minds of some — remember tuition fees?
At this election, the party hopes to make a comeback. They are unwilling to make a Welsh public prediction but they would be bitterly disappointed not to pick up at least a seat come 5th July.
In their manifesto, the party said they will concentrate on investment into care, agriculture, tackling sewage and home insulation.
Amongst the pledges, a commitment to providing a £417 million rescue package for the NHS, as well as a further £260 million a year by 2028-29 in additional spending.
A separate £210 million would be allocated to the social care sector.
The Welsh party leader Jane Dodds cited personal reasons as to why social care was personally an important pledge.
She said: "My dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and my mom was his carer. She cared for him for three years before he died. We tried to get in other carers to support us at home.
"There were some wonderful people who came in. But really, it was a real struggle. It wasn't enough. And my mum managed to care for him until he was admitted to hospital and died."
The party said allocating this sum would allow them to boost the Carer's Minimum Wage, and give unpaid carers a "fair deal" by lifting the Carer's Allowance/Carer Support Payment by £1,040 a year.
Other pledges in the Welsh Liberal Democrats' manifesto include:
Increasing taxes on social media companies in order to establish a "world-class" mental health service.
Give an additional £50m a year to the Welsh agricultural sector.
£500 million extra capital funding to build new local health facilities, tackle the housing emergency, end the crumbling concrete issue within public buildings, and stop sewage dumping.
Offering free insulation and heat pumps to lower income households, alongside a ten-year emergency upgrade programme.
£500,000 per year in extra funding for Natural Resources Wales to enforce and monitor sewage pollution.
On Brexit, Jane Dodds said: "We're very clear in our manifesto that we want to take the steps necessary to look at rejoining the single market. And we challenge Labour to join us on that."
The Welsh Lib Dems said funding for their proposals would be paid for by cancelling tax breaks for big banks and by reforming capital gains tax – but they have ruled out any tax rises for working people.
Voting reform was also mentioned as the Welsh Liberal Democrats urged Labour to agree to "a proportional representation system" across the UK.
"Over the past 40 years, the Liberal Democrats have gained 17% of the vote across the UK, but only 5% of the seats. We need a different voting system. We need to make sure that every vote counts", she added.
In an interview following the launch, the party leader told ITV Wales' National correspondent Rob Osborne that they had "moved on" from discussing the Liberal Democrats' joint-coalition with the Conservative party.
She added they were "looking to the future" and that whilst canvasing, discussions of the coalition are never raised by members of the public as it was "over 10 years ago."
Instead, Ms Dodds believes energy should be focused on "scrapping the two Child Benefit cap", seeing "houses insulated" and making sure "fuel companies are properly taxed".
"That is what people are saying to me on the doorstep", she said.
When pressed on how many seats she believed the Liberal Democrats would acquire in Wales, she said: "We're not taking anything for granted and it's not for me to say how many seats we're going to win, it's for the voters on July 4.
"I would be very arrogant and out of place if I said how many seats we were going to win."
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