THE ABSENTEE LANDLORD

The news about the developers being chosen to develop off shore wind energy fields of our coast is actually some good news. That said, once again Wales will receive little or no benefit from the economic exploitation of its own natural resources, except this time the waters are off-shore rather than inland or underground. Why should the fees go to the Crown and the UK Treasury? And not to Wales? 

The Welsh Government should (but won’t) insist that decisions about the use of Wales’ natural resources should be made in Wales for the benefit of Wales. Even without devolved powers they should been able to set up a Welsh national energy company immediately to develop our own Welsh-owned sector and have  at least explored the  possibilities of setting up an embryonic sovereign wealth fund for receipts, rents received, etc.

The two companies - BP and EnBW ( described by the BBC as a German energy firm)  have been chosen as the preferred developers for a major new wind farm off the north Wales coast. Both companies are effectively the preferred developers for a 500 square kilometre lease, situated approximately 30 kilometre off the north Wales coast, and another 300 square kilometre site east of the Isle of Man. These off shore  wind farms have the potential to generate enough power for 3.4 million homes. 

Now what is worth noting in passing is that EnBW is over 90% owned by the regional government and local authorities of Baden-Wurttemberg - not they you will find any reference to that on the BBC. It is doubly ironic that the Scandinavian State-owned Vattenfall and Statkraft and largely State-owned EDF mean that citizens of other countries will own more of Wales' renewable sector than we do ourselves (and also benefit from it).

The Welsh Government has understandably stated that it is looking forward to working with the two companies. The devil, as they say, lies in the detail or perhaps in the case the literal small print, once you get beyond the spin. Understandably the Westminster government, has called this development a "major vote of confidence in the UK's green economy and net zero ambitions”. 

Now that’s all very well and good. However, it gets more interesting the further you delve, it turns out that it is the Crown Estate, not the Welsh government, which manages the seabed around Wales, as it does with the seabed of England and Northern Ireland, has also announced six proposed new offshore wind projects.

The auction of seabed rights - which was the first of its kind in a decade - apparently attracted frenzied bidding. Both the projects will now move onto the next stage in the lengthy process for acquiring rights to build out at sea - which involves assessing the potential impacts on habitats and wildlife.

The Crown Estate expects this to conclude in Spring 2022 and subject to the outcome the developers could then be granted an agreement for lease and be able to start getting their projects through the planning process - including consulting with local communities. With luck and hard work the projects could begin to generate electricity by the end of the decade.

Beyond being either a willing or a reluctant minor partner the Welsh Government has little choice in the matter but to co-operate. Of course once our nation achieves independence, then there will be no question, of course, of the Crown Estate auctioning off development rights with no direct benefit then to the people of Wales. This deal clearly  demonstrates that Wales' marine energy potential is of international significance.

The Crown Estates, plays the role of barely mentioned absentee landlord, in Cymru / Wales. As far back as March 2012  a report produced by the then Scottish Affairs Committee (in Westminster) stated that the Crown Estates management of the marine environment around Scotland lacked transparency and public consultation. 

The Crown Estate's owns portions of our coast, almost all the seabed, and some of the land beneath our feet - little appears to have changed in relation to the lack of transparency and the lack of public consultation . It owns around 65 per cent of the Welsh foreshore and riverbed, and inland, and also owns around 27,800 hectares (68,700 acres) of Welsh common land, owns the rights to the sites of fish farms, renewable energy developments, ports and marinas.  

The Westminster government (post BREXIT) if it believes in ‘local control’ should commit to having the Crown Estate's seabed and marine responsibilities and all rights related to Wales devolved to the Welsh government. Those who have dealt with the Crown Estates on a regular basis are often highly critical of the Crown Estate - back in 2012 the then Scottish Affairs Committee (in Westminster) heard that the organisation effectively behaved like an "absentee landlord" and "tax collector".

The revenues do not belong to the monarch and surplus revenue from its businesses are paid each year to the Treasury. The Crown Estates revenues in Cymru / Wales are not vast at the moment, but, the assets have what could best be described as game changing potential. That's why control of these marine and and coastal assets particularly in the case of renewables and off shore wind generated hydrogen could our nation to opportunity to reboot our economy and make a significant contribution to fighting global climate change.

