The Budget - a first reaction

The biggest give-away was not the 2% cut in the basic rate. That doesn't take place until next year, and will in any case largely be paid for by the abolition of the 10% starter rate.

No, the chancellor is rewarding the section of the population most likely to vote - the over-65s. He will take more pensioners out of taxation than any other section of society.

He figures that the pensioner population, who pay a larger proportion of their income in council tax than the richest ten per cent of the population, will be mollified by reducing their income tax burden. He has not addressed the inequity of the council tax as such, nor is Tony Blair bothered. Neath and Aberavon constituencies must have a higher proportion of pensioners in poverty than most of the UK and will suffer accordingly.

In reply to a question from Ming Campbell, the prime minister acknowledged the high marginal rate paid by the poorest in our society, because of council tax. However, his only response was to point to the Lyons Commission which, if early reports are to be believed, does not consider any alternatives to council tax.

Small Business

Once again Labour shows their love of big business and contempt for small business. Corporation tax is to be cut, but small company taxation is to be raised with virtually immediate effect. This is going to hit a large number of small enterprises in this borough and adjacent areas. I am particularly concerned about the effect this is going to have on those companies pioneering green solutions to our energy problems.

We would be interested to see any other views of how this budget will affect the local economy.
-Frank Little

Family health centre for Cimla and Pelenna

Pontardawe has a substantial, modern, health centre replacing the prefabs ruined by the floods of the storms of Spring 1998. There is to be a new
Dulais Valley Primary Care Centre. Why isn't there a health centre serving Cimla and the Pelenna valley?

A bit of history

In the mid-1990s, Councillor John Warman organised a campaign for a general practitioner to be located in Cimla. A massive petition was raised, and hard work was rewarded with a doctor prepared to make a go of a local surgery. Unfortunately, he was unable to build up a solid list of patients, as too many people, faced with a choice of leaving the list of a GP in Neath, and an untried practice (they couldn't register on two lists), preferred to stay with the doctor they knew. Therefore, the business (a GP surgery is a small business) failed.

So what has changed?

Well, a hundred or more extra households on the Cimla, for a start. But even in 1999, Cimla residents (as part of the Agenda 21 consultations) were again calling for a local health centre. They were fully aware of the earlier failure of the GP surgery.
Then there is the difficulty that Pelenna residents are facing: the ending of a regular surgery in the valley. Most are registered with doctors in Cwmavon. However, the young, very old and the infirm cannot drive there. If they can't get lifts, then they have to rely on two bus-routes with often a long lay-over between services.

A possible future

In the wake of the Harold Shipman affair, the single-handed GP practice is virtually a thing of the past.
There is a trend in the Welsh NHS towards salaried health professionals. A health centre does not have to run as a business, and can afford to take the long view. Modern equipment and computer facilities can be shared by nurses and doctors.
It makes sense to provide a health centre in the Cimla which is directly accessible from Pelenna.

Neath Port Talbot - fiscal respectability close

According to the Evening Post and the Neath/Port Talbot Guardian, the County Borough will shortly lose its lead in the most unenviable table in Wales, that of high council tax, to Merthyr Tydfil. (That is, for those areas of the borough which are not parished; I predict that those of us who live in Coedffranc community will still be paying the highest council tax in Wales in 2007/8.)

Let us give credit where it is due, to council leader Vaughan and his team. However, while we still suffer this iniquitous tax, further progress can and should be made, without cutting essential services. The continuing increase in high-banded housing in the borough, in particular Llandarcy village, will aid the process.

Manifestos in Morriston

If not the starting gun, then this weekend's conference is the final warm-up lap before the Welsh Assembly campaign starts in earnest.

Conference will endorse the 2007 manifesto, without, it appears, any dissension predicted. What a strange Welsh Liberal conference that will be!

Laura Norder (3)

In New Labour's surveillance society, protecting the interests of central government and multi-national utility companies is more important than keeping the streets and
the houses of ordinary citizens safe.

Maintaining a police presence at the Cilfrew protest against the siting of a gas transfer station caused officers to be withdrawn from local towns like Skewen, as Emma Denholm's report in the Neath Guardian explains.

Frank Little writes: "Let me be clear. I am in favour of the gas pipeline, as it reduces England & Wales dependence on supplies from an increasingly capricious Russian state-controlled utility.

"However, it was wrong to divert police resources to what is basically a security company job. The implication that these respectable people now find themselves on a central police database of criminal suspects is very worrying."

South Wales Police Funding Shortfall

It is indeed worrying news that the South Wales Police Force are to face a £3.6 million funding shortfall. The situation in North Wales is even worse - they are to face a £5 million funding shortfall.

BBC News have reported that:

"South Wales Police Authority chairman Ray Thomas said front-line services would not be affected immediately because of savings, but he warned neighbourhood policing could be affected if cuts continued. "

This is particularly worrying news since The Telegraph has recently reported that there are as little as 3 Police Officers on patrol at night. How much worse can the situation become?

The stark reality is that the extra funding to meet this shortfall will have to be found from Council Tax increases - yet again, hitting those hardest who can least afford to pay. The Liberal Democrats have campaigned, and continue to campaign, to scrap the regressive Council Tax and replace it with a Local Income Tax, based on peoples ability to pay.

It is also the Liberal Democrats who have campaigned that the Billions of pounds the Government proposes to spend on introducing ID cards would be better spent to:

· Fund 10,000 more police on top of Labour's plans - as well as completing existing plans for an extra 20,000 community support officers to back them up.

· Equip police with new technology to cut time spent form-filling and help them tackle crime (e.g. handheld computers for beat bobbies so they don't have to return to the station so often).

· Support the inclusion of biometrics in passports only, as a means of combating cross- border crime, illegal immigration, terrorism and fraud.

· Establish a National Border Agency by bringing together the officers from immigration, police and customs who currently have overlapping responsibilities at our ports and airports.

· Crack down on illegal working by improving the way the home office inspects and prosecutes employers of illegal migrants. Allow the use of phone-taps and other 'intercept communications' as evidence against suspected terrorists in court, to make it easier to bring them to court.

Recently, we launched our "We Can Cut Crime" campaign outlining many new initiatives aimed at tackling crime, disorder and prison overcrowding.

Visit our We Can Cut Crime website for more details.


- Richie Northcote 23 Feb 07

Talbot Park vandalism goes on

We predicted that the sale of the Talbot Memorial Park lodges would end in tears.

Instead of improving the quality of the environment of the park, the Council's sale has aggravated yob vandalism. The Evening Post reports that the couple who bought one of the lodges were heartbroken and have had to give up in despair.

In Port Talbot and Taibach, as elsewhere, we need more police and support officers on the ground, as our regional AM, Peter Black, has demanded. In addition, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts, as pioneered by Islington Borough Council under the LibDems, reduce anti-social behaviour by increasing community involvement. For more, see our PoD 38.

Blair and Reid quick on the trigger

But not asking questions first.

Prime Minister Tony Blair and Home Secretary John Reid have announced moves to tackle gun crime with more severe sentences. However, legislation on its own does not work; the Firearms Acts of 1988 and 1997 have not reduced the number of firearms held illegally.

The answer is two-fold and simple: catch the people with guns (likelihood
of arrest is a better deterrent than draconian sentencing) and cut the
supply of guns.

Not easy, admittedly, but point one can be addressed by putting more
police on the streets and getting them involved in all the community.
There has been an attitude of letting sub-cultures sort out their own
affairs.

The second point is more difficult. There are some, including the Office of Legislative Affairs who say that "Striving to take guns `out of circulation' is probably a waste of effort and money, for illegal supply may be expected always to fulfil criminal demand." Surely, though, we should make the effort? There has been no serious attempt to do so

Nor has the government yet set up the firearms register, which it was committed to do under Section 39 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997, rushed through after Dunblane.

Liberal Democrats demand more free ATMS

Citizens of many towns and villages in Neath Port Talbot are denied easy access to their own money from their own bank accounts.

Some places still have post offices, where it is possible to access accounts with some - though not all - clearing banks. But post offices are open only five-and-a-half days a week, and what about the times in the evening, or at weekends, when you need cash? Outside the borough centre, the only possibility is often an ATM (automatic teller machine) in a convenience store which charges £1.50 or more for you to get hold of your own money.

