Tory Manifesto attacks on the elderly and their families

The provisions for new ‘death taxes’ in the Tory manifesto are the latest in a long line of examples where parties who have traditionally stood to defend people from the state, become, when in power the very thing that needs people to be defended against. UKIP stand full square with ordinary families who now face financial punishment for just getting old.

Patrick O’Flynn the UKIP Economics spokesman commented, “The Conservatives are planning to unleash the biggest tax raid in history on pensioner households. It is unbelievable that the elderly should be subjected to a new death tax by a party that pretends to defend their interests. UKIP will fight this just as hard as we are fighting Philip Hammond’s plan for a national insurance attack on the self-employed.”

Tory Manifesto offers a blank cheque for Britain – John McDonnell

Now the
Tories have published their manifesto in full we can see how a party that
has added £700 billion to the national debt since 2010 really approaches the
public finances.

Today they
have produced an 84 page document in which they made 60 spending commitments
but provide costings for only one, just a day after Philip Hammond revealed he
had no idea how much High Speed 2 will cost.

This
contrasts with Labour’s fully-costed manifesto, published on Tuesday that
identified funding covering all spending commitments.

Commenting,
John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, said:

“The Tories’ numbers don’t add up. They have published an
84 page blank cheque that provides a tax giveaway guarantee for big business,
while offering a roll of the dice for working families with no commitments to
rule out rises in income tax and National Insurance.

“Now we can
see why Theresa May is running scared of debating Jeremy Corbyn, when she
publishes a document like this that contains more questions than answers. It
also further shows how her party has managed to add £700 billion to the
national debt since 2010, as they won’t be straight with the British people on
how much their plans for a wealthy few truly cost.

“One of the few revenue
raisers they identified was withdrawing free school meals from children and
withdrawing support for pensioners struggling to heat their homes – this just
sums up the Tory approach.

“This is the
equivalent of the Prime Minister going
to the shops with the nation’s cheque book and not
checking the price of the goods as she puts them in the trolley.

“All we know if the
Tories are returned next month is that if you’re a pensioner you face the
penalty of losing your winter fuel payments, control of your home, and the value of your pension.

“Today has
revealed that only the Labour Party at this election will stand up for
pensioners, and the 95 percent of taxpayers to build an economy for the many
not the few.”

Vaughan Gething welcomes improving NHS performance

Health Secretary Vaughan Gething has welcomed new statistics that show improved NHS performance across a range of measures, despite increasing demand for services across Wales.

Thursday 18 May 2017

Health Secretary Vaughan Gething has welcomed new statistics that show improved NHS performance across a range of measures, despite increasing demand for services across Wales.

The latest statistics show:

over 80% of immediately life-threatening ambulance calls received a response within eight minutes, a record high since the introduction of the new clinical model
the number of people experiencing delayed transfers of care from hospital remains close to record lows, despite the increasing demand for health and social care services
the number of people waiting over eight weeks for a diagnostic test is the lowest for six years
A higher percentage of patients spent less than four hours in all emergency care facilities from arrival until admission, transfer or discharge and 922 fewer patients waited more than 12 hours compared to the previous month
the end of March saw the best performance against the 26 week and 36 week referral to treatment targets for three years
performance against the Urgent Suspected Cancer target is the best since November 2014
demand for NHS services is increasing across every single activity and performance measure monitored by Statistics for Wales

Vaughan Gething said:

“We are seeing improvements across a range of performance measures in the NHS in Wales. This is happening as more and more people are seeking access to NHS treatment covered by these measures.

“Investment in the NHS is the highest it has ever been. This year we have invested an additional £240m in the Welsh NHS to meet the ongoing growth in demand and costs of services.

“I want to thank NHS staff for their efforts. We will continue to work to improve performance for patients but these statistics paint a very positive picture for Wales.”

Jeremy Corbyn response to the launch of the Conservative manifesto

Jeremy Corbyn, Leader
of the Labour Party, responding
to the launch of the Conservative manifesto, said:

“Millions of pensioners are
betrayed by Theresa May’s manifesto. She is hitting older people with a classic
Nasty Party triple whammy: Scrapping the triple lock on pensions,
removing the Winter Fuel Allowance and forcing those who need social care
to pay for it with their homes.

“The Conservatives’ record is one
of broken promises and failure. They promised to raise living standards, but
working families are set to be on average over £1,400 a year worse off. They
promised to improve all standards of NHS care, but A&Es are in crisis. They
promised to protect school spending, but schools are facing crippling cuts and
class sizes are soaring. You can’t trust a word Theresa May says.

“Despite Theresa May’s warm
words, she leads a party that has created a rigged economy that only works for
the super-rich. The Conservatives have not changed. While the Labour Party
has promised to protect low and middle earners from any tax rises, all Theresa
May has promised is a cut to Corporation Tax for their big business friends.
Unlike the Conservatives, Labour is standing up for the many, not the few.”

New housing development made possible thanks to Welsh Government funding

Cwrt Yr Eglwys in Canton was developed by Taff Housing Association in partnership with Cardiff City Council and Pendragon Construction.

The scheme consists of 16 one bedroom flats and four, three bedroom houses.

The Cabinet Secretary said the success of the scheme was a result of good partnership working.

Carl Sargeant said:

“I am always keen to visit schemes which have received Welsh Government funding, to see for myself the benefits our investment can bring to communities.

“I am pleased we have been able to support Taff Housing Association in this development with funding from the Social Housing Grant programme and the Smaller Properties programme. In 2016/17 we made available £4.2 million from the Social Housing Grant programme to support the delivery of affordable housing schemes in Cardiff which are either on site or about to start on site.

“Increasing the supply of homes in Wales remains a top priority for the Welsh Government, which is why we have pledged to deliver 20,000 affordable homes during this administration. I am committed to working with developers, housing associations and local authorities to bring forward schemes which will increase the supply of good quality affordable homes.”