Roger Williams

Liberal Democrats | Brecon and Radnorshire

BROWN’S VISION FOR WALES BLURRED - WILLIAMS

Commenting on the announcement that the personal tax allowance would be raised to compensate those affected by the scrapping of the 10p tax rate, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Wales Roger Williams MP said:

 

“The Prime Minister called off the election because he wanted to show the electorate his ‘vision’.  If this is what he was talking about, I think people will be sorely disappointed.

 

“A lot of these measures have already been announced, and those that are new aren’t going to provide the radical shift in power we really need.  The Prime Minister talks about empowering citizens, but this is the Government that have spent the last 10 years micromanaging everything from Whitehall.

 

“This programme introduces another 6 Home Affairs Bills – what makes the Government think that these will succeed where the 65 they’ve introduced in the last 11 years have failed.  It looks to me like more headline-grabbing and attention seeking from a Government still obsessed with spin.”

 

On Welsh legislation Roger Williams said:

 

“In the past few years there has been confusion about the Welsh aspects of Bills, so I hope that the Government have learnt that they need to be very thorough in examining the implications of legislation for Wales.  The last thing we want is a repeat of the recent 11th hour insertion of powers to protect nurses against violence.

 

“We will be pressing for the Assembly to have framework powers to decide on many of these measures, including those relating to skills and training, housing and the health service.  This example of the Assembly having to go cap-in-hand to the Government for new powers demonstrates exactly why we need full law-making powers.”

 

On the economy, Roger added:

 

“The Banking Bill will revisit the regulations that were set up by Brown himself, so I suppose this is an admission that he got those wrong.  The Government are right to target the economic difficulties facing our poorest citizens – but they are the ones who are still trying to sort out the mess from their disastrous 10p tax grab.

 

“They are on one hand introducing a bill to encourage the poor to save, while on the other taking more money away from low paid workers through tax. 

 

“There were no measures on fuel poverty or many of the other issues that are most pressing for low paid workers and families.  The Prime Minister will have to explain how his latest gimmicks will help people pay their bills.”

 

On welfare reform Roger added:

 

“The Welfare Reform Bill contains many measures that have already been announced.  Assessing the skills needs of the unemployed is a positive step, but I am worried that some of the rhetoric on incapacity benefit does not recognise the reality of people with disabilities who are trying to get back into work.”

 

On the Marine Bill Roger added:

 

“I welcome plans to finally introduce a Marine Bill.  We have waited a long time for this legislation, but I hope we can now work on ensuring that the outstanding marine environment in Wales gets the protection it deserves.  The Government will have to work closely with the Assembly to make sure we get a consistent policy that provides real protection.”