In his regular blog for Caerphilly Observer South Wales East AM Lindsay Whittle gives his take on recent news.
The Economy
The big issue at the Assembly has been the economic crisis – and what is being done to respond to it.
I know how worried many people in the county borough are about the future – whether they will have a job and also whether they can pay the bills.
Caerphilly Council under my leadership, and now under Allan Pritchard’s, has been determined to do all it can to help people through difficult times.
That is why the Plaid-led administration has frozen council tax and aims to do the same next year because it knows how difficult things are out there for individuals and families. And the authority is also aiming to create up to 150 jobs over three years while it has frozen all allowances since winning control of the authority.
So on a local level the council is taking action. Unfortunately, whatever way you look at it Labour in Welsh Government is just not doing enough.
They’ve done nothing to respond to the economic crisis and not started a single capital project to boost the construction industry. At the same time unemployment is soaring.
The Welsh Government has just not taken urgent measures to respond to the threats to jobs and businesses and also provide help for workers under threat of redundancy.
One has to wonder if Labour is deliberately doing nothing to tackle the economic crisis so it can blame the Tories and get some sort of boost from the electorate at next May’s council elections.
I hope that the Caerphilly Assembly Member, who is a member of the government in Cardiff, is pushing the case hard for action to help the prospects of people in Caerphilly and Wales.
Olympic Flame
There was a bit of excitement locally at the news that Caerphilly has been selected as a host location for the Olympic Flame Relay. It was great to see Caerphilly Castle getting UK wide TV coverage.
Putting aside the costs of the Olympics and the benefits (or lack of them) for Wales, Caerphilly will certainly be the place to be on Saturday, May 26.
I’m sure our young people will turn out in force and if it encourages more of them to take up sport that has to be a good thing.
Lindsay Whittle
Plaid Cymru South Wales East AM
I agree with Lindsay Whittle that the Welsh economy desperately needs any help it can get. How much help it will get, whether Labour or Plaid Cymru is in charge of the levers, is open to question. Mining and manufacture are the two things the South Wales workforce excels in providing but this talented workforce has been allowed to whither away.
The construction industry supplies labour from all over Europe and only employs locals on a small scale; it is not the answer. In recent years we have seen Bosch, Sony and dozens of other firms close their operation in Wales. Unless this trend is reversed there is no hope for the South Wales economy. I do not see any answers to this problem coming from WAG, either Labour led or from the four year Lab-Plaid coalition. Maybe things will change, I hope they do. Lindsay Whittle came from a manufacturing background, and he once worked in a local foundry, so perhaps he will be able to persuade others in the assembly that service industries cannot save Wales from disaster. We need to get back to what we are good at.
Until now I thought that the former leader of this Council and now South East Wales AM had been a sincere representative of the people however much I have dissagreed with him and Plaid over the years. However his speculation about "Welsh Labour deliberately doing nothing to tackle the economic crisis so it can blame the Tories and get some sort of boost from the electorate at next May’s council elections" are misguided at the very least.
While things are extremely tight given the huge slash in spending from the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition, Welsh Labour are doing things to help drag Wales out of recession and protect people from the worst of the tory cuts. Welsh labour are committed to tackling youth employment by creating a Welsh jobs fund (discontinued in England), help people who have been made redundant by continuing with REACT, and capping student tuition fees at ther current level.
Obviously Linsay Whittle doesn't mention these things and he is trying to absolve Pliad Cymru from any critism whatsoever. I think however he should look closer to home and see how his own local authority has behaved over the roadworks fiasco. The local traders at the public meeting (boycotted by Plaid)spoke with emotion when they talked about the huge losses they have incured during the flawed Council – led timetable. Plaid Cymru should for once stop blaming Labour and get their own house in order.
Until last May Ieuan Wyn Jones, outgoing leader of the Plaid Group in the Assembly, was Minister for this and that including:- business development: promoting Wales as a business and investment location; promoting Welsh exports; making use of Welsh public land; environmental improvements in industrial developments, European structural funding ; developing an integrated transport system in Wales; trunk roads in Wales; delivering passenger rail services;
Had he been performing his role effectively we would be seeing the fruits of his labour in Wales at this moment in time, but, instead we are hearing all these tales of doom and gloom in the areas precisely of Ieuan Wyn Jones previous portfolios.
What does this say about the quality, or lack of it, of Plaid Cymru Minister if running this country of ours was ever left to them, god forbid.