Letter published in Daily Post

Plaid's pensions policy has been criticised by the London parties. They are bound to do that because they do not priorities the needs of vulnerable people. Instead they prioritise war spending our money on Trident, ID cards and Afghanistan,

What is government for if it does not provide adequately for pensioners and those in need? Plaid has recognised that the pension is not enough and would insist that government spending is prioritised to make sure it is paid for.

This policy has thrown into sharp focus the failings of the London parties who don't seem to care about the vulnerable people in our society. Pensioners are dying because they can’t afford to heat their homes and buy food.

Isn’t it about time we had an election campaign that is talking about matters that are relevant to the reality of people's lives. Fuel prices are high and winter deaths rising steeply. Pensioners deserve a pension they can live on. Is £155 a week for a single person or £205 for a couple too much to ask for? The London parties will say this is not affordable - we say it is easily affordable. Labours think tank The Compass Group in its recent report “In place of cuts” identified 45 billion that could be raised by changes in the tax system and cancelling some large capital projects. The Afghan war is costing 6 billion a year and tax relief for pension contributions for people earning over 150,000 a year is 12 billion. To find 20 billion to do this for pensioners is peanuts compared to the money used to bail out banks. The only problem is to find politicians that actually care.

Universal Pensions are possible

How glad I was to hear that Ieuan Wyn Jones launched our election campaign last night with first signature policy of the campaign a commitment to create a living pension, raising the basic state pension to the pension credit rate on a universal basis. I know that the reaction to this in the media was lukewarm to say the least. The perception is that we can promise the electorate anything as we are never going to get elected.
While it is true that it is impossible for Plaid to win a UK election as we only stand in 40 seats, our influence on what happens after the next general election may be great. Plaid Cymru and the SNP between them could quite easily hold the balance of power after the next election in a Celtic Bloc. Even if this was not the case it is important that we put forward policies that are achievable and sensible and pose the question - why don’t the other parties support this?
The policy of raising the state pension to around £155 a week for a single person and £205 for a married couple is something all of us would like to see but most people think we can’t afford it. The cost of delivering this is £20 billion.

The government of the UK could easily find the money to do this if they had the political will. In place of cuts published by Compass, a research organisation, shows how £45 billion of savings could be made by altering the burden of tax, cutting loopholes and scrapping some capital projects such as Trident and ID cards (and restoring the 10% tax band). Another £6 billion a year could be saved by withdrawing from Afghanistan and scrapping tax relief on pension contributions for people that earn over £50,000 a year would net another £20 billion.
The question the other parties must answer is - where do their priorities lie? Savings must be made but who should shoulder the burden? In Plaid we believe that squandering money on unwinnable wars and nuclear weapons when pensioners right here in Flintshire are dying of hypothermia is totally unacceptable. The first war we must win is our own war on poverty right here in our communities and all our polices will reflect that. Other parties may say they care but do their actions match their words. Every vote for Plaid puts these issues further up the agenda and, far from being a wasted vote, is the only vote that will actually make a difference.