An extra 10.6 years for living the other side of the county

Local Liberal Democrats have today hit out after new research showed that people who live in one area of Neath Port Talbot can expect to live 10.6 years longer than people living in another area.

Figures from the local Liberal Democrats have shown that people in Godre’r Graig can expect to live until they are 84.5 but people who live in Port Talbot can only expect to live until they are 73.6. That means there is a shocking difference of nearly eleven years just for living on the other side of the county.

Mathew McCarthy, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Neath commented: “These figures show exactly how badly people in some areas have been let down by Labour. Inequality should be a priority for the Labour government in Cardiff but these figures show that not everyone in Neath Port Talbot is having a fair shot at life. That absolutely has to change. For Labour, social justice is just a phrase they roll out at election time.”

Kirsty Williams, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats said: “Recent studies have shown that tackling inequality has to be done across all parts of government – using the NHS, schools and the economy to improve people’s lives. When the Welsh Lib Dems secured an extra £20 million investment in the poorest school children it was because I knew that tackling differences in life expectancy needs to take place at the earliest age possible. Action like that is the first step to reducing the inequality that we see all too often in Wales."