Party Policies Compare Respect policies against Plaid Cymru policies

We promise to be tough to those who seek to exploit Britain's soft-touch approach to taxation, and this particularly includes those working within the financial services sector.

We support the idea of a balanced economy with industry as a key part of it an industry where the workers are properly treated and where they are guaranteed a job for life.

From the 2010 party manifesto:

Investment in the infrastructure of rural communities; healthcare, education, leisure facilities and environmental development

Regulation of the large supermarket chains to ensure that food production and food prices are in the interests of all, not the large farmers and businesses

Secure rights of tenure for small farmers and small businesses at affordable rents

Provision of finance at low interest rates for small businesses and small farmers

Grants for small farmers to switch to organic farming.

Incentives for small farmers to form co-operatives to reduce costs.

Re-establish the marketing boards.

Source: Respect party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We believe the police need to do more to rid itself of the institutional racism that is inherent within the police so that the police and communities can begin working together on issues of collective security.

From the 2010 party manifesto:

The scrapping of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders.

Purge racists from the police and prison services.

Make the police accountable to the community.

Justice for all those who have been killed in custody.

A complete overhaul of the criminal justice system to end discrimination.

An end to police harassment and racist stop and search.

A serious attack on the causes of crime.

Build supportive communities and tackle social exclusion.

More resources for drug treatment and rehabilitation.

Source: Respect party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Respect stands against the idea that it is acceptable to savagely cut public services whilst simultaneously renewing a gigantic but ultimately useless nuclear weapons project.

In keeping with our foreign policy that seeks to strike a more balanced foreign policy; we should stop seeking to violate the terms of the non-proliferation treaty and encourage other countries to do the same.

In line with our foreign policy, Respect is for the closure of all extra-continental military bases.

Respect believes therefore that a British foreign policy that looked more towards our own place in the world rather than focusing solely on our relationship with the old unipolar power, the USA, would be a much more sensible option.

We support the idea that Britain should leave NATO. Furthermore, NATO should be disbanded and replaced with a European Union defence organisation which does not involve the United States and which reflects the interests of its own member states.

From the 2010 Party Manifesto:

A massive cut in military spending. Disband Britain’s weapons of mass destruction, scrap nuclear weapons, decommission Trident.

Transfer resources from military to useful production, nationalise the arms industry.

Source: Respect party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We in Respect reject the iron-clad austerity policies of the three main political parties in Britain. We need a new economic system which isn't dependent on financial services and which is constantly in thrall to the banks. But more importantly, we reject the idea that the British people have to pay for the mess that was not caused by them.

We stand against the Tories as they deflect blame away from the people who caused the financial crisis and their attempts to make poor people pay for the crimes of rich people by their savage cuts to the welfare state and their crass and mendacious attempts to turn poor people against each other.

We stand against the role of the Liberal Democrats, who are keeping the Tories in government and who are therefore complicit in their dirty work.

We stand against the Labour Party, who no longer properly stand up for the rights of working people and who are complicit in developing Britain's over-reliance with the financial services sector in the first place.

Respect stands in defence of people who have nothing to sell but their labour; those who certainly shouldn't be paying our way out of the economic crisis.

From the 2010 party manifesto:

Abolish VAT, as an indirect tax, and replace it with increased direct taxation.

Raise the top rate of income tax .

Raise the tax threshold to ensure that no one on the minimum wage pays income tax.

A big increase in corporation tax, with an additional tax on the super-profits profits of the oil companies and the banks.

A turnover tax on multinationals doing businesses in Britain.

Raise the top rate of inheritance tax whilst putting higher duties on other transfers of wealth and financial transaction.

Increased stamp duty on stocks and shares.

A crack down on tax evasion by big companies and action against offshore tax havens.

Abolish the ceiling on National Insurance contributions.

Source: Respect party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Respect campaigns for an end to tuition fees. We stand up for the rights of students to campaign against cuts to their educational standards and for a free education from the cradle to the grave.

From the 2010 party manifesto:

A fully comprehensive school system providing a common core curriculum for all until 18. End selection. Scrap SATs and other unnecessary tests.

Education free at point of use, from pre-school to FE, to university and adult learning.

A radical reduction in class size.

A qualified teacher for every class.

Better pay for teachers and other education workers.

