Saturday, September 19, 2015
Corbyn has created an opportunity for the Liberal Democrats to be a serious opposition to the Tories
In today's Western Mail, Kirsty Williams argues that Jeremy Corbyn's election means Lib Dems can be the 'serious opposition' to the Tories.
She said: “I don’t believe that Mr Corbyn is a danger to Britain. What I don’t believe Mr Corbyn is is the answer to the problems that our society faces.”
Ms Williams argues that Labour’s record in Wales shows that Mr Corbyn would not take Britain forward.
She said: “We spend more per head of population on our health service yet we get worse results for it. We’ve fallen behind on education.
“We haven’t got enough houses... Those policies that Jeremy Corbyn seems to think would be the answer to the problem, actually those policies have been implemented in Wales over the last 14/15 years and they haven’t delivered.”
It is a fair point. Kirsty then goes onto argue that Corbyn's election creates an opportunity for the Liberal Democrats:
“Liberal Democrats, I think, now have an opportunity to be the voice of serious opposition to the Tories and we can legitimately oppose Tory spending cuts because we offer a credible economic alternative to addressing the deficit...
“We can combine both a pro-business, strong economy message with a commitment to delivering first class public services but also a new focus on what makes us absolutely unique, which is as a Liberal party our commitment to those causes other people don’t want to talk about – you know, the defence of Freedom of Information, the defence of civil liberties [and] our international credentials and our green credentials.”
She says that we can build on the success of the Welsh Liberal Democrats in the Assembly:
Speaking with pride of concessions she has won from the Welsh Government, she said: “What I enjoy most about the job is being able to go to a school and look at the programmes they have been able to introduce in that school because of the Welsh Liberal Democrat pupil premium – I’ll never get sick of that. Being able to talk to young people who will be able to access cheaper bus fares this years because of the Welsh Liberal Democrats.
“Being able to go and see new equipment in hospitals that has been delivered because the Welsh Liberal Democrats persuaded a Labour Government to invest in a health technologies fund. That’s the bit of the job I love most...
“We’ve been able to punch above our weight and deliver for people.”
There will be a lot more of that in the run-up to May's Assembly elections.
She said: “I don’t believe that Mr Corbyn is a danger to Britain. What I don’t believe Mr Corbyn is is the answer to the problems that our society faces.”
Ms Williams argues that Labour’s record in Wales shows that Mr Corbyn would not take Britain forward.
She said: “We spend more per head of population on our health service yet we get worse results for it. We’ve fallen behind on education.
“We haven’t got enough houses... Those policies that Jeremy Corbyn seems to think would be the answer to the problem, actually those policies have been implemented in Wales over the last 14/15 years and they haven’t delivered.”
It is a fair point. Kirsty then goes onto argue that Corbyn's election creates an opportunity for the Liberal Democrats:
“Liberal Democrats, I think, now have an opportunity to be the voice of serious opposition to the Tories and we can legitimately oppose Tory spending cuts because we offer a credible economic alternative to addressing the deficit...
“We can combine both a pro-business, strong economy message with a commitment to delivering first class public services but also a new focus on what makes us absolutely unique, which is as a Liberal party our commitment to those causes other people don’t want to talk about – you know, the defence of Freedom of Information, the defence of civil liberties [and] our international credentials and our green credentials.”
She says that we can build on the success of the Welsh Liberal Democrats in the Assembly:
Speaking with pride of concessions she has won from the Welsh Government, she said: “What I enjoy most about the job is being able to go to a school and look at the programmes they have been able to introduce in that school because of the Welsh Liberal Democrat pupil premium – I’ll never get sick of that. Being able to talk to young people who will be able to access cheaper bus fares this years because of the Welsh Liberal Democrats.
“Being able to go and see new equipment in hospitals that has been delivered because the Welsh Liberal Democrats persuaded a Labour Government to invest in a health technologies fund. That’s the bit of the job I love most...
“We’ve been able to punch above our weight and deliver for people.”
There will be a lot more of that in the run-up to May's Assembly elections.
