Press release: 'Work for Wales' campaign

On Sunday 29th July, Plaid Cymru Youth, the youth and student wing of Plaid Cymru, will launch its ‘Work for Wales’ campaign.

The campaign will draw attention to the dangerous reality that almost a quarter of 16 to 24 year-olds in Wales are unemployed, and to call on the Welsh Government to act now to reverse this worrying statistic which goes against the UK trend. A petition to the National Assembly calling on the Welsh Government to do more to tackle youth unemployment will be launched the same day.

The campaign will be launched at Plaid Cymru’s Summer School which takes place this weekend at the Urdd Camp in Llangrannog.

Plaid Cymru Youth National Chair Cerith Rhys Jones said:

"Because of the Welsh Government’s lack of action and the Westminster coalition government’s destructive policies, thousands and thousands of young people in Wales are without jobs. There is a grave danger that their generation will become a lost generation.

"Unfortunately, the Welsh Government would rather use the Westminster Government’s misguided policies as a means to score political points. The lives and jobs of Wales’s young people are not a political game, so we are calling on the Welsh Government to act urgently to put effective and positive schemes in place in order to create work for Wales."

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood AM added:

"The figures for youth unemployment are shocking and should act as a catalyst for urgent and direct action from the Welsh government. 23.7% of 16 to 24 year-olds in Wales are out of work; this is unacceptable.

"Youth unemployment is crushing too many hopes and dreams - it is already stifling too many communities, many of which are yet to recover from previous recessions. Plaid Cymru Youth are absolutely right to prioritise campaigning for jobs and opposing the scourge of youth unemployment. I therefore fully support the petition launch as part of the 'Work for Wales!' campaign."

- ENDS -

Contact Cerith Rhys Jones (cerithrjones@live.co.uk) for more information.

Plaid gives you the right to use any of our high-resolution pictures at www.flickr.com/plaidcymru for your publication or online use.

The value of devolution - fairness for students

Cerith Rhys Jones (Executive Non-Portfolio Officer and Public Rep) writes:

"Today’s announcement from the Labour-Plaid Cymru Welsh Assembly Government regarding tuition fees comes as what can only be described as a relief for students and prospective students like myself especially. One Wales has shown the value of devolution this afternoon, in declaring that Welsh students will not have to pay any more than £3,290 a year for their Higher Education – wherever they study in the UK.

"Students who are currently in University and who will go to University next year will not be affected by the announcement, meaning that they will still pay £3,290, but today’s news will affect 2012/13 students who would otherwise have to pay upwards of £6,000 for their HE – thanks very much to the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in London.

"This move from WAG really does show our commitment to HE here in Wales, and more than that: that we believe in our young people and believe that they don’t deserve such extortionate costs. Supporters of the ConDems’ plans ask why it matters – we don’t repay until after graduation anyway! Let me tell you: if I went into Uni knowing that I would leave with £30,000 or £40,000 worth of debt, I really would question whether it’s worth it.

It is.

"The difference between Cardiff Bay and Westminster is that we here in Wales have made the right decision to make it possible for students and prospective students to what is right for them in the long-run.

'We have a responsibility to Welsh-domiciled students, wherever they choose to study. We also have a responsibility to ensure that Wales benefits, economically, socially and culturally, from the investment that the Assembly Government makes in higher education in Wales.'

"That’s what our Education Minister Leighton Andrews AM had to say today. He’s darned right. A strong and accessible HE sector will benefit our country in more ways than simply meaning that more people can afford to go to Uni. What Wales needs is a strong, forward-looking and innovative economy, and a good HE sector will stand us in good stead for achieving that.

"Plaid is proud of its socialist principles and so am I. I am proud to be a citizen of a country whose government cares; whose government recognises its responsibility to ensure that education is indeed a right and not a privilege.

"Of course, on that note, we’re not quite there, but CymruX is committed to fighting for free HE because we believe that a cost of even £3,290 shouldn’t stop anyone from going to University. (Naturally, if cuts weren’t coming from every angle thanks to David and Co. that’d be a rather more realistic aim.)