An end to specialist school status, schools can come together in order to share facilities and expertise where feasible.

Free after-school clubs and play centres for all that need them.

Full and part-time nursery and day-care places as a right, for all who want them.

An end to charitable status and tax breaks for private schools.

Abolish tuition fees and student loans. Free education and a living grant for all further and higher education students.

Free and life-long access for all to high quality vocational education and adult education.

Urgent action to address the underachievement of black children and others in schools.

Full involvement of teachers, parents and pupils in tackling inequality in education.

An end to the privatisation of local authority leisure services.

Stop the sale of playing fields.

Source: Respect party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Grants and incentives for rural communities to undertake environmental protection.

A review of coastal erosion with the costs for beach and other coastal improvements to be met from direct government funding.

Source: Respect party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Respect is in favour of a referendum on EU membership.

Respect is a pro-Europe party, but not of the EU in its present form. It is untenable to continue pretending to be a part of a union whilst pretending we would rather go it alone.

Respect will campaign to be a central part of Europe. However, we will campaign, along with our sister left-wing parties around Europe, for the EU to be a more inclusive and democratic union.

Source: Respect party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

From the 2010 Party Manifesto:

End the discrimination against women at work during pregnancy.

Extend parental leave entitlements to all employees regardless of size of workforce.

Full enforcement of equal pay legislation. Fine employers who flout this legislation.

Universal childcare in publicly-funded nurseries for the full working day, as well as after-school clubs for all children up to 11 years old.

Source: Respect party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Our parliament, with its 600+ members, is far too large and far too expensive to sustain.

Along with our support for proportional representation, we support a large reduction in the number of members of parliament.

We are calling for a parliament that is half its present size, where MPs are paid a wage in line with careers of equivalent responsibility. Their staff should be employed by the state and not by the MP themselves.

We support the idea that 16 year olds should get the vote.

From the 2010 Party Manifesto:

The repeal of the anti-union laws, as well as the automatic right to union recognition. The right to hold trade union meetings during working hours. Employment tribunals to have the powers to enforce reinstatement and protect trade union representatives.

The minimum wage to be raised to £7.40 per hour, which is the European Union decency threshold.

Source: Respect party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

From the 2010 Party Manifesto:

A fully-funded, publicly-owned NHS, delivering care free at the point of use.

Opposition to PFI schemes; all privatised services to be brought back into the NHS.

No further closure of local hospitals or specialist units.

Bring all agencies administering care services into publicownership under NHS or local government control.

The abolition of charges for prescriptions, foot care, dentistry, eye and hearing services.

The expansion of psychiatric health services.

An expansion of training opportunities for doctors, nursing andrelated services.

Source: Respect party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

From the 2010 party manifesto:

No privatisation of council housing.

End the right to buy scheme.

Publicly-owned land should be used to build council housing, not sold off to property speculators to build houses local people can’t afford.

Provide the financial means for local authorities to invest directly in council housing.

Give council tenants, who have been forced to privatise to gain investment in their homes, the right to return to local authority ownership.

Give local authorities powers to enforce repairs and improvements on private sector landlords and ensure they are more effectively regulated.

Legislate to prevent landlords from setting excessive rents.

Abolish the Council Tax and replace it with a progressive local income tax.

Review the business rate system.

Reintroduce council house building to rural communities and stop council house sales.

Abolish council tax relief on second homes, and ensure that people can afford to live in their local area.

Source: Respect party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Respect is in favour of a balanced and fair immigration policy.

We are in favour of an EU Referendum, in which we would campaign to remain a part of Europe.

Until then, we wholeheartedly welcome all EU migrants who seek to work hard in Britain, just as many British people work abroad.

Respect is in favour of a colour-blind points-based immigration system which is weighted in favour of those coming from Commonwealth countries to which we owe a historic debt.

From the 2010 Party Manifesto:

Migrant workers and asylum seekers to have the right to work, with the full protection of employment laws and regulations.

Defend the rights of refugees to political asylum; oppose any new legislation designed to further undermine it.

Oppose the EU’s ‘Fortress Europe’ policy.

Reinstate the right of asylum seekers to seek employment; an amnesty for all ‘illegal workers’.

End the policy of dispersal.

End the use of detention centres for asylum seekers.

End the White List of ‘safe’ countries and end deportations.

