No Justice for Rural Wales

The decision by the Tory Government to close Brecon Courts means there is no prospect of justice for many rural Wales residents,

This means the many hearings will now take place in Merthyr Tydfil of which Brecon was already a satellite.  Merthyr is of course highly accessible. From Rhayader it is ONLY an hour an a quarter away by car. But what if you can't drive Travelline Cyrmu comes up with the solution.

To get to the bus station in the morning you need to leave Rhayader at 0645hrs. This gets you in by about 0945. On the way back the latest you can leave the bus station and get home the same day is 1515.

So just remember to hope the case before you is not delayed.

So what has our new Conservative MP got to say about this. Well, hmm, yes a look at his web site reveals, wait for it NOTHING. In all his debates, press releases and campaigns the courts don't appear once.

Of course some cases may end up closer to home in Llandrindod Wells but there is no guarantee for that at all.

Welsh Lib Dems respond to Flooding Challenge

No one can easily forget the flooding experienced across the UK this winter and whilst Wales has fared better than most there have been some problems. However the height of the flooding coincided with the motions deadline for Welsh Spring Conference and armed with personal knowledge and a Facebook policy group I set out to write what I hope is a reasonably comprehensive start point for our party to move forward.

The motion in full can be found within the conference guide but in keeping with all good things political it comes with a 10 point call for action.

Conference calls for:
1. The Welsh Government to replace existing planning guidance with respect to development in the flood plain with a new robust strategy. 

2. All future risk modelling be based on a "known record level extent model" for flood management. 

3. The Welsh Government to introduce new Planning Design Notes and Building Regulations to improve the resilience of properties identified as being at risk of flooding and reduce the impact of surface water run off.  

4. The Welsh Government to develop whole-catchment plans for Welsh rivers designed to reduce the flow rates of water through the catchment.

5. The Government in both Cardiff and Westminster to make grants available to householders in flood risk areas who want to put in place improvements to their properties that improve the resilience of the property to future flood events.  

6. The Government in Westminster to work with the insurance industry to produce new renovation guidelines designed to increase the resilience of properties in the face of repeated flood events.  

7. Local Authorities to immediately remove all housing allocations on areas identified to be at risk of flooding from their development plans except where planning permission has already been granted and work commenced.  

8. The Government in Westminster to introduce a presumption against siting well heads for fracking in areas identified as falling within a flood risk zone.  

9. The Welsh Liberal Democrats to actively participate in any review of flood management including making a submission for policy changes based on this debate.  

10. The introduction of lowland farm management plans which promote the development of water meadows and the use of lower grade agricultural land for flood control measures.

These measures in themselves will not provide the solution. Our weather patterns have altered considerably in the past 20 years what once fell as snow in autumn is now heavy rain. Water is not trapped in frozen ground as upland bogs remain just that. Moreover one persons flood defences have become someone else’s flood.

This motion has set out a new approach, we need to consider the whole catchment in our plans and far from speeding up flows we must seek to slow them down keeping water in the hills for as long as possible. If we are to use farmland for deliberate short term water storage it must be limited to under a week beyond that even pasture will begin to suffer and some of our most productive farmland will be lost.

However most significant of all is our approach to the planning and reconstruction process. We have already built where we shouldn't have so renovation must also include resilience and the insurance industry should plan that into any settlements made. We shouldn’t make matters worse either, the 20 or 100 year return event is no longer a sustainable model for prediction instead we should move to a known historic event model for planning. We should also review all current allocations and if they are in areas where there is an historic record of flooding developers must show how that is to be managed or have the allocation removed.

Finally we must protect our environment at all costs. When a street floods the police will tell you not to go into the water because of contamination risks. So this motion takes that forward and states clearly that Welsh Lib Dems would introduce a presumption against the development of any well relating to fracking within a known flood extent or where there is evidence of localised surface water flooding.

Elements of this motion will feed into discussions we will have post May if we are in a position to form a government in Wales.

Any local party wanting to adopt them or bring the motion to their own regional conference is more than welcome to use the full text.

