TIMELY CALL TO UNITE ON HS2

The Welsh, Scottish and Northern Ireland governments need to join forces to campaign for full Barnett consequentials resulting from the England-only High Speed Rail 2 project. 

Only a few weeks after HS2 Ltd, the planners behind the multi-billion pound development, stated that there is "no business case" for Scotland and that the project would now not be extended north of the border

Plaid Cymru parliamentary leader Jonathan Edwards MP speaking on June 11^th at a Transport Questions session in the Commons to press the UK Government on securing a fair share of HS2 spending for Wales, said:

"I was disappointed to hear the Transport Secretary replying to my question by maintaining his position that there will be no fair funding from HS2 to Wales, despite the admission of HS2 Ltd.

"Any claims of a business case for HS2 that would benefit Wales has long been demolished by official KPMG figures showing that the project would wipe over £200m from the Welsh economy each year.

"Because HS2 will be funded from general taxation, taxpayers in Wales will pay for HS2 despite it undermining the Welsh economy.

"It is clear that the Westminster government has no intention of extending HS2 to Scotland. This means that it is clearly an England-only railway, and if the UK's funding mechanisms are to be applied correctly, this must result in a full and equitable share for the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to invest in their own countries' transport infrastructure.

"The moral case to me seems clear. If the Westminster government maintains its current position then I urge the national governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to work together to demand fairness for our nations.

"The UK government needs to make a clear statement that this injustice will be rectified when the Comprehensive Spending Review is published, or face sustained pressure from Plaid Cymru and others who will continue to fight for a fair deal from this development."

A CHOICE OF WHOSE HAND IS IN THE TILL?

This election is about more than a cynical choice between which of the usual suspects will end up with theirs hand in the till. Austerity aside, one of the largely unspoken themes, at least by the Westminster based political parties; of this election campaign is the on-going problem of tax evasion. The HSBC foreign accounts scandal that broke back in February was merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the avoidance of paying tax.

The UK suffers from a Tax Gap; this is scandalous and goes to show how much the Westminster elite has completely disregarded any commitment towards fairness and social justice at a time of unprecedented cuts to public services. Beyond the tax evasion, the real problem is that the Westminster based political parties have been fundamentally compromised by the prolonged and unhealthily close relationship with the City.

We are where we are because of the cumulative effect of the legacy of 18 years of Conservative and 13 years of New Labour government. Over recent decades, successive Labour and Tory governments literally looked the other way, when it came to tax evasion, allowing the UK's tax gap to grow to an eye-watering £34 billion each year. Total fiscal consolidation over the course of this Parliament amounts to £120 billon pounds, which indicates the scale of the problem.

Labour can cry wolf until it goes horse over this scandal, but these lost billions are their legacy as much as the Tories'.  Back in 2005, the last Labour UK Westminster Government merged Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise and then proceeded to cut almost a third of jobs in five years (99,000 to 68,000).  They also slashed the budget for tackling the tax gap by nearly 50% (£3.6 billon to £1.9 billion) between 2006-10.

The weasel-like cop out of simply relying on ‘business as usual’ to fix the tax evasion issue is duplicitous at best – for all the hot air and the rhetoric from the usual suspects - expecting Westminster to fix the problem could at best be described as naive. We need to deal with Tax evasion with concerted worldwide action – the Swiss banks have crumbled in the face of court cases in the US (a few Swiss banks have even collapsed) in relation to tax avoidance by US citizens.

So if the USA can do it, then why not the UK – for one thing there is a lack of any great desire to do anything about it (hence Ed Ball’s telling silence). The UK’s Crown Dependency Tax havens are based in some of the few remaining (fiscally useful) scattered remnants of Empire lie at the dark heart of the tax evasion problem.

Plaid Cymru will not compromise on its commitment to tackling tax evasion. Vast sums of money that should have been collected properly and invested in vital public services such as health and education have been lost. Plaid Cymru, while the Westminster parties fall over themselves to appease the City bankers and their wealthy backers, puts Welsh communities first.

1.2 BILLION REASONS…

Since the last election £1.5 billion has been slashed from Welsh public services and all parties agree that Wales has been underfunded since at least 1978. Yet only Plaid Cymru has called for a reversal of the cuts agenda pursued by the Con Dem coalition since the last election, and equality of funding with Scotland.

Plaid Cymru’s has a double pledge to end the current austerity agenda and right forty-year’s of under-funding. The other parties have now confirmed that should they win the election outright, they will not deliver parity for Wales on funding.  There is a real risk that our funding disadvantage could be locked in for another generation, this in simply unacceptable.

With Polling Day pending the polls continue to suggest that we will end up with a hung Parliament. This makes it more important than ever to make sure that Wales has a strong voice in the next Westminster parliament. Only Plaid Cymru MPs will continue to fight for Welsh public services and to secure equality of funding with Scotland. If Plaid Cymru holds the balance of power at Westminster then we have an unprecedented opportunity to deliver that investment for Wales.

