Plaid Cymru has a ‘radical vision for Wales’, Rhun ap Iorwerth says

The leader of Plaid Cymru says he has a “radical vision” for governing Wales and a “real determination” to have a “different kind of government with a different level of ambition”.

Rhun ap Iorwerth said his party would address the “scandal” of child poverty and also a “revolution in preventative health” in an interview with BBC Politics Wales at the start of the new Senedd term.

He added Labour voters were moving to Plaid because Sir Keir Starmer’s party had “no determination to even try to be true to the values” members expected.

Recent polling has consistently shown Plaid alongside Reform ahead in the polls for next May’s Senedd election.

Plaid are most likely to be in a position to form the next Welsh government in what would be the first election in 100 years where Labour has not won in Wales.

With eight months to go until that potentially historic election, ap Iorwerth is positioning himself as the only party that can beat Reform UK.

Speaking as part of a series of interviews on Politics Wales with party leaders to mark the start of the Senedd term ap Iorwerth said the upcoming by-election in Caerphilly was a seat the party could win, but added he was aware the party was “up against almost limitless resources of a UK party who want to use Caerphilly as a stepping stone towards UK ambitions”.

But he did give the impression that coming second to Reform UK may not be seen as a loss, as it could cement Plaid as the alternative to Labour in the mind of the electorate.

Ap Iorwerth is considered a pragmatic leader, who has broken from his predecessors by deciding to put the party’s ultimate ambition of independence on the back burner for now.

When asked how radical he was really going to be, he insisted it was not business as usual.

He said: “I want a step change in government attitudes looking at what answers can be put in place to deal with the problems in Wales”.

He spoke about a “revolution in preventative health”, getting to grips with “Labour’s terrible legacy on waiting times” and “changing the way literacy and numeracy are addressed in schools”.

Rejecting the idea these might be tinkering around the edges, ap Iorwerth pointed to the party’s Welsh child payment policy which has been compared with a similar Scottish scheme introduced by the SNP.

“One of the things we’ve been asking Labour to do for years is genuinely address the problem, or the scandal of child poverty,” he said.

“We are going to be introducing a direct payment scheme in order to bring children out of poverty.

“That’s radical politics, dealing with the issues that are causing such scars within our communities.”

A Welsh Labour spokesperson said: “We believe that ending child poverty must be an absolute priority for all levels of government.

“But Plaid Cymru’s fantasy economics is not the answer. They try to block money for free school meals and childcare, yet want to spend money without saying where it would come from. As always with Plaid, the sums don’t add up.”