Jackie Radford, a Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Social Justice, and candidate for this region in the forthcoming Welsh Assembly elections, has called for more free ATMs. In government, we would make it easier for councils such as Neath Port Talbot to use the planning laws to ensure that everyone in the borough is within reasonable distance of a free facility to access a bank account.

(See Pick of the Day #35).

More Dental Shortages Feared

The Guardian is reporting, this morning, that according to a Government memo, many people will be unable to get treatment from their dentist as the financial year draws to a close since NHS Dentists are only paid for a set number of Units of Dental Activity (UDA) under their new contracts. The report goes on to say:

But a report in the Health Service Journal (HSJ) says that patients may have to resort to emergency care or find an alternative practice because their dentists have fulfilled their annual contracts too soon.

A memo from the Department of Health warns primary care trusts to have "clear lines ready in case of media interest" if patients are left without a dentist as the financial year comes to an end, the HSJ reports.

The letter says PCTs must "ensure patients know how to access urgent care, publicise any spare capacity in other dental practices locally, and have clear lines ready in case of media interest".

Several PCTs contacted by the HSJ said problems were arising in some practices, with plans to introduce "pooling" systems to farm out patients to alternative dentists.

This is going to be hard news to swallow for many individuals and families alike. It is hard enough finding a NHS Dentist in the first place let alone the prospect of finding out that after having found one you may not be treated because many have fulfilled their “Quota” of UDA’s.

Geoffrey Wheatcrofts' comments on Peter Hain in todays Guardian

Below is an extract from an article in todays Guardian by Geoffrey Wheatcroft:

Gordon Brown comes out of Iraq better than Peter Hain. It is a very long time since British politics has witnessed anything quite as abject and contemptible as Hain's recent interview in the New Statesman.

"The neocon mission has failed," Hain proclaims - now. "People have forgotten about [the government's achievements] because of the Iraq conflict," the Northern Ireland secretary tells us - now. The government found itself working with "the most rightwing American administration, if not ever, then in living memory", he observes - now, in the year 2007, just as he happens to be running for the Labour deputy leadership.

But really, what an utter wretch this man is! What a dismal, slippery poltroon! Like Molière's Monsieur Jourdain learning that he had been speaking prose all his life, Hain suddenly discovers that George Bush is a rightwing politician, something he evidently never noticed in the years when Bush was governor of Texas, and presided over the execution of 153 people - on one occasion publicly mocking a woman he had put to death - or indeed when he reached the White House.

It's quite true that we took part in the Iraq war in order to demonstrate our - or Blair's - absolute loyalty to that American administration. Like Brown, Hain was a member of the cabinet when the war began. Like him, he could have resigned. Like him, he decided, in Lloyd George's phrase, to perish with his drawn salary in his hands.

In fact, Hain went further. Two years ago he was still defending the case for regime change, or insisting that "an Iraq moving into democracy provides a better future for the Iraqi people". And he sneered at what he called the "tired old attack" which "questions the prime minister's integrity" - over the dossiers and claims about weapons of mass destruction, that is.

Tewkesbury Lib Dems Achieve a Massive 45.3% Swing in Recent By-Election!

By-Election Results: Thursday 1st February 2007.

Tewkesbury BC, Brockworth

LD Maureen Rowcliffe-Quarry 639 (45.3; +45.3), Con 343 (24.3; +6.4), Lab 237 (16.8; -15.1), Residents 193 (13.7; -27.7), [Green (0.0; -8.7)].

Majority 296. Turnout 28.8%. LD gain from Residents. Last fought 2003.

The Tories more or less flatlined and the Labour vote collapsed!!

Well Done Tewkesbury Liberal Democrats!

Laura Norder (2)

Andrew Stunell (Liberal Democrat, Manchester Hazel Grove) yesterday asked a pointed, if lengthy, question of the Prime Minister at Question Time:

"The Prime Minister will know that there has been a drop of a hundred and seventy-three police officers across England and Wales in the first six months of this year. He will also know there has been a cut of two hundred and sixteen police officers in Greater Manchester. Bearing in mind that his staff believe that there has been too much police attention to his area, and my constituents believe there has been far too little attention to policing in my area, will he arrange for a transfer of resources so that both he and I can have a good night's sleep?"

The reply was classic Blair. First, he did not answer either the direct question or the implied ones. Second, he attacked the Tory record (after ten years, that is becoming irrelevant). Third, he reeled off a set of statistics. Finally, he lied about Liberal Democrats' voting record on crime legislation.

"Well, first of all, let me remind the honourable gentleman that actually we've got record numbers of police - over 140,000 - that is some 14,000 more than we inherited in 1997. In addition to that, of course, we've got thousands of community support officers and in addition to that of course as a result of the anti-social behaviour legislation that in areas such as his we're now able to take action against those people making life hell for people in their communities. And what have all three of these things got in common? The Liberal Democrats voted against every single part of it. So, I am delighted if Liberal Democrats ask about law and order."

The Prime Minister could have confirmed or denied the accuracy of Mr Stunell's figures. (Incidentally, they have worrying implications for the city which will host Britain's first super casino. Academic comparisons between casino locations worldwide show that success or failure depend on regulation and policing.) He could have said that he could not comment on an ongoing police investigation.

For the record:
- we voted for the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act, which incorporated the ASB provisions;
- we value community support officers, though not as replacements for trained police officers;
- we have continuously pressed for more police officers, and would never vote against an increase.

The government, on the other hand, is in effect cutting community support officer posts and civilian support staff, while removing police officers from the street, by cutting its annual support in real terms. For the explanation, see the blog of the Chief Constable of North Wales.

He writes: "Our 2006/07 budget was reduced by £2m. In 2007/08, a further cut of £3m is anticipated. This has required me to reduce staff because about 85% of my budget of £125m goes on people, and any cut inevitably means employing fewer people. In order to cope, I have to reduce both police officer and civilian staff numbers. This just cannot be done without severe impact on frontline services, and upon neighbourhood policing in particular, because we simply cannot stop answering the phone, or refuse to deal with serious crime - but we can do less neighbourhood policing, even though this is clearly contrary to the loudly expressed wishes of the public. A real dilemma."

NHS in Wales

Some of us suspect that the "announce a policy a day" campaign mounted by Bayview House has a significant resemblance to the posters of a certain Yorkshire-based supermarket chain.

However, Reason Number 24 to shop at - sorry, vote for - Liberal Democrats in May is one which will appeal to many people.

The headline about a minimum standard of service may not mean much, but the detail will strike a chord with contributors to the Evening Post in recent weeks:

"Welsh Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Jenny Randerson, said:

"The Welsh Liberal Democrats will put patients first in improving our national health service. That means that when the NHS is taking care of you, you should be entitled to a certain standard of service.

"A minimum standard of service would include what can be expected at hospital and patient access to information. Putting patients first means delivering healthcare when it's needed and to a guaranteed level. That doesn't mean burdening health professionals with more targets - instead we must shift the focus onto the actual service that the patient receives through their pathway of treatment.

"A minimum standard of service would mean raising the nutritional standards for hospital food and ensuring that assistants are there to help elderly patients at meal times. It means involving patients more at every stage of their treatment, such as copying them into correspondence between GPs, consultants and other specialists relating to their pathway through the NHS.

"We will develop and promote better schemes to reimburse payment of hospital travel and parking costs. This would include a review of hospital charges. We would also expect to develop good practice such as patient-NHS agreements on the course of treatment, where and when patients are treated and what other help they need."

- Frank Little

Job losses in Neath Port Talbot council

Instead of the ageist policy of encouraging early retirement, why doesn't the council leader take an axe to superfluous junior posts, at present seemingly filled by young people who spend much of their day sending YouTube videos to each other via the net?

Peter Black AM: Getting the vote out

Peter Black AM: Getting the vote out

Voting at 16 and Compulsory Voting

Whilst I find myself compelled to agree with Peter Hain, MP for Neath, regarding the reduction of the voting age to 16 from 18, I cannot agree with the assertion that people should be compelled to vote.

Reducing the voting age to 16.