"For now though, we are happy with the best that’s on offer: fairness. Something that Wales can offer, and the ConDems seem not yet to have grasped. Will they ever? Doubt it.

Diolch, Leighton, a diolch, Llywodraeth Cymru.
Thank you, Leighton, and thank you, Welsh Government.

To read the Welsh Assembly Government’s statement on-line, go to the Welsh Assembly Government's website.

And remember that you can now follow @yesforwales and @iedrosgymru on Twitter, as well as add a Yes4Wales badge to your Twitter and Facebook avatars. More powers for Wales next March combined with a successful election for us means more fairness and indeed more actions like today’s!

A Government of our own

We in Cymru X have long believed that Wales should have its own Government, both in name and in nature. We campaigned on this issue and submitted a motion to National Conference calling for Plaid Cymru representatives to exclusively refer to the 'Welsh Government' and not use the misleading term 'Welsh Assembly Government'. Our motion wasn't really needed as its now standard practice to call it the Welsh Government- but we were in the right spirit of things.

Sir Emyr Jones-Parry made exactly the same point this week when he reported back from the All Wales Convention. He backed up our view that including the word 'Assembly' causes confusion and is unecessary. There is a very practical reason to call it what it is, which is the Welsh Government, even if it does not yet have the kind of powers most Governments do.

It's reassuring that an increasing number of organisations, different political parties and even the National Assembly itself are now using the term 'Welsh Government'. I opened up an email this morning from the Assembly's Petitions Committee where the civil servants referred to it as such, dropping out the word 'Assembly' from the Government part.

Look at the difference that has been made in Scotland where the 'Scottish Executive', which conjures up images of some kind of closed off club, has been replaced by the 'Scottish Government'. Some of that here please! As soon as we're officially out of recession we should rebrand our legislative arm as the Welsh Government- by the people, for the people.

Luke Nicholas
Policy Officer, Cymru X

The Welsh Government

Cymru X submitted a motion to this year's Plaid Cymru Conference, calling for the party to refer to the administration in Wales as the Welsh Government in all of its communications. The term 'Welsh Assembly Government' is unnecessary and causes confusion amongst the public who will equate the legislative and administrative arm of devolution with the National Assembly itself. This might seem like a minor issue, but in the past it has had a steady political effect on election results, with Plaid doing badly when people thought the Assembly as a whole was to blame for a bad administration (with the early devolution settlement not being a help there either). The WAG term also relegates the Welsh Government to being a lesser beast than the UK Government. While this might be true in terms of powers, it holds back aspiration and the confidence of the people of Wales in their own government.

While not calling for a formal rebranding of the Government during a time of economic recession, it is obvious that people in Wales will generally refer to their government as the Welsh Government, and when they talk about the Assembly they will be talking about the institution at the Senedd composed of 60 Assembly Members of varying parties. The distinction between the two is important to furthering a public understanding of how devolution works.

Our motion was not included in the end, perhaps understandably because it is not the most pressing issue for Plaid Cymru to be addressing, and in any case our Assembly Members, MPs and supporters routinely use the term Welsh Government, emphasising that since Plaid Cymru has entered government we have had a genuinely and independently Welsh administration for the first time since antiquity. We should be proud of this and should not have to muddle things up by talking about a second class 'Assembly Government' as if they cannot ever do the same job as Westminster. It's not as if the UK Government calls itself the 'British Parliamentary Government' is it?!

Nonetheless, it is positive that the new Annual Report by the National Assembly recognises this distinction and refers only to the Welsh Government. It shows that Cymru X is on the ball on this. The report itself also makes interesting reading and Cymru X is particularly pleased with the moves the Assembly has made to accommodate young people in Welsh democracy. You can read the report here:

http://www.cynulliadcymru.org/abthome/abt-nafw/abt-commission/annual-report-2008-2009.htm

http://www.assemblywales.org/abthome/abt-nafw/abt-commission/annual-report-2008-2009.htm