Plaid wants 'fair deal for Wales'

The party wants the Assembly to be given the same tax varying and law-making powers as the Scottish Parliament.

It also wants to scrap the Barnett formula, which is used to determine public spending in Wales.

Party president Ieuan Wyn Jones described the 72-page document - 36 pages in each language - as "a radical plan for a confident Wales."

"Four years of New Labour has led to grotesque inequalities and the widening of the gap between the rich and poor in our communities," he said at the launch at the Hilton Hotel in Cardiff.

"Properly-funded public services and a fairer society based on the redistribution of wealth are at the heart of Plaid Cymru's vision.

"New Labour refuses to contemplate raising income tax for the rich to pay for decent public services. At the same time they have penalised the poor by presiding over punishing increases in other taxes. This shames a party which our parents and grandparents believed stood for equality."

Plaid also wants to raise the income tax to 50% for earnings over £50,000. Policy director Cynog Dafis - the brains behind Plaid's manifesto - calculates that such a policy would generate an extra £5.7 billion for public spending.

Other key policies include: A commission on tax to make the system fairer; renationalising Railtrack; abolition of tuition fees and re-introduction of student grants; creating a Welsh civil service; stronger links with Europe; suspension of PFI as a means of paying for new buildings; a £5 minimum wage for all. Labour's David Hanson attacked Plaid's manifesto as "voodoo economics".

"These sums just don't add up. In real life there is no magic wand to summon money out of thin air to pay for all these commitments," he said. But Mr Dafis defended his calculations.

"Of the increased expenditure that we are calling for, 90% comes from the higher taxation of those earning over £50,000 a year. The balance of £600 million would come from the Chancellor's war chest."