OLYMPIC MEMBERSHIP?

Our country participates in the world of international sport in the FIFA World Cup, the European Football Championship, the Rugby World Cup, the Commonwealth Games. However, when it comes to the Olympic Games, our athletes compete have no choice but to participate as part of a Great Britain team. Yet over the last couple of weeks we have seen athletes from across the globe competing in the Olympics competing for states, nations, territories and unrecognised peoples and nations. 

Amongst the multitude have been athletes from Guam (population 159,358 in 2010) and São Tomé and Príncipe (Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe) with a population of 163,784 (in 2010), incidentally Swansea has a population of 232,500 (ONS) and Nauru (population 9,378 (in 2011) and Palau with a population 21,000 (Penarth has a population 20,396 in 2011 census) and Greneda (population 110,000) have been competing.

Now Olympic membership is not about population or political independence as non independent parts of other countries (notably Hong Kong) are able to compete - so why not Wales? Perhaps we need an Olympic Committee to actively press the case?

This would be start, aside from having to deal with hostility from the Westminster Government, a combination of inertia and indifference from the Labour in Wales in Cardiff, and also there would be the issue of self interest from the athletic associations who would no doubt object (perhaps motivated by the prospect of various gongs, trinkets and baubles and other inducements disappearing).

Aside from better sports funding there should be extra funding for education (in England) as an improvement in the educational system in England is necessary as some people (particularly commentators and media pundits) seem to be unable to tell the difference between Team GB (football) and England. Not to mention being unable to tell the difference between a national anthem and the anthem of a state.

At present Olympic Committees (admittedly as yet unrecognised) exist for Catalonia, Gibraltar, French Polynesia, Niue, Kosovo, Somaliland, New Caledonia, Kurdistan, Northern Cyprus, Abkhazia, the Native Americans, the Northern Mariana Islands, Anguilla, Montserrat, and Turks and Caicos Islands. If they can do it so can we, so why not Cymru / Wales?

JUST SAY NO!

The Western Mail (Saturday 10th March) carried an article about the selection for the Team GB football team for the 2012 London Olympics. They tried to pas sit off as some sort of debate over whether players from Celtic nations should be involved. Andrew RT Davies, Welsh Conservative leader at the National Assembly, proved that he clearly does not get it or chooses not too. While Plaid AM for South Wales West, Bethan Jenkins got it spot on.

The continued existence of an independent Welsh international football team, especially through the temporary emergence of a Team GB football team, is non negotiable. The UK Government simply does not get it and is probably incapable of getting it. Why would an English sports minister have the slightest concern about the future of the Welsh national football team? FIFA's word is clearly not good enough, the organisation is tainted with a long and recent history of corruption and some very questionable financial dealings.

 Our Football Association of Wales is one of the world's oldest football associations and is an important symbol of our nation.The game in Wales is undergoing a renaissance at the moment and Welsh footballers and Welsh teams have a higher profile than for a while domestically and internationally - this should not be threatened under any circumstances. The football associations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have pretty clearly stated (on more than a few occasions) that they are not interested in a Team GB football Team, which bit of NO don't the London Olympic Organisers understand?

TIME FOR SOME CELTIC FRINGE BENEFITS?

If the Unionists want the Union to work then one of the bottom lines has to be fair funding for Wales, we have been net contributors to the central coffers for a few hundred years. The Westminster Government brought in the Beeching rail cuts that decimated the railway network in Wales (thanks for that by the way – that really helped!). Since Beeching we have had an ill-thought out rail privatisation that has not helped when it comes to an integrated rail service.

Since the devolution process began Westminster has retained control of main line rail development, including any proposed electrification of railway lines here in Wales. Its worth noting that the main line from Glasgow to London was electrified in 1974, yet we don’t have a single mile of public electrified railway in Wales. This makes us a member of a fairly grim if exclusive club of European countries that have no electrified railways – the other members being Albania and Moldova.

If we are lucky we might get a bit, as the current plans for electrification of the Great Western Line (which originally intended to stop at Bristol) have been extended to Cardiff (belatedly the last Labour Government extended this to Swansea) before the Con Dems cut back the plan so the line will only be electrified to Cardiff. While this is better than nothing it stills means that main line rail electrification in Wales will remain pretty token, especially as there are currently no plans to electrify the line to Swansea, Carmarthen and further west.

The recent announcement that the Westminster Government plans to push on with the HS2 plan to connect London and Birmingham, with potentially further options for additional connections to Leeds and Manchester (and even Heathrow) is good news for rail users, even if by the time the plans come to fruition most of us will be unable to afford to let the train take the strain. The HS2 is a tidy £33 billion investment in England with scant measurable benefit for Wales, a bit like the Olympic Games even though it is a project that primarily benefits England there should be a ‘Barnett consequential benefit for Wales.

This could mean if fairly applied that would mean over the course of the building of HS2 during the next decade and a half that Wales gets an extra £1.9 billion for transport. That £1.9 billion could ensure that railway services across Wales are improved and that old lines surveyed for potential reopening as well as creating jobs within our communities.

I like to think that David Cameron and the Con Dems will work hard with the Labour Welsh Government in Cardiff to ensure that we don’ lose this opportunity to benefit even indirectly from HS2? Perhaps not!

WHICH BIT OF 'NO' DON'T YOU GET?

The knowledge that the UK Government has accepted FIFA assurances that Welsh football independence would not be threatened by the creation of the 'British Olympic football team' does not surprise me. Aside form the fact that we are not necessarily dealing with the sharpest tools in the box here, the problem may be made more complicated by the problem of differentiation. By this I mean there are some people who have real difficulty differentiating between British and English - ask someone in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and you may get a straight answer, especially when it comes to sport.

Nothing should be allowed to threaten to undermine the continued existence of an independent Welsh international football team, especially the emergence of a temporary Team GB football team. The UK Government simply does not get it and is probably incapable of getting it. I mean why would an English sports minister have the slightest concern about the future of the Welsh national football team? FIFA's word is not good enough, the organisation is tainted with a long and recent history of corruption and questionable financial dealings.

Our Football Association of Wales is one of the world's oldest football associations and is any important symbol of our nation.The game in Wales is undergoing a renaissance at the moment and Welsh footballers and Welsh teams have a higher profile than for a while domestically and internationally - this should not be threatened under any circumstances. The football associations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have pretty clearly stated (on more than a few occasions) that they are not interested in a Team GB football Team, which bit of NO don't the London Olympic Organisers understand?