Plaid Cymru wants £15bn for green growth in Wales

Plaid Cymru has called on the UK government to allocate an additional one per cent of GDP to invest in green infrastructure over the next decade.

In its manifesto for the 2019 general election, published this morning (22 November), the Welsh nationalist party called for the spending boost as part of a Green Industrial Revolution for Wales.

The manifesto estimates that the one per cent extra of GDP would translate into an additional £15 billion spending on green jobs, transport, and energy in Wales alone.

In addition, Plaid said it would press the Treasury to allow the Welsh Government to borrow an additional £5 billion for investment in infrastructure.

Plaid says that if it won a majority in the next Welsh Assembly elections in 2021, it would use the extra funds to establish a National Reconstruction Fund.

Plaid’s other pledges include a target that Wales should be 100 per cent self-sustainable in renewable energy by 2030 even though the Committee on Climate Change has previously forecast that the country will be the hardest to fully decarbonise in the UK.

To achieve the 100% goal, the manifesto calls for the construction of tidal lagoons in Cardiff and Colwyn Bay as well as that proposed off Swansea.

The manifesto also calls for an offshore windfarm off Ynys Môn, and a tidal barrage plant on the River Usk.

Plaid’s other energy calls include a network of local grids for Wales and new fast-track planning rules, with a presumption in favour of development for community-owned schemes like hydro-electric power projects.

Plaid says this work to transform Wales environment would be overseen by a new Ministry for the Future in Wales and national energy agency, Ynni Cymru.

The agency’s remit would include ‘fully’ realising Wales’ marine energy potential including wave, tidal range and tidal stream energy.

The manifesto says Plaid also opposes the development of new sites for nuclear power stations in Wales and the erection of pylons through National Parks and Areas of Natural Beauty, advocating the use of buried cables to carry electricity where feasible.

It backs investment in a national electric vehicle charging network in order to reverse the current situation where eight of the counties with the lowest penetration rates of charge points in the UK are in Wales.

On housing, Plaid also want to see the rollout of a £5 billion home energy efficiency programme and the construction of 20,000 ‘green’ social house.

Speaking at the manifesto launch in Cardiff this morning, Plaid leader Adam Price, said: “Just as we were the first time, we can be the cradle of another (industrial) revolution: a Green Jobs Revolution, creating tens of thousands of green collar jobs, and seriously tackling the urgent climate emergency we face.”

In its ‘Contract With the People’, also issued today and in lieu of a manifesto, the Brexit Party has pledged that it would cut VAT on domestic fuel, which it says is currently stopped by EU rules.

This VAT cut would save the average household £65, according to the Brexit Party document which also proposes mass tree planting to soak up carbon emissions.