I feel that I must agree with this proposition, if only, for the two simple reasons highlighted below:

1. Those school leavers at the age of 16 are expected to work and pay taxes yet they have no voice in how those taxes are spent. (Thus contributing to, and causing voter apathy)

2. The hypocrisy of accepting that at the age of 16 a person can make a rational choice to join the Armed Forces and may, in times of crisis, find him/herself on the frontline fighting for the very democracy that won’t allow him/her to have a voice in.

Compulsory Voting.

There is but one overriding reason why I cannot bring myself to agree with compulsory voting. The main reason is that as an advocate of Democracy, I believe in the freedom to choose. A freedom that respects peoples choice, not just who they are going to vote for but, of whether they are going to vote or not.

Many times I have heard the argument:

“Hundreds of thousands of people have sacrificed their lives, in the past, to ensure that
we have the right to vote!”

I would like to think that they sacrificed their lives to ensure that we have the freedom to choose whether we vote or not. That is true democracy – the freedom to choose. If people choose not to vote then that is their democratic right to choose that. The way I see it is that democracy is all about the freedom of choice, and that extends to the freedom to choose whether you wish to vote – or not.

Richie Northcote

We Can Cut Crime! - Crime is one of the biggest issues in Britain today.

Ming Campbell's Liberal Democrats are taking the lead, proposing real action at a national level and acting to cut crime where we are in power locally.

Violent crime is rising, anti-social behaviour is still a serious problem, and our prisons are overflowing. Labour have talked tough but have failed to deliver despite 10 years in power.

The Tories are in disarray on crime. One day it's hug a hoodie; the next it's slap a hoodie. Who knows what the Tories stand for now? What we do know is that the last Tory government cut police numbers and let violent crime double.

Enough is enough. Tough talk doesn't tackle crime - we've learnt that from the last twenty years of Labour and Conservative failure. This campaign is about taking effective action to make our country safer.

We need more police, freed from the burden of bureaucracy, to take back our town centres, especially after dark. Instead of spending billions of pounds on compulsory ID cards for innocent, law-abiding citizens, that money should be spent on targeting criminals and tackling crime.

We need a prison system that works. Prisoners should work to pay compensation to their victims, and to cut reoffending. A life sentence should mean life.

We are serious about cutting crime. Together, we can make Britain safer for all of us.

Laura Norder

The New Labour spin machine has a policy of frightening the electors out of voting for opposition parties. It has learned the lesson from political campaign organisers in the US and Australia. The more that a candidate can be smeared with the lie that he or she is soft on crime, the less likely they are to be elected.

The government, though, is in trouble when a high-profile violent crime hits the headlines, as such inevitably occurs. This conflicts with their litany that "crime rose under the previous administration, and has fallen under New Labour".

Their answer is that they do not have enough legal powers. So, yet another oppressive Act is pushed through parliament, giving yet more powers to officials and removing yet more civil liberties. And it just DOESN'T WORK!

The prison population goes up. The only limit on it is the lack of additional prison accommodation, which the government shows no sign of providing. (To be fair to the Conservatives, who espouse similarly repressive policies, the Tories have said that they would spend more of our money on building new prisons.) The result is that prisoners are let out early to make room for new. There seems to be little discrimination between convicts, so that the dangerous are let out with the harmless. Violent and sex offenders are moved to open prisons. The Home Secretary (or "Minister for Justice", which, with an Orwellian overtone, John Reid seems to want to create) has to learn to distinguish between those prisoners who are too dangerous to be freed and those who should not have been locked up in the first place.

The parrot squawk from the friends of Big Brother is: what would you do instead? For too long we Liberals and Social Democrats have been apologetic about our proposals. I am glad to see that this is about to change. Menzies Campbell and Nick Clegg will be announcing a Cut Crime campaign tomorrow. There is every sign that this will not only be more liberal but also practical.

Let us replace "Law 'n' Order" with "Good Order and Justice".

- Frank Little

Can the BBC survive without reform?

The news this week that the BBC Licence Fee is to rise by 3%, to £151 over the next five years, will be received with deep concern by many individuals, not least pensioners, the unemployed and those hard working families on low incomes – especially those who are already feeling the pinch of higher energy and mortgage costs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6273347.stm

Whilst there is a general consensus that the BBC does provide good quality and impartial programming we cannot ignore the argument that in today’s world greater choice is offered by other service providers such as Cable and Sky. It is natural that many people who subscribe to these services, at a premium often in excess of £40 per month, begrudge paying the licence fee. It is mistakenly viewed by many as simply a tax on television – and that is understandable up to a point, since every household has to pay the licence fee whether you watch the BBC or not.

The stark reality is that the BBC now has to compete with 24-hour news, entertainment, sports, documentaries, movies and more. The only way that the BBC can compete with this, in its current form, is to fund it through an increase in the licence fee. Perhaps the time has come to open the BBC up to corporate advertising? By this I don’t mean that there need be commercials on the scale shown by some other channels, since this is one of the factors that maintains the BBC’s uniqueness. This could, however, be achieved by corporate sponsorship of individual programmes. By doing this, the BBC could maintain its unique position - offering relevant and good quality, impartial programming whilst, at the same time, reducing the cost to the overall population.

Richie Northcote

Alternatives to ASBOs

Following on the discovery that playing classical music over speakers outside shops dissuades yobs from gathering there, we now learn that tuning the lighting to emphasise skin flaws can have the same effect.

Raising school-leaving age to 18

For all the reasons which Peter Black gives in the regional campaign pages, a Welsh Assembly Government should not rush to follow Westminster. Alan Johnson, the English education minister, says he is very impressed by the moves made by the Canadian province of Ontario.

England itself would be well advised to wait to see how the Canadian experiment works out, bearing in mind that the legislation is not even passed yet. Legislators may bear in mind that, though the high-school drop-out rate has fallen in the early years of this century, it is still nearly ten per cent in Ontario.

It takes a special kind of teacher to keep the interest of youngsters who do not want to be in school and who are old enough to know of more exciting alternatives. There is no sign that Westminster is prepared to boost the education budget in order to recruit and retain such teachers. Johnson's intention is to raid the fund for life-long learning - surely insufficient for the purpose, and denying people who really do want to improve themselves the chance to do so.

There are one or two places in the world where compulsory education does stop at 18. In a German Land (province) where this is the case, high-class vocational training is provided as an alternative to the school-room.

Thirteen years is too long to keep children in school. Why don't we follow the example of Finland (which I believe Wales Assembly Government people have been looking at) and provide a minimum of ten years formal education, but starting at age six or seven?

- Frank Little

Post Offices - part of local sustainability

Decline of local communities is not inevitable.

There is a Private Member's Bill before the Westminster parliament which aims to reverse the trend. Promoted by Nick Hurd (Conservative) and sponsored by Julia Goldsworthy (LibDem) and David Drew (Labour), the Sustainable Communities Bill comes before the House of Commons for its Second Reading on 19th January.

The Bill, and the Local Works campaign, is also supported by Elfyn Llwyd, the Plaid MP.

We can help by writing to our MPs, urging them to be in the House on the day and to persuade the relavent ministers (Ruth Kelly and Yvette Cooper) to ensure that the Bill is given the necessary Commons time for consideration.

More details at the Local Works web-site.

Guantanamo Bay detention centre is 5 this month

See the film (button on right) and visit the prisoners' web-site.

Neath civic centre development

Neath Port Talbot councillors are grateful to the leader for giving all the local media news of the plans for the redevelopment of the civic centre (e.g. "The End of an Eyesore", Neath Guardian), because they had not been given advance warning of the public unveiling last Thursday. It seems that not even the mayor of the County Borough had been invited to the public presentation.

At least the leader is consistent. He did not invite the previous mayor to the launch of the design process last year.

Could it be that the leader is trying to gain the maximum personal publicity because he is aiming to boost his campaign for a Welsh Assembly candidacy?

Claims Farmers

The public may well have sympathy for the council for its recent announcement against insurance fraud, as it declared in a recent press release. In the release, Councillor Alun Thomas is quoted as saying “Fraudulent insurance claims against the council cost thousands of pounds every year…The council is committed to keeping council tax to a minimum next year and so we are calling on residents to help us put an end to insurance fraud. Committing fraud is a criminal offence and penalties include fines and imprisonment."

