There can be no denying that 2024 has been a notable year for politics globally. More than 100 elections have been held around the world, and it is no secret that I am happier about the results of some of them than others. We wait to see what kind of world will emerge after January 6th, 2025.

In Wales, of course, 2024 was the year of a General Election in which we were promised plentiful rewards flowing from having two Labour governments, one at either end of the M4, working together.

But how little change this year’s ‘change election’ has delivered. Decisions to keep the two child benefit cap and to cut the winter fuel payment have shown that the politics of austerity is here to stay, punishing the most vulnerable and keeping tens of thousands trapped in poverty.

And eye-watering new taxes on jobs in both the private and public sectors and on the family farm risk throttling the kind of economic growth Starmer and Reeves claim is their number one priority.

Against this backdrop, the ‘clear red water’ that the Labour Welsh Government has always insisted separates the Labour Party offices in Cardiff and London has well and truly run dry. After a year full of turmoil for the Labour Party in Wales – which saw three different leaders in almost as many months – it is abundantly clear that it has run out of energy and ideas.

If Labour won’t stand up for Wales – and it’s clearly lost the will to do so – then Plaid Cymru will.

Plaid Cymru is using a debate in the Senedd today to once again call on Labour to commit to a new Wales Bill, one that would replace the out-dated Barnett formula with a new, fairer funding settlement, and place Wales on a level playing field with Scotland by giving us the same tools for the job – the same devolved powers – on the Crown Estate, rail infrastructure and justice and policing,........

© Wales Online