A visit to a Cardiff food bank laid very heavily on Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds’ mind as she delivered her speech to Welsh Lib Dem Conference. Citing examples of someone sanctioned by the Department for Work and Pensions for not going to an interview on the day their father died, she called for an end to the rollout of Universal Credit.
On October 13th, 2008, exactly 10 years ago we saw the beginning of major distrust in mainstream politics. The Treasury spent £37 billion in bailing out the banks, to stop the economy collapsing. This Financial crisis exposed fault lines in society that were ignored or unnoticed when times were good. This lead many thousands of people in communities across Wales feeling that they had no place at the table and no hope or aspiration.
All it took was greed from bankers, arrogance from policymakers and complacency from regulators to set in motion a chain of events that would damage countless lives and change the world order.
The past ten years have seen insecure work and underemployment rise.
We have seen workers’ pay reduce in real terms and zero hours contracts become norm.
We have seen stagnant wages, and the UK is on track for the biggest squeeze on wages since the end of the Napoleonic wars.
Austerity and increasing poverty are simply being accepted as being inevitable.
Is it any wonder so many people have become angry at this injustice and feel the system doesn’t work for them?
I want to talk with you about just one of these issues… Poverty. I saw for myself last Friday, what the effect poverty really has when I visited the Cardiff Foodbank.
I saw how a heartless, cruel and bureaucratic welfare system has left far too many people reliant on of food banks and the generosity of their communities just to get by.
Why do we have a system which treats people which such suspicion, since when did mistrust of those in need of help most become acceptable.
And we must not tolerate this.
The figures on those using foodbanks are truly shocking. Last year almost 100,000 food parcels were distributed to the poorest and most vulnerable people in Wales. Yet it is the human stories that affect you the most deeply.
The personal stories I heard about the people using foodbanks moved me. I heard of one man who was not able to attend an appointment with the DWP as his father died on that day. Despite explaining this to the officers, he was sanctioned, and appeared for the first time in his life at a foodbank.
I heard of a single parent who had sold all of her furniture apart from the beds for her and her children to get by, and now was coming to a foodbank. I listened to volunteers talk about how sad and humbled they felt when people left a foodbank who were always grateful for their limited support, and wanting to do so much more to help people in their desperate circumstances.
I cannot believe that I am hearing these stories in 2018.
The most common reason for people coming to foodbanks in Wales is because there is a gap in their welfare payments. These gaps are often due to arbitrary sanctions, and when Universal Credit is rolled out in Wales there will be a 5 week gap between application and payment. This will leave thousands more people will be forced to rely on food banks.
It is because of these stories that I am today calling for the Welsh Government to launch a Cross-party Commission on food poverty and demanding a pause in the roll out of Universal Credit in Wales.
We want to rebuild and repair our safety net so it becomes fit for the future. We must recreate a welfare state that guarantees everyone a guaranteed standard of living and provides a helping hand for all those who need it. That is at the heart of a Liberal welfare state. A social welfare system that is there to support people when they need it most.
And conference, you know I would like this to go further.
I want us to really consider Universal Basic Income. An effective model could all but eradicate absolute poverty, ensuring that everyone receives the money they need to sustain a guaranteed standard of living.
I know there are concerns about UBI so that’s why I want us to push for a pilot to be in Wales to look at how it affects those in both rural and urban areas as well as identifying it’s weaknesses. This can be the future and we could fund it through new innovative taxes, like a tax on carbon usage.
And conference, in a week when we have heard from the United Nations that global warming is as big a threat as ever why are we not looking at radical solutions like this.
In Wales we continue to shout out “what about the Swansea Tidal Lagoon”? I will make no apologies for continuing to talk about the Lagoon and the transformational they can bring across Wales, and the UK. They will benefit our tourism industry, create more jobs and more importantly help protect our environment.
Listen, in Wales, we can lead the way in tackling climate change whilst creating high-skilled jobs and driving our economy forward. Our vision for a Welsh green economy extends beyond tidal energy. It includes solar power, wind power, Community Energy Projects and electric vehicles. Just look at the work of River Simple in Llandrindod Wells – aiming to eliminate the environmental impact of personal transport through the production of the “Rasa” car, which runs on hydrogen. I met the designer, Hugo Spowers, some years back and we need to ensure we are promoting and financially supporting this industry in Wales.
Innovative solutions are not just limited to the economy though. We are also overhauling the education system here in Wales, to make sure it’s fit for the future. We introduced the Welsh Pupil Premium, because our commitment to education is something which runs to the core of our Liberal values.
Kirsty Williams has constantly increased and expanded the funding, giving schools the resources to reduce the attainment gap and give pupils the support they need to achieve their full potential.
And just yesterday Kirsty launched a new innovative programme of “E-sgol”s, which will utilise technology to revolutionise rural education. Diolch Kirsty!
Just earlier this month we helped Cymorth Cymru in their campaign to protect the Supporting People Fund… and we won.
Our victory was the result of effective collaboration with the housing sector and is a testament to the importance of having Kirsty round the Welsh Government Cabinet table influencing decisions and standing up for our causes.
Conference we believe in equality and tackling injustice, not expanding it. In 2018 we cannot allow families to be punished simply for not having inherited wealth, or an opportunity to advance themselves in life.
We cannot be timid, we cannot be middle of the road, we shouldn’t keep trying to play it safe and just wait for change. We must be bold.
I know the word “Moderate” has been portrayed quite negatively lately, but it is not a bad thing. To be moderate is to challenge indifference, pursue the path which isn’t always glorious, but is the right thing to do.
Our offer to Wales cannot be a halfway house. We need far more than half measures to tackle the crises of poverty, isolation, climate change and declining public services.
As Aneurin Bevan said said
“People who stand in the middle of the road get run over .”
Liberals have always gone against the grain, always fought for the forgotten and the vulnerable and always stood up for causes no-one else will.
Yes, it’s back, as the end of the Peer show returns to a Parliamentary chamber near you. And this time, I’m going to try to produce a column every week…
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