The problem of insurance claims against councils isn’t a new one. Back in June 2004 a BBC news article highlighted the plight of a number of council tenants living in Bridgend County who had taken the then Labour Council to court. The article highlights one couple plight when they ended up with debts amounting to £8,697, after deciding to take the Council to court.

What Cllr Thomas's statement does not do is to address the reason for the increase in the number of unfounded claims.

Regional AM Peter Black recently highlighted the plight of those who make compensation claims in the South Wales Libdems web site. In the article, Mr Black highlights the dubious practices of “Claim Farmers”, who are persuading people into pursuing 'no win no fee' compensation claims. Mr. Black has asked the Department of Constitutional Affairs to look into the practice. He wants a statutory code of conduct put in place for claim farmers to ensure that there is no sharp practice. He has also asked that insurance companies and solicitors who pay out commission for business referred to them should be forced to carry out more stringent checks before accepting the business.

Merry Christmas

If you are sad enough to be reading a political blog over the festive season, may we wish you everything you wish yourself for the festive season and for 2007.


Being an inclusive party, we extend these greetings to those of other faiths and of none.

Is Resolven yet Another Neglected Valley Community?

I find it seriously hard to comprehend why the hole in the wall running alongside Clydach Brook, running through Resolven, is still left unattended. After almost a month of being knocked down, by a goods lorry, the gap in the flood defences on Commercial Road, Resolven remain unfixed!

If the excuse, as usual, is a lack of funding then we need to ask ourselves: Where is the extra £12.5m of European and local funding that was promised for flood defence work back in 2005? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/4612627.stm

This "Umbrella Project”, supposedly paid for by match funding from the Objective One development scheme highlighted Resolven as one of the communities that were supposed to benefit from extra flood defence.

Please, please, NPTCBC fix the hole in the wall at Commercial Road, Resolven, before the winter rain returns. Clydach Brook, as you well know, has a reputation of rising several feet, within minutes, without warning!

The Labour Councillor for Resolven, Des Davies, has recently attempted to reassure residents that the Local Authority is at least doing something by claiming to have delivered sandbags to the village. There's five sandbags piled up outside the Local Shop directly opposite the hole! Well that’s something, I suppose…………

- Richie Northcote

Shameless Plaid allow Labour to cut schools funding

Welsh Liberal Democrats slammed Labour and their Plaid Cymru helpers for cutting schools budgets, and leaving universities short of cash.

In a fiery debate at the National Assembly for Wales yesterday, AMs queued up to accuse the unlikely partners of selling out on education.

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Mike German said: "Let me make our position clear. Schools are going to suffer. Schools and universities will be the big losers.

"The party that promised us Education, Education, Education has borrowed an R from the Party of Wales and given us Reduction, Reduction, Reduction.

"By working together the opposition parties had been able to achieve significant improvements to the budget. Working alone, Plaid Cymru have secured an additional £300,000.

"Together we were looking for money equivalent to the salaries of 200 teachers. Plaid Cymru have caved in for 10 teachers. That's not good enough."

He highlighted successes achieved by the united opposition. This includes extra money for our
ambulance service, support for the rail link between Wrexham and London, extra cash for disabled play, some extra funding for universities, firefighters pensions and hospices.

Mr German added that Plaid would go into the 2007 Assembly elections as "Labour's little helpers".

Post Offices - where will the blows fall?

From House of Commons library documents, it appears that the government intends to close 25 post offices in the Neath constituency, and 15 in Aberavon.

We do not yet know how many of these will close immediately, nor which ones face the axe. We hope to update you as soon as we have the details.

What is clear is that New Labour will have outstripped the Tories in the number of post offices closed. For many villages and even towns this means the last meaningful contact with the fabric of national life has disappeared, or shortly will do so.

Another significant by-election win

In a high-profile ward in the UK capital, Liberal Democrats have made another gain.

Last night Ralph Scott was elected as the new councillor for Kentish
Town in the London Borough of Camden, winning the seat from Labour.

Ralph Scott 1093
Green 812
Labour 808
Conservative 198

This represents a major victory for us - it is an endorsement of the LibDem leadership of the Council.

The Greens are deeply upset and disappointed - they thought this was their election and they threw everything into it. Labour took a not disimilar tactic but concentrated on throwing dirt. Yet again, David Cameron's pitch for liberal and green votes was a dismal failure.

Foot-and-mouth disease - no compensation in future?

The assembly government is having talks with farmers' representatives about the industry picking up all the bills for outbreaks of animal epidemic disease in future, reports the BBC.

This looks like just the latest in a line of populist moves by New Labour. In 2001 and 2004 there were moves in Westminster to compel farmers to take out insurance against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

"Labour MP for Newport West Paul Flynn said the government should not be 'picking up the bill for everything that goes wrong'."

All very reasonable - but what about the government playing its part? Farmers have no power to prevent suspect animal material coming into the UK. Only the government can do that, and the evidence is that it is not doing it very well. The Treasury's recent across-the-board cuts in manpower will not help.

And can one rely on this government to act decisively and at once in the event of a future outbreak? All livestock markets have to be cancelled and animal movements stopped immediately, the army being called in if necessary. This action was not taken in either of the last two FMD outbreaks.

Bryn Post Office vacancy

Yet another local post office is under threat because of difficulty in finding someone willing to take over when the current sub-postperson retires in the New Year. Residents will welcome their councillors publicising the search for a replacement.

However, it is too simplistic to say that "This is not the result of any commercial decision by the Post Office to cut the service", as the councillors do. They echo the words of Tony Blair at Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, that the decline of the post office network is due to "changing patterns" of paying for services and drawing benefits.

The truth is that the government is actively discouraging pensioners and others from making use of the post office. As well as making it more difficult to draw benefits in cash, it has also reduced agency payments to sub-postpeople. The decision to withdraw the facility to pay for TV licences at post offices in favour of the Pay Point network (is there a Pay Point in Bryn, by the way?) is another blow.

It is little wonder that possible volunteers are deterred by the narrowing margins of post office business and worries over the future of the network as a whole. It takes a large dose of community spirit to encourage new sub-postmasters and mistresses at present.

Liberal Democrats would not only restore the facilities of the Post Office Card Account (due to expire shortly), but also restructure Post Office Services in a way which would give every postmaster and postmistress a personal financial share in the business.

A Good AGM

Last Monday was a cheerful occasion for us, when we held our AGM against a background of a steady increase in membership.

The chairman took the opportunity to call into question, the county borough council for its controversial planning decisions in the last 12 months. He also welcomed a new secretary, Dave Howerski, who will be taking over from Richie Northcote who has moved on to fill the new post of Events Officer. This post has recently become essential following our recent increase in popularity and membership, we look forward to the events planned for the new year by Richie Northcote and wish Dave Howerski all the best in what is a demanding and challenging role.

BAGLAN ENERGY PARK - JOB APPEAL

In 1999, Alun Michael announced development on the Baglan industrial park site which promised to create 10,000 jobs.

This promise was repeated two years later when £3.8m was fed in from the EU Objective 1 scheme.

After that, the estimates were scaled down. There was vague talk of 6,000 jobs, then in 2004 one of Neath Port Talbot's councillors was quoted in one of the local media as saying "There are as many people working in the Baglan Energy Park now as BP used to employ". Gary Lewis, then our secretary, phoned a former BP employee to establish that, at its height, BP Baglan Bay employed around 2,300 people.

BP, when it closed down its facility for good, claimed no more than it had created 700 jobs within the Baglan travel-to-work area.

In the summer, we obtained from the WDA, under the Freedom of Information Act, the true figure for the number of people employed within the Energy Park. It was in fact 280. Even allowing for the 300 which Intertissue's plant is expected to employ when it is fully operational, that is less than 10% of the original estimates.

We welcome the numbers currently employed in the Energy Park. However, as the only TRUE opposition to Neath Port Talbot Labour dominated CBC, we would like to highlight the irresponsibility of those individuals who wildly overestimated the number of jobs which the Energy Park would create. We also wonder whether all the money spent on the industrial park has been "invested" with the correct focus.

