THE URGENT QUESTION?

Lindsay Whittle AM

Plaid Cymru AM for the South East, Lindsay Whittle, has described the loss of 150 jobs at the Identity and Passport service offices in Newport as a bitter blow for the city. Speaking after he raised an Urgent Question in the Senedd, Mr Whittle challenged the First Minister on what action he is taking to mitigate the effects of the job losses on the people of Newport.

Plaid Cymru’s Lindsay Whittle AM said:

“Such large numbers of jobs lost are a bitter blow for Newport and the surrounding areas. While the Tories and Lib Dems seem to think we should be grateful that more people haven't lost their jobs, the new Labour Welsh government must now act to help those people who will be out of work and to help Newport. The new Labour Welsh government should be proactive as the Scottish and Northern Irish governments are being in order to secure new funding from the UK government in order to invest in our communities. It appears that the new Labour Welsh government is last to the table here and the people of Wales have a right to ask why.”

A BAD DECISION

The Con Dem Government is dead wrong to nearly halve employment at the Newport's Passport Office. Sadly this announcement has been long expected, the retention of the customer service centre and the complaints and correspondence parts of the Passport Office (which will save around 150 jobs) will do nothing to prevent the loss of the 120 jobs which are too be cut. A Newport City Council report which assessed the impact of the Passport Office on Newport stated that it was worth £25 million a year to the local economy.

Only last year, Newport was included in a list of cities most likely to take a big hit from the cuts being made in London by the Tories and Lib Dems - and this announcement of job loses only reinforces that. The jobs and services provided are critical to Newport's local economy. The real danger is that the Con Dem's see the partial closure as unfinished business, how much longer before they have another go? This bad decision was made in London, not by the people of Wales, who understandably want to see a fully functioning passport office in their own country. Unless responsibility for the passport office is devolved to Wales, we will continue to have no real defence against decisions made in London.

At one well attended public rally we were all treated to Newport's Labour MP's condemnation of what the Con Dem's were doing. Now what has remained unspoken throughout the long and well supported campaign to retain the passport office, is that the decision to reduce civil service numbers to save money was made in Westminster by a Labour Government, well before the Con Dem coalition was formed and well before the last Westminster election took place. The Civil Service does little without being told what to do, so who in the last Labour Government started the wheels turning, other than probably a Labour Minster?

NOT GOOD NEWS

Despite a well organised and well supported campaign to prevent the closure of Newport's Passport Office, PCS Union leaders say they expect confirmation this Monday that the passport office will close with the loss of 280 jobs. The PCS said indications from the UK Government were it would press ahead with its cost cutting measures.

Local people, local politicians and local press were united in their call to retain the Passport Office, the Westminster Welsh Affairs Select Committee has criticised the move warning that it will have a "significant" economic impact in Newport. An Identity and Passport Service spokesman said it had completed a collective consultation over the centre's future and that it would inform staff of the future of the office on Monday.

So much for a Conservative dominated Government listening to Wales and so much for the consultation and listening to local concerns. While I rarely agree with any sentiments expressed by the South Wales Argus in relation to Wales, The South Wales Argus, adequately described the news of the closure and its impact on Newport back in October 2010 in an editorial, which I post in full:


IGNORANCE OF WELSH IDENTITY


AS we have said all through our campaign to save Newport's passport office, the loss of 300 jobs would devastate each and every individual and their families and have a severe impact on the local economy. 


But at a time when the government is actively planning the loss of half a million public sector jobs the loss of 300 is not in itself likely to cause it to reverse the closure decision. 


What we have said all along is that it is morally and philosophically wrong for the Welsh nation to lose its only passport office - a powerful symbol of national identity. 


Now we discover what, in truth, we had suspected all along.


In reaching its decision to obliterate the passport office in Newport the home office did not for one moment consider the impact this may have on the national identity of the Welsh. 


At a time when officialdom goes way over the top not to upset various religious or lifestyle lobbying groups, and when it is rightly illegal to discriminate against anyone because of their racial or ethnic backgrounds the home office (upholder of the law) sees no difficulty in ignoring Welsh identity.


This takes us back to the days when the Encyclopaedia Britannica told its readers that to read about Wales they had to look under references to England. This is the work of Whitehall mandarins and ministers who see Wales as nothing more than an extension of England. 


This newspaper is not in any way an advocate of Welsh nationalism, but it does believe totally in the right to nationalistic Welshness.

Whitehall's failure to recognise the inalienable rights of Wales to equality with other nations smacks to us of institutionalised racism.


It is time to draw a line in the sand which central government thinks very carefully before crossing.

Criteria for crossing this line should not just consist simply of a business case but of a complete understanding that this is a different part of the United Kingdom, not a region of England, with a proud history and with proud traditions, which it is not going to surrender. 


The politicians need to acknowledge this fact and, as we have said before, deliver a much more sensitive strategy for saving money that does not deliver a kick in the teeth for Wales. 


[The South Wales Argus EDITORIAL COMMENT...on Wednesday 27th October 2010]

LYNDON BINDING FOR NEWPORT WEST

Lyndon Binding 

Lyndon Binding is the Plaid Cymru candidate for Newport West constituency in the Welsh National Election to be held on the 5th May 2011. He can be contacted via e-mail at LyndonBinding@plaidcymru.org.

Lyndon was born in the south of Wales and is an elected County Borough Councillor for Caerffili Borough Council. He is also Chair of Health, Social Care and Well-being Scrutiny Committee and has worked in the care and health sector for the last 19 years in Wales.

He opposes the ill-thought out closure of Newport's passport Office. Lyndon opposed the development of the Severn Barrage and has backed calls to develop environmentally sensitive renewable energy options in the Severn Estuary.

Lyndon wants to see the development of a youth employment strategy for Newport and believes in full consultation with local community's when it comes to the expansion of large supermarkets within Newport and the surrounding area.

Lyndon said:

"I know over the years, the people of Newport have been let down by labour, are angry with the Tories and feel betrayed by the Liberal Democrats. this time, make sure that you are not let down by the London Parties, vote Plaid twice for a better Wales on may 5th." 

CHRIS PAUL FOR NEWPORT EAST

Chris Paul - Plaid's candidate for Newport East 

Chris Paul is the Plaid Cymru candidate for Newport East constituency in the Welsh National Election to be held on the 5th May 2011. He can be contacted via e-mail at ChrisPaul@plaidcymru.org .

Chris has lobbied against the closure of the Passport Office in Newport. He  has called for the Severn Bridge to be brought under Welsh Government control with reduced tolls. Chris will fight for better rail services and facilities at Caldciot and Severn Tunnel Junction and has called for a new railway station at Magor.

Chris Paul was born in Abergavenny in 1978 and grew up in Monmouthshire. He was educated at Monmouth Comprehensive and Dartington College of Arts. Like many he moved away from Wales to go to University and then to work. He has lived in the South West of England, London, and South America before returning to Wales to settle with his partner in 2007.


Chris has been a grassroots Plaid activist since that time and has contributed to the party at both local and national level, through policy development, canvassing, blogging, and as branch press officer. His professional background is in the private sector, grounded in the arts and media.

He currently works for an international media and events company in Bristol. Chris is an English and Spanish speaker, and Welsh learner. Apart from politics Chris is a widely published poet and critic, and plays the guitar. A member of Amnesty International, his political interests include the arts and culture, economic development, the environment and international affairs.