National A s s e m bly of Wales Elections May 5, 2011 WELSH COMMUNIST PARTY Y BLAID GOMIWNYDDOL GYMREIG Etholiadau i'r Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Mai 5, 2011
VOTE COMMUNIST FOR PUBLIC SERVICES, JOBS AND A PEOPLE'S WALES PLEIDLEISIWCH I'R COMIWNYDDION AM WASANAETHAU CYHOEDDUS, SWYDDI A CHYMRU I'R BOBL Why Wales must oppose the cuts The people of Wales will be hit with a triple whammy by the ConDem cuts. But not because the Welsh economy is a 'basket case', supposedly 'over-dependent' on public sector employment. True, Wales has a bigger public services sector, employing 33 per cent of the country's workforce compared with 27 per cent in Britain. This is where we will be hit by the first whammy. But the Welsh economy also has a higher proportion of workers engaged in the production and construction industries (19 per cent compared with 16 per cent in Britain as a whole). The legacy left by heavy industry in terms of ill-health has hit the people of Wales particularly hard, requiring higher levels of welfare spending. So the second whammy is the ConDem attack on unemployment and incapacityrelated benefits, which will cost the people of Wales about £1 billion a year. The Welsh economy has a much smaller private services sector (46 per cent compared with 56 per cent), notably in financial and property services. This is the sector bailed out
with £1,350 billion in public financial support, while New Labour and Tory cuts will devastate public services and the welfare state to save £203 billion. Here is the third whammy: the central government's annual block grant to the National Assembly of Wales is being slashed by more than 11 per cent in real terms over the next four years—a bigger reduction than in Scotland or Northern Ireland. A pre-election pledge by David Cameron to review the Barnett formula by which the block grant is calculated— based on population and geography but not on social need—remains unredeemed. The Welsh Assembly
government's revenue spending is set to fall by 7.5 per cent and its capital programme by a whopping 41 per cent. The latter comes on top of the cancellation of major central government capital projects in Wales. The £14 billion Severn Barrage scheme has been dropped for reasons of cost, although its real flaws relate to questions of political jurisdiction and the environment. But massive investment in underwater turbines and tidal lagoons could avoid such problems—and would be less costly and dangerous than six new nuclear power stations. Dumping the £14 billion plan for a privatised military training
academy at St. Athan is no loss. The bill—to be met by taxpayers—was escalating by the month. More serious is the refusal to electrify the south WalesLondon railway line west of Cardiff. Upgrading would cut journey times substantially, but Wales lags behind to the detriment of jobs and investment prospects. Finally, the Welsh-language S4C television channel will lose 24 per cent of its budget in real terms over the next four years. Yet the growth of Welshmedium education, which is driving up both the number and proportion of Welsh speakers, underlines the need for a wellfunded Welsh Broadcasting Authority to provide a full home-made service in both main languages. The Wales TUC and its affiliated unions are pledged to coordinate a broad-based campaign against the cuts. The potential support for such a campaign was shown on March 5, when thousands of people marched through Cardiff in support of public services, jobs and local communities. The trade unions, the Labour Party, Plaid Cymru and others also need to commit themselves to winning financial powers for the National Assembly. The people of Wales urgently need a Welsh Parliament with legislative and financial powers, which could become a rallying point in the struggle for a civilised society against the power of big business.
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Y Blaid Gomiwnyddol Gymreig Welsh Communist Party
Con-Dem con-trick The Con-Dem government is telling a whole lot of whoppers as they slash public services, jobs and benefits. Whopper number 1: ‘Britain faces the biggest debt crisis in its history’. The truth: Britain’s National Debt is lower today than in 70 of the last 100 years.The USA and Japan have much higher levels of National Debt, while Britain’s is no higher than France or Germany. Whopper number 2: ‘The only way to close the government’s budget deficit is to cut public spending’. The truth: Economic growth means more work, more wages, more spending, more production – and more in taxes for the government. Slashing public spending means the opposite. Taxing the rich and big business would raise more than enough to balance the budget. Whopper number 3: ‘We’re all in this together – it’s the Big Society!’ The truth: It’s mass redundancies, benefit cuts, tax rises and worse public services for workers and their families – but tax cuts and bonuses for big business and the bankers.
Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ is the ‘Big Business’ society, where everything not owned by big business and the rich is dependent on them for donations and sponsorship. That is why the Communist Party says: ★ Defend jobs, services, wages, pensions and benefits. ★ Build broad-based campaigns against the cuts. ★ Unite behind coordinated strikes in the public sector, leading to general strike action and community solidarity. Bring down this Con-Dem government elected by nobody!
Policies for a people’s Wales ★ An economic plan for Wales based on democratic participation and the extension of cooperative, municipal and public ownership of industry and development land. ★ Public investment in small, cooperative and municipal enterprise not bribes for foreign multinational corporations.