Pelenna - the forgotten valley?

The news that the Pontrhydyfen sub-postmaster has had to bring his retirement forward because of ill-health has left the whole valley with no post office facilities until the new sub postmaster in Tonmawr has been trained or a replacement found for Ponthrhydyfen. People wanting any post office services between now and the New Year will now have to travel to Neath or Port Talbot to do so. Those who draw their pensions in cash will be in some difficulty if they have not nominated an alternative post office which has remained open.

The situation could have been foreseen, yet Post Office Services had no contingency plans in place.

Add to this the probability that the temporary GP surgery facilities in Tonmawr will be withdrawn because they cannot be connected to broadband internet (whatever happened to the initiiative to bring broadband to the whole of Wales?), and you have a picture of New Labour taking people outside the towns and cities for granted.

- Frank Little

Another Conservative politician sees through Cameron

Last May, Liberal Democrats lost the Leatherhead North (Surrey) council
seat to the Tories last May by just three votes, after several recounts.
Amazingly, the Tory victor, Penny Hedgeland, has just defected to us!

The Leatherhead Advertiser quotes her as saying:

"I joined the Conservative Party when David Cameron was elected leader.

"I thought he was steering his party away from the past and towards more
caring and inclusive policies - including a green agenda.

"But having now spent several months as a Conservative councillor I am
disillusioned because I see little of this progressive attitude here in
Mole Valley.

"Similarly Mr Cameron does not seem to be following up his rather vague
aspirations with any solid policies.

"In the meantime the Liberal Democrats nationally have produced a
detailed and practical policy on switching tax burden from income
towards pollution which greatly appeals to me."

How green is our MP?

When Rough Guides published its new book on Climate Change, the series editor, Mark Ellingham, decided to send a copy to every MP. With it, he sent a letter asking three simple questions...

1 How important a concern is climate change?

2 What can Britain do to make a difference?

3 What steps do you plan to take (or have you taken), in your constituency, and as an individual?

The Independent newspaper today published the responses.

" MPs are not renowned for responding to surveys, yet nearly half the house - ­ 318 of our elected representatives - ­ felt strongly enough to break the habit," reported the Indy, " all the main party leaders among them."

All the Liberal Democrat MPs in Wales (as you would expect), responded. So did that very busy man, the prime minister.

Yet our local MPs, Dr Hywel Francis and Mr Peter Hain are notable for their absence. What went wrong?

- Frank Little

Freedom of speech - hard cases make bad law

In the wake of the recent acquittal of leaders of the racist British National Party on charges of using language inciting racial hatred, the government is reported to be looking at strengthening the law in this area.

We already have too much law curtailing our freedom of speech. The government should just accept that Griffin and his acolytes benefited from a perverse verdict, and move on. Short of abolishing jury trials for race hate crime - and think of how many "martyrs" that is going to create! - it is hard to see what more could or should be done.

There are suggestions that the Leeds jury was unduly influenced by external matters - for instance, being shown (unbroadcast) TV documentaries about violent Muslim gangs, "proving" that what Griffin said about Islam was fair comment. The government itself is not innocent. Ruth Kelly, John Reid and now its head of counter-intelligence have all made speeches associating Islam with violence.

The great fear is that more draconian law is not going to be used only against people who stir up hatred against religious or racial groups, but also those who object openly against government policy.

Yet Another Surprise By-Election Victory

Lib Dem Irfan Mustafa storms from 4th place to take Clements Wood ward (Ilford) in the London borough of Redbridge from Labour.

November 9th 2006

Redbridge LBC, Clements Wood
LD Irfan Mustafa 904 (41.9; +30.3), Lab 715 (33.1; -20.6), Con 377 (17.5; -0.5), Ind 65 (3.0; +3.0), Green 49 (2.3; -2.6), British Public Party 48 (2.2; -9.7).
Majority 189. Turnout 25.1%. LD gain from Lab. Last fought 2006.

Farmers market

We believe in localism, so we support the Ystalyfera-based Good Food Co-operative which has been mounting farmers markets in the borough. The picture above is from the well-attended one in Cwmgwrach's Welfare Hall yesterday.

The food was of high-quality and well presented, with organic produce well to the fore. It was good to talk to the people who actually sourced the food. However, the prices put it out of the reach of many, except perhaps as an occasional treat. We would like to see more local farmers taking advantage of the concept and, as in other parts of England and Wales, providing more everyday fare. By cutting out the middleman, they would gain more realistic returns while providing wholesome food at a reasonable price.

The next Good Food Co-operative market will be at Godre'rgraig Workingmen's Club on 22nd November, and they return to Cwmgwrach on 14th December.

- Frank Little

Labour's money pledge for unions

Labour's first policy pledge for the Welsh assembly election, a commitment of funds to trade unions is on the face of it a sweetener for their paymasters. Although New Labour in London is trying to distance itself from the trade unions, affiliated unions still have a third share in electing the party leader. The traditional relationship tends to persist in Wales, too.

However, not all the unions in the TUC are affiliated to the Labour Party, and Labour's election campaigns are increasingly reliant on businessmen for finance. We should also distinguish between the funds proposed for "restructuring", about which Labour certainly has questions to answer, and those for education.

Not enough credit has been given to unions in the past for their efforts on the social and educational front. They have been very effective in delivering education, and it is surely right that a future Welsh government should take advantage of efficient means of delivery of education and training, whether it is provided by the TUC, the CBI, charities or the conventional structures.

Post Offices not safe in Labour hands

Gwenda Thomas's response to the campaign backing sub-postmasters, led by Liberal Democrats Lembit Öpik and Mick Bates and locally by Peter Black and Sheila Waye (pictured here at Gwaun Cae Gurwen post office), is to remind people of the rate relief available to rural small businesses.

This is useful, so far as it goes, but it cannot make up for the loss of business relating to TV and vehicle licensing, and to the scheduled withdrawal of the Card Account in 2010.

Much more to the point would be reanimating the Post Office Development Fund set up by the LibDem/Labour partnership assembly government in 2002. This Labour has resolutely refused to do.

Let us be clear: we are not defending the Post Office Card Account (POCA) just for the sake of opposition, or just for the sake of keeping local post offices open. The POCA is the only kind of banking facility which is available to some people - and Gordon Brown's tax credit system insists on paying child & working tax credits into a bank account. There is no cash option.

POCA was also the sweetener offered to old age pensioners in return for giving up their pension books.

Tata takeover not necessarily bad news for Port Talbot

It has just been reported that the board of Corus has accepted a takeover bid from Tata of India.

Tata Industries is a long-established conglomerate, founded in 1868 by a member of a Parsee family. It became rich on the basis of textile manufacture, but has since branched out into many industrial areas, from steel to motors and IT.

Indians are the third largest external investors (after Japanese and Americans) in UK business, and have a rather better record of maintaining facilities - especially research - here than some other nationals. If control of Corus has to leave Europe, India is probably a safer destination from the point of view of Welsh job security than Russia or even the United States.

Dark skies

The wholesale renewal of Neath Port Talbot's old street lights gives opportunity not only to make sure that the most energy-efficient equipment is installed, but also that light pollution should be reduced.

As anyone who has spent a night in mid-Wales will attest, there is nothing so magnificent as the sight of a deep velvet sky studded all over with stars, undimmed by the glow from street lights.

We wouldn't go as far as Iceland did at the end of September. According to Reuter "Authorities in the capital Reykjavik will turn off street lights on Thursday evening and people are also being encouraged to sit in their houses in the dark", writer Andri Snaer Magnason said on Wednesday, "while the lights are out, an astronomer will describe the night sky over national radio."

Sadly, the Icelandic experiment failed because of cloud cover on the night.

- Frank Little

Neath Port Talbot street lighting

It is reported that the street lights are in a dreadful state and need a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to restore them. One hopes that the opportunity is taken to remove the unsightly remains of the previously upgraded street lights (picture).

It seems that, once again, because of government rules regarding large capital expenditure, a public-private partnership is "the only game in town" for the county borough.