Our energy and water resources including the responsibility for sewerage for the whole territory of Wales should be the responsibility of the Welsh Government. The Crown Estate still remains largely unaccountable to the people of Wales and all profits from its holdings (which includes on and off shore wind farms) are passed to the UK Westminster Government. Profits from these holdings are likely to grow significantly mostly due to the growing demand for renewable energy. 

For way too long our natural resources have been run for the benefit of others with few real or lasting benefits trickling down to the people of Wales. Ownership and control over the Crown Estates in Wales should be transferred to the Welsh Government. The final say on how our natural resources are exploited and developed should be the direct responsibility of the Welsh people (and the Welsh Government) with 85% of the profits or dividends directly benefit the people who live here rather than opaque absentee landlords. 

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Research has revealed that the global production of solar panels is using forced labour from China's Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province. Xinjiang produces about 45% of the world's supply of the key component, polysilicon, the research by the UK's Sheffield Hallam University says. The report produced by Sheffield Hallam University states that the material is obtained under a massive system of coercion, a claim denied by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) ruling authorities.

The report urges top panel makers to source the component elsewhere. Solar panels are in huge demand because of climate change. Polysilicon is extracted from mined quartz, and the research says the world's four biggest manufacturers use materials tainted by a massive system of coercion.

"The [Chinese] government claims that these programmes are in accordance with PRC [the People's Republic of China] law and that workers are engaged voluntarily, in a concerted government-supported effort to alleviate poverty," the report says. "However, significant evidence - largely drawn from government and corporate sources - reveals that labour transfers are deployed in the Uyghur Region within an environment of unprecedented coercion, undergirded by the constant threat of re-education and internment."

The PRC has placed millions of indigenous Uyghur and Kazakh citizens from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR or Uyghur Region) into what the government calls “surplus labour” and “labour transfer” programmes. An official PRC government report published in November 2020 documents the “placement” of 2.6 million minoritised citizens in jobs in farms and factories within the Uyghur Region and across the country through these state-sponsored “surplus labour” and “labour transfer” initiatives. 

The PRC claims that these programmes are in accordance with PRC law and that workers are engaged voluntarily, in a concerted government-supported effort to alleviate poverty. However, significant evidence – largely drawn from government and corporate sources – reveals that labour transfers are deployed in the Uyghur Region within an environment of unprecedented coercion, undergirded by the constant threat of re-education and internment. Many indigenous workers are unable to refuse or walk away from these jobs, and thus the programmes are tantamount to forcible transfer of populations and enslavement.

The PRC is facing mounting criticism from around the world over its treatment of the mostly Muslim Uyghur population in the north-western Xinjiang autonomous region. Human rights groups believe the PRC has detained more than a million Uyghurs over the past few years in what the state defines as "re-education camps". There is evidence of Uyghurs being used as forced labour and of women being forcibly sterilised.

We are living in a very connected world, in the 1930’s most people could state or at least claim that they did not know what went on in Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union, despite the courageous activities of journalists and political activists at the time to reveal the truth. In our 21st century connected world no one has the excuse of ignorance any more. The People’s Republic of China is a brutal, repressive, totalitarian dictatorship that represses all the peoples living within its borders - largely regardless of ethnicity.

The PRC has a long a dark record of brutality that goes back to the days of Mao, save for getting more technologically sophisticated, and delivering g prosperity at price to an expanding Middle Class, little appears to have changed. The Communist Party still controls the state, one of the last literal Empire’s and it thoroughly enjoys its privileges at the expense of the human rights people’s of China.

The PRC has a long well documented history of oppression - targeting minorities including the Tibetans, the Uygyr, and others. The PRC has also targeted ethnic Chinese citizens who resist oppression, seek freedom of thought, freedom of religion, or who have expressed concerns about environmental issues, land ownership and the cost of economic development that is being paid by the ordinary people.