★ A coordinated public transport network for Wales. ★ A north-south rail link through midWales and and electrification of the whole south Wales line. ★ Powers for the National Assembly to take the railways, gas and electricity services into public ownership. ★ Harnessing Severn tidal power through underwater turbines and coastal lagoons. ★ A massive programme of public sector housebuilding. ★ Controls on empty commercial property and second homes including compulsory purchase to meet local need. ★ The phasing out of privatisation in the NHS and prison service. ★ Reorganisation of Welsh higher education to meet the economic, social and cultural needs of Wales. ★ A network of refuges and support services throughout Wales for victims of domestic violence. ★ A Welsh Broadcasting Authority and full home-made television services in both languages. ★ Free facilities for all children and adults who wish to learn Welsh.
Y Blaid Gomiwnyddol Gymreig Welsh Communist Party
Polisiau’r Comiwnyddion am Gymru i’r Bobl Bydd y llywodraeth DoriaiddGlegaidd yn cwtogi cyllideb Senedd Cymru 11 y cant dros y pedair blynedd nesaf. Mae’r toriadau hyn yn ddyfnach hyd yn oed na’r rhai a gynllunir i Senedd yr Alban a Chynulliad Gogledd Iwerddon. Ac - yn wahanol iawn i’r Alban - nid oes pwerau codi arian gan ein Senedd ni. Golyga hyn fwy o dorri’n ôl ar wasanaethau llyfrgell, canolfeydd gofal i blant a’r henoed, gwasanaethau cymdeithasol a chartref, a chanolfeydd i bobl ifainc ac yn y blaen. Cofiwch i’r Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol honni yn Etholiad Cyffredinol 2010 mai nhw oedd y gwir wrthwynebwyr y Toriaid! Dim ond y Blaid Goiwnyddol fydd yn sefyll dros y polisiau hyn yn yr etholiad ar 5ed Mai: ★ Cynllun economaidd i Gymru, wedi’i seilio ar gyfranogaeth ddemocrataidd ac ar ymestyn perchnogaeth wladol, ddinesig a chydweithredol i ddiwydiant a thir datblygu. ★ Buddsoddi gwladol mewn mentrau dinesig, cydweithredol a bach yn hytrach na chorfforaethau amlwladol estron. ★ Rhwydwaith trafnidiol cyhoeddus cydweithiol i Gymru ★ Cysylltiad rheilffordd de-gogledd drwy ganolbarth Cymru, a thrydanu prif linell de Cymru’n gyfangwbl. ★ Pwerau i’r Cynulliad Cenedlaethol er ailwladoli’r gwasanaethau nwy, trydan a rheilffyrdd. ★ Datblygu egni llanw Mor Hafren trwy beiriannau tanddwr a llynnoedd arfordirol. ★ Ymdrech enfawr i adeiladu tai sector cyhoeddus. ★ Rheolau cyfwng dros eiddo masnachol gwag ac ar dai haf, gan gynnyws prynu gorfodol i fodloni anghenion pobl leol. ★ Diweddu’n raddol ar wasanaethau preifat o fewn y gwasanaethau iechyd a charchar. ★ Ail-drefnu addysg uwch yn Nghymru er boddhau anghenion economaidd, cymdeithasol a diwylliannol pobl Cymru. ★ Rhwydwaith o lochesi a gwasanaethau cymorth ledled Cymru ar gyfer menywod sy’n dioddef o drais yn y cartref. ★ Awdurdod Darlledu i Gymru er sicrhau gwasanaethau teledu Cymreig llawn yn y ddwy iaith. ★ Cyfleusterau di-dâl i blant ac oedolion sydd eisiau dysgu Cymraeg.
Cofiwch!
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Llywodraeth Lafur a fwriadai cwtogi gwario cyhoeddus gan £130 biliwn o bunnau hyd at 2015—bron ddwywaith toriadau ychwanegol y Toriaid a’r LibDems.. Y LibDems a wnaeth addo gwrthwynebu codi taliadau dysgu ar fyfyrwyr—ac sydd yn awr yn llywyddu ar eu triphlygu. Plaid Cymru a gefnogai sefydlu academi filwrol yn Sant Tathan, gan wastraffu biliynau o bunnau o arian gyhoeddus ar baratoadau i fomio gwledydd eraill.
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DIM OND Y COMIWNYDDION SY’N SEFYLL CANT Y CANT O BLAID GWASANAETHAU CYHOEDDUS, SWYDDI I BAWB, CYFIAWNDER CYMDEITHASOL A HEDDWCH.
Remember!
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It was a Labour government which planned £130 billion in spending cuts up to 2015—almost twice the new cuts added by the Con-Dem coalition. It was the LibDems who promised to oppose any increase in student tuition fees—and who preside over a trebling of fees. It was Plaid Cymru who backed the plan for a military academy at St. Athan, which would have wasted billions of pounds in preparations to bomb other countries.
