WE in Welsh Labour have begun to feel and see the effect that a truly transformative manifesto has on energising our membership during what is the most significant general election since 1945.
We have refused to take engage with the Conservative and Liberal Democrats’ attack lines and focus on the topic of Brexit, and have instead chosen to offer the people of Wales an alternative to the stale neoliberal dogma driven by the Tories in Westminster.
This alternative will act to transform the lives of the majority of Welsh citizens, including full support for a Green Industrial Revolution — beginning with the creation of the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon.
It will mean fair funding for Wales by an extra £3.4 billion per year to invest in Welsh schools, hospitals and local communities, an end to the blight that is universal credit, and for the abolition of the House of Lords in favour of an elected senate of nations and regions.
The policies in Labour’s It’s Time for Real Change manifesto have seen the party’s vote solidify in traditional strongholds such as the south Wales valleys and has seen our support increasing in key battlegrounds such as the Vale of Glamorgan and Aberconwy.
Local party members and supporters have turned out in their hundreds in both seats to campaign for policies that would drastically improve the lives of millions across Britain.
Welsh Labour, its affiliates and its organised left must continue to build on this passion and energy of our supporters, who are turning out in their hundreds on damp days in Barry and Llandudno to have positive conversations with voters about our vision to rebuild our society after taking the full brunt of Thatcher’s forced deindustrialisation processes.
It appears that key marginal seats such as Preseli Pembrokeshire, Cardiff North, Arfon, Aberconwy and the Vale of Glamorgan will be decided by tactical voting.
But our message emphasises: the choice is between another five years of Tory-driven austerity or a progressive Labour government that will economically and constitutionally empower the people of Wales.
With the implosion of the Liberal Democrats — largely because of its position to revoke Article 50 — and Plaid Cymru’s campaign stagnating outside of its traditional strongholds, it is obvious that a vote for either party in key electoral battlegrounds will be giving seats to Boris Johnson and allow him a mandate to continue the suffering of thousands of Welsh people.
As a young person who has grown up through the previous nine years of ideologically driven austerity by the Conservative Party in Westminster, it is only Labour’s manifesto that offers me hope of a better future that can be achieved: through the creation of a Green Industrial Revolution to restart British industry while tackling the climate crisis, the introduction of a £10 per hour minimum wage and, the repeal of the draconian Tory Trade Union Act. Let’s fight to win.
Logan Williams is the youth representative on Welsh Labour’s national executive committee and an active Unite member.