In making promises to keep the current funding arrangements in place for Scotland, the Westminster parties should commit to rectifying Wales’ poor treatment. There is no compelling argument in favour of Wales being treated as a second-class nation or any reason why patients and pupils in Wales should be disadvantaged. Equality of funding would amount to an additional £1.2 billion a year for the country. That’s 1.2 billion reasons to back Plaid Cymru at this election.

AT THE END OF THE LINE…

The proposals for a High Speed Rail 3 (HS3) link between Manchester and Leeds should be welcomed. The announcement could be taken to suggest that finally (if somewhat belatedly) Westminster has realised that non-road related transport infrastructure needs to be seriously invested in. While I recognise the importance of the proposed HS3 link in the north of England, however it is spun, it is yet another example of a large scale all England infrastructure project, once more our country runs the risk of being left behind. 

HS3 will take any alleged benefits for Wales from HS2 even further out of reach. Our railways are in desperate need of electrification and have been for decades, yet the UK government happy to force Welsh taxpayers to foot part of the bill for the England-only HS2 project which is expected to cost anywhere between £40-80 billion pounds. Rather than relying on cross-border links to get from one end of our country to another, Plaid Cymru wants to see a country-wide approach to transport investment where people can travel all around Wales with ease. 

Plaid has actively campaigned for the electrification of the Great Western mainline, the North Wales Main Line, and the valley lines, yet both Labour and Tory governments have made minimally slow progress. Our country needs a transport infrastructure that is fit-for-purpose - this is vital to create jobs and to help our economy grow. It is ludicrous that the HS3 project, if goes ahead, is being labeled as an UK-wide project when it will clearly not benefit Wales. Wales should receive its fair share of investment in our own transport system so we get Wales moving again.

FOR THE UK SEE ENGLAND

For UK see England?

Representatives from five cities in the North of England have called for a £ 15 billon pound 15-year plan to be adopted to improve transport. The plan is outlined in the One North report which calls for a  125 mph trans-Pennine rail link, a faster link to Newcastle and better access to Manchester Airport are needed. It has been developed by an alliance of five cities - Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield and has been previously backed by George Osborne has who pledged support to this Crossrail of the North. The proposals are yet incidentally another all-England infrastructure project to add to the questionably beneficial massive HS2 rail project, the much delayed London Crossrail project and the proposed Crossrail extension to Hertfordshire. No don’t get me wrong much of this infrastructure is necessary and very much long overdue. However, I cannot help but wonder if Westminster is contemplating on some subliminal level the end of the Union and is concentrating resources in England, or perhaps this merely be a case of for the UK see England.

THE SOUND OF SILENCE...

The news that Wales is missing out on up to £140m more per year more than was originally thought because of the unfairness of the Barnett Formula, should not shock anyone. Back in 2010/2011, our country missed out on up to £540m, this makes Plaid’s call for the implementation of a needs-based system, or a short-term solution to make up the shortfall, more urgent than ever. The publication by the UK Government of the public spending figures for 2010/2011, revealed that the funding shortfall for Wales for that year came in at some £540m. This figure is substantially more than the £400m figure that was estimated by the independent Holtham Commission back in July 2010. This should make the case for overhauling Barnett pretty water tight and more urgent than ever. I hope I am wrong, but, I suspect that a combination of a financially challenged Tory driven Westminster government and an inert, inept Labour in Wales Government in Cardiff Bay will means that the problem of the underfunding won’t get sorted anytime soon. So any sound of silence near us in the future will be the sound of Unionist’s working hard for for Wales then...

SLEEPWALKING FOR WALES?

It should be pretty clear by now that if Plaid does not stand up for Wales then no one will. The new Labour government in Cardiff appears to be more concerned with simply being there than doing anything of value (this could also be said for most Labour run councils as well). Rather quietly Labour have begun to drop those Plaid driven transport infrastructure projects that improved communications from south to north in favour of east to west infrastructure projects.

Now I used to think that this merely down to a lack of imagination, but, have changed my mind, aside from having a Welsh government almost entirely bereft of imagination, direction, etc. What we actually have is (ironically) a Welsh government that does not even believe in the nation. They will take extra powers it they are offered, but, will never ask for them, they are content to simply sit and wait for Labour to regain political control at Westminster, and even then they won't seek any additional powers or fair funding.

Rather than standing up for Wales, what we have we have a government that is literally sleepwalking for Wales, or almost certainly seeking to redefine inertia. Wales has a government that representing a party, rather than the people, that never wanted an assembly in the first place, and certainly did not want a referendum on more powers (let alone a successful one).

Labour in Wales has been pretty good at representing and protecting Westminster's interests in Wales, rather than representing Wales's interests in Westminster. It is a telling indictment on Labour in Wales that Carwyn's lot would rather decisions on economic development, the media and energy be made here in Wales by the Welsh people.

FAIR FUNDING (NOT)

So much for fair funding for Wales, Danny Alexander (during Treasury Questions at Westminster yesterday) admitted that the UK Government is refusing to consider Barnett reform before any wider changes to the way the Welsh Government is funded. This is an interesting decision, especially as the UK Government is literally throwing money at the Scottish Government following the SNP electoral landslide last week, one that will hold Wales back.