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ONLY THE COMMUNISTS ARE 100 PER CENT FOR PUBLIC SERVICES, JOBS, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND PEACE
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We can always afford another war! The Con-Dem government tells us we cannot afford decent public services, pensions or benefits. Yet the money can always be found for another war—especially when oil and gas are involved. The endless war in Afghanistan, now spread to Pakistan, is costing Wales and Britain at least £4 billion a year. Enough to wipe out all the cuts in the Welsh Assembly’s budget! This public money is found from the ‘Treasury Special Reserve’ fund. It is additional to Britain’s massive armaments bill—one of the biggest in the world. Now Libya is added to the bill. COMMUNIST MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY WOULD IMMEDIATELY TABLE A RESOLUTION CONDEMNING THIS CRIMINAL WASTE OF LIVES AND RESOURCES. Let’s challenge Labour and Plaid Cymru AMs to do the same.
What’s the alternative to Con-Dem cuts? The Con-Dems have added £73 billion to New Labour’s £130 billion cuts for 2011-15. The £203 billion total could be raised in ONE YEAR by taxing the rich and big business: ★ A 2 per cent Wealth Tax on the richest 10% of the population = £78 billion in one year. ★ A 20 per cent windfall tax on monopoly profits in banking, energy, retail food, armaments and pharmaceuticals = £16 billion. ★ A ‘Robin Hood’ tax on City financial transactions = £20 billion a year. ★ Clamp down on British-ruled tax havens and rich and big business tax dodgers = £70 billion a year. ★ Repayment of money owed by bailed-out banks = £131 billion. That’s billions MORE—not less—to invest in education, health, housing, the environment, public transport and renewable energy.
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Y Blaid Gomiwnyddol Gymreig Welsh Communist Party
Y Blaid Gomiwnyddol Gymreig Welsh Communist Party Etholiad ‘11/Election ‘11 Ymgeisyddion/Candidates GOGLEDD CYMRU NORTH WALES Rhestr Rhanbar thol Regional List
CANOL DE CYMRU SOUTH WALES CENTRAL Rhestr Rhanbarthol Regional List
GORLLEWIN DE CYMRU SOUTH WEST WALES Rhestr Rhanbarthol Regional List
★ Glyn Davies Popular campaigner for community facilities, branch secretary of construction union UCATT, member of Deeside Trades Council. ★ Trevor Jones Secretary of Deeside Trades Council and leading campaigner for trade union rights. ★ Rhian Cartwright is a trade union tutor with expertise in areas such as employment law, health and safety at work, equal pay and domestic violence. ★ Graham Morgan People’s Charter activist and campaigner against imperialist war and for Cuba solidarity.
★ Robert Griffiths lives in Cardiff and is general secretary of the Communist Party of Britain. He chairs the all-party anti-racist organisation Searchlight Cymru and is an active campaigner on local trade union, social and environmental issues. ★ Gwen Griffiths Teacher, Welsh language campaigner and former Taff Ely Plaid Cymru councillor. ★ Fran Rawlings Social and community worker, trade union activist and long standing campaigner against poverty, low pay and racism. ★ Clive Griffiths Former Hirwuan & Penderyn Community Councillor, CND activist and campaigner on housing and community issues.
★ John Morrissey College worker, local trade union official and People’s Charter activist ★ Laura Picand UNISON Wales staff member and active in Trade Unionists Against the European Constitution and CND Cymru ★ David Brown Defend Council Housing activist, award-winning historian, ‘Operation Black Vote’ campaigner ★ Dan Cole Students activist, convenor of the Welsh Young Communist League and campaigner against racism and fascism.
CANOLBARTH & GORLLEWIN CYMRU MID & WEST WALES Rhestr Rhanbar thol Regional List
★ Catrin Ashton Welsh Communist Party executive member, cultural worker and founding member of Cymdaithas Niclas ★ Rick Newnham Leader of the Welsh Communist Party, leading anti-war campaigner, lecturer in youth and community work. ★ Barbara Thomas Community activist and campaigner for peace and solidarity with Cuba, former teacher ★ Clive Eliassen Former roofer and worker with people with learning difficulties, a campaigner for peace and for solidarity with Cuba.
DWYRAIN DE CYMRU SOUTH WALES EAST Rhestr Rhanbarthol Regional List
★ Tommy Roberts Leading UCATT activist and community campaigner, secretary of Merthyr Tydfil Trades Council ★ Roy Evans Leading campaigner to ‘Keep our NHS Public’ and against massive open-cast mining developments ★ Julian Jones Leading member of the Young Communist League and student activist involved in recent student demonstrations and occupations ★ Angharad Khan-Raja Health worker and community campaigner
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