WELSH nationalists accused Labour and the Tories today of a fiscal consensus on the economy that will hold Wales back.

Plaid Cymru was pitching itself as the real alternative to Conservative policies for Wales and claimed Labour offered “little more than a change of branding.”

The Welsh nationalist party’s Treasury spokesman, Ben Lake, criticised both Labour and the Tories for having the same economic policies with Labour sticking to Conservative spending plans.

The MP for Ceredigion is Plaid Cymru’s candidate for the new Westminster seat of Ceredigion Preseli.

Mr Lake said: “In this general election, we face a dire situation where both Labour and the Conservatives are wedded to a fiscal consensus that will continue to hold Wales back.

“From sticking to Conservative spending rules, to denying Wales’ fair share of transport funding, to sticking with a damaging European trade policy, it’s clear that Labour is offering little more than a change of branding.”

Mr Lake echoed earlier calls by the party’s Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts, that Britain should rejoin the European Union’s single market, despite a majority in Wales voting to leave the EU in the referendum.

“We need ambitious economic plans to break the economic doom loop we’re in,” Mr Lake said.

“Plaid Cymru would invest in the Welsh economy to drive growth and reduce inequality. We would get rid of the trade barriers that hold Wales back and rejoin the single market.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has previously ruled out joining the single market or the customs union.

The British Labour Party and Welsh Labour were asked to comment.