:01:15. > :01:19.Later in the programme: While Swansea City confound the critics
:01:19. > :01:29.on the pitch, can the Lib Dems do the same in politics and keep a
:01:29. > :01:29.
:01:29. > :37:43.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2173 seconds
:37:43. > :37:46.controlling hand in Swansea and two Hello, I'm Aled ap Dafydd and on
:37:46. > :37:49.the Sunday Politics Wales: Just over a month before the local
:37:49. > :37:52.elections, we put each party under the spotlight. Today, we start with
:37:52. > :37:54.the Liberal Democrats, who in coalition, run three of our largest
:37:54. > :37:58.councils - Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham. But will the coalition at
:37:58. > :38:00.Westminster count against the Lib Dems on a local level in Wales? The
:38:00. > :38:04.party's local government spokesman, Peter Black, joins us live. We also
:38:04. > :38:06.have the company of the Labour MP for the Rhondda, Chris Bryant, and
:38:06. > :38:16.William Graham, the Conservative Assembly Member for South Wales
:38:16. > :38:20.
:38:20. > :38:26.East. It has been an interesting week in politics. What does George
:38:26. > :38:36.Galloway's victory in Bradford tell us? Brad for it was not a target
:38:36. > :38:43.seat for the Conservatives. -- Bradford. The Labour Party made a
:38:43. > :38:53.mess of it and failed to understand any of the indications. George
:38:53. > :38:56.Galloway is a consummate politician. He did very well. Is there a
:38:56. > :39:00.broader message being sent by the voters to the main political
:39:00. > :39:05.parties here which could be reflected in the local elections
:39:05. > :39:09.with more independent candidates win seats? The Labour Party needs
:39:09. > :39:15.to be very careful about seats which we might think of as being
:39:16. > :39:21.traditional Labour heartland seats. We know where Wales, in the Rhondda
:39:21. > :39:26.we conspired to lose it in the first Assembly elections and we
:39:27. > :39:33.went on to lose Caerphilly. We have to be very careful and we have to
:39:33. > :39:43.listen. I was not an Bradford so off I don't have any great insight
:39:43. > :39:43.
:39:43. > :39:48.into what happened but in the Rhondda, we know George Galloway. I
:39:48. > :39:54.just feel that we have been a bit lacklustre in terms of election
:39:54. > :39:59.campaigns. There has not been much excitement. Whether it is to do
:39:59. > :40:02.with Twitter, I doubt. I think it is being prepared to take a few
:40:02. > :40:05.more risks. Lighter spring evenings and warmer
:40:05. > :40:08.weather of late often means there's an election looming. This year,
:40:08. > :40:11.it's the turn of Wales' local councils to face a possible
:40:11. > :40:13.changing of the guard. Over coming weeks, we'll be looking at the
:40:13. > :40:15.election prospects of the Conservatives, Labour and Plaid
:40:15. > :40:22.Cymru. But first, our reporter, Adrian Browne, considers the Welsh
:40:22. > :40:26.Liberal Democrats' chances of victory.
:40:26. > :40:31.A great Welsh sporting success story this season. Swansea City are
:40:31. > :40:35.virtually assured of remaining in football's top flight. Thanks to
:40:35. > :40:39.their team's effective campaign to stay in the Premier League this
:40:39. > :40:42.season, fans using receipts at the Liberty Stadium can continue to
:40:42. > :40:47.enjoy all that some of the world's greatest footballing sides have to
:40:47. > :40:52.offer. It could be said in local politics that the Welsh Liberal
:40:52. > :40:59.Democrats are in the big league themselves currently. In particular,
:40:59. > :41:03.they lead 3 large councils here in Swansea, Wrexham and Cardiff. How
:41:03. > :41:09.do the Liberal Democrats follow the swans example and avoid the big
:41:09. > :41:12.drop? Last year, Liberal Democrats suffered in the Assembly election.