Give asylum seekers and refugees the right to food and shelter, plus access to education, health and social services.

Source: Respect party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

From the 2010 party manifesto:

Bring the railways back into public ownership, under democratic control, and integrate the railways, bus services and urban light rail.

Invest in a cheap and integrated transport system to reduce the need to use cars, making the current road-building programme unnecessary.

New road building only with the agreement of the communities affected.

More frequent passenger journeys and better staffing of stations, trains and buses (guards and conductors) to encourage people back onto public transport.

A full programme of cycle routes in our towns and cities.

Hefty taxes on company cars and on company parking spaces.

Bring air traffic control back into public ownership.

Source: Respect party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We call for ATOS to be scrapped and for a comprehensive welfare system to be provided for those who need it.

From the 2010 Party Manifesto:

An immediate rise in the basic state pension to £110 per week for all pensioners

Restoration of the link between the state pension and average earnings.

Annual increases in the state pension in line with wages or prices, whichever is the greater.

Reduction of the age for receipt of the state pension to sixty for men and women.

Free long term care for all pensioners.

A national free travel scheme for all pensioners.

End attacks on occupational pension scheme; final salary schemes for all employees.

Statutory occupational pension schemes covering all employees in both the public and private sector with compulsory contributions by employers plus full liability by employers in the event of bankruptcy.

Source: Respect party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We support a policy of progressive taxation, not least because providing economic relief for those in most need of it will benefit our economy in the long run.

Our workers need the basic dignity of a living wage; not just the minimum but something which assures the basic living requirements of everyone in the country.

Policies from the 2010 Party Manifesto:

End the discrimination against women at work during pregnancy.

Extend parental leave entitlements to all employees regardless of size of workforce.

Full enforcement of equal pay legislation. Fine employers who flout this legislation.

Universal childcare in publicly-funded nurseries for the full working day, as well as after-school clubs for all children up to 11 years old.

From the 2010 Party Manifesto:

End work-place discrimination on the basis of age, ethnicity, gender or life style choices.

Tougher penalties for employers who discriminate.

Source: Respect party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

The Respect Party firmly believes that if the U.K is to truly promote peace, democracy and stability throughout the world, then it should do so through diplomatic and peaceful means.

The Respect Party was born out of the anti-war movement, which opposed the invasion and occupation of both Afghanistan and Iraq. It is clear for all to see, that both wars have proven to be a disaster for all parties involved.

The Respect Party has dedicated itself to the struggle of deterring our political elite from, ever again, deciding to invade and occupy other people's land.

We are proud to say that we are still closely associated with the Stop the War Coalition, with whom we continue to oppose foreign invasion and occupation of other people's countries.

We want Britain to move away from the foreign wars of the Coalition of the Killing and strike a policy which acts in our own national interest. We have always argued that if you make war against Muslims abroad, you will inevitably make war with them at home and this is precisely what we have done.

Oppose Islamaphobia and the demonisation of Muslim communities.

Repeal New Labour and Tory restrictions on assembly and association and all the anti-terrorism legislation.

From the 2010 party manifesto:

Cancel the third world debt, with no strings or conditions.

End the ‘structural adjustment’ conditions, which impoverish third world peoples.

For a major increase in aid spending in the impoverished countries on health education and welfare.

Introduce a tax on currency speculation.

Take action to curb the power of the multinationals.

We want a Europe free from the policies of the WTO and the IMF, free from NATO, free from foreign military bases, free from weapons of mass destruction.

Source: Respect party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Start a 'buy local' campaign, including legislation to improve public procurement, as well as improving opportunities for Welsh based business within the procurement chain to create 50,000 new jobs.

A Business bank for Wales to support SMEs and with promotion of the Welsh economy as a priority

Support new infrastructure projects which create jobs now and increase connectivity, such as the Valleys Metro, and special purpose investment vehicles such as Build 4 Wales.

Promote co-operative and mutual forms of business, including social enterprises, to develop and improve business and entrepreneurial skills in our communities.

Plaid Cymru would extend the Business Rate support scheme we established during our time in Government to cover all businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or less. The scheme would cover 80,000 businesses across Wales and would relieve 70,000 businesses of having to pay business rates at all.