This party has often criticised PPPs and PFIs (Public Finance Initiatives) as they are applied to schools, hospitals and similar institutions. However, unlike a school or hospital building, user demands from a streetlight are relatively simple and unchanging - that it works, it stays upright, it looks OK - so the relative inflexibility of PFI is less of a problem. There is also less scope for the private partner to load unforeseen charges on the back end.

Liberal Democrat councils like Islington, Cambridge and Redcar & Cleveland have therefore instituted, or are about to institute, PPPs for street lighting with only a few misgivings.

One of these is, that if the PFI partner fails to deliver, the local authority is over a barrel and in a weak position to allow enforcement action to take any time (especially in the winter). If it decides to guarantee a remedy, (eg demanding a bond), it is likely to increase the price demanded by the partner. The cost benefit analysis must also include realistic provision for the Council's legal services.

So, clearly, the choice of partner is crucial (the provider of the Crymlyn incinerator is an instructive example) and there must be safeguards in place.

- Frank Little

Female prison for Wales - second thoughts

On 13th August (see archives), we started a campaign for women from South Wales, committed to gaol, to be housed nearer their home towns. Our thought was that it would aid rehabilitation and also be less hard on their families.

However, campaigners for women have since pointed out that the existence of a local prison is more likely to encourage magistrates and judges to sentence women to prison, where they now impose non-custodial sentences.

This is against a background that in England and Wales:

• In the last decade the women’s prison population has more than doubled.
• Over one third of women in adult prisons had no previous convictions, which is more than double the figure for men
• The majority of the sentenced female prison population are held for non-violent offences.
• Much of the rise in the female prison population can be explained by a significant increase in the severity of sentences. In 1991 eight per cent of women convicted in the Crown Court of motoring offences went to prison. By 2001 that had increased to 42 per cent. A women convicted of theft or handling at the Crown Court is now twice as likely to go to prison as in 1991. At the magistrates’ court, the chances of a women receiving a custodial sentence have risen seven-fold.

(Source http://www.inside-out.org.uk/news/news_201205BLF.htm)

Cilfrew and Trebanos planning decisions

We understand that the controversial matter of blasting at Trebanos has now been referred up to the Department of Trade and Industry.

However, the planning committee held last week did approve the construction of plant to service the gas pipeline within the community of Cilfrew, in spite of the opposition of John Warman (Liberal Democrat, Cimla).

The Neath Guardian reports that some councillors were advised by council's monitoring officers not to vote. This is likely to form the basis of an application for judicial review, which Cilfrew residents are investigating.

If Britain is to avoid dependence on Russia's Gazprom for its gas supplies in future, then the pipe from Milford Haven is essential. Transfer stations are needed at intervals to distribute the gas into local networks.

However, Cilfrew's case, backed up by engineering advice, is that there are other suitable sites for a gas transfer station in the area which are less of a potential danger to residents, and do not create traffic hazards.

- Frank Little

Labour minister endorses LibDem councils

In her opening speech to the Labour conference in Manchester, local MP and minister without portfolio at the Cabinet Office, Hazel Blears said:

"Look around the great cities of Britain, go to Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Cardiff or Newcastle, and you can see a new confidence, a new Renaissance.

"The British entrepreneurial spirit flourishing against a backdrop of economic stability and renewed public services."

I am sure that Rodney Berman, Liberal Democrat leader of Cardiff City Council, would welcome that endorsement, as will the Liberal Democrats of Newcastle-upon-Tyne who increased their majority at the local elections in May this year.

And while Leeds may not be in Liberal Democrat hands, if you approach the city from the south-west, you will pass through the second-greenest council in England, Kirklees. The green initiative was taken by the former Liberal Democrat-led administration.

Media - the good guys

We try not to be totally negative in our comments, so as a counter-balance to the previous posting, here are some names of journalists who have given the conference serious coverage.

Serious, but not earnest, a thought which naturally leads to the name of Michael White (pictured) of the Guardian. His public interview of Ming Campbell at the conference was a model of what these things should be: probing, not hectoring; and conducted with humour, but not maliciously so. Trivia there was, but it formed only a small part of the interview.

White's sympathies are clearly with Labour. He is an Atlanticist, rather than a European, and he also disagrees with us over proportional representation, but he is a fair reporter of the old school.

Another good old-fashioned journalist is Patrick Hannan. His style on Radio Wales' "Something else" and "Call to Order" is also to probe with humour.

More acerbic is Andrew Rawnsley, who nevertheless was fair in chairing a lively Brighton fringe debate on the Liberal Democrats and the media. It is hard to discern where Rawnsley's sympathies lie, but the impression that he is particularly tough when interviewing prominent LibDems, suggests that he might be a closet party follower.

A usually quite partisan Labour supporter is Steve Richards of The Independent. However, in his column of 21st September, he discussed dispassionately Liberal Democrat tax policies and their implications for cooperation with other parties in the event of a balanced parliament.

"Anyone who listened to the [tax debate] would recognise this is a left-of-centre party, gripped by the need to redistribute widely, and to raise cash for some expensive spending commitments, such as the abolition of top-up fees for students," Richards wrote.

"Those speaking in favour of the new economic package argued passionately that the proposals redistributed more extensively than the party's previous policies. Opponents of the proposals protested that there was a need to redistribute more widely still."

Richards added: "It was a good debate, and one the two bigger parties would be too scared to stage."

Finally, David Hencke, the Westminster correspondent of the Guardian, cuts through the superficial assessments of the party and our leader.

Of the Liberal Democrats, he writes (in "The House Magazine"): "They have lost support in the [opinion] polls, but not in elections. Since Menzies' leadership, they have taken a seat from Labour in Dunfermline and came within 600 votes of taking Bromley & Chislehurst from the Tories. Neither of these results - particularly the slump in Tory support in outer London - were picked up in the Westminster village. And council by-elections show a similar trend."

And on Ming Campbell: "His detractors cite his age, his laid-back approach, and fear that when it comes to the next general election, he will perform badly in comparison with the dynamic young David Cameron and the experienced and streetwise Gordon Brown. His supporters think his gravitas, his diplomatic ability to heal breaches between warring factions, his principled stand over the war in Iraq, and defence of individual civil liberties, will chime with the electorate."

What these writers have in common is the perception that elections are not just a horse-race, but are about people and policies, and that few men and women go into politics as knaves and liars.

- Frank Little

Demise of TV political journalism

The one thing that spoiled the view from the conference hotel in Brighton this week was the burnt-out shell of a pier. I did think of using a picture of this as a symbol of what has happened to the once-glitzy Conservative campaign, but I see that the Tories have now done this for themselves with a replacement of their once-proud blue dragon with a squiggle.

Perhaps it is more representative of what has happened to political reportage on national TV, on BBC in particular. (I am sure that HTV did their usual sound job, but, sadly, I didn't have the equipment in Brighton to check on the media back home.) Nick Robinson's idea of deep analysis at the conference was to tote a life-size cut-out of Menzies Campbell along the sea-front and to ask holiday-makers some facile questions.

On the late-night news programmes, there was a vague attempt to build up Charles Kennedy as a threat to Menzies Campbell's leadership. Not only was this scuppered by CK's competent, but uninspiring speech, but also by his own clearly sincere statement of gratitude and loyalty to Ming.

TV ignored the rousing speeches by Nick Clegg (crime and civil liberties), Chris Huhne (environment) and Ed Davey (renewable energy). The very ubiquity of these three could even have given the media a better story than the one they went with: fresh challengers for the leadership. More seriously, the media did a disservice to the British public by not presenting the very distinct agenda which our main speakers laid out.

- Frank Little

Liberal Democrats are green, and in government

We have long suspected the Green Party of being little Englanders. A few years back, their official policy was to quit the European Union. They now realise that the best way of changing the EU's protectionist policies is to fight from the inside, but their attitude to the rest of Europe is still rather equivocal.

The confirmation came this morning, on Radio Wales, when the Green Party Wales Campaign Coordinator (or some such title) stated as fact that our party is not only not really green, but where it has any power, it puts anti-green measures into effect.

We suggest to her that she looks at the largest (in area) nation of the United Kingdom, ruled from Edinburgh since 1999 by a coalition of Labour and Liberal Democrats.(The photo shows Willie Rennie MP for Dunfermline having a diagnostic check at the LibDem conference.) Nicol Stephen, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, and deputy First Minister, holds the key portfolio of Enterprise.