:41:12. > :41:18.The UK coalition deal with the Conservatives and the spending cuts
:41:18. > :41:23.that followed were largely blamed. BBC Wales political editor believes
:41:23. > :41:30.the large Lib Dems are hoping for a very local local elections. They
:41:30. > :41:35.don't want people to be reminded of coalition policies that they
:41:35. > :41:38.themselves are uncomfortable with. That is why the Lib-Dems are not
:41:39. > :41:43.doing very well in the polls at the moment. They want this vote on
:41:43. > :41:48.local issues where they feel much safer. It is safer territory for
:41:48. > :41:58.them. Even greater success for the swans and the Premier League would
:41:58. > :42:00.bring leading European sides here. Victories in local elections for
:42:00. > :42:06.the Liberal Democrats bring much needed resources which allow them
:42:06. > :42:13.to perform better. The political commentator Gareth Hughes says more
:42:13. > :42:16.is at stake on May 3rd than who runs the council. Election machines
:42:16. > :42:21.for national elections and Assembly elections are based on people going
:42:22. > :42:25.out, delivering leaflets -- leaflets. Usually, the backbone of
:42:25. > :42:30.every campaign is the local councillor. If they lose a
:42:30. > :42:33.councillor, they will lose a lot of their machine. It is important they
:42:33. > :42:37.hold on for as many cars as easy as possible. According to their rivals,
:42:37. > :42:43.voters are being more positive about Liberal Democrats on the
:42:43. > :42:48.doorstep than they were a year ago. They might be managing expectations.
:42:48. > :42:52.They might believe they can take the key seats from the Lib Dems.
:42:52. > :42:57.The polls suggest that the Liberal Democrats will have a hard battle
:42:57. > :43:00.to hang onto them. Much like Liberty Stadium clashes this season,
:43:00. > :43:08.neither the Liberal Democrats or anyone else can be quite sure of
:43:08. > :43:11.the result. We were hoping to talk to Peter
:43:11. > :43:16.Black but we're having a few difficulties with the line to
:43:16. > :43:19.Swansea at the moment. William Graham, in much the same way as the
:43:19. > :43:27.Liberal Democrats are hoping to it -- for these to be local local
:43:27. > :43:31.elections, the same would be true for the Conservatives. Very true.
:43:31. > :43:40.We must not underestimate the Liberal Democrats. They are
:43:40. > :43:43.extremely good at local elections. In Newport, the majority is
:43:43. > :43:52.conservative but we rely very much on the coalition with the Liberal
:43:52. > :43:58.Democrats. If they can keep it local, then they might survive to
:43:58. > :44:04.extent. When you look at Lib Dem councils which are led by the Lib
:44:04. > :44:08.Dems, as Council Tax rises are below the average. They have cut
:44:08. > :44:13.allowances for councillors by 20 % in Swansea. These are very popular
:44:13. > :44:19.things which the party are doing. It is not what most voters are
:44:19. > :44:27.talking about. Voters are talking about pasty tax and granny tax. I
:44:27. > :44:30.was out on the streets yesterday and everybody was talking about
:44:30. > :44:40.national political issues because most people are worried about their
:44:40. > :44:41.
:44:41. > :44:45.own finances. They are worried about jobs. But there is a forum
:44:45. > :44:55.for people to express their concerns and that is usually the
:44:55. > :44:56.
:44:57. > :45:04.Westminster elections. These elections are about local services.
:45:05. > :45:09.I want people to vote for what they want. Whether the candidate is the
:45:09. > :45:14.right person to represent them. But different issues will bleed through
:45:14. > :45:19.from Westminster and the Assembly through to local council issues. We
:45:20. > :45:26.are proud of the fact that we have managed not to have any
:45:26. > :45:30.redundancies in a council because of the way we've managed the Budget.
:45:30. > :45:35.But honestly, on the streets, the things that people are talking
:45:35. > :45:40.about this week are not those local Government issues. The problem for
:45:40. > :45:46.the Liberal Democrats is that it's not so much the past attacks but
:45:46. > :45:54.the patsy tax. David Cameron made a visit to the Vale of Glamorgan last
:45:54. > :46:00.time around. Will he be here this time? He might be. The damage of an
:46:01. > :46:06.impact you think the Conservatives can make in Wales? -- how much.
:46:06. > :46:11.think we can take a few more seats. It is about getting it down to
:46:11. > :46:15.local issues and we have a good record. The big problems for Plaid
:46:15. > :46:19.Cymru and the Liberal Democrats is that for a lot up -- a lot of
:46:19. > :46:23.voters, it will feel like a battle between Labour and Conservatives.
