Labour is failing Wales, Plaid Cymru said at the launch of its general election campaign.

The Welsh nationalists on Wednesday put housing at the top of their campaign agenda, warning that many young people were now unable to afford a home.

With a Westminster poll expected on May 5, Plaid is seeking to defend the four seats it currently holds.

Parliamentary leader Elfyn Llwyd said: "We want Wales to be a country that people look up to as a beacon of hope but instead we live in a land where young people can’t afford a home; and where parents are seeing the dreams they had for their children evaporate before their very eyes."

At a press conference in Cardiff, the party revealed that its campaign slogan will be: "We can build a better Wales".

Besides housing, other key themes for the nationalists will include establishing "a proper parliament, fair funding for Wales, and a fair taxation for all," and a pledge to tackle global warming.

Llwyd said: "The people of Wales are working harder than ever, working nights, working weekends, working all the hours to make ends meet.

"We will fight for those families who are having to hurt themselves to give their kids a chance.

"We will fight for those workers who have seen their pensions melt away and deserve to be helped. We will fight for elderly people living alone in fear, and for young people living without hope in the clutches of drugs.

"Plaid Cymru is here to defend those rights, because we believe in this nation’s future."

Adam Price, the party's economics spokesman, said Labour was defending an "appalling record".

The war in Iraq and longer NHS waiting lists in Wales will be important issues for the public, he said.

"Our challenge to the Welsh people is simple: join us and together we will revitalise this country," Price added.

"And our message to the Labour Party is equally direct:  your time has come and gone. It's time for change in Wales."