Liberal Democrats led the way in Scotland in improving their resource management through the National Waste Strategy based on the three Rs - Reduce - Re-use - Recycle and by setting a Recycling Target of 55% for 2020.

They are well on the way to meeting the first stage of that target by reaching a level of 25% this year which will put Scotland ahead of England and Wales.

Scottish Liberal Democrats also led the way on Renewable Energy by setting a Target of 40% by 2020. This was double the target of 20% set by the UK Government for the same period. Nicol Stephen confirmed in Brighton last Monday that, while Labour in Westminster is behind its target, the Scots are ahead of theirs.

(PS - I have just learned that Green councillors in York have voted against eco-housing and a flagship world class sustainable recycling centre and in favour of higher ticket prices on park and ride. What was that about power and anti-green policies again?)

- Frank Little

Liberal Democrat Conference Diary - The Finale

Liberal Democrats Conference Diary - Day 4

Liberal Democrat Conference Diary - Day 3

Liberal Democrat Conference Diary - Day 2

Well since it's Conference Season, here is the first entry in the Conference Diary. I don't know why, but the diary has begun on day two. There will be one small video released each day of the Conference at Brighton.

Liberal Democrats – The Real Alternative to Labour in Neath Port Talbot County Borough.

Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats prove that we are the Real Opposition to Labour within the Borough. While the rest of the opposition groups remain silent, on many important issues, the Liberal Democrats are actively campaigning all year round, not just at election time, calling the Labour Administration to account.

Baglan Energy Park


Press Reports 2003: Baglan Energy Park to Employ 6,000!
True Figures 2006: Baglan Energy Park Employs just 379!

I’m sure that I’m not the only person who thought the estimation of 6,000 Jobs that would be created by the Baglan Energy Park was optimistic.

Quite interestingly, former Council Leader Noel Crowley passes comment some 18 months (19th March 2003) previously in the Evening Post that “There are as many people working in the Baglan Energy Park now as BP used to employ...”

After some investigation and asking ex-employees of BP Baglan Bay how many used to work at the site, the answer came back at around 2,300 at its height.

So, how many people are employed by the Baglan Energy Park?

Following a request for information, under the Freedom of Information Act, back in February 2005 from the WDA the true figures for the number of people employed within the Energy Park, back then, was 280. More recent figures provided by the WDA/ WAG put the numbers of people employed in the Energy Park at 379 people.

Basically the increase in numbers of people employed in the energy park has been some 99 in the past eighteen months. Another way of looking at it would be 66 per year.

At this rate it will be September 2035 before the Energy Park employs as many people as BP Baglan did at its height, and, it will be September 2091 before it employs the 6,000 that the Press originally published in 2003! We believe that the potential of the Energy Park is enormous and we urge NPTCBC to be more proactive in publicising the merits of the park to the business community.

- Gary Lewis

Nick Clegg discusses his first six months as Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary

Nick Clegg discusses his first six months as Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary discussing the failures of Labour and successes of the Liberal Democrats in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour.

Policy Discussion at Tonmawr Community Centre Monday 25 September 7:30pm

Come to Tonmawr Community Centre on Monday, 25th September at 7.30 p.m. to meet and question Liberal Democrat candidates for next year’s Assembly elections. Also hear about Liberal Democrat tax proposals, and other policy matters being discussed and agreed upon at our conference in the coming week.

Ask about any other Liberal Democrat policies.

Most importantly: tell us what we can do for you.

From the inception of Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats, we have made a point of holding our monthly meetings in different parts of the County Borough. As interest in the Liberal Democrats, and disaffection with New Labour, have grown, we have been invited to many more local community centres away from the main towns of Neath Port Talbot county borough.

This month, we are grateful to new members Des and Annette Sparkes for the chance to visit Tonmawr and learn first hand of the concerns of the people of Pelenna ward.

I guarantee that at least one of your candidates for next year’s assembly elections will be on hand.

- Frank Little

Clare Short delivers yet another Blow to the Government

It would seem that the Knives are out for Clare Short at Westminster. Her attack on the Government this week in a letter she sent to the Independent has ruffled Labours feathers to a degree where they are considering disciplinary action against the former Cabinet Minister. More discerning for them is her intention to resign at the next election and campaign for a Hung Parliament.

I never thought I would ever say this, but I find myself in agreement with Claire Shorts comments. It is what we, as Liberal Democrats, have been banging on about for years – Electoral Reform is long overdue.

Below is an extract from her letter, judge for yourself:

"Cabinet government has gone, the House of Commons - with guillotines on all business - is weak and ineffective, and the rise of the third party means our electoral system is ever-more distorted. The vote in 2005 of 9.54 million was the second-lowest Labour vote in post-war Britain. With the support of only 22 per cent of the electorate, we see power more concentrated in a No 10 that consults no one, engages in deceit over matters of profound importance and is not held to account by Cabinet, parliamentary party or the wider party. The Prime Minister’s powers of patronage turn too many MPs into obedient ciphers who await the call to ministerial office or quiet elders who await the House of Lords."

"The Labour Party has lost its way, our constitutional arrangements are broken and the gap between the political elite and the country grows ever wider. At the same time, Britain has become more unequal, violent and unhappy. And the world is in desperate trouble."

"My conclusion is that the key to the change we need is a hung parliament which will bring in electoral reform."

If you agree or disagree with Clare Shorts comments then you can enter the debate at The Taking Power Forum.

- Richie Northcote

Vehicle Child Restraint - New Law

The new law regarding regulations governing the use of child car seats will come into force on Monday 18 September 2006 with many people still completely unaware of this change. There has been a clear lack of publicity on this matter so for clarity sake the new law can be found at:

http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk
[Superseded link http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/campaigns/childcarseats/childcarseats.htm replaced 2011-10-11 - FHL]

The main reason for this change is clearly illustrated as:

"When a vehicle is involved in a crash it comes to an abrupt halt. If not restrained, occupants will have their own crash into the vehicle structure. Restraint systems are therefore designed to help keep people away from the vehicle structure and to distribute the forces of a crash over the strongest parts of the human body, with minimum damage to the soft tissues."

"Adults are restrained by a three point seat belt. This is designed for adults and not for children. Children are not small adults. They are proportioned differently and their key organs are in different places. Their tissues have different strengths and weaknesses and their needs change as they grow. Therefore they need a child restraint system to cope with the different stages of their development."

However, what strikes me as bizarre is that families have to ensure that these extra child restraints are fitted to the family vehicle (which on average, is normally driven carefully and to the speed limit) and Taxi-Cabs (which on average, try to get you to your destination as fast as they can so that they can race to their next fare) are exempt from this legislation! Where is the sense in that? Perhaps somebody can explain this to me because no matter how hard I try, I just cannot comprehend the reason for such an exemption.

- Richie Northcote

Ask a policeman electronically

If you click on the link below, you will get through to the South Wales Police
Authority / How to contact the Authority.

http://www.south-wales.police.uk

Towards the bottom of this page is an email link to email the constabulary.

All members who have sent an email to this address have had it bounced. We would be glad to hear from any readers of this who have successfully communicated with the South Wales Police via email. (There are no prizes!)

Fun and politics in the sun

It was meant mainly as a social occasion, but politics did intrude on the barbecue at Sheila Waye's place last month.
Returning Officer Paul Meara took the opportunity to dot the i's and cross the t's of Sheila's adoption as candidate for Neath in next year's assembly elections. (See the complete slate at www.southwaleslibdems.org.uk)
Of course, a speech was called for and the photo shows Sheila waxing passionate about her aim of restoring quality to public services in Wales, especially the NHS.
But the abiding memory was of good food, drink and chat on a beautiful late summer day.
- Frank Little

Running commentary from the Westminster stadium

"Well, Mark, it looks as if New Labour are about to make a substitution."

"Yes, John, they had to do something. Blair has got to be the man to come off. He is on his own up there and not getting any support from his team. Mind you, he doesn't help himself by holding on to the ball and following his own devices."

"Do you think that's the result of what people are saying is the undue influence of his personal manager, Bush?"