The 2015 General Election as a Play List

Looking back on a disappointing election I wondered how it could all look if put to the titles or lyrics of popular music so here goes with my GE2015 Play list

The campaign The Leaders debate. Eurythmics - Sisters are doing it for themselves. The Tory campaign. Iron Maiden - Fear of the dark.   Lib Dem campaign. Steelers Wheel - Stuck in the middle with you UKIP.  Steven Miller band. The joker Polling day Scottish results. Queen - Another one bites the dust.  Alastair Carmichael MP. Elton John  - I'm still standing The aftermath  For everyone who voted against the Lib Dems because of the coalition and now have a Conservative MP.  Joni Mitchell - Big yellow taxi.   Douglas Caswall MP. Police - So lonely,  Plaid Cymru. Ultravox - All stood still.   Scottish Labour. Capercaillie - Ravenscraig  Conservative Government. Orange Juice - Rip it up or Rod Stewart - First cut is the deepest   UKIP and short money. Show of hands - Ignorance, arrogance and greed.  Lib Dems. Yazz - Only way is up SNP Abba - The winner takes it all.  Nick Clegg resignation. Denise williams and Johnny Mathis - Too much, too little too late   Our future. Oysterband - Put out the  lights.

Richard Livsey

I have been meaning to restart this blog for a while but the sad news of the death of Richard Livsey was the last thing I expected to be the reopening topic.

Richard was without doubt a politician from a different era. Someone who cared about his constituents not just climbing the greasy pole. I remember all too well the shock of sitting on the back step of my house in Aberystwyth in the 1992 sun learning that not only had Geraint lost his seat by Richard had as well. Yet I also remember the welcome I received from him when I moved across to Rhaayder a couple of years later and his tireless efforts over 5 years to keep the Lib Dem flag flying and retake the seat.

When he held the seat his activity didn't stop there his contribution to the yes campaign, his amazing casework load and his support for both Roger and Kirsty were amazing to see. Even after ennoblement he continued the rounds of village fetes and coffee mornings as before.

Outside of Wales his legacy will be but a footnote on history mainly remembered as a by election winner and little more. Inside Wales he will be viewed as one of the key political influences on my generation of Liberal Democrats many of whom are now in positions of influence in Westminster, Cardiff or councils across the land. Inside Brecon and Radnor he will be remembered as one of their best MPs.

In 1997 we used the slogan "everyone knows someone who has been helped by Richard Livsey" changed to the past tense it sums up his political life.

Fear of Crime

For the first time tonight my dad is worried about crime. To be precise he is afraid of being burgled. He wasn't this morning in fact it hasn't crossed his mind once in the nine years he has lived in the house that someone could lift the windows out to get in.

So what has changed well this morning he got a leaflet inviting him to meet a double glazing salesman.

The first I knew was mid afternoon when he rang me seeking some advice was £6k reduced on today only discount to £4.5k a bit much for replacing the downstairs windows. I was with him yesterday and this hadn't cropped up so why was he considering this now?

A little gentle probing revealed that the salesman had majored on how vulnerable his windows were to breaking in they could "just be lifted out" and this concern was the main reason he was now considering the purchase.

I just about kept my anger under control and pursuaded him that this was not a reason alone to purchase and if he was keen to then he needed to get several quotes. "But this was today only I got back" so I went though the whole distance selling process etc. He finally agreed that this was not a good idea and rang off to tell them he wanted more time.

Five minutes later he was back it was now the absolute rock bottom of £4k and was this now acceptable again security was the concern. I told him no if they were so keen for his business they would always find discounts and in the mean time why not get the local police to send a crime prevention officer round to look at the overall security of the house without any vested interest. He agreed.

What incenses me though is that even today companies are allowed to prey on the fear of crime to try and pressure sell products to older members of the community.

I await with interest the report from the cpo if there is no problem I will be suggesting to my father to make a formal complaint about the sales technique used but how many other people dont have a son or daughter on the other end of the phone? Without doubt it is time for a new look at doorstep selling tactics it seems that some double glazing salesmen even now havent changed since the 80's

The politics of potholes

We are all seeing it, the huge levels of damage to tired road surfaces caused by the recent winter weather and the consequent burden on the local authority budgets. However a simple question springs to my mind and that is should the government be picking up some of the tab?

Why you may ask and here is the rub.

When Lord Adonis intervened and required Councils to stop gritting on all but the highest priority routes he did so under the guise that this was in effect a national emergency scenario. The consequence is that councils across the land cut back on their secondary gritting regime.

It is on these roads I focus my attention. Under normal conditions these would have been treated and damage significantly reduced as a result.

Now if we accept the argument that this was a national event it places it on a par with Foot and Mouth in 2001 or the 2007 Flooding. In both of these events the Belwin Formula was applied allowing Councils to claim back expenditure related to the incident.

