‘Reject the ‘politics as usual’ that has let people down in Wales for too long’
In an exclusive article for the Western Mail, Theresa May attacks Welsh Labour’s record on hospitals and schools as she pitches for your vote in June’s general election...
AS I watched the results of the EU referendum roll in last year, I knew I was witnessing something that amounted to more than a rejection of the European Union. It was a quiet revolution by millions of people who felt they had been let-down and left behind by politicians of all parties for far too long.
And that quiet revolution was particularly profound here in Wales, where that sense that there is a serious gulf between politicians and the people is particularly acute. That is because, for decades, the Labour Party has taken people for granted in Wales – just as it has in other communities across Britain.
Labour have been in charge in Cardiff Bay since the National Assembly was established. They have come to believe they have a right to govern. Yet during their time in power, the performance of Wales’s vital public services has fallen further and further behind.
Targets for A&E waiting times and urgent cancer treatment have not been met for nearly a decade.
The general target for patients to be referred for treatment stands at 18 weeks in England, but in Wales it is 26 weeks – and even this is routinely missed.
Yet the Labour Party’s response has been to cut the health budget in Wales by 8% at the same time as we have been investing in the NHS in England.
Welsh Labour arrogantly think they can do this and still rely on people’s votes by pulling the old trick of blaming the UK Government in Westminster for their political failure. The same dismal record is repeated across the public services for which the Welsh Assembly Government has responsibility.
Wales’s schools, for example, consistently perform less well than schools in the rest of the UK.
That is because the Labour-run Assembly Government has refused to learn from what works elsewhere in Britain. As a result, Welsh school children are being short-changed while international businesses looking to invest in Britain will likely think twice before choosing to make Wales their home.
It is little wonder that Welsh voters chose to send a clear message to their politicians in the referendum in June. It should have been a wake-up call for a generation of politicians who have taken the people for granted for too long.
But instead those same politicians have closed ranks, with Plaid Cymru propping up Labour in Wales in order to defend the status quo. They would have little hesitation in doing the same in Westminster – cementing the coalition of chaos Jeremy Corbyn needs to make it through the door of Number 10.
In 44 days, voters in Wales have a fresh chance to reject this kind of ‘politics as usual’.
The General Election is a chance for them to turn their backs on the politicians who have turned their backs on them, and to embrace a new approach that is right for Wales and right for Britain. For this election is not about the kind of tribal politics that has held sway in Wales and elsewhere for many years. It is not about calling in old favours or relying on past allegiance. It is about the future.
It is an opportunity to provide this United Kingdom with the strong and stable leadership it needs to see us through Brexit and beyond. It is a chance to lock in the economic progress we have made together over the past seven years.
And it is your chance to strengthen Britain’s hand as we negotiate with Europe to ensure we get the right deal for ordinary working people everywhere. Adeal that will help us build a stronger Wales, as part of a more secure Britain.
Securing that deal is my priority and we have the plan to do it. A plan to regain control of our own money, our own laws and our own borders, and to be free to strike trade deals with old friends and new partners all around the world.
Yet our Labour, LibDem and Nationalist opponents – Plaid Cymru here in Wales and Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP in Scotland – are already seeking to disrupt our negotiations, even as 27 other European countries line up to oppose us.
That approach can only mean one thing – uncertainty and instability, bringing grave risk to our growing economy with higher taxes, fewer jobs, more waste and more debt.
Only this week, Carwyn Jones pledged his support for Labour’s plan to add £500bn of borrowing to Britain’s debt – undoing all the progress we have made together over the past seven years at a stroke.
That is why I will be fighting to earn every vote I can in this election, because every vote I receive will strengthen my hand as I negotiate with the Prime Ministers, Presidents and Chancellors of Europe. Every vote I receive will help me secure the best deal to strengthen our economy. Every vote I receive will be a vote to give me the mandate to deliver for Britain.
Ten months after voters across Wales helped to start this journey, Labour in Wales – and their partners in Plaid Cymru – remain determined to disrupt the result.
So your vote on June 8 really matters to the future of our country.
It’s a choice between strong and stable leadership in the national interest, or Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street at the head of a coalition of chaos.
And it is a chance to cast a positive vote for the strong and stable leadership we need to deliver on the democratic will of the British people, to strengthen Britain’s hand in the negotiations to come, and to reject the kind of ‘politics as usual’ that has let people down in Wales for too long.