Businesses with a rateable value of up to 10,000 would receive 100% relief from business rates with tapered relief for businesses between £10,000 and £15,000.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We believe that crime and justice policy should be decided here in Wales, so that we can set our priorities for keeping our streets safe.

Plaid Cymru calls for a Justice (Devolution of Powers Wales) Bill. We will continue to campaign for Welsh control over our crime and justice system in its entirety, including policing and youth justice, so that Wales can fully tackle the complex problems of individual and community safety and rehabilitation.

We call for the building of juvenile and women's prisons and we fully support a prison in the north of Wales. We are also committed to the campaign for bilingual juries in Wales and a separate legal jurisdiction for Wales.

We believe that crime is committed for a wide number of interlocking reasons and so can only be dealt with through a full range of policies for the economy, education, social justice and the regeneration of communities.

We call for a National Community Safety Strategy for Wales, more drug rehabilitation places and programmes, drugs and alcohol education in every school in Wales and better amenities for young people in their communities.

We also want to see the introduction of stricter controls on how drinks are advertised and marketed, greater support for victims and witnesses to help people feel safer in their communities and a political commitment to restorative justice and community sentencing where appropriate.

Plaid Cymru has noted the disproportionate number of ex-service personnel in prison and has called for a strategic review of the ways in which welfare support is administered to veterans.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Plaid Cymru did not support the war in Iraq; in fact, we vociferously opposed it. Moreover, our MPs led the campaign to impeach Tony Blair for war crimes.

We also opposed the invasion of Afghanistan from the beginning and we now call for a move towards a situation in the country where Afghans can be safe to develop their own country without external political influence. Plaid Cymru therefore call for a sufficient humanitarian framework following the gradual withdrawal of troops.

We do, of course, believe that while they are there, the young men and women in the armed forces should be protected and cared for, so we have called for a Military Well-Being Act to promote and safeguard the physical and mental health and wellbeing of military personnel.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Plaid Cymru propose a new Green Skills Construction College that would specialise in green energy.

The party would establish a publicly-owned energy company.

A Plaid Cymru government would rebuild our economy around our strengths and create an environment in which the private sector can flourish. Rather than hand out individual support packages to individual businesses, we would make Wales an attractive place to do business through creating a skilled workforce specialising in high value sectors, investing in our internal and external infrastructure and making finance more accessible.

Plaid Cymru has called for a new arm’s length, publically-owned Bank of Wales business investment bank. The bank would make finance available to small businesses at competitive rates, encouraging existing businesses to invest in themselves, potentially boosting employment and encouraging new business startups.

Plaid believes that we should abolish the unfair and outdated council tax system and introduce a local income tax. A local income tax would be based on the ability to pay, not on the value of property. It would be fairer and more efficient.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

A single national curriculum will provide for core learning whilst enabling greater flexibility for schools and professionals to innovate, e.g. outdoor learning, third foreign language, Information Technology.

We will respect the professionalism of teachers and assistants, expect Continuous Professional Development and reward good practice with less bureaucracy

Examinations should be independently regulated, including a reduction in the confusing range that pupils are allowed to sit.

There should be a closer alignment between under-graduate and vocational skills, especially at the higher level.

We call for a study into the feasibility of providing every infant school child in Wales with free school meals as there is a clear link between poor diet and educational attainment.

We will continue to oppose foundation schools, academies and free schools, which lack public accountability and in many cases have poor staffing practices, including lack of union recognition and weaker conditions of service for staff, as well as introducing the private sector into our education system.

We strongly believe that every child in Wales has the right to education in the Welsh language, including pupils with Special Educational Needs and we will continue to push for strengthened targets.

We support the recommendations made in the review of qualifications for 14-19 year olds to retain GCSEs and A Levels and to develop and enhance the Welsh Baccalaureate as a framework for learning for this age group.

We will call for the Welsh government to look at moving from a per-pupil funding mechanism to a funding model based on the catchment area. It is crucial that education authorities have sufficient resources to provide Welsh medium education and adequate services for children with special educational needs.

The Party of Wales will not support any further increases in tuition fees for our higher education students, and will seek the abolition of tuition fees as and when public finances allow.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

The National Assembly has agreed, with cross-party support, to reduce emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2020. Plaid will work to ensure that this decision is turned into meaningful and effective action to achieve the full reduction.

Plaid Cymru demands the full devolution of all powers over energy policy to the National Assembly.

