A brief look at the Plaid Cymru manifesto

With the General Election campaign now in full swing, the Arsyllfa team has been taking a look at the manifestos of the main parties to see what they have to say about the countryside and the rural economy. Up until the election we will be giving attention to all the main parties that have candidates in Wales and will be looking at what exactly are their proposals regarding the countryside, agriculture as well as rural poverty, services, and the economy.

Here, we will take a brief look at some of the main Plaid Cymru manifesto policies. Among the proposals set out in the manifesto are the following policies:

• Wales to have a veto on any international trade deals that effects agriculture in Wales.
• Refuse the proposal by the Welsh Government to plant trees on 10% of Welsh farming land as part of the Sustainable Farming Scheme.
• Demand a more flexible approach when considering the Sustainable farming Scheme and call for a reduction in the universal steps required for farmers to be a part of the scheme and receive payments. Move away from the ‘costs incurred/income forgone’ model that limits the incentive for farmers to join the scheme.
• Changes to food labelling that will mean that Wales would be noted as the country of origin rather than the UK.
• Introduce a broader approach to tackling TB in cattle while also endeavouring to control the disease in wildlife.
• Support steps to strengthen monitoring networks of plant an animal disease on a UK scale.
• Give to communities so that they can keep services and institutions such as pubs and community centres.
• Call for a Welsh Broadband Infrastructure Company to ensure broadband provision across Wales.
• Push for more investment in alternative technologies in rural and ‘hard to reach’ areas.
• Work to create a rural crime team for all of Wales.

This is only a brief glimpse of what is to be found in the manifesto. You can find more information about the manifesto, and read the document in its entirety, including a BSL version of the manifesto, by following this link to Plaid Cymru’s website.