German - "Welsh Lib Dems are original 'party of Wales'"

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 9th Oct 2006

The Welsh Liberal Democrats head to Aberystwyth this weekend for their Autumn Conference - as the party continues to build its manifesto for the Welsh General Election.

Members will debate topics such as Housing, Community Renewable Energy and School Class Sizes. Many of the policies under consideration would be enacted using the Assembly's new legislative powers.

Mike German, the party leader in the Assembly, will remind members that as the original 'party of Wales' the Welsh Lib Dems have a special responsibility to stretch the Assembly's new powers to the maximum.

Mr German said: "I'm proud to call myself a 'Welsh Liberal', but in the past as a party we've been too shy about talking about our Welshness - it's something we've taken for granted.

"A lot of people think that in a Welsh election they should vote for a Welsh party. I agree - they should vote for the original Welsh party, the inheritors of the non-conformist, radical and non-socialist Welsh Liberal tradition. They should vote for the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

"The Liberal Democrats deliver in devolution. In the first Assembly we were the driving force in government. And in Scotland we've introduced free personal care, stopped up-front tuition fees and made the country a beacon for renewable energy. It's only the Welsh Lib Dems that can be trusted to stretch the Assembly's powers to the maximum for the people of Wales.

"We champion devolution, to Cardiff Bay but also to our communities. We believe in devolution, not independence. We believe in a Federal Britain, not control from London that leaves Wales with a begging bowl mentality. We believe in Welsh solutions to Wales' problems - we must proclaim that freedom of action."

Highlighting the topics for debate at conference, Mr German added:

"We will be discussing a strong package of Housing policies. Suspending the right-to-buy in some areas, reforming Homebuy into a key-workers scheme and a threshold on new developments for low-cost renting and ownership are just some of the initiatives under discussion.

"We will also be debating legislation to reduce class sizes to 25, establishing a one-stop shop for community and household renewable energy funding and using the new powers to directly support bus services across the country."