By their intervention in a council duty there is a strong case to put that the damage to the network on the roads published as being gritted but which were not in order to protect the truck road network is a direct result of government action in a civil contingencies event. As such the Bellwin Formula should apply and we should be placing pressure on the government to ensure the consequences of their actions are not once again borne by the council tax budget

Go now Mr Martin

While there are plenty of call for the speaker to go and some suggesting successors one question that has to be considered is timing.

Now, in a month or at the general election.

Our current speaker would prefer to hang on, resign honourably and stand down as MP at the same time or so it would seem. In that time he would without favour reform the expenses system at both entitlement and back office level and restore confidence in the office which he as so patently failed. A nice thought but put another way he as the man that could stop the mess at any time over the past 9 years and cleaned it up in private but didn't now wants our trust that he can do it in public.

I THINK NOT and I have 20 years of campaigning under my belt and am thoughougly sickened by the whole mess. He should go now rather than put into place a system that his replacement may themselves deem too lax and seek to reform.

So now or in a month or two.

Personally it has to be now but I suspect it may be best for the country for him to see things though to publication of the full expenses let his watch carry all the juicy revelations and not leave a new Speaker having thier opening days tainted by the past.

So publication day it is and I hope a real competion for the post let us the public see the election not hide it behind closed doors. Place an obligation on every party in Westminster to nominate at least one candidate in the next ten days with thier expenses published immediately and require them to publish their alst 4 years of expenses on nomination.

Lets see detailled manifestos of how they plan to reform, a full question time debate and public involvement... and let them face an independant review of manifesto vs actions in 24 months time with a commitment to resign if they are found to have reeged on those promises

We as a political elite have too many good candidates out there being frightened or sickened out of Westminster politics by the baying of the Fleet Street pack. So let us once and for all send a message out that our politics is fundermentally clean its just got a few rotten apples within it that need checking on the compost heap

Welsh Lib Dems back Rally GB

It gave me a fair amount of pleasure to be one to the 10 reps signing the emergency motion calling on the Nat/Lab government in Cardiff to reverse its decision to break its sponsorship of Wales Rally GB.

What am I talking about. Well for the measly sum of £2.4m that expert on rural tourism IWJ decided last week that the event which the government are contracted to support is not worth the investment. Now take away the legal costs we are likely to face but what does the event bring.
Four days of visitors in Cardiff AND rural mid Wales, four days OUT OF SEASON where the local trade gets a major boost. National and international coverage on Eurosport and local media across Scandinavia and other countries where rallying is as big as F1 is in the UK.

At a time when we as a nation are trying to grow our cultural tourism the "most excellent" leader of Plaid Cymru has shown it is not only his own party policy he is prepared to ignore but also binding legal agreements.

How can he and hence Wales expect any major business or sporting event to even consider coming here now when they know that a WAG contract is viewed as being as watertight as a chocolate teapot.

Where a request is not a requirment

Over the past 7 years my protocol with our corporate hotel booking service has had a note on it saying that I will not accept being placed in a smoking room.

The booking form they send had the words "non smoking room requested". Now in my ignorance I have always assumed that when a hotel accepts a booking with a request they will honour it on the day or inform the agency the request could not be met.

It would appear I was wrong.

Twice in the past fortnight I was told oh no it was only a "request" so we put you in this one from our allocation as I coughed my way down the internal phone. In both cases a new room was found.

But my protocol has now changed the latest booking now reads "non smoking room required contact guest direct is not available"

Tory attacks core of Scouting values

As an Englishman living in Wales I have always been amazed at the depths some on the fringes of Welsh politics will go to attack all things English. However this latest news that a Tory Councillor in Abergele is up in arms about the Scout movement holding a parade to celebrate their patron saint takes the biscuit.

Anyone who like me has been an active member of the Scouting movement would know that the saint chosen to represent the values of the association is shared with the Malta, Gozo, Beirut oh and England.

They would also know that the nearest Sunday to the 23rd is when most scout groups will hold a local parade and promise renewal service for many it is the only act of religious observance they have.

Now is a fit of what appears to be Welsh nationalism Cllr Sam Rowland is urging the association to change the focus of the event. The movement should he claims should do so because they don't march on St Davids Day.

How pathetic can you be. Far from attacking this celebration of honour and community involvement he ought to dig out a tent, pair of boots and get out with a local scout group and serve his community instead of using the organisation for a few cheap political points

Passport vs Driving licence online

Having moved recently and with an expired passport I finally got around to starting to sort the situation out this morning.

First off the Passport. A google search gets me to the relevant agency and apply on-line forms a series of questions a postcode based address finder (with accurate information)and a return button promised me a pre filled form in the post in the next couple of days.