The current UK Conservative Westminster PM, is keen, if not over-keen, perhaps with an eye to easing a post BREXIT trade deal with the USA, to send UK warships to confront the PRC in the South China Sea. This projection of UK military power east of Suez (the second time since 2003) may sit easily with the PM’s vision of ‘Global Britain’ but rather than sitting comfortably with military and strategic reality, it may owe more to the politics of fantasy island.

Not that Human rights violations and repression have ever stood in the way of economic or business dealings and commercial interests, previous Conservative and Labour PM’s have been much more accommodating to the financial and commercial (and political) interests and trading opportunities with the PRC and other repressive states in our recent past. George Osbourne, then Chancellor, desperately sought access to finance from China and encouraged the PRC’s involvement the in developing nuclear energy projects within the UK. 

What we had over the years of visionless New Labour, Conservative-Lib DeM and Conservative years is governments at Westminster, which remained hand in glove with despotic oil and gas-producing regimes in the Middle East ( aside from the vassal like relationship between the UK and Saudi Arabia ) who have had has little real interest in developing renewable energy to achieve energy independence or supporting democracy and social justice in the Middle East.

Teresa May’s weak wobbly and unstable Westminster government, along with its predecessor and successor worked actively to pull the rug out from under the renewables sector by cutting the feed in tariff something that cost highly skilled jobs here in Wales. As long as the UK state and the Westminster elite remains content to quietly look the other way when public attention is drawn to the PRC’s and Saudi Arabia’s gross human rights violations, then things are going to continue much as they have. 

ONCE THE DUST SETTLES…

Well there we are then, the Newport West Senedd election is over and the voters (those who actually turned out to vote that is) have spoken. It was an interesting Senedd election campaign, somewhat overshadowed by covid, and the consequences of covid. There should be another massive thank you to my wife, my agent, my somewhat limited campaign team and the electors of Newport West for their support. Weather-wise it was was a strange campaign as well with possibilities of hail and / or torrential rain and bright sunshine (although admittedly without any heat) - sometimes all within the same hour. 

Any election, should give every candidate the opportunity to listen to, to talk to and to meet with many Constituents, during the course of what should become a prolonged walking tour of (at least in my opinion) one of Cymru / Wales's more interesting constituencies. Covid largely put paid too that with leafleting only being aloud from the 12th April and restricted canvassing only being allowed after that date - which left the best part of three weeks. 

Elections are not simply about the voters and the candidates, a whole host of people work very hard behind the scenes to make things work smoothly, including the Retuning Officers, their staff, the council staff who run the polling booths (for some hours on polling day done if then were literally in the dark and the cold) and the staff who count the votes and the other council staff and the Police who work tirelessly to make the count function flawlessly - all of which happened within the midst of covid pandemic restrictions. 

At least for once, it was decided to count the votes on the Friday following Polling day, which was far more  civilised than counting the votes in the early hours,  something that we managed to do this in 1999 and life as we know it did not come to an end. Personally I hope that this temporary change becomes a permanent change - I could not help noticing that this time round the sky did not fall.  

Post election, in Newport West (and elsewhere) former candidates and even for the successfully elected candidate life can now begin the odd process of returning to some form of normality. For the next few weeks after returning to normal sleep patterns and a normal intake of coffee may be something of a priority, that and resisting the strange desire to knock on the doors of perfect strangers and push leaflets through complete strangers letter boxes.

Now that the sound and the fury have faded, and the door knocking and on the street conversations blended into one former candidates can sensibly take stock and perhaps some reflection. As a candidate, no matter the result, you should neither make instant decisions about your future nor say anything in the heat of the moment that can come back and haunt you further down the line. 

This is no glory in politics, merely hard often unappreciated effort, any dreams of political immortality / longevity should regularly doused with hard cold realism. I personally learned that lesson a few election campaigns ago having been featured on the front page of a local newspaper in relation to the well supported local campaign to Keep Abergavenny Livestock Market I had the quite surreal experience of going to buy some chips in a local chip shop with a friend only to sit-in the queue to observe myself literally being wrapped around chips (Sic transit gloria mundi - or "Thus passes the glory of the world”.