Plaid has argued that pursuing a Welsh ‘Calman-style’ Commission prior to any reform of the current funding system would be a case of ‘cart before horse’ and has called for the Labour Government in Cardiff to sit up and pay attention to the gravity of the situation. The reform of the Barnett formula has been recommended by four seperate reports, including the independent Holtham Commission, before any changes are made to the financial autonomy of the Welsh Government, yet nothing has been done.

Jonathan Edwards MP

Jonathan Edwards MP (Plaid’s Treasury spokesperson) said:

“At a time when the UK Government is literally throwing money at the Scottish Government following the SNP landslide last week, I am dismayed that the Chief Secretary confirmed that changes to the way Wales is funded will not take place before their so-called Welsh Calman-style process.

“The UK Government know they are now dealing with an administration in Cardiff Bay intent on holding Wales back and have no need to offer any sort of concessions. The message is clear – vote Labour, get nothing.“Such is the arrogance and ineptitude of potential Labour Welsh Ministers, the significance of the Chief Secretary's answer and its dire consequence for Wales will probably go unnoticed.

"The independent Holtham Commission set out a route-map for how financial reform should take place in Wales - that there should be a Barnett floor to prevent the underfunding of Wales getting worse, then the introduction of a needs-based formula and only then should other financial reforms take place.

“The UK Government should be in no doubt that it will not have the support of Plaid Cymru for any changes to the way the Welsh Government is funded unless Barnett is reformed first.

“The ConDems cannot be allowed to get away with skipping steps one and two by a toothless Labour administration in Cardiff."

ANYONE LISTENING TO LORD BARNETT?

The Barnett Formula is used to calculated the way in which money from central Government pot gets allocated to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It pre-dates devolution and is well over due for being revised, renewed or replaced. Lord Barnett, who gave his name to the formula, is now calling for a change to the formula that currently bears his name. If the funding formula's creator says that it is now unfair and needs changing, will the ConDem's listen?

A MISSISSIPPI RIVER BOAT GAMBLE

Despite the positive growth figures, which the Con Dem Government and their media coat-holders have understandably made much of, the cuts are still a major gamble (of epic Mississippi riverboat proportions) on the part of the Con Dem Government. This is literally a case of win or bust, the problem is that this is a major gamble not only with the state of the economy but on the lives of every person who live in Wales.

The reckless combination of slash and burn cuts and the crazed Thatcherite obsession with privatisation (Forestry in England, the Post Office, possibly even the Passport Office, etc) could lead to the loss of half a million public sector jobs - a figure which could well be doubled when considering the impact on the private sector. Certainly Con Dem Government suggestions that the private sector will be able to step in to the jobs vacuum left behind is not so much a case of staggering naivety and more of case of an utter failure to understand the realities of the intertwined nature of the public and private sector in Wales.

Certainly whatever economic planet the Tories (who may be on Planet Bullingdon) and their Lib Dem little helpers /partners /collaborators believe they are living on, certainly does not include Wales, where the private sector is not as strong as it could be, but, is thoroughly intertwined with the public sector and somewhat happily dependent on relatively fat public sector contracts.

There is something else though, which over the term of this Government (however long it lasts) may have a more lasting impact, and that is any scant thought about the impact of their decisions upon Wales or the people of Wales. Even the South Wales Argus, has picked this up (and it is no lover of ‘Welsh Nationalism) in relation to the on-going campaign to save the passport office, stating in it's editorial (27th October) that “Whitehall’s failure to recognise the inalienable rights of Wales to equality with the other nations smacks to us of institutionalised racism” – I could not have put it better myself.

Let's be honest, if the last New Labour Government was pretty ignorant (and somewhat London centric) when it can to Welsh issues (economic and other) and that with the alleged strong Labour voice's around the cabinet table, then this lot in the current Con Dem Government in London are going to be even more cut off from the economic, social and political realities of life as it is lived here in Wales.

I mean these people think that providing a pilot area (in Herefordshire) for next generation broadband project which are set to take place in Scotland and England - will suffice for Wales. Moving swiftly on, the impression given is that the current Welsh Secretary of State is less than a strong voice for Wales in Government. It may well be the literal case that she is not sat around the cabinet table, let alone in the same building or the same city when it comes to decisions being made that affect Wales.

What would be useful is a speedy reform of New Labour’s unfair Barnett Formula and need to be able to exercise control over levels of corporation tax so that our businesses can get the support that they will need during tough times. The reality is that we had better not be holding our collective breath and be expecting the current government to even notice if we collectively went blue and passed out over an issue of principle – get used to the fact that Wales is not and will never be on the Con Dem’s economic or political radar.

So there we are, we face instead the grim prospect of ill-judged and reckless cut backs in public spending, which may lead to an end result of our communities being blamed for being poor and lacking in aspiration by the Con Dem ministers. Wales needs to be in charge of her own resources, and free to make its own economic decisions so that we can mastermind our own economic recovery, rather than cling onto the Con Dem Government's coat-tails and hope for the best.