So far so good

Now the driving licence find DVLA, redirect to Direct Gov single free-form text to request the relevant paper document with a promise of 7-10 day deliver.

Now I realise there are differences in the service but surely someone should be looking at this incredible oversight to ensure the technology the passport agency have secured for their forms could also be deployed by other government agencies

Northern Rock Bonuses give lie to shareholder compensation rules

So there we have it on the week after the main Northern Rock shareholders were in court arguing the lie of the governments compensation order that Northern Rock should have been valued as if it were in administration we learn that the repayment targets have been met and workers will get a 10% bonus.

Now I am pleased for them they stuck it out when all was bleak and clearly have done a good job since. If that was the deal then they deserve every penny they get.

However there are two glaring issues in this. Firstly the amount of debt repayment that has been made at a time when there is a dire shortage of credit, if Northern Rock had been allowed to function this could well have enables a small but significant easing of pressures on a number of other organisations. The government may let them do that now but too little too late springs to mind.

But as significant is the fact they have been able to repay this in the first place. This is not a small nibble this is a considerable chunk of the debt to the government. In fact it offers plenty of evidence that far from being a basket case all the business needed was a resolution to its cashflow and a new board of management.

But hang on a minute isn't that the mantra of the government now "we must stop sound businesses going into administration and jobs being lost due to short term problems with credit supply" . Shame they didn't apply that right at the start they might have nipped it in the bud.

But I do have one final question. Why has this emerged now after the court hearings surely this is clear evidence which supports the shareholder case and needs to be placed before the judge undertaking the review or is that too inconvenient for the government to bare?

Obama vs Labour on public accountability

My oh my what a contrast, while Barack Obama tells the American people

"And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government."

Our clear and transparent government have introduced "Freedom of Information (Parliament) Order 2009" a rather ironic name given its main aim is to exempt MP from having their expenses declared in full.

No iPODgate for them. I bet Nick Bourne wished he had won in Worcestershire all those years ago :-)

Still at least there is some opposition to this.

Jo Swinton has an early day motion down while TheyWorkForYou will lead on this from now to the election and are offering practical lobbying suggestions.

Then finally there is a facebook group which is now approaching its 6000th member in about 48 hours

Missed opportunity in the Economic Recovery Group

Overall the reshuffle leaves me feeling we have a stronger team. The promotion of Jenny Willott in particular is a big plus, and moving Steve Webb back to pensions can only strengthen our policy in this key area.

Unlike some of my fellow bloggers I am also happy to see Lembit outside the front bench team. Parliament needs politicians who are prepared to reach out to all of society and leaving him to do just that may yet yield greater rewards for us.

Where I am slightly disappointed is the composition of the Economic Recovery Group. For a party that prides itself in its Federal structures it is a real missed opportunity for us that while the prefix Lord and suffix MP appear on the list the letters AM or MSP do not. Given the key role these two bodies will have in Wales and Scotland one is left asking oneself the question why do we think all the answers must come from Westminster based politicians?

What is the point of Plaid in government?

On the day when Labour drove a coach and horses though the devolution settlement in Wales what is the response from the supposed Party of Wales?

Well according to their web site at 1 minute to midnight the only thing they have to say today is a press release from one of thier AMs in a cross party role challenging Wales to produce role models that challenge size zero and hence reduce the prevalence of eating disorders.

Now don't get me wrong I work hard to give my 6 year old daughter positive role models and applaud this initiative put wasn't something more important going on today?

Something about the secretary of state having a right under legislation to block the will of the Assembly in Cardiff over housing policy

Isn't this the very thing that Plaid told us wouldn't happen. Sure they may have kept their powder dry for the Welsh Language LCO but now they not only have to fight Labour on that one they have to fight the precedent they themselves as part of government have set by accepting this draconian oversight on this order.

So I ask myself again what is the point of Plaid in government? The more I see of it the answer seems to be none

Why speed limiters would be a poor solution

So once again at Christmas time the Government has dug out those old chestnuts for a new attempt at making some decent stuffing. This year it is sat nav driven speed limiters that make it onto the fire for a slow roast. These voluntary devices will save the world, cutting down on fuel emissions and reducing road accidents as we cut speeds to the legal limit we are told.

So the questions have to be are they a good idea and will they work?

Sadly there are a few technical issues to resolve.

