NO CLEAR WATER

Plaid Cymru criticises Labour water nationalisation plans

Plaid Cymru has criticised Labour's plans to intervene in the water industry in Wales. Despite announcing plans to nationalise the water industry in England in order to get rid of profit-making companies, Labour has failed to answer how this would affect Wales where England-based companies operate.

Labour's plans do not say whether policy control of water will be devolved to the Assembly, or whether the nationalisation will actually remove powers from Wales.

Crucially, they do not say whether English companies, operating in Wales and using Welsh reservoirs, such as Severn Trent, would be taken under English public ownership, leading to Welsh consumers having to pay the English public to use their own water resources.

Water has a specific resonance in Welsh politics as an issue of contention. Controversial decisions in the past have been made by governments and local authorities outside of Wales with no regard to Welsh opinion.

Jonathan Edwards, seeking re-election as MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, has previously called a number of votes in the House of Commons on giving the National Assembly and Welsh Government the ability to regulate Wales' water and other natural resources. A vote in the House of Commons on a Plaid Cymru amendment to remove the UK Government’s veto over Welsh water policy was defeated thanks to the Tories voting against and the Labour Party abstaining.

The recently enacted Wales Act allows the removal of the UK Government’s veto only to replace it with a “protocol” which would require the Welsh Government to seek the agreement of the UK Government before making any changes that would impact on water supply in England.

Mr Edwards said that both Labour and the Tories must stop interfering in the water industry in Wales and allow it to be determined by elected Welsh Governments. He further added that Plaid Cymru had a positive vision for the future of the water industry in Wales.

Plaid Cymru’s Jonathan Edwards said:

"Labour's plans show a complete lack of understanding of the water industry in Wales. I doubt they have consulted their own Labour Welsh First Minister, who is on record as wanting these powers devolved. It demonstrates how the Labour Party is totally London-centric.

"Plaid Cymru agrees in principle with public ownership of water, but this must be implemented by Wales, for Wales, not imposed on us by a Westminster government. 

“Dwr Cymru/Welsh Water is already constituted as a not-for-profit company and Labour's plans would not be completely relevant here. But much of Wales’ water resources are owned by England-based multi-national companies, not Dwr Cymru. Nationalising English water companies could potentially mean Welsh consumers being forced to pay another country to use our own water. That would be wholly unacceptable.

"There are three water companies operating in Wales and any plans to merge them into a single entity, if that would benefit our citizens, must be taken by a Welsh Government, not a British Government.

"Plaid Cymru will vote in favour of any nationalisation plans which also transfer policy control to elected Welsh Governments. But we will oppose any plans which keep those powers at Westminster.

"In order to promote a positive vision for water in Wales, whereby communities and citizens benefit from the stewardship and care of our own resources, we must have the power to do this in Welsh hands. No longer should we tolerate decisions on water being made outside of Wales, without any regard for our country's needs. 

“Labour’s policies for England need to respect devolution not muddy the waters further.

"Plaid Cymru is fed up of this total cluelessness from the Labour party about devolution. The country deserves better."​

  

Notes:

Hansard details the debate on “Clause 44” to remove the UK Government’s veto over matters relating to water, here:

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https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2016-07-11/debates/9DDE4C9F-831D-440C-BEB8-48A5767FB56D/WalesBill

CAMERON WIXCEY FOR NEWPORT EAST

Cameron Wixcey, Prospective Parliamentary candidate

for Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales for Newport East

I am proud to stand in Newport East where i have spent all my life, except my 3 years in Lampeter studying history and Islamic studies. My family has been in Newport for at least 5 generations and in Monmouthshire for around 400 years at least. As a young person I know how easy it is to tune out of politics, however politicians decide the rules that life is played by and I for one, have no time for those that destroy our heritage such as the Chartist mural or jeopardise our future through short sighted cuts.

I have done minimum wage catering jobs, bogus self employed sales job and now shift work in a industry so I understand peoples' workplace concerns. My degree taught me to learn from out ancestors lest we repeat their mistakes. I joined Plaid as I realised no one else can or will fix Wales except us who live here. Our country and communities will only improve if we control the levers of power. I hope to be your new MP and I will ensure our corner is fought for and that the establishment, know Newport cannot be ignored.

Published and promoted by A Salkeld, 114 Brynglas Road, Newport on behalf of Cameron Wixey, Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales Westminster Parliamentary candidate for Newport East.

IT’S OUR WATER 2.0

While Wales's voice has been significantly strengthened since 1999, with various Wales related acts, we still do not have the same degree of control of our natural resources as either Scotland or Northern Ireland. Amongst our rich resources is the literal stuff of life – water. Water is likely to become a valuable resource for the people of Wales in future years, and who owns, it who controls it, and who benefits is likely to remain one of the key issues, of potential dispute between Westminster and Cardiff Bay.