:46:23. > :46:31.That might put people off voting at all. Turnout may well be a big
:46:31. > :46:39.problem. Next year, we have elections for the police
:46:39. > :46:43.commissioners as well. Last time, Labour lost 100 councillors and it
:46:43. > :46:48.was a bad time for Gordon Brown. How many of those councillors do
:46:48. > :46:57.you think you can see coming back into office? I am not very good at
:46:57. > :47:03.predictions. I have no idea. All I know is, people this week are going,
:47:03. > :47:07.hang on, how incompetent can a Government be. That is not directly
:47:07. > :47:12.the responsibility of the individual Tory or Lib-Dem
:47:12. > :47:17.councillor but I think it will hit their votes. One message the
:47:17. > :47:23.Conservatives believe as a positive message is that of wanting to
:47:23. > :47:32.freeze Council Tax in Wales. Do you think the Welsh voters will take
:47:32. > :47:37.much notice of that? I think they will. People are very pleased that
:47:37. > :47:41.the Conservative-controlled council has had no increase. It is
:47:41. > :47:45.particularly modest in Newport. It does worry people. People are
:47:45. > :47:55.worried about their jobs and employment. Therefore, expenditure
:47:55. > :47:59.on Council Tax is important. People are concerned about the money in
:47:59. > :48:04.the pocket at the moment. Wouldn't a Council Tax freeze give people
:48:04. > :48:08.more money? It is marginal. It is far more important to most voters
:48:08. > :48:12.whether they will have a job at all. With unemployment at the highest
:48:12. > :48:20.level it has been the 17 years, youth unemployment particularly
:48:20. > :48:25.high, there is a real sense of worry. The issue I've had most e-
:48:25. > :48:30.mails about this year is the NHS Bill which has nothing to do with
:48:30. > :48:34.Wales and yet many voters in Wales feel very strongly that this NHS
:48:34. > :48:37.bill is not going to do them any favours in the long term because it
:48:37. > :48:46.will introduce a privatised system of healthcare in England which will
:48:46. > :48:51.affect Wales. Secondly, it's about petrol prices. It was a
:48:51. > :48:55.millionaire's budget 10 days ago and could did plenty of favour at -
:48:55. > :49:02.- favours for David Cameron's friends but not for the people on
:49:02. > :49:05.the street. Not every party in Wales is producing a national
:49:05. > :49:11.manifesto for the local elections. Is that a reflection of the fact
:49:11. > :49:15.that voters do tend to vote on matters which are not local matters
:49:15. > :49:21.but they are Westminster politics? It is due to an extent but the real
:49:21. > :49:25.worry is turnout. All political parties have to maximise that as
:49:25. > :49:32.best they can. Labour will do well if they can maximise their voters.
:49:32. > :49:42.How do you go about mobilising the troops? There is a feeling that all
:49:42. > :49:42.
:49:42. > :49:45.politicians are out of touch. We have become too timid as
:49:45. > :49:52.politicians and we always play safe. We are frightened will be accused
:49:52. > :50:00.of making a mistake. We have to change we -- changed the way we do
:50:00. > :50:10.our politics. Unfortunately, we cannot make contact with Peter
:50:10. > :50:10.
:50:11. > :50:14.Black. Time now for a look back at the Week in 60 seconds.
:50:14. > :50:18.Assembly Conservatives and Lib Dems said they opposed regional pay in
:50:18. > :50:22.the public sector. The UK Government is looking to public
:50:22. > :50:30.sector bodies to introduce local pay rates. The lush and UK
:50:30. > :50:34.governments are disappointed with two energy companies are Anglesey.
:50:34. > :50:38.The Shadow Welsh Secretary faced the prospect of contempt of court
:50:38. > :50:46.proceedings after criticising a judge in his memoirs. He said he
:50:46. > :50:50.will defend free speech. The large Government launched a consultation
:50:50. > :50:54.on whether there should be a separate legal jurisdiction in
:50:54. > :51:00.Wales. It could mean that matters relating to laws passed by the
:51:00. > :51:02.Assembly would only be come before us courts. And past the gate, was
:51:02. > :51:12.it Leeds-Liverpool the David Cameron? No such problems to Carwyn
:51:12. > :51:15.
:51:15. > :51:24.Jones. He definitely had his in Bridgend.
:51:24. > :51:30.Let pick-up on a few of those points. Is this about VAT or is
:51:30. > :51:34.about class? A mixture I suspect. The Chancellor was talking about
:51:34. > :51:41.food in supermarkets. The press picked up on the tiniest element of
:51:41. > :51:51.that which was sausage rolls and passed these sold hot. It is not
:51:51. > :51:51.
:51:51. > :51:56.about the past is really? I am not a pasty fan. I thought the problem
:51:56. > :52:01.was that David Cameron lied. All that stuff about going to Leeds
:52:01. > :52:11.station, he was trying to pretend that he was somebody he was not. It
:52:11. > :52:13.