1) The mapping is not available off the shelf. Yes, Ordnance Survey have a road network that underpins the geometry used by Teleatlas and Transport Direct/DoT and Navtec have their own alternative. But none have a legally accurate speed model. Nor is it as easy as mapping all the road signs as many don't match the legal orders to the metre.

2) If captured it will have to be updated for every vehicle every time a new road is added or speed limit changed else people wouldn't be able to drive on new roads. The current best commercial release is every 6 weeks from Ordnance Survey using an on-line push service to commercial customers.

3) GPS is accurate enough to work. Well most of the time it is, assuming the right chipset is used, the satellites are visible, your windscreen is not attenuating the signal, you have locked on, you are not in an urban canyon need I go on :-)

4) Even if you are 20m out it doesnt matter really. I suppose it doesn't.... if the road parallel has the same speed limit. My sat nave regularly places me on the service road parallel to the one I am driving in the Southampton area, and as readings are taken at 2sec intervals I have seen it on rare occasions jump off the motorway onto the feeder road alongside... oops that has a 30 limit... can I have my power back before... BANG too late... how much does a 2 hour closure of a motorway cost?

Then there are the safety issues

1 Overtaking the tractor on the rural road is far safer with foot down get by then brake back to the speed limit if you have exceeded it than being stuck at 60 edging past.

2 Will urban users really want to wait the 2 or more minutes it may take for the first satellite lock?

3 I use cruise control regularly on motorways and some straight urban roads when clear the problem with it is it doesn't stay exactly at speed its at best + or - 3mph over 10 minutes worse on steep hills, sure you watch the road not your speed readout but you relax too much

Finally will it work on fuel reduction?

I have to say from personal experience no. On the urban cycle congestion and the stop start acceleration will kill off your economy in any case so its on the open road that things will count.

But for the majority of law abiding users it will have no effect at all. In fact it will make matters worse!!

On what do I base this claim? Well every car I have driven overestimates speed at 70mph by between 4 and 8mph compared to a GPS at steady speed. Compare 3GPS at the same time and they agree to within .2 of each other. As a commercial driver this has given me the confidence that is safe (from a speeding ticket point of view) for me to drive to the GPS not the speedo. The result my long term economy has dropped from 57 to 54mpg (diesel).

I suspect that people like me, who generally drive within the limit, will be those most likely to fit the device. For us the thought would be if I put my foot down I still won't break the limit so I'll trust government technology to ensure I dont break the law.

Those who would make economy savings, the 85-90+ driver, wouldn't touch this with a bargepole in any case.

So is there value in what is proposed?

For the big picture, no this is a red herring.

However if the government are prepared to front the cash to enable local government to produce a nationally consistent set of speed limits in a digital form accurately reconciled with the legal orders AND the road signage, which is then freely available, regularly updated and integrated to all Sat-Navs systems on the market so that all a driver needs to do is glance at their sat-nav screen to know the speed limit then this particular chestnut might actually lead to something tasty and nutritious in time for Xmas 2009.

Emperor Browns new Clothes

First the Germans said, it now the IMF have followed suit Far from being the saving of the British economy the VAT cut is looking more and more like the Emperors new clothes.

But should we be surprised, while the big retailers are happy to pass the savings on what about the rest of the economy.

The publican running a microbrewery "I cant afford to change all my menus and beer prices are actually going up, the duty change over cancels the cut in VAT and that is permanent"

The small builder (and the haulage sector) "increases in fuel duty mean we are paying more not less tax and we cant claim that back"

Hotels personal experience "none of the hotels I use on a regular basis have changed their prices so all this means is margins going up"

Sure I have saved some money as a result the vacuum cleaner we needed to buy was £3 less but I saved far more by shopping around for the Children's presents than I did from VAT changes.

So where are we left, in 373 days VAT will return to normal and if the commentators are to be believed we will still be in deep recession. Potentially worse the rise may even create a double dip scenario with firms either forced to cut margins or see a further hit to spending.

We need confidence back by that point if we are to survive.

So is it working? Just look to the high street today

The Officer Club : up to 70% off

HMV: 2008 chart albums 2 for £10

B+Q: 50% off sale starting tomorrow on bed, bath and kitchen furniture

Adams: savings on everything bar the spring 09 collection

Waterstones : large range of 3 for 2

The sales have started and it isn't even Xmas eve. Compared to this the Chancellors offering is an expensive red herring.

Then look at the queues the bigger the cuts and the cheaper the branding in any case the bigger they were, The Works, Primark, Waterstones were all busy. In short shoppers were trading down and again by far more than 2.5%.