The issue of water still understandably raises strong emotions and stirs long memories here in Wales. Five years ago Boris Johnson (who was the then solely Mayor of London, but, after May 2015 an MP and after June 2016 other things) started wittering on about a network of canals being needed to carry water from the wet North to the dry South (for the ‘wet North’ in reality read much of ‘Wales).

Now Boris's revolutionary thought, along with his poor grasp of geography, was no new idea, in 1973, the then Water Resources Board, the government agency (now defunct) produced a major report that advocated building a whole raft of infrastructure to aid the movement of water, not to mention constructing freshwater storage barrages in the Ouse, Wash and Morecambe Bay, using a network of canals to move water from north to south, extending reservoirs and building new aqueducts, not to mention constructing a series of tunnels to link up river basins to aid the movement of water.

Despite the demise of the Water Resources Board in 1974 (ironically some two years before the 1976 drought) and its replacement by regional water management bodies, which were privatised in the 1980’s this issue has never really gone away. In 2006, the Environment Agency produced a report entitled "Do we need large-scale water transfers for south-east England?” in a refreshingly honest answer to its own question at the time was an emphatic ‘no’. 

The plan for water in 1973

Yet faced with a prolonged period of drought in the South East of England, DEFRA itself held a drought summit on the 20th of February of 2012. The then Con Dem Government stated that it remained committed to the remaining legislative measures set out in its Water for Life agenda, which later became the Water Industry (Financial Assistance) Act.

That is as they say history, but whatever Westminster eventually decides to do in relation to water resources, we in Wales still need to have full democratic control of our own resources. We could begin the process with repatriating control of the Crown Estates and transferring control of lands in (and off-shore) to the Welsh Government in Cardiff. For the life of me I can see no realistic reason why this feudal anachronism cannot be consigned to the dustbin of history. 

We need to take a long hard look at our water resources and what we get for them and how we can develop them. I see absolutely no reason why the Welsh people cannot fully benefit from any future exploitation of Welsh resources, including our water. We need a whole Wales strategy to develop and to conserve our water supplies and our planning regulations will need to be tweaked or rewritten accordingly. 

Cofiwch Dryweryn

Most politically aware people would not have been particularly shocked to discover purely coincidentally that the Government of Wales Act (2006) thanks to Peter Hain (amongst others) specifically excluded the Assembly from making any laws relating to water supply – hmm – odd that isn't it?  Such duplicitous behaviour on the part of New or re-born Old Labour is not to be unexpected – but it does little to engender any trust or visible demonstration of an understanding of devolution or Wales, especially when Labour starts talking about re-nationalising the Water industry.

Tory and Labour spin and election rhetoric aside, the bottom line is that our water resources should belong to the Welsh people, not to Private corporations or to the UK Government. Any potential future draft Wales Bill should strengthen the powers that we in Wales have over our natural resources and associated planning processes and devolve control of those parts of the Severn Trent water franchise to Wales.

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TIME TO INVEST TO BUILD UP WALES

Plaid Cymru Leader Leanne Wood has launched Plaid’s manifesto for the General Election pledging to invest in infrastructure in order to "transform" Wales's schools, hospitals, roads and railways.

After the launch of her party's ambitious and fully-costed Action Plan for Wales, Leanne Wood said a cash injection was "urgently needed" to kick-start a genuine economic recovery in Wales, generating jobs in all parts of the country and revitalising areas decimated by deindustrialisation.

Plaid Cymru’s Action Plan also includes wide-ranging proposals to protect Welsh public services, trade and exports, agriculture, higher education and crucial workers' rights as the negotiations to leave the European Union get underway.

Party of Wales Leader Leanne Wood said:

"Plaid Cymru's plan to invest in our schools, hospitals, roads and railways would bring about a revolution in our infrastructure network.

"In all parts of our country, buildings which are the bedrock of our vital public services are creaking. Much of our housing stock is decades old and in decay. The state of our roads and railways are going backwards when they should be taking us forward as a nation.

"‎Many of our towns and cities are still living in the shadow of deindustrialisation. Now is the time to kick-start a genuine economic recovery in Wales by investing in every part of our country.

"Plaid Cymru's £7.5bn plan is an ambitious yet achievable goal that would generate jobs, boost productivity, and transform our‎ economic fortunes.

"Wales has faced decades of neglect and underinvestment at the hands of successive Labour and Tory governments in Westminster.

"Our public services have been cut to the bone and we are still waiting for our first mile of electrified railway. We know that Wales can do better than this. It's time to build up our country - and Plaid Cymru has the action plan to do just that.

