Saturday, March 28, 2015
Plaid Cymru launch leaves them with no USP
Yesterday's Plaid Cymru election launch was splashed across all Welsh media with their message that voters need to seize the opportunity to take the future of Wales into their own hands. However, closer inspection indicates that what is actually on offer is just Labour-lite with a dragon attached.
The promise that the nationalists will unite with the SNP and the Greens to form a negotiating bloc in the event of a hung Parliament is fair enough, but it is unlilkely that such an unstable alliance will prove attractive to anybody.
What is most bizarre about Plaid's position though is that this loose coalition of competing interests will only talk to Labour. That certainly fits in with their leftist leanings but leaves them with no leverage in forcing Ed Miliband's party to accept their demands.
More importantly, the message it sends out to voters is that Plaid Cymru is just an alternative Labour Party. If that is the case then why vote nationalist when people can choose the real thing? It leaves Plaid Cymru strategy in a muddle and with no unique selling point.
The promise that the nationalists will unite with the SNP and the Greens to form a negotiating bloc in the event of a hung Parliament is fair enough, but it is unlilkely that such an unstable alliance will prove attractive to anybody.
What is most bizarre about Plaid's position though is that this loose coalition of competing interests will only talk to Labour. That certainly fits in with their leftist leanings but leaves them with no leverage in forcing Ed Miliband's party to accept their demands.
More importantly, the message it sends out to voters is that Plaid Cymru is just an alternative Labour Party. If that is the case then why vote nationalist when people can choose the real thing? It leaves Plaid Cymru strategy in a muddle and with no unique selling point.
