Welsh Affairs

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 3:10 pm on 25 February 2010.

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Photo of Hywel Williams Hywel Williams Shadow PC Spokesperson (Education), Shadow PC Spokesperson (Work and Pensions), Shadow PC Spokesperson (Health), Shadow PC Spokesperson (International Development) 3:10, 25 February 2010

Indeed it would, but the public debate so often seems to be on features of the NHS in England. Perhaps that will change as the election approaches.

On the care at home Green Paper, which is another concern of older people, the UK Government have long promised to do something about the cost of care, dating back well into the last century. The Green Paper that was rolled out could apply directly only to England, because care is devolved, but then disability living allowance and attendance allowance came to the fore, and it was said that they could be used to pay for care. The implications of the Green Paper for Wales were unclear. Vulnerable people in Wales who depend on the DLA and attendance allowance were alarmed by press reports, some of which were extremely unclear, and many of which did not refer to the England-only nature of the proposals. Those proposals have changed steadily, and I understand that now the intention is that, for existing claimants and those over 65, the DLA and attendance allowance will be looked at for those in England only. I look forward to the Government explaining this issue further.

The Conservative proposals for residential care costs are even more irrelevant to Wales, given that they depend on the taking out of insurance policies at a cost of £8,000-although the figures are disputed and others say that the real costs would be somewhat higher. There would be a problem for Welsh pensioners who depend on the retirement pension. Age Concern says that all older people should enjoy an adequate standard of living, but 119,000 Welsh pensioners are living in poverty. That is why we would introduce our policy of a living pension, to bring together the pension credit and the current retirement pension, which would be paid for out of the tax relief that now goes to higher rate taxpayers on their pension contributions.

This will be a very important election. All the polls now point to a Parliament with no party in overall control, so there will be an opportunity to hear the voices of the people of Wales which are so often submerged in the big party battles in this place.

I said earlier that St. David had several injunctions for us, including the exhortation to be joyous. I am afraid that my speech has been somewhat pessimistic, but I am by nature an optimist, and I have a deep belief in the ability of the people of Wales to overcome difficulties. We are survivors, as demonstrated by our mastery of the elements of the industrial revolution, the overcoming of the terrible depression of the 1930s and the relative prosperity of the 1960s and 1970s, and our coping with the disaster of Tory rule under Mrs. Thatcher and then under Mr. Major. However, we can be much more than survivors if we so choose. There is a carping tendency in Wales. We can talk ourselves down, but I do not want to be part of that.

I am a great admirer of Idris Davies-I suppose that I should call him the socialist poet-the author of "Gwalia Deserta" and "The Angry Summer: A Poem of 1926". I should point out to Mr. Touhig that Idris Davies was also a Plaid Cymru member, at least in his last days. He was remarkably prescient. In his poem, "The Telephones are Ringing", he may have been foreseeing recent events in this place when he says:

"The telephones are ringing and treachery is in the air and the smooth ones, the experts at compromise are bowing in Whitehall".