A MESSAGE FROM ADAM PRICE

Adam Price, leader of Plaid Cymru 

Dear voter,

In the age of conversing in 280 characters, it often feels as if the sanctity of words wears thinner by the day.

Vows to save the Union made then broken. Slogans on buses painted over with bluff and bluster. NHS deadlines missed and child poverty targets dropped.

It’s time to restore trust in our democracy.

I want you to believe in those who represent Wales as much as you believe in Wales itself. I want to prove to you that Plaid Cymru is driven by something different – not by Westminster diktat but by a sincere desire to deliver for our country.

I want us to form the next government of Wales not for the power, but for the privilege of leading our nation and for the potential that will be unleashed by our radical and transformational programme.

As you head to the polling station today, ask yourself two simple questions: Can Wales have a future that is greener, fairer, and more prosperous? And isn’t it time we had a government ready to make that a reality?

If the answer to those questions is ‘yes’, then vote for Wales – vote for Plaid Cymru.

‘Vote’ 

Vote for a £6bn Welsh Green Deal that will create up to 60,000 jobs.

Vote for a Reskill Grant for those over 25 who were made redundant during the pandemic and for a Youth Jobs Guarantee for all 16-24-year-olds.

Vote for 1,000 extra doctors and 5,000 extra nurses and allied health professionals to improve access to healthcare and cut waiting times.

Vote for 50,000 public homes to end the scandal of 67,000 families stuck on housing waiting lists.

Vote for free school meals and free childcare from 24 months to lift tens of thousands of children out of poverty.

Vote for Plaid Cymru as the only party which believes that Wales’s future should be put in Wales’s hands through a referendum on independence.

Vote for a party dedicated to Wales and determined to deliver for Wales.

A dear friend no longer with us once told me that life is too short not to say what you mean and to mean what you say.

Today, I give you my word. Vote for Plaid Cymru and we will work every day to make Wales a better place for everyone who lives here. We will stand up taller and raise our voices louder to Westminster whilst building the case for our nation to make its own way in the world.

Vote for Plaid Cymru and let us prove to you that a promise made is a promise kept – true to our word and true to Wales.

Dros Gymru,

Adam Price

FRIARS WALK AND DEBENHAMS

The loss of Debenhams in Friars Walk is a bitter blow - while covid has not helped matters very much - the Debenham’s retail model was failing for some years. The priority has to be for former workers need as much help as can be given to find nw jobs and training. The Friar’s walk development itself was too small and failed to create the retail space for local businesses to set up from the start. While there have been some tentative steps towards that in recent weeks, at a fundamental level that has to change from now on - there has to be a blend of local businesses and the usual suspects - there is room enough to make this work. One basic economic fact is that if you spend ten pounds in local business it will circulate three times longer locally in the local economy that ten pounds spent in a chain outlet. Newport has suffered because of the obsession with directly competing with Cardiff and Cribs Causeway. We need to focus on growing small local businesses that supply our needs as well as hosting the usual suspects to bring economic life back to our city centre. If we can do this then we can bring sustainable economic growth and life back to our city centre.  

A VOTE FOR HOPE

Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price has marked the eve of the Senedd Election by making the case that “a vote for Plaid is a vote for hope” as Wales prepares to go to the polls.

Adam Price said that Plaid Cymru’s belief in Wales’s ability to solve its own problems stood in stark contrast to Labour and the Tories whose “can’t do” attitude always puts Westminster before Wales.

The Plaid Cymru Leader added that his party’s “transformational programme for government” reflected the scale of change and ambition required to rebuild Wales’s economy and public services after the Covid pandemic.

Speaking on the eve of the Senedd Election, Adam Price said:

“At this election more than any other, a vote for Plaid Cymru is a vote for hope.

“We refuse to believe that there is anything inferior about Wales that means we can’t thrive like other independent nations around the world.

“In contrast to Labour and the Tories’ “can’t do” attitude and their determination to put Westminster before Wales every time, we believe in our nation’s ability to solve its own problems.