Wales must take full advantage of our renewable energy resources and support micro generation and other small-scale sustainable power generation schemes, including tidal, wave-power, on-shore and off-shore wind, hydro and biomass.

Our preferred option for harnessing the energy of the Severn is a combination of lagoons and tidal-stream turbines which would minimise environmental damage while maximising zero-carbon electricity generation at a cost affordable to consumers.

We call for emission performance standards for all new power stations and we reaffirm our opposition to the construction of any new nuclear power stations in Wales.

Plaid in Westminster will continue to campaign for a windfall tax on energy companies to help pay for grants for insulation for lower income families.

We will continue to oppose the use of waste incinerators and support binding targets for waste prevention. We support recycling targets of 80% of domestic waste by 2020 and the introduction of a higher landfill tax.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We are committed to an independent Wales as a full member of the European Union.

We will continue to support further democratic reform of the EU.

We are committed to increased representation for Wales in the EU. This includes a fair number of MEPs for Wales, a European Parliament office in Wales, a rotating European Commissioner and most importantly, a vote for Wales in the Council of Ministers.

Plaid will continue to fight for transitional European financial support to continue after 2013.

We support further enlargement of the EU provided that those countries that wish to join improve conditions of democracy, justice and the rule of law. We support ongoing membership negotiations with Turkey as a means to encourage democratic reform in that country, improve women's rights and promote the democratic interests of the Kurdish people.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Plaid Cymru has three policy options for childcare: 1) Free optional full-time Foundation Phase place for all three and four year olds, 2) Top-up the existing ten hours Foundation Phase place offered to three and four year olds with twenty hours free childcare, and 3) Ten hours free childcare for three year olds on top of the existing ten hour Foundation Phase place and twenty hours free childcare for two year olds.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We oppose the micro management of local councils by central government and are committed to ensuring that local councils have the freedom and funding to respond appropriately to local issues.

In the long term, Plaid would create an All-Wales Civil Service, with civil servants and officers able to move freely between the National Assembly for Wales, Local Government in Wales and The National Health Service in Wales. We believe that this model will encourage cooperation, the sharing of best practice, and will result in more joined-up thinking.

We will make sure that voluntary groups, local businesses and individuals have every opportunity to share their views on decisions impacting their local community. We will support the campaign for participatory budgeting in our local authorities to ensure that local citizens have a voice in how money is spent.

Plaid is committed to a fairer voting system and will continue to campaign for the introduction of the Single Transferable Vote for every election in Wales including local authority elections. We will also continue to call for the right to vote at 16 as a way of encouraging young people to take part in the political process.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Plaid Cymru wants to train, retain and recruit a well-motivated, caring and expert NHS and social care workforce. We want to increase our capacity to train the future medical workforce and we will incentivise training in hard-to-recruit areas and specialisms.

We want to see the Welsh NHS participate in more clinical trials and research. We want to see improved availability of diagnostics for cancers and chronic conditions. We want to see a medical service that is judged on its outcomes for people, not on inputs.

Where individuals have developed substance addictions, then we want to provide a service to enable people to conquer their addiction.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

The next Plaid Cymru government would introduce several schemes designed to help young people in Wales get onto the housing ladder.

We would change planning laws to ensure that local people benefited from housing developments, and that young people were no longer forced to move away from their communities due to second home owners pushing up prices and lack of high wage employment in many parts of Wales.

We will reform the way in which social housing is allocated to stop abuses in the system and ensure fairness.

We will improve the quality of housing in the private rented sector through better regulation and tenancy reform that ensures both landlords and tenants are aware of their rights and responsibilities.

We will invest in the retro-fitting of older homes to ensure that families keep their fuel bills low and stimulate the local economy.

Plaid Cymru also believes that VAT for home repairs should be cut to 5% - people should not be paying excessive tax simply to ensure their home is a healthy and safe place to live.

Empty Properties are also an issue we want to tackle. We will extend the empty properties scheme to ensure more derelict and empty homes are brought back into use, and no longer will communities have to deal with the crime and anti-social behaviour that can accompany such housing.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Plaid Cymru recognises the invaluable contribution that migrants have made to Wales. Our civic nationalism celebrates tolerance, mutual understanding and difference. Equally, we recognise the potential shared benefits of greater co-operation in asylum and immigration at EU level, and the important role that Europe could play in assisting the integration of new migrants including in the languages of the stateless nations.

