Plaid pledges 50% top-rate tax

The Welsh nationalist Plaid Cymru today became the last of the major parties to launch its 2005 election manifesto, pledging a 50% tax on earnings over £50,000.

The party also wants to see a "proper parliament" for Wales as a stop-gap measure ahead of its stated aim of independence.

Calling on disillusioned Labour voters in the principality to "lend us your votes", the manifesto also includes a "12-point action plan" to cut waiting lists, the replacement of council tax with local income tax and the introduction of a "citizens' pension".

Plaid hopes its opposition to the war in Iraq - the party's Adam Price has led the campaign to impeach the prime minister - will also gain it support from disaffected Labour voters on polling day.

Policy director Simon Thomas said: "Our long-term constitutional aim is independence. This appeals to many in the heart, but perhaps fewer in the head, so this election is our chance to explain what a self-governing Wales could and should look like."

On tax, he said: "We are relatively well-off, but we fail to share our wealth equitably." Plaid's health plans include banning junk food ads from television.

The party hopes to win the four seats it held in the last parliament - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, Ceredigion, Caernarfon and Meirionnydd Nant Conwy - and to regain at least the marginal seat of Ynys Mon (Anglesey), which it lost to Labour in 2001.

Mr Thomas added: "This manifesto is a programme which has at its core the need to support and strengthen public services, and to remove injustices and inequality so evident in our society.

"Plaid Cymru believes a better Wales means shorter NHS waiting lists. It means providing a decent standard of living for everybody, it means ensuring people feel safe in their communities, and it means tackling the growing threat of climate change to ensure the generations to come have a clean and sustainable planet to live in."

Labour's health minister in the Welsh assembly, Jane Hunt, was demoted in a reshuffle in January after a row over waiting times, which are longer than in either England or Scotland.

Mr Thomas and Mr Price were joined by parliamentary leader Elfyn Llwyd at the launch, at the National Botanic Garden of Wales in Llanarthne, Carmarthenshire, who said the plans in the manifesto were "all achievable now".

Mr Price defended the inclusion in the manifesto of policies on health and education, both of which are devolved to the Welsh assembly. He hinted that the party was looking forward to the 2007 assembly elections.

He said: "If you want change, and that's the real question for the people of Wales at this election, then we have to build momentum for that change at this election.

"This election is about sending a signal from the people of Wales to the people who govern them."

Asked about Plaid's tax plans, he said: "I think it's very important that those of us who believe in a progressive income tax system say so clearly.

"We've seen the tax burden rise on the lowest decile in the population whereas the tax burden has fallen relative to income in the top decile.

"I think it's important to uphold the basic principle. We have said a 50% rate above £50,000; I think it's a reasonable proposal.

"Certainly if you compare it to other European Union countries it's a reasonable proposal."