“The Covid pandemic has demanded more of us in so many ways. More kindness, more patience, more strength, and more innovation.

“Now is the time to show more ambition than ever before to ensure that we meet the challenge of rebuilding our economy and public services.

“That is why Plaid Cymru is putting forward such a transformational programme for government to reflect the scale of change and ambition required to succeed. 

“From creating up to 60,000 jobs and delivering 50,000 public homes, from offering free school meals to all primary pupils and free childcare from 24 months, and from training and recruiting 6,000 frontline NHS staff and cutting council tax for the average household, Plaid Cymru’s vision gives hope.

“Hope for a better future, a fairer future, and a future where our nation and everyone who calls it home can fulfil their potential. 

“There is nothing we cannot achieve together, and that journey can start tomorrow with a vote for Plaid Cymru, a vote for hope.”  

ENDS

A VOTE FOR PLAID CYMRU IS A VOTE FOR WALES

 

TIME TO CHOOSE A NEW FUTURE

Plaid Cymru’s Westminster Group Leader and Senedd Election Campaign Director Liz Saville Roberts MP has today hit out at the Labour Welsh Government’s record in power, saying that the lack of social progress on Labour’s watch represents a “betrayal” of the party’s values.

Arguing that this is the time for new leadership, new ideas and new energy for a new Wales Ms Saville Roberts said “Now is the time for a new beginning. Let’s choose a new future not stick with the past and more of the same.”

Liz Saville Roberts added that “Plaid Cymru’s fully-costed plans to offer free school meals to all primary pupils, free childcare from 24 months, a weekly child payment for the families who need it the most and a council tax cut for the poorest households prove that we are the party of social progress in this election.”

Liz Saville Roberts MP argued that Labour’s time in office in Wales was typified by “good intentions but bad governance”, adding that the party had repeatedly set admirable targets on issues such as child poverty and climate change only to miss them.

The Plaid Cymru Senedd Election Campaign Director added that Aneurin Bevan, arguably the most famous Labour politician from Wales, who warned that “people who stand in the middle of the road get run over” would not look kindly upon the Labour Welsh Government of today’s stance on issues of social justice such as free school meals and the devolution of welfare.

Liz Saville Roberts MP said:

“Labour’s twenty-two years at the helm in Wales typify the mantra of good intentions but bad governance.

“They set admirable targets to eradicate child poverty and tackle the climate crisis, only to miss them due to their lack of ambition and economic competence.

“Aneurin Bevan warned that those who stand in the middle of the road are in danger of being run over. Labour would do well to heed these words rather than sit on the fence, or say one thing and do the opposite on key issues of social justice such as free school meals and the devolution of welfare.

“Labour’s record on voting against free school meals, voting against a flooding inquiry that would get vital answer for those whose homes have been devastated by bad weather, and arguing that welfare powers should remain in the hands of the Tories in Westminster speak of a party which has forgotten how to enact its values, and betraying those very values in the process.

“Now is the time for a new beginning. Let’s choose a new future not stick with the past and more of the same.

“Plaid Cymru’s fully-costed plans to offer free school meals to all primary pupils, free childcare from 24 months, a weekly child payment for the families who need it the most and a council tax cut for the poorest households prove that we are the party of social progress in this election.

“Re-electing a Labour Government determined to keep Wales tied to an unjust and unequal union will never deliver the changes that will make our nation fairer for everyone who lives here.

“A Plaid Cymru Government will mean a stronger Wales – feared and respected by Westminster, not neglected and ignored. This will mean a better deal for Wales – more investment and more powers.

“The only way of ensuring that is to vote for Wales by voting for Plaid Cymru on May 6th.”

GETTING WALES BACK IN BUSINESS

Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price has today accused the Labour Welsh Government of leaving Wales with a “woeful economic legacy” as a consequence of failing to support indigenous Welsh businesses and create well-paid jobs after 22 years in power.

Adam Price said that Wales had been “locked in” to a low-wage economy due to the “double hit” of Labour’s lack of economic competence coupled with their lack of ambition when it comes to standing up to Westminster and demanding more powers.

