General election 2017: Plaid Cymru launches campaign

Labour is too "weak and divided" to stand up for Wales, Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood has said, launching the party's general election campaign.

She told activists in Bangor that Plaid Cymru offers voters a "ray of hope".

Ms Wood claimed that an "emboldened" Conservative government would be a threat to jobs and public services.

Plaid currently has three MPs. On 8 June it hopes to capture Labour-held constituencies Rhondda and Ynys Mon.

The party hopes to capitalise on Labour's poor opinion poll ratings and divisions over its leader Jeremy Corbyn.

As the Tories lead the opinion polls, Ms Wood said the Labour Party had "abandoned ship and are now arguing over who gets the life rafts".

"A vote for Labour in this election will not stop a Conservative UK government," she said.

"But if the dark clouds of Tory rule lurk on the horizon, then Plaid Cymru is the ray of hope."

Plaid, which campaigned for a Remain vote in last year's EU referendum, has said this election is a "defining period" in the country's history.

Ms Wood - who represents Rhondda in the Welsh Assembly - has ruled out standing as a candidate for Westminster herself.

But former Plaid leader Ieuan Wyn Jones is seeking selection as a candidate in his former Ynys Mon constituency.