The top Montgomeryshire & Glyndwr issue and what your candidates think about it!

Candidates looking for your support have been invited to share their views on a range of issues.

As part of our election coverage ahead of the poll on Thursday we asked all candidates a range of questions, with a theme based collection from all candidates below. You can also read individual answers to all the questions here on our Election 24 page, plus links to party manifesto, supplied bios for candidates and links to find out where exactly your polling station is!

Question: What is the top issue you feel the people of Montgomeryshire & Glyndwr will want you to represent them on, and what is your position on it?

My top issue would be the NHS. The NHS is in crisis at the moment, ambulances queueing outside hospitals, enormous waiting lists, no access to NHS dentists.
The Green Party is the only party that has the courage to say that the only solution is to put more money into the NHS, and this would be funded by a new tax on wealth that would only affect the very richest.
I am sure that there are inefficiencies in the NHS, but if these were easy to solve this would have been done by the Conservatives in England, or the Labour administration in Wales, so while we would commit to trying to make the NHS more efficient, but we cannot rely on finding cash this way to solve the present problems.
So the simple decision is either we leave the NHS in its present state of collapse, or we invest more in the NHS and raise a bit more tax to do this. Nobody likes tax, but if that is what it takes to make the NHS fit for purpose again that is what we must do. The immediate priorities are to bring down waiting lists, to make it easier to get a GP appointment, and to make it easier to access a NHS dentist.
The NHS is a devolved issue so the most that Westminster can do for the NHS in Wales is by the release of additional funds. It is up to Welsh Government how this is spent.

From my conversations on the doorstep, healthcare is definitely the number one priority across the constituency. Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr are rather unique because a large majority of our residents will access healthcare on both the Welsh and English side of the border through GPs and hospitals such as Wrexham, Shrewsbury & Telford and Aberystwyth, and further afield for specialist care.
In this sense, we sometimes unfortunately get the worst of all worlds with both the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay and the Conservative Government in Westminster letting us down. Ambulances are often left queuing for hours and it’s really difficult to get a GP or NHS dentist appointment.
The Liberal Democrats’ big focus when it comes to fixing this is on social care. Despite the fact we are the only party focusing on it, it’s a huge problem. Our A&E departments are overwhelmed for two reasons: first people cannot access primary care (GPs) so end up deteriorating until they need to go to hospital and then secondly, social care is in crisis so people cannot be discharged from A&E into the community meaning beds become blocked.
The Liberal Democrats have pledged to make social care free at the point of need for all who need it, funded by reversing the Conservatives’ tax cuts for big banks. We will also raise the minimum wage for social care workers to £2 above the standard minimum wage, recognising there is a recruitment crisis and we need to value the role more as a society.
Our constituency has a large ageing population and social care forms a huge amount of what local council budgets are being spent on so this really would be my top priority if I am elected.

The Cost-of-Living Crisis – whilst not the only thing coming up on the doorstep, it is by far the most prominent.
It will be my highest priority along with supporting Labour’s Green New Deal if I am elected. I’m fed up with working people being told that they will be irresponsible asking for a pay rise whilst big corporations (including food retailers) post record profits and pay record dividends. They are profiting from our misery and it must stop! The same can be said for Utilities and Energy companies who make excess profits whilst people must make decisions between paying for food and heating!
The creation of Labour’s new publicly owned ‘Great British Energy’ will invest in cheaper renewable energy and share the gains with us all – helping to reduce bills whilst addressing the climate emergency.
At the same time, the new deal for working people should eliminate zero hours contracts and address low pay – a vital step in improving working people’s cost of living!

The NHS is the main issue and there are a number of aspects to it. That is why i have been active in the campaign to secure the future of the Air Ambulance and arguing for a extra RRV Rapid Response Vehicle based at Wrecsam. Also helping a mental health charity for young people and on a personal level i’m well aware of the challenges facing many with MS.
What is particularly concerning is the research by leading health think tank Nuffield Trust this week, that has indicated the policies of Keir Starmer’s party outlined in Labour’s manifesto would leave the UK Government struggling to pay existing staff costs, let alone planned increases in the NHS long-term workforce plan agreed last year.
The Nuffield Trust said that “the manifestos imply increases [in annual funding for the NHS] between 2024-25 and 2028-29 of 0.9% [a year] for the Conservatives and 1.1% for Labour. Both Conservative and Labour proposals would represent a lower level of funding increase than the period of ‘austerity’ between 2010-11 and 2014-15.” That would be a disaster. That is why we would:

• Focus on recruiting 500 GPs
• Support the Infected Blood Scandal report and its actions
• Support a new dental school at Bangor to increase number dentists
• Support reform of the Mental Health Act

I’d press for much needed investment at Wrecsam Maelor hospital and secure the Wales Air Ambulance base at Welshpool to serve the rural communities and have a new RRV at Wrexham

There are so many issues for our region it is hard to choose just one. However, I would say that the region’s backward infrastructure is the main priority for me. Our roads and railways are beyond appalling. I am committed to ensuring Mid-Wales benefits from a trunk road connection to England, just as North Wales and South Wales have had for decades, and electrification of the railway from Wolverhampton to Aberystwyth and Chester. This would improve connectivity and thus transform the area’s economy and living standards, as well as help with the access to specialist healthcare issues (because residents would be able to reach these faster than they can now).

No response to our Q&A has been received.

You can read more Q&A answers here on our Election 24 page along with more election information – remember to GO VOTE ON THURSDAY!

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