Pippa Bartolotti, the lead list candidate for South East Wales in this year’s Wales Assembly Elections, has voiced concerns over inequality in Wales.
Bartolotti said, “We are seeing the pay gap widen for young people and ethnic minorities in particular. There is also a real worry for women in part-time work earning ‘poverty pay’: in several constituencies in Wales more than 70% of women in part-time employment earn less than the living wage. Half of the people living in poverty in Wales live in working households. A green voice in the Senedd would ensure an ever-stronger focus in reducing inequality in Wales. The priority of the Greens in Newport is not only to close the pay gap for women Wales-wide but also to increase pay and employment rates of our ethnic minority groups and youth. The economy of Newport stands to benefit from the city being a more equal place to live and work.”
Bartolotti added, “The current leadership in Wales has failed to set out a clear economic strategy aimed at poverty reduction in Wales. In the Senedd, the Wales Green Party would focus on tackling poverty in our communities through a strong, long-term economic policy.”
Wales Green Party is also working to support the local LGBT community in Newport and elsewhere in South Wales. Adam Smith, who is based in Newport, recently launched Welsh Green Pride, a campaign group for LGBTIQ+ rights within the Wales Green Party. Smith, whose key priority ‘Blood ban’ campaign has recently gained the support of local media in Newport, said:
“It is a disgrace that minority groups are treated as second class citizens in Wales. Whilst this carries on, Wales remains an unequal society on a fundamental level. When it is officially reported that blood donors are in short supply yet gay and bisexual men are stopped from donating blood, it just shows how bad things still are. Health in Wales is devolved, and a green voice in the Senedd would ensure Wales leads the way to the rest of the UK in health and equality going forward.”
For further information or images, please contact regional campaign team press officer MirkaVirtanen@walesgreenparty.com or call Wales Green Party press officer KimBryan@walesgreenparty.com on 07874260407.
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