AN upbeat rallying cry that Labour can ‘stop the politics of division in its tracks’ was made at the launch of the Party’s Carmarthenshire campaign for this year’s Senedd elections.
The Party’s chair of the Llanelli Constituency, Steve Donoghue, speaking at the Selwyn Samuel Centre on Saturday, called on councillors, activists, and supporters, to unite and fight with purpose in ‘one of the most important elections in a generation.’
Urging all Party members to support the campaign candidates, Mr Donoghue said: ‘There is no room for silos, no space for division, and no time for complacency.
‘We must kcock doors together. We must listen together. And we must speak with one united Labour voice.
‘Because while we are building hope, others are trying to sell fear.’
He said the Party could not ignore the growing threat posed by Reform.
‘They thrive on anger without answers, blame without responsibility, and slogans without solutions.
‘They seek to divide communities – urban from rural, Welsh speaking from non-Welsh-speaking, neighbour from neighbour – and they offer nothing that would improve the lives of people in Carmarthenshire,’ added Mr Donoghue.
He said Reform was not a Party for working people.
‘They do not stand for better public services, workers’ rights, or investment in our communities.
‘They are not on the side of our NHS staff, our teachers, our farmers, or our young people trying to build a future here in Wales,’ said Mr Donoghue.
He said Labour in Wales should be proud of what it has achieved and ambitious about what it can still do.
‘We believe in a Wales where public services are properly funded and publicly owned.
‘A Wales where young people can afford to stay and build a life.
‘A Wales where rural communities are supported, not forgotten.
‘A Wales where the Welsh language thrives.
‘And a Wales where dignity at work and dignity in retirement are non-negotiable,’ said Mr Donoghue.
Labour had to win to stand up for the people who rely on the Party to stand up for them and work hard with discipline and determination.
‘If we stand together, if we campaign with confidence, and if we never forget who we are here to serve, then we can return strong representation to the Senedd – and we can stop the politics of division in its tracks,’ he said.
Deputy First Minister Huw Iranca-Davies said there was an ‘absolute politics of bile, and hatred and abhorrence’ coming from Reform.’
He admitted Plaid was on an upswing but claimed a motion about to go to the Senedd made it look like ‘everything is going to hell in a handcart.’
Labour knew the ‘scale of the battle’ and was ‘up for the massive challenge,’ said Mr Iranca-Davies.
He cited the Party’s first election pledge – to introduce a £2 maximum single bus fare throughout Wales, as the ‘most generous bus transport offer in the whole of the UK.’
After 14 years of Tory austerity bus services had been ‘decimated’.
But a new Welsh bus bill would put control back to local people and Labour would introduce at least 100 new bus routes, devised with local communities.
‘Compelling offers’ would be brought forward on health,’ he promised, and the Party could be trusted to bring waiting lists down.
Mr Iranca-Davies added that the UK and Welsh Labour Governments would invest in skills, jobs, and coal tips remediation and would ‘transform Wales’ offering a ‘better future’ than with Reform and Plaid.