"That could be. It's certain as can be that he's lost the trust of his team, and now the crowd are getting on his back. They're calling for their favourite, Brown, to come on."

"But he's a traditional sort of left-winger, isn't he?"

"He used to be thought of in that role, yes, but he is not as strongly left-sided as you would think. It will be a straight swap up front, with exactly the same game plan."

"Mark, what are the implications for the Wales and Scotland matches?"

"Well, they must stand a better chance with a settled formation, but unless they change their strategy ..."

"Sorry, Mark, must interrupt you there, something amazing's happening on the bench. They've got the numbers ready, but they're not holding them up. Blair is definitely coming off, but when? It beats me, are they going to leave it too late, I wonder?"

Stephen Robert "Steve" Irwin (February 22, 1962 – September 4, 2006)

The world today mourns the loss of a true naturalist. Love him or loathe him, this man brought the wilderness to life and captivated his audience in a way that none before him were ever able to. He managed to reinvigorate interest in the natural environment, and, had a remarkable charisma the world will sorely miss. Many disagreed with his methods, but personally, I believe that the work and efforts of Steve Irwin will be remembered for decades to come, not least for his true belief in the conservation of the natural environment.

- Richie Northcote

Inconsistencies in magistrates' sentences

I’m sure that regular readers of the Neath Port Talbot Guardian couldn’t help but see the front page headlines “I Won’t Pay” in the 31^st of August edition of the paper.

It would appear that a Cwmavon man has been fined a hefty £320 for dropping a cashpoint receipt. The article then goes on to say about other cases where people have faced hefty fines for littering, £275 for dropping a cigarette butt at the Tesco Store in Neath Abbey, £260 for dropping a wrapper in McDonalds in Afan Way.

The Guardian then goes on to break down the costs of the fine imposed on the man from Cwmavon: The actual fine was £100, costs were £220!!!

Cashpoint Man stated in the article: “When it happened I wasn’t aware that I had dropped anything... I was followed by two council officials who came onto me to say I had dropped a bit of paper. I had been to the cash point because I was doing my shopping. My cash point receipt must have fallen outside my wallet.”

It would appear that from the article the costs were for the time spent in NPTCBC perusing the case. Commenting in the article, Council’s Assistant Solicitor Mr Michael Shaw said: “The costs are calculated very simply on the basis of officer’s time and a contribution to prosecution costs…The magistrates are given a schedule of costs before hand and it is up to them what they want to impose; but the costs submitted are the costs to the authority.”

So, it is up to the Magistrates if they wish to allow such costs!!!!!

With such generous costs being awarded to the council, perhaps they could afford to empty the dog bins in the county more often; the dog bin in the George Memorial Park, towards the entrance to St. Theodore Road has been overflowing this week!

Additionally, in the article, comparisons were drawn with an assault case where the fine was £75 with £50 costs. There is quite an inconsistency here, where someone who drops a receipt gets fined £100 with £220 cost while someone who assaults someone gets fined a lesser amount (£75) and lesser costs (£50).

Such inconsistencies in sentencing aren’t that uncommon. A Guardian article from 22nd April 2004, “Victims lose out after theft of holiday funds”, describes how someone (with no previous convictions) cheated her eleven friends of just over £1,000 and received a custodial sentence of three months. Another Guardian article from 18th March 2004 reports that a Social Worker, who stole just over £7,000, received a twelve month sentence suspended for two years. The victim, a 92-year-old woman, was a client of the social worker.

The Social Worker stole an amount which was seven times the amount the person who stole from her friends, stole from someone who was her client (she was in a position of trust, and that trust was broken) and the person the social worker stole from was a vulnerable adult. Surely, a custodial sentence was more appropriate in the case of the Social Worker rather than the woman who stole from her eleven friends?

Gary Lewis

WELL DONE JOHN WARMAN

The South Wales Evening Post has reported this week that Liberal Democrat Councillor for Cimla, John Warman has been plodding the streets collecting signatures for a petition against the relocation of the Neurosurgery Department to Cardiff.

By-Election Watch August 2006

The Liberal Democrats gained 5 seats, held 1 and lost 1
The Labour Party held 1 seat
The Conservative Party gained 1 seat, held 5 and lost 1
Independent Candidates held 1 seat and lost 3
Plaid Cymru lost 1 seat

The clear victors in August’s by-elections, once again, were the Liberal Democrats by gaining 5 seats, holding 1 and losing 1. (+4 seats)
See the full results below:

By-Election Results: Thursday 31st August 2006

Chepstow TC, Thornwell
Lab 176 (50.0), Con 112 (31.8), LD Henry Ashby 64 (18.2).
Majority 64. Turnout 19%. Lab hold

East Staffordshire BC, Town
Con 664 (64.9; +24.1), Lab 255 (24.9; +3.3), UKIP 104 (10.2; +10.2),
[Ind (0.0; -37.7)].
Majority 409. Turnout 20.9%. Con hold

Llanbadarn Fawr WCC, Sulien
LD Bob Morris 192 (90.6), Con 20 (9.4).
Majority 172. Turnout 15.2%. LD gain from PC

Tonbridge and Malling BC, Ightham
Con 352 (53.9; -20.6), LD Rebecca Hunt 301 (46.1; +20.6).
Majority 51. Turnout 42.5%. Con hold

Uttoxeter PC, Town
Con 588 (58.1), Lab 247 (24.4), UKIP 102 (10.1), LD 75 (7.4).
Majority 341. Turnout 20.7%. Con hold

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By – Election Results: Thursday 24th August 2006

Elmbridge BC, Walton Central
Ind 656 (50.0 –2.7)
Con 482 (36.7 +5.1)
LD 115 (8.8 –0.1)
Lab 59 (4.5 –2.2)
Majority 174. Turnout 28.8. Ind hold

Harrow LBC, Harrow Weald
LD P Scott 1288 (46.9 +12.0)
Con 1088 (39.6 –6.1)
Lab 295 (10.7 –8.7)
Green 74 (2.7 +2.7)
Majority 200. Turnout 33.5 LD gain Con

Stratford upon Avon DC, Alcester
Con 798 (53.5 +22.4)
LD Karyl Rees 638 (42.8 –13.9)
Lab 54 (3.6 –2.0)
UKIP [0.0 –6.6].
Majority 160. Turnout 31.82. Con gain LD

Southsea TC, Craneswater
Con 470 (55.3)
LD R Inkpen 379 (44.6)
Majority 91. Turnout 21.37. Con hold

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By-Election Results: Thursday 17th August 2006

Lewes DC, Ouse Valley and Ringmer
LD Peter Gardiner 715 (43.7; +21.6), Con 521 (31.8; +6.5), Seagulls 359
(21.9; +21.9), Lab 41 (2.5; -10.7) [Green (0.0; -7.0)] [Ind (0.0; -32.4)].
Majority 194. Turnout 33.4%. LD gain from Ind

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By-Election Results: Thursday 10th August 2006

Caradon DC, St Cleer and St Neot
LD Bob Emuss 519 (58.8; +23.3), Con 363 (41.2; +16.0), [Ind (0.0; -
39.3)].
Majority 156. Turnout 24.6%. LD hold

Enfield LBC, Turkey Street
Con 877 (40.1; -0.2), Lab 874 (40.0; +11.3), UKIP 174 (8.0; +8.0), Save
Chase Farm 133 (6.1; +6.1), LD David Peters 77 (3.5; +3.5), Green 51
(2.3; +2.3), [Ind (0.0; -30.0)].
Majority 3. Turnout 24.7%. Con hold

Highland Council UA, Lochardil
LD David Henderson 514 (43.9; +43.9), Ind 263 (22.4; -32.4), SNP 212
(18.1; +18.1), Lab 108 (9.2; -7.0), Con 49 (4.2; +4.2), Ind 26 (2.2; -52.6).
Majority 251. Turnout 53.9%. LD gain from Ind

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By – Election Result: Thursday 3rd August 2006

Eden DC, Orton with Tebay
LD M Wilcox 165 (50.5 +3.1)
Con 162 (49.5 +49.5)
Ind [0.0 –52.6]
Majority 3. Turnout 29.8. LD gain Ind