Here are some radical and hope-filled policy ideas that I will campaign for if I am elected to the Senedd. Some of them are existing Welsh Labour commitments but where there is more still to do. Others are ideas based on my experience and campaigning. You will see some common themes: rooted in community, pro-social, and involving people in the process. We need to ‘do with’ people, not ‘do to’ them. For me, that is the true meaning of ‘radical’ – to get to the root of things. And the root is always in the people.
I’d love to discuss these with you, and hear your policy priorities too – so get in touch!
A Real Living Wage
A Real Living Wage for every worker is the best way to lift people out of poverty.
We need to go further & faster to spread the Real Living Wage in Wales.
Community-led Welcome & Integration of Refugees
When refugees are resettled by community volunteers, it is better for integration and cohesion.
We should give communities more power to welcome.
A National Care Service
Welsh Labour is rightly proud of the paying careworkers the Real Living Wage. But that’s just the start of the revolution we need in social care.
We need to speed up the creation of a National Care Service – involving workers, unions, care recipients and their families – as well as care providers. And we should include Co-operative solutions.
Social Prescribing on the NHS
So many of the challenges we face in Wales are rooted in a lack of wellbeing and connection. Social Prescribing is a person-centred approach to connecting people to community assets.
We need to scale social prescribing for happier, healthier communities – and less pressure on our public services.
Minister for Men & Boys
We have an issue with ‘toxic masculinity’ growing in influence among men and boys.
We need to engage men directly to challenge these ideas, push for policies that enable men to be responsible fathers and partners, tackle underachievement in boys in education and young men in employment, and show men that politics can deliver for them.
We already have a Minister for Children. We need a Minister for Men & Boys within Welsh Government. And a Minister for Women also – this is not about a battle of the sexes!
Social Partnership Plus
The Social Partnership approach championed by Welsh Labour is a brilliant way to make sure workers have real power to influence decisions through their unions. And it is a really good approach to collaborative policy-making and problem-solving too.
We need more Social Partnership! But we also need to apply the approach more broadly to include communities, co-operatives and civil society organisations.
Jonathan Cox for Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg Bridgend and the Vale 