:52:13. > :52:22.is not about class. It seems to be about asking the Chancellor whether
:52:22. > :52:30.he's had a pasty or not. I've hardly had any discussion of a
:52:30. > :52:34.thrill policy. You had the cut to the top rate of tax benefitting
:52:34. > :52:39.some of millionaires to the tune of �40,000 year but you had pensioners
:52:39. > :52:45.paying significantly more in the conditions. My suspicion is that
:52:45. > :52:50.over the next two months, the granny tax is going to have as much
:52:50. > :52:57.impact as the 10 p tax rate had for Gordon Brown. We are going to give
:52:57. > :53:01.a word to Peter Black who joined us from Swansea. We were talking about
:53:01. > :53:05.the local elections. These can't be local enough for the Liberal
:53:05. > :53:12.Democrats can be? The local elections have always been local
:53:12. > :53:17.for the Liberal Democrats. We do a lot of work locally. We are going
:53:17. > :53:21.to be stressing that on the doorstep. How much do you fear a
:53:21. > :53:24.backlash? There is always going to be a backlash when you are in
:53:24. > :53:29.Government and doing things for the good of the country. You're making
:53:29. > :53:34.difficult decisions. People understand that. If these were
:53:34. > :53:40.poplar decisions, there would not be a backlash. I think some of the
:53:40. > :53:46.decisions are popular. The average person is going to be �45 a month
:53:46. > :53:50.better off. We're taking people out of tax. 1.1 million people in was a
:53:50. > :53:57.better off as a result of those changes. This is a budget that has
:53:57. > :54:02.helped ordinary people. A 20 % cut in allowances paid councillors in
:54:02. > :54:07.Swansea. 3.4 % Council Tax rise which is about the average. But
:54:07. > :54:11.voters are not gone to hear these message. All they were here about
:54:11. > :54:17.is less money coming in their pay cheque at the end of the month.
:54:17. > :54:24.Swansea did not raise its Council Tax by 3.4 % in that she froze it.
:54:24. > :54:28.People are responding to that. We have saved the million pounds over
:54:28. > :54:32.eight years. Some of that money has gone into freezing the Council Tax.
:54:32. > :54:38.Some has gone into cleaning up the city. We are investing the schools
:54:38. > :54:41.and we have reopened the leisure centre. That message on the
:54:41. > :54:46.doorstep is going down very well. We're telling people what we're
:54:46. > :54:53.doing and they are responding to it. I am confident that we will buck
:54:53. > :55:03.the trend once more and do very well. But he did not buck the trend
:55:03. > :55:03.
:55:03. > :55:08.in the Assembly elections. We kept five Assembly Members. I am
:55:08. > :55:13.confident we can do the same again. What would be a good result for the
:55:13. > :55:19.Liberal Democrats in a? A good result is where we continue having
:55:19. > :55:23.Liberal-Democrats influence at local Government level. More
:55:24. > :55:30.counsellors is always good but what is important is the benefits be
:55:30. > :55:34.delivering local people. Lower Council Tax, investment in local
:55:34. > :55:43.facilities, that is what Liberal Democrats have been delivering for
:55:43. > :55:45.the last eight years in Wales. Thank you very much. Let's go back
:55:46. > :55:55.to the Week That Was. A big announcement this week about
:55:56. > :55:58.
:55:58. > :56:04.nuclear power and Wylfa B. What is your reaction? The single statistic
:56:04. > :56:07.I threw back her Peter Black is that a family of �20,000 will be
:56:07. > :56:13.�253 worse off this year because of what the Liberal Democrats have
:56:13. > :56:23.voted for in Westminster. With regard to Wylfa B, I fear that the
:56:23. > :56:27.
:56:27. > :56:31.problem realise -- is that successive ministers have been
:56:31. > :56:37.opposed to nuclear power until the became the ministers and they have
:56:37. > :56:44.to adopt the opposite position. It has created uncertainty. It will
:56:44. > :56:50.affect thousands of jobs are Anglesey. An 8% rise in a passenger
:56:50. > :56:55.duty today. It is a duty that could eventually fall into the control of
:56:55. > :57:02.the Welsh Government. Is that something you would support? Not at
:57:02. > :57:06.this stage. We have to wait and see how it pans out. It was an
:57:06. > :57:16.environmental taxation. That seems to have been overlooked. Thank you