CYNICS ANONYMOUS...

My name if Jonathan, and I have a problem with cynicism! Perhaps I have been in the game (politics) for too long and seen too much, but, when I hear the phrase 'there will be a consultation process' I do tend to think that it has more to do with managing public opinion after a decision has been made. Hand on heart, I openly admit that I am something of a cynic and that I struggle with my cynicism.

Managing my cynicism is something that I mostly successfully. However, the way the UK Government (and many other levels of Government) treat people and they way they tend to involve people in governmental processes does not help. Certainly the after the fact nature of the process does make me speculate on why people are pretty disillusioned with politics and have a fairly developed loathing of practising professional politicians at most levels of governance.

So the UK government has confirmed that is intends to close Swansea coastguard station. The UK Transport Minister Mike Penning has stated that the station at Mumbles (which employs 28 people), would close by March 2015. I have no doubt that the loss of local expertise and expert knowledge that the closure will cause lives to be put at risk at some point, off Swansea, the Gower coast and in the Bristol Channel. News that the Coastguard Stations at Holyhead and Milford Haven, which had originally been in line for the chop have been granted a reprieve is some good news.

Part of me honestly wonders just how sincere the UK Westminster Government (for this read all levels of government) actually was (if at all) when the 'consultation process was announced. Obviously someone in London perhaps with a Metropolitan mindset was looking to save money, I am certainly getting the impression that Wales is out of sight and out of mind (for much if not all of the time) so who cares what happens there - at least as far as the Westminster Parliament is concerned. .

From a UK Government perspective no doubt the fact that the "Save Swansea Coastguard" campaign had collected 110,000 signatures and the fact that the campaign against the closure was very effective and very visible, was not doubt awkward but not insurmountable. One thing is true, here in Wales, this decision may be interpreted as being a little more evidence that  we are ceasing to receive any meaningful material benefit from being part of the Union.

A PAUSE FOR THOUGHT?

I welcome the news that the UK Shipping Minister Mike Penning is going to extend the period of consultation over the future of coastguard services by six weeks. I have serious concerns about the UK Government's plans to slash the number of coastguard stations around the UK to save money which could result in overnight operational control of large parts of the Welsh coastline being run from the North Sea coast. The UK Government has stated that it plans to merge the current 17 stations into two main hubs with five supporting stations.

The main Coastguard hubs would be at Aberdeen and on the English south coast. Swansea and either Liverpool or Belfast would be among the supporting stations that are expected to look after the Welsh coastline. This is a bad idea, made worse by the fact that the intention is for these supporting stations not to operate on a full-time basis. Under current proposals the Coastguard stations in Milford Haven and Holyhead will close.

The UK Government needs to acknowledge that the Coastguard is actually a vital emergency service in Wales and our coastline must be properly protected. These proposed cuts will affect the Coastguard's ability to protect and save lives. Local knowledge of the coast will be lost or eroded by moving to centralised coastguard hubs some hundreds of miles away in Scotland and England, even with state of the art modern technology this is madness.

The Coastguard needs expert local knowledge and local manned coastguard service bases to be at its most effective and should be valued just like the other emergency services. The current cost saving proposals are very likely to result in compulsory redundancies for skilled and specialised jobs when the coastal stations are closed down. So far the consultation has been a mess with no proper risk assessment in place, it is important that the bottom line is safety first and I sincerely hope there is time to pause for thought, and to think again and time to scrap these crazy plans.

NICE ONE IEUAN – AN ELECTRIFYING VICTORY FOR WALES

We should all welcome the announcement that the main railway from Swansea to London will finally be electrified – this is very good news. This announcement follows long months of hard negotiations by Plaid Leader Ieuan Wyn Jones who has put pressure on the UK government and Network Rail to change their previously announced plans to only electrify the track between London and Bristol.

Originally it had been suggested that the electrification work on the Great Western would stop at Bristol and Wales would be left out of this plan, but after an immense amount of work by Ieuan Wyn Jones as Transport minister and as Plaid’s leader, things have been turned around. Plaid has been fighting since 1977 to ensure that Wales gets its share of rail electrification – the benefits of electrification have been proven in other countries. This will truly be one of the lasting legacies of Plaid’s first term in government.

Electrified Rail in Europe

Switzerland: 100%
Sweden: 77%
Netherlands: 73%
Italy: 69%
Germany: 56%
Spain: 56%
UK: 40%

Source: UIC Website: http://uic.asso.fr

Electrified Rail in Wales (After 12 years of New Labour Government).

Wales: 0%

So today really is a very good day for the Welsh economy after all the hard work that has been put in by Ieuan Wyn Jones. Now it is important to focus on getting the job done, ensuring that the plan is taken forward, that any disruption to services is minimised and it is important to make sure that any new government does not back out of this commitment. It is also essential that the Welsh section of this work is begun and is carried out as soon as possible in order to provide a timely boost to the economy in the South East and elsewhere in Wales. Nice one Ieuan!