"History tells us that the Tories and Labour never have and never will put the interests of Wales, its economy and its people first. Only a vote for Plaid Cymru on June 8th will ensure that there is a strong team of MPs in London willing and able to defend and develop Wales."

HANDS OFF OUR NHS

Plaid Cymru pledge to defend NHS from privatisation

Plaid Cymru has pledged to defend the Welsh NHS from privatisation, warning that a Tory government with a “weak and divided Labour opposition” will be free to sell-off Wales’ public services, including the NHS.

The party will hold a debate in the National Assembly later today in an effort to “send a message” to Westminster that the Welsh NHS is “not for sale.”

The UK Government under the Conservative Party was one of the few EU member states to support the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which would have put the NHS at risk of irreversible privatisation. If the UK leaves the Customs Union as a result of Brexit, it will be up to the International Trade Secretary, who supported TTIP, to draw up trade agreements.

Plaid Cymru held a debate in the National Assembly on Wednesday 10^th May and called on the Assembly to:

• support the principle of the Welsh National Health Service being kept in public hands;
• express concern at the creeping privatisation of the Health Service in England under the Tories;
• demand that future trade deals between the United Kingdom and other parties, where those deals affect devolved policy areas such as health, must be subject to the consent of the National Assembly for Wales.

Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Health Secretary, Rhun ap Iorwerth AM, said:

“The National Health Service is one of Wales’ greatest achievements and it is our duty as politicians to defend it and strengthen it.

“The NHS should always be in the public’s hands and run in the public’s interest – never in the interest of profit.

“We know the Tories are desperate to let the private sector get its hands on our public services and one of the most desperate is the man who will ultimately be signing trade deals, opening the door to privatisation.

“The Labour Party has failed in its duty to provide an opposition. They are too weak and divided to stand up to the Tories – too distracted attacking their own leader to hold the Prime Minister to account. Ever since Tony Blair, the NHS has seen creeping privatisation.

“Unless we take action to defend our NHS through strengthening Wales’ grip, its future will be in the hands of a Tory Government in Westminster being let off the hook by a weak and divided Labour opposition.

“My message to Westminster is “hands off our NHS.”

“Only Plaid Cymru can stand up to the Tories, hold their feet to the fire and defend our NHS.

“We will work with governments in each UK country to ensure any future trade deals involving devolved areas such as health, require the endorsement of each UK Parliament, including Wales’ National Assembly.” 

PROFITS BEFORE PASSENGERS

It’s been over 20 years since John Major’s Conservative Government privatized the passenger and freight related parts of the then British Rail, after many years of under investment. While the infrastructure end of the railways, for the moment at least, remains in public ownership (or perhaps can more accurately can be described as remains under the control of a fairly indifferent state) the remainder is divided up amongst the ownership of private and foreign state owned railway companies.   

To be brutally honest, the rail network and the rail services that run upon it, without a public subsidy would be a far worse mess than they are at present. The desire of the Welsh Government to award the franchise as a not-for-dividend-profit has been thwarted by the Westminster Conservative Government  - which means that next year the franchise will be awarded on a dividend profit basis - so perhaps we should brace ourselves for rail service wise for more of the same.

The news that Arriva Trains Wales has run up a larger profit will bring scant comfort to rail passengers. The system of time-limited franchises, which was supposed to ensure good quality rail services, has since privatization largely failed to deliver a reasonably priced functional rail service. The Wales and Border franchise is currently run by Arriva trains Wales which is actually run at arms length by Deutsche Bahn AG which is a German railway company. Headquartered in Berlin, which is a private joint-stock company, with the Federal Republic of Germany being its single shareholder.

As a regular rail traveller I can watch (often in the relative comfort of non Arriva Trains Wales trains it must be said) the sun come up whilst trundling rapidly across the Gwent levels and regularly stand on Cardiff (Central) Station waiting for connections amidst the tantalising smells wafting across from the Brains brewery (at least when there is a South West or West wind). 

Many thousands of people commute to (and from work) in the south, I find that to be honest, aside from the occasional glitch (over running maintenance from weekends, periodic broken down trains, broken doors, point’s failures and cable thefts, etc) most of the time the system seems to function reasonably well – even if sitting down is not an option on the Valley Lines. Having lived worked and commuted in London (for some seven and half years) I find myself commuting by train again - on a good day I can make it from station to station (Newport to Cathays) in around 25 minutes (and that with one change) which is not too bad.

