Pause for breath

This is probably the last time campaigners can sit back and pause for breath before the dash to the May 3rd poll and the Welsh general election finishing line.

The overwhelming impression has been of delivering leaflets in continuous sunshine. It makes up for all the campaigns in years gone by, foot-slogging through horizontal driving rain, trying to push soaking leaflets (with the ink running, of course) through doors in the hilly villages of the Neath and Aberavon constituencies. One has to add, what a transformation towns like Banwen and Cwmllynfell undergo when the sun is out.


The writers of this blog would like to take the opportunity to thank all the party members and others who have put themselves out for this campaign, and in campaigns past. We also send our good wishes to campaigners throughout Wales.

It's about more than just management

It's things like Sajjad Karim's fight for human rights which remind me that party politics is about principle, and why I am in the right party.

Then news arrives from England of Sir Menzies Campbell's address to party workers in the build-up to the local elections there. He said:

"What we need is the dominance of principle over fashion.

"We've got two parties - two conservative parties - who agreed about
Iraq, agree about civil nuclear power, agree about the replacement of
Trident."

(One might add: a similar belief that government was only about cost-effectiveness and centralisation in the name of efficiency.)

Sir Menzies said the environment was an example of an issue that had
become "fashionable" with other parties pushing it up the political
agenda, but the Lib Dems had been talking about it "for a long time".

Instead of photo opportunities, he said, "what we need is real, tough
decision-making about how we are going to deal with the problem of
climate change".

He also said the Lib Dems had once been "derided" for championing gay
rights, but had been shown to be right.

We are still derided for supporting victims of oppression abroad, because sometimes it means giving them a home here. Nevertheless, unpopular though it is for the Sun and the Mail, we will persist, because it is part of our philosophy. (Actually, their readers may be more liberal than the journalists give them credit for. There have been several occasions when communities have defended families from Africa or Asia, who have set down roots, against forced deportation by the Home Office.)

Commentators complain that "all parties are the same", because we appear to concentrate on which of us is better at managing the economy, the health service, civil order, education, the environment and the rest. I happen to think that we really would do better in England and Wales* than the other parties, because so many of our members are practical people - working professionals, small business people and middle managers - but that's not really the point.

Our approach stems from the party philosophy, expressed on page one of the constitution, and unchanged since the party was set up.

Our opposition to the invasion of Iraq stems from our belief in the rule of law, internationally as well as locally.

Our support for devolution is based not so much on assuaging pride in a native country or language, noble though these things are, but from the philosophy that government is best when it is closest to the governed.

(That is why I personally regretted siting the Senedd in Cardiff Bay. It does not bring government closer, in practical terms. to north and mid Wales than leaving decision-making in Westminster. Lest people should accuse me of hypocrisy, I should add that I voiced these opinions when I contested the Vale of Glamorgan in the first Assembly elections. They cannot have helped my chances!)

Our support for keeping open and, indeed, enhancing, local post offices stems from a belief in local communities, not just courting local opinion for electoral reasons, then ignoring it when in power.

We believe in open government, even if it means that pressure groups with which we do not totally sympathise may make use of the results.

One could go on. There are others. The point is that because vital promises are rooted in the philosophy of the party, they will be kept if we get into a position of power.

- Frank Little

*We have already shown what we can do in Scotland.

Leader in Aberavon town centre today

Picture shows Mike German with Jackie Radford (far left),
Peter Black (far right, talking to BBC reporter Janet Cohen) and party workers, prior to a well-received "meet the people" walk through Aberavon.

Resolven Needs a Dental Surgery

There is a growing need for a dental surgery in Resolven. The Liberal Democrats have been campaigning hard for local access to free NHS dental care throughout the United Kingdom. Peter Black AM, Liberal Democrat Regional Welsh Assembly Member for South Wales West, who has recently been campaigning for a Dental Practice in Pontardawe has now lent his support to the Resolven cause:

"Under this Labour Assembly Government more and more dentists have left the NHS with the result that communities like Resolven are left without a proper service. It is not reasonable to expect people to have to travel such distances to see a dentist. There is a need for Resolven to have a dental surgery of its own."Welsh Liberal Democrats are also campaigning for Salaried Dentists to visit Primary Schools to provide free check-ups.

How green are political parties?

While we were delivering our tabloid in Gwaun-cae-Gurwen today, a citizen accused us political parties of hypocrisy. "You all say you're green," he said, "but all four of you are sending out bits of paper to everyone which aren't read."

Since, at the time, he was using a pressure-washer to clean a piece of garden statuary, I don't think he was arguing from a green point of view. However, he did have a point.

The trouble is, I explained to him, that all the other parties do it, so we have to. Political parties are in the position of Leslie Lever, one of the founding fathers of Unilever, who reckoned that only half of his advertising was effective. The trouble was, he didn't know which half. The effectiveness of our advertising is somewhat less, but