A UNION IN NAME ONLY

We have a Labour government in Cardiff Bay that's in denial about the fact that it's in charge and that the buck stops with them. Despite the occasional rhetoric about defending Cymru / Wales - the lack of coherent powers not to mention any real desire to try to acquire or strengthen existing devolved powers let alone acquire any new ones - lies with the Labour Party. 

The 2006 devolution settlement deliberately excluded any control of water - one of our country's key resources (and a potential source of future revenue). It left the then National Assembly with partial control over our county's railways and effectively no real powers to develop, expand or plan for real growth of our nations fragmented railway network. We have 11% of the UK's railway network, 20% of the level crossings and 2% of the funding over the last ten years. 

The HS2 debacle  is an affront to the Welsh taxpayer, and with spiralling costs it is only going to become worse. Wales is losing out on billions of pounds of funding that is rightfully ours – it is simply not tenable for the Westminster Government to argue that this project is 'England and Wales' when not a single inch of track is in our country.

The UK government must immediately commit to honouring its funding formula and pay Wales full Barnett consequential payments of approximately £5 billion. Part of the problem is that the UK government has lied repeatedly over the case for HS2. With the cost for HS2 Phase 1 rising by 361% in the space of 3 years, there are serious questions to be answered concerning project delivery and management by HS2 Ltd and the Government.

The people of Wales deserve honesty from Westminster. While paying for a high-speed electrified railway that will only run in and benefit England, Welsh commuters are lucky to find a seat on dated diesel trains. Powers over rail must be devolved to Wales. The Government's own project accountants have calculated that HS2 will directly harm the Welsh economy. Yet again, Westminster has knowingly delivered a project that will benefit London and the south-east of England at the expense of Wales.

The overall impact of the HS2 project, as it, will actually have a negative impact on the economy of Cymru / Wales. What we need is fair funding and the powers to do the job in Cymru / Wales. A flawed half way house devolutionary settlement will no longer work. Quite simply either the union, post BREXIT is probably incapable of delivering for all, fairly and equally, something the union did not do previously, before and after devolution was implemented, it is simply a union in name only.