He added that a Plaid government would adopt a “jobs, jobs, jobs” mantra, and reiterated how his party’s plans to create up to 60,000 jobs in key sectors such as public services, infrastructure and energy would “transform our country”.

Adam Price said:

“Plaid Cymru has a plan that will transform our country. We have a plan that will transform the economy, creating quality jobs in every community – ending youth unemployment, ending child hunger, ending homelessness and poverty pay. 

“For many years, relatively low unemployment figures have hidden one of Wales’s worst economic problems – poverty pay. Welsh workers are still earning roughly £50 less per week than their counterparts in England and Scotland.

“This is the woeful economic legacy of 22 years of Labour at the helm who have categorically failed to deliver high-skilled, well-paid jobs in all parts of Wales.

“The pandemic has compounded this problem by leading to thousands of people losing their livelihoods and driving many other businesses right to the brink.

“A Plaid Cymru government would not only create more jobs with our plans to employ up to 60,000 people in sustainable roles such as in public services, infrastructure, and energy but crucially jobs that would put more money in people’s pockets.

“From Aston Martin to Ineos, Labour have repeatedly courted global corporations whilst neglecting homegrown Welsh companies with the potential to thrive and create meaningful employment for people in their local communities.

“A Plaid government would adopt a “jobs, jobs, jobs” mantra, making up for the lost years in which Wales has been locked in to a low-wage economy due to Labour’s incompetent handling and their lack of ambition in standing up to Westminster and demanding more economic levers.

“This will only change when Wales has a First Minister willing to take personal responsibility for the economy and lead a government that is feared and respected by Westminster, not neglected and ignored.”

THE GREAT WELSH TRAIN ROBBERY

Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price has today vowed that a Plaid government would end Westminster’s “Great Welsh Train Robbery” by investing in creating Wales’s first truly national rail network.

Adam Price hit out at the UK Government’s chronic underinvestment in the Welsh rail network, citing the injustice of Welsh taxpayers footing the bill for England-only projects such as HS2.

The Plaid leader outlined how a national rail network would link major populations such as Bangor and Carmarthen along the west coast, as well as ensure main lines in the north and south, and across central Wales.

Using existing, new and reinstated lines a Plaid Cymru government will also deliver a Valleys CrossRail, connecting Treherbert in the Rhondda to Pontypool, via Pontypridd, Nelso, Ystrad Mynach, Hengoed, Blackwood, Newbridge, and Crumlin.

Adam Price said:

“There is no comprehensive rail network connecting the different parts of Wales with north-south journeys having to be made through England.

“Whilst control of the main rail franchise has been in the hands of the Welsh government, the tracks and infrastructure remain a matter for Westminster which sees Network Rail making decisions on an England-and-Wales basis.

“As a result, Welsh taxpayers are footing the bill for costly projects such as HS2 which are not only set to be built entirely in England but also harmful to the Welsh economy as research shows.

“For as long as Westminster has some control over rail policy, the Great Welsh Train Robbery will roll on.

“This is why a Plaid Cymru government would seek full devolution, with adequate funding, for all rail services in Wales.

“Once this is achieved, we will task Transport for Wales with creating an all-Wales national rail network, connecting the north with the south and enabling rail traffic between the major centers of population.

“This would entail main lines in the north and south, a central Wales line linking Swansea, Llanelli and Shrewsbury, the Cambrian line linking Aberystwyth with Shrewsbury, and a new West Coast line, linking Carmarthen with Bangor and on to Amlwch.

“The Valleys CrossRail will provide a huge boost to business development, urban regeneration and housing as well as transport – directly benefiting a population of more than 250,000 people.

“We would also proceed with plans for metros for the south-east, north-east, Swansea Bay and the Western Valleys.

“This network will support transit-oriented development along its route so that economic development can flourish in the most sustainable and climate responsible way.

“All of this forms part of our vision for an independent Wales, free from Westminster’s constraints and able to truly connect our communities for the benefit of all our people.”

- ENDS -