Liberal Democrats in coalition government will bring benefits to thousands in Wales (Kirsty Williams AM )

Cymraeg
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Kirsty Williams AM <info@kirstywilliams.org.uk>

Liberal Democrats in coalition government will bring benefits to thousands in Wales

May 12, 2010 12:00 AM

Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats has today congratulated leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg on becoming the Deputy Prime Minister in a coalition government in Westminster and has criticised the Labour party for never taking seriously the negotiation talks with the Liberal Democrats.

The Liberal Democrats have entered government on the basis of principle and after securing major concessions on their key priorities. The Liberal Democrats' main priority of changing the tax system, helping hundreds of thousands of workers across Wales, has been accepted.

Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats said:

"This is a historic moment for the Liberal Democrats and I am very proud that we as a party will be able to implement our policies in government. I am very happy that our policy of increasing the income tax threshold to £10,000 has been accepted. This means over 200,000 people in Wales will pay no income tax at all and over 800,000 will get a £700 tax break.

"On entering the negotiation talks, the Liberal Democrats understood that the country needed a stable government to face the difficult economic times ahead. The Labour party has left this country with massive economic problems therefore securing the economic recovery and getting people back into jobs is going to be paramount for the Conservative-Liberal Democrat government.

"Not only are we forming a new government, we are forming a new kind of government - a government based on consensus and of cooperation."

On the failure of the Labour party to commit to working with the Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams said:

"The Labour party never took seriously the negotiation talks with the Liberal Democrats which suggests that they never wanted a progressive form of government.

"Labour made no attempt at all to agree a common approach with the Liberal Democrats on issues such as fairer schools funding for the most deprived pupils and taking those on low incomes out of tax. This begs the question, who will the Labour party stand up for?"

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