Plaid Manifesto Query
A Just World
Plaid Cymru MPs voted against the illegal war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan. Plaid supports a phased exit strategy from Afghanistan by the end of 2011 at the latest. While they are there, the young men and women in the armed forces should be protected and cared for.
Plaid Cymru calls for an immediate Military Well-Being Act to promote and safeguard the physical and mental health and well-being of military personnel. This includes ongoing aftercare, legal advice and counselling support for veterans and their families, as well as improved compensation, housing, healthcare and treatment for alcohol and drug abuse.
We call for the wasteful Trident renewal programme (which is likely to cost upwards of £76 billion) to be abandoned, and for the cancellation of the Typhoon Eurofighter contracts. We also call for the cancellation of the two new aircraft carriers which are currently planned (a project which is likely to cost upwards of £10 billion).
We will continue to press for an ethical foreign policy which emphasises conflict prevention and we call for real, effective action to curtail the international arms trade. This should include a new treaty and a binding code of conduct restricting arms exports, as well as a complete ban on land mines, cluster bombs and white phosphorous, and an immediate international ban on the military use of uranium.
We support the campaign to establish a Wales Peace Institute to help us play our part in promoting peace and justice throughout the world. Plaid Cymru has a number of concerns about the proposed development of the St. Athan Defence Training College. We will continue to seek reassurances that this large sum of public money will produce the promised high-quality jobs and boost to the local economy.
We will continue to campaign for the rights of minority nations and minority language speakers in Europe and in future possible accession countries such as Turkey.
Plaid will press the UK government to honour the commitment to delivering 0.7% of GDP as international aid and we will continue to campaign for the cancellation of developing countries’ unaffordable debts. We call for increased resources for the UN Adaptation Fund to help developing countries adapt to the effects of climate change. We demand equal representation for developing countries in the decision-making process on climate change action. We also reaffirm our support for the international Fair Trade movement.
We insist on essential governance reform of international organisations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to ensure that they take into account human rights, the environment and workers' rights.
Ends.
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