Now the figures in January will tell their own story as no doubt will be the number of businesses in receivership but now is the time for the Chancellor to be bold.

If the stats show the VAT cut isn't working it should be reversed immediately. With the money saved he should.

Invest in insulation of all public buildings.

Underpin the housing market by purchasing vacant property across the country and use it to reduce council housing waiting lists and homelessness.

Initiate further investment in infrastructure modernisation across the UK.

If the chancellor thinks getting the public deeper in debt for consumable items is the way out he is little more than giving whiskey to the dunk on the street corner. We do need to spend but we need publicly visible signs of our investment to build confidence in the rest of the economy not just a cheaper wii to fill our days while we sign on and look for a non existent job

Environment must gain from car bailouts

This week two key factors emerged in relation to our car industry.

Firstly the EU have passed new targets that will reduce CO2 emissions by 20% in 2020 including new targets for vehicle emissions. Secondly it appears at least one UK maker will be cap in hand to the Treasury looking for a bail out to keep in in business over the coming months.

Now let me make it clear I without hesitation support the need for a financial package to the industry. Without it the same decimation of communities that followed the Tory butchery of the coal mines in the 80's will be seen in communities across the land as not just the big factories close but so do all their component suppliers.

However this must not be a blank cheque. If the government are in effect to take a large share in the car industry then it must do so with two reforms tied to the back of its money.

First the industry management processes must be streamlined and modernised. Then second the money must be tied to short, medium and long term commitments to improving the environmental friendliness of their product.

This can be simplistically be done in many ways however I suggest 4 key commitments to start the process off

1 Remove the most polluting variants from their range within six months
2 Place environmental friendliness on a par with safety in all advertising
3 Refocus new research on technology that improves fuel efficiency especially in the stationary traffic jam scenario
4 Commit to the original more ambitious targets that the EU originally proposed for this weeks legislation before the industry lobbyists got their claws in

That way not only will we have a car industry left after this crisis passes but we will have one configured towards ensuring our children have an environment left in which to own their own car in the future

Powys Leisure centres under threat ?

So having turned out the lights and forced the elderly off our streets (good crime reduction idea.. I think not) Powys are turning their attention to the entire community especially those who wish to keep in shape or learn to swim.

It would appear that leisure facilities are under "review" It seems that 16 leisure centres for 125k people is too many.

Of course looked at another way since 16 centres are all that is needed to cover 25% of the land area of Wales we only need another 48 to give everyone the same geographic access as Powys residents. Somehow such a suggestion would be laughable, after all that would mean only 1 or perhaps 2 centres for the whole of Cardiff and there is the core of the problem. Close any of the existing centres and you force residents on a 30+ mile round trip to the nearest alternative. Put another way it would be like expecting all Cardiff residents to use leisure centres in Newport.

The subtext is more interesting though. "areas under scrutiny would be opening hours, leisure centre activities, usage and pricing policy" in short we won't close them but you are going to pay though the nose to use them.

Lighting may have been a thorny question for many but the loss of one of these facilities would be a major hit for any of the towns concerned and send a clear message to the town concerned that they are no longer important.

Looking wider than the obvious it does raise serious issues about how government funds are apportioned to Welsh authorities. No settlement can be completely equitable due to the conflicting demands but there are clearly identified costs of delivering services in rural areas over an above urban ones.

Perhaps what we are seeing now is real impact of this lack of central understanding, or perhaps we are seeing the reality that the all party cabinet and lots of independent councillors just don't work in holding the officers to account and services suffer as a result.

Is an i_pod the new dead sheep?

It is not for me to criticize Nick Bourne for buying an electronic device to enable his learning of the Welsh language. If it helps him communicate with his electorate a significant proportion of whom speak Welsh as their first language then his actions are to be applauded. However his choice of player leaves a lot to be desired and his justification opens up significant questions of his approach to government.

Take his defence in todays Western Mail as an example

“I’ve made it absolutely clear it’s primarily for learning Welsh. There is no music on it.”

WHAT A WASTE!

If that is all you needed what was wrong with the £20 generic player from any high street store. My own Sansa only set me back £80 and I can listen to Radio Wales and keep up with the news on it.

If this is indicative of the opposition approach to value for money then what confidence can we have in a future Tory administration led by a man who claims of the public

They want a Wales that doesn’t draw this hard and fast distinction between the public and private sectors – people just want decent healthcare that is paid for

How will he be able to determine what is best when he is incapable of identifying when a generic product is as good for the job as the more expensive brand. After all isn't that just the problem clinicians face every day?