Make assembly election 'about ideas', says Leanne Wood

Leanne Wood was speaking at the University of South Wales in Cardiff

Next year's assembly election should be a "competition of ideas" to improve public services, communities and the economy, Plaid Cymru's leader has said.

Leanne Wood said political parties had "too often" sought to "lay blame for all our ills on others".

In a speech in Cardiff, Ms Wood said people deserved a "contest between their politicians on what they will do, not what they don't want others to do".

Labour described the speech as "incoherent and largely policy-free".

But Ms Wood said the Labour Welsh government had "starved itself of ambition, progress and hope".

She also announced plans for a campaigning tour of Wales, beginning next week.

'Not complacent'

Plaid Cymru's intention to focus more on public services than constitutional matters follows a general election in which it failed to increase its number of MPs, despite unprecedented publicity in the television leaders' debates.

The Conservatives won three new Welsh seats, after running a campaign that was highly critical of Labour's management of the NHS in Wales.

A Labour spokesman said the Welsh ministers had honoured "key promises" on "creating jobs for young people, tuition fees, community safety" and were "investing more on health and social service than ever before".

The spokesman said Labour was happy to fight on its record, but not complacent, and called Ms Wood's speech "incoherent and largely policy-free".