We condemn the point-scoring used by other parties and the pandering to unfounded xenophobic prejudices in the debate on immigration.

We oppose a points-based system, which we know would take no account of the skills requirements in different parts of Wales.

Plaid Cymru also supports the right of asylum seekers to work in Wales while they wait for status decisions to be made and we call for the speeding up of the unnecessarily complicated asylum system.

We condemn the practice of housing recently-arrived asylum seekers, especially children, in "detention" or "removal" centres as punitive and cruel, and we will continue to lobby the Westminster government to ensure that they keep their promise to shut these centres.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We now have major plans for the future of public transport in Wales. We recognise that the rail network will never help us to achieve our environmental objectives unless it is both cheap and attractive to use, and that will not happen without significant and ongoing commitment of public funds.

We reiterate our call for the railway system to be brought back into public ownership. While we will pursue this objective, we will also pursue other socially useful options such as not-for-dividend or co-operative rail services, and greater devolution of rail infrastructure powers and responsibilities to Wales.

Plaid Cymru also supports providing alternatives to the car. Walking and cycling, particularly in urban centres, needs to be protected in legislation, and the right infrastructure provided in terms of routes, signage, and information.

Rural areas also need the right transport solutions, including demand-led bus services and the ongoing expansion of the Traws Cymru bus network, which aims to compensate for the disastrous Beeching rail cuts inflicted on Wales in the past.

To function as an economy and be recognised internationally, Wales needs an international airport of its own, as well as connections to hubs in neighbouring countries. Plaid Cymru suggested the idea of taking Cardiff Airport into public ownership, in order to prevent it from closing down.

We would look to use more of the annual Welsh Government budget to make rail fares more affordable, viewing this not as additional subsidy but as investment that also would benefit road users and the environment.

We will continue to campaign on the issue of “Barnettising” HS2 and in favour of spreading rail investment across the state, as part of a wider rebalancing of the United Kingdom and a state-level economic policy for the nations and regions.

Plaid Cymru is committed to maintaining the concessionary fares scheme which is a lifeline for many of our older citizens and accounts for over 40% of all local bus journeys.

Plaid Cymru is of the view that the case for a new M4 motorway is not sustainable or affordable.

Our proposal on the Severn Tolls is for ownership to transfer to the Welsh Government, and a reduction in tolls to cover maintenance levels only.

Plaid Cymru supports increasing the number of 20mph zones, especially around schools, but in whichever neighbourhoods where there is local demand.

We support the devolution of speed limits. Plaid Cymru does not see the case for changing the existing motorway speed limit, but notes that the UK Government has considered increasing the motorway speed limit for England and Wales.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Plaid Cymru is opposed to the welfare reform which links benefit payments to work and threatens benefit sanctions for those unable to meet unfair and unrealistic government demands. Plaid believes that this will simply result in a vicious cycle of people who live between in-work and out-of-work poverty.

Plaid Cymru in government will make the abolition of child poverty a top priority. We will press for a move away from complex and expensive means testing for child-related benefits.

Because legislation on pensions is not devolved, Plaid will instead continue to campaign for the introduction of a living pension during the period of the next parliament for those aged 80 and over. In the longer term, when the state of the public finances allows, we would lower the qualifying age.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Plaid Cymru would enforce a living wage for all.

Create apprenticeships and job opportunities by investing in training and working with both large and SME businesses and training providers to ensure that young people have market-ready skills.

Tackle under-employment by supporting people into work, supporting higher value jobs, flexible working patterns and childcare assistance.

Plaid calls for stringent implementation of labour laws for all workers, including enforcement of a living wage to address the injustice of poor pay and unfair working conditions.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Plaid will press the UK government to honour the commitment to delivering 0.7% of GDP as international aid and we will continue to campaign for the cancellation of developing countries' unaffordable debts.

We also reaffirm our support for the international Fair Trade movement. We will continue to campaign for the rights of minority nations and minority language speakers in Europe and in future possible accession countries such as Turkey.

We support a global tax on financial transactions as a means of encouraging more responsibility and stability in the global markets.

We support urgent and far-reaching reforms of the World Bank and IMF in order to improve regulation and accountability.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.