Member News
Plaid Cymru has said it will go into the Welsh elections next year with a "radical and inspiring" manifesto for government.
Wales will go the polls on May 5 to elect the 60-member Welsh Assembly. At present Plaid are the junior partners in a coalition government with the Labour party and currently have 14 AMs.
At the nationalist party's autumn conference in Aberystwyth, leader Ieuan Wyn Jones said Plaid had undertaken "our biggest ever consultation. Our aim back then, as always, was to involve as many people and organisations as possible in the process of creating a better Wales".
A discussion paper entitled "WalesCan – be clever, green, healthy" outlines some of the challenges facing Wales in the fields of health, education and the environment.
Director of policy Nerys Evans AM said:
"The fundamental principle underpinning all of our work as a party is the deep belief that ambitious and transformational policies are required to answer the challenges of the difficult times ahead.
"The publication of the document forms just part of our Wales-wide consultation and gives a taste of things to come from Plaid over the remaining eight months running up to next May's Assembly election.
"The scale of the health challenge we face as a nation is clear - epidemics of chronic disease have become a feature of Welsh communities with obesity, heart disease, cancer and diabetes are all too common.
"Our excellent NHS has a crucial role to play but the focus on treating these conditions should not divert attention from their root causes.
"Our education system needs nothing less than a revolution to transform the prospect of our children over the coming decades – this is what is fundamental to Wales' economic success in the future.
"Wales' Economy could be transformed by using the huge natural resources that our country has. We will use our hundreds of miles of coastline for energy.
"We will investigate the creation of Gwyrdd Cymru, a Glas Cymru for renewable energy generation - a national not-for-profit public company using Wales' natural resources for the benefit of its people."
The conference runs until Saturday - former secretary of state for Wales Ron Davies is attending as a party member and guest speakers include SNP MP Dr Eilidh Whiteford MP and Frida Brepoels from the European Free Alliance.
Highlights include tonight's Conference Gala dinner at Penybryn Hall, with events coming to a close on Saturday evening with a review at Aberystwyth football club.
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