17/04/2016 BBC Wales Today

The Welsh Conservatives say they'll aim to cut income tax in Wales

by two pence in the pound, if they win the Assembly election.

Powers to vary income tax will be devolved to the Welsh Government

under plans published by the UK Government.

Our political correspondent Arwyn Jones reports.

Launching his party's election campaign recently,

Andrew RT Davies said he wanted to take Wales down a different path.

Today he says that path should be towards being the low

In a newspaper article, Mr Davies said:

We want this to be a tool the sort of stimulate the economy in Wales,

and to attract more employers, to attract more people

to want to base themselves here and, you know, to really give

To give them a tax break and let them keep

At the moment the basic rate of income tax is 20p in the pound.

A cut of 2p would cost the Welsh Government

The power to vary income tax is expected to be devolved to Wales

during the course of the next five-year Assembly term,

but Labour insists the Tory proposals would mean less money

This cut, if they made it, would of course take ?380 million

out of our budget every year, and ?1.8 billion over five years,

Where are they going to find that money?

Plaid Cymru says income taxes should not be changed until public

It may be a popular move with some people, but I think when people

reflect and they realise the investment that is

needed in our schools, in our health services,

crucially in care for older people, I think people will see this

While the Liberal Democrats say they want to lessen the tax burden,

they think it needs to be done more gradually.

If you are going to cut tax, we need to do it at a time

So we're not going to be losing money on health and health

and education and social services, the crucial services which people

depend on all-round Wales, and so that balancing

While Ukip supports lowering taxes as a principle,

they think a referendum is needed before the Welsh Government gets

We don't think that tax-raising powers should be devolved to

the Assembly without a referendum, to allow the people to decide.

It is much more likely on previous experience that taxes will actually

go up rather than be cut, and the budget has got

As the public purse comes under ever more pressure,

any changes to how much money goes to this place after May's

election will always be put under great scrutiny.

Specialist staff were called into Swansea Prison after three

inmates climbed onto the roof earlier today.

The incident started just before 10am this morning.

They've since come down and prison service staff say

they worked to resolve the incident as quickly and safely as possible.

A 37-year-old man man has been charged

with grievous bodily harm, assault and drink driving -

after a car collided with two female pedestrians

The two women, aged 19 and 21, are being treated for serious

A man and a dog have died following a fire at a house

North Wales Police are investigating the blaze which started last night,

To tonight's sport, and swimmer Jazz Carlin

became the fifth Welsh athlete to qualify for Rio,

after winning the 400m freestyle at the British Swimming Championships

in Glasgow last night - it was her third win

In the Pro12 rugby, Cardiff Blues retained their hopes

of European Champions Cup qualification, with a hard-fought

The final score was 28-8 to the home side.

As the Assembly election draws nearer, Wales Today is on tour -

I'll be starting in Pembrokeshire tomorrow.

We are just weeks away from the next Welsh Assembly election. You will

soon get to vote for the people who have to make some big decisions on

some of the most important aspects of our lives, things like schools

and hospitals. For the next fortnight, we are travelling the

length and breadth of the country exploring the issues that matter in

your community. First stop, Haverfordwest. Our reporter asks

what lessons politicians need to learn about school reorganisation,

and our political correspondents are assessing what the political parties

have on offer. And what do you want from the next Welsh Government?

Well, you have the chance to tell them, as part of my Manifesto 2016.

I will be gathering your ideas and suggestions as we travelled across

the country, and we will be passing them on to the next First Minister.

You can also e-mail us. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Come with us on our journey around Wales for all you need to know

before you cast your vote on the 5th of May.

After a clear start to the evening it'll

soon turn cloudier, and there could be some light rain.

Going into Monday it'll be a fairly cloudy start to the week,

with some rain but some sunny spells.

Maximum temperature - around 7 Celsius.

After a wintry start to the weekend most of us have emerged from

hibernation for some pleasant spring sunshine. Happiness for