Other rail travellers are not so lucky, with rail franchise operators running services that ensure certain connections literally cannot be made, which is one way to avoid getting fined. This is not a satisfactory way to run a rail service, the key word here being ‘Service’. Obviously this state of affairs speaks volumes, especially as it fails to impact on the Westminster elite (I use the term loosely) as they, with a few honourable exceptions, tend not to travel by train very much save when they are trying to cultivate votes.

In much of our country trains a once cheap and reasonably reliable form of public transport is conspicuous by its absence, that not to mention costs and infrequent services deter actual and potential rail passengers. When you factor in the legacy of the Conservative and Labour rail service rundown and cuts in the 1960 and early 1970’s and excessive profiteering on the part of the privatised passenger franchise holders and much is explained.

Our country suffered particularly badly from rail cuts in the late 1960’s when Labour was in office under Harold Wilson, that and the pit closure programme that hit hard in the south and north east. The privatisation of British Rail, something that New Labour loudly boasted that they themselves would have done if the Conservatives had not already done it, was one of the latter significant more questionable ideologically driven batch of privatisations (between 1994 and 1997).

Our country’s rail region Wales and West ended up as Wessex Trains and Wales and Borders which at one point included the Cardiff Railway Company services which operated as Valley Lines. The franchise was then split into two separate franchises, which are currently run by First Great Western and Arriva Trains Wales. Our current franchise was awarded to Arriva Trains Wales in 2003 and runs for 15 years, and will end in 2018.

Arriva Trains Wales is the only train firm covered by the Welsh Government’s transport remit. Any longer-distance services e.g. Swansea or Cardiff to Paddington are currently operated by First Great Western who have their fares regulated by the Westminster Department for Transport. Now while this may well be ancient history, it has implications for the way the railway franchises run how their profits are made and where they go. 

Despite the best efforts of New Labour and the Con Dems to reduce it, the franchise companies still receive a significant chunk of public (state) funding. Basically this has to be repaid to the Government before any profits can be made on top – hence the regular (and painful) rise in rail fares. It would make more sense for profits made to stay in the system rather than get hovered up to pay shareholders dividends and senior mangers fat bonuses.

The service we get actually reflects the disinterested priorities of the franchise holder rather than our national priorities when it comes to our railways and the services we need. Now, for once, Wales actually has some powers over our railways, the Transport (Wales) Act which came into effect in February 2006 actually gave the National Assembly the powers to plan and co-ordinate an integrated transport system, how much longer do we have to wait to see some vision?

Any vision is certainly not going to come from Westminster, back in March 2017, the Westminster Conservative government decided, whether by accident, design or as a result of a general indifference to Wales (and Welsh interests) not to devolve control of that portion of Network Rail to the Wales but to retain it in London. It makes me wonder whether after the forthcoming Westminster election is concluded whether Network Rail is going to be privatised?

CONSTRUCTION SECTOR VAT CUT CALL

Plaid Cymru have outlined a proposed VAT cut on home renovations, which could result in nearly 2,000 extra jobs in Wales by 2020 and over £47 million for the economy. Plaid Cymru Westminster candidates Hywel Williams and Ieuan Wyn Jones have made the case for a VAT cut in the construction sector to generate jobs and boost the Welsh economy.

Ahead of visiting a local building firm in Felinheli, Hywel Williams cited an independent report by Experian published in 2015 showing that such a VAT cut on home renovations would have resulted in nearly 2,000 extra jobs in Wales by 2020 and would have had a stimulus effect of £47m in 2015.

Ieuan Wyn Jones added that small businesses were the backbone of the Welsh economy and that this VAT cut would give the sector a welcome boost when the UK leaves the EU.

Hywel Williams said:

“A targeted reduction in VAT could bring with it many tangible economic, social and environmental benefits.

“As an independent report by Experian showed in 2015, had the VAT cut been introduced then, it would have resulted in 1,987 extra jobs in Wales by 2020 and would have had a stimulus effect of £47m in 2015.

"There is no VAT on new build, which is often the more expensive option. We have an old housing stock in Wales and renovation is a better option in so many ways – greener, more socially cohesive and less wasteful of resources.

"An expensive new build, say for well off people in the southeast of England is VAT free. A renovation of say a terraced house in Wales for a young couple on a low income is clobbered with 20 % VAT. This anomaly is clearly unfair and hits Wales hard because of the nature of our housing stock."

Ieuan Wyn Jones added:

“The construction industry employs more than 100,000 workers in Wales.

“SMEs are the backbone of our economy so increasing growth in this area would be felt the length and breadth of Wales.

“At present, we don't have the power to vary VAT rates but this will change when the UK leaves the EU.

“We must look at practical, creative ways of defending Wales and its economy as we prepare to leave the European Union. This policy is just one aspect of how we can do that.”