General Election Party Election Broadcasts: Welsh Labour Party

I suppose you could say I'm lucky.

I've lived my whole life here in Wales

under a Welsh Labour Government.

Of course, things are not always perfect.

There are always tough decisions to be made,

especially with the Tories in London cutting the money Wales gets,

but I've always felt that the Government here has been on my side.

They want to do the right thing by the people here.

But it's not always been like that.

And although they want you to forget it now, I'll never forgive

the Tories for what they've done

to my family, friends and my community.

You know, it makes my blood boil, watching the Tories on TV,

glossing over the terrible things they've done to Wales.

Back in the '80s, they pushed communities like mine

over the edge, put thousands on the dole

and said it was a price worth paying.

Well, we can't let them do the same thing again.

And in this election, a vote for anyone but Welsh Labour

helps the Tories win. It's that simple.

We used to vote Plaid Cymru and even campaigned for them,

but not any more.

They claim to hate the Tories, but Plaid Cymru

has already tried to put them into government here in Wales.

Our country can't afford another five years of UK Tory Government.

They ran our country and our communities into the ground

the last time they were in power.

Because the very things I love about this country are the things

that the Tories did their level best to destroy - the community,

the compassion, the fierce belief in social justice that welcomed me

when I moved here, and it made me want to give something back

to the country that had given me so much.

And that's why I stood to be a Welsh Labour councillor.

I was proud to be elected on these values, these Welsh Labour values

that say no matter who you are or where you come from,

you have a stake in our country and you have a contribution to make.

The Tories said there's no such thing as society.

Well, here in Wales, we know that simply isn't true.

Growing up in the 1980s, I remember all too well

the Tory onslaught on Wales.

Now today, I'm proud to serve alongside my Welsh Labour colleagues

here in our National Assembly,

where we're once again doing our best to stand up for Wales.

And despite the UK Conservative Government slashing

our budget by over £1 billion,

we're determined to put our Welsh Labour values into practice.

That means building new schools and transforming our communities,

while keeping Tory grammar schools out of Wales.

It means putting millions more into social care,

to give our pensioners the dignity they deserve, whilst avoiding

the social care crisis happening under the Tories in England.

But we're doing all of this under the shadow of

a ruthless UK Conservative Government.

With Labour in power in Westminster, we could do so much more.

And we did - I was proud to serve in a Labour Government

that delivered for Wales.

It delivered devolution, it delivered record numbers of police

on our streets and record levels of funding for the people of Wales.

That Labour Government delivered the National Minimum Wage,

increased protection for workers,

the New Deal for the unemployed, pension credits,

invested in our manufacturing industries,

outlawed fox hunting, signed the Kyoto Protocol on climate change

and helped deliver lasting peace in Northern Ireland.

This is what you can achieve in power.

This is why we need a strong team of Welsh Labour MPs back in Parliament,

fighting for their communities and delivering for Wales.

And in recent weeks, I've been out campaigning and meeting people

the length and breadth of Wales.

I've seen the difference Welsh Labour are making in government,

but I've also heard first-hand just what the risks are

if the Tories get back in.

And I just won't let that happen - I got into politics

through my anger at what the Tories did to our country a generation ago.

We got we were done with that kind of politics,

done with the neglect of our public services

that meant record waiting lists at hospitals and crumbling schools,

done with gutting whole industries like mining and steel

and leaving communities without hope.

And make no mistake, that bleak threat still continues to haunt us.

We simply can't afford five more years of Tory cuts,

indifference and cruelty.

Welsh Labour is delivering -

delivering the best GCSE results, a living wage in the NHS,

record employment,

but all this is at risk if the Tories trample all over Wales again.

So, we need your support, more now than ever,

to fight the Tory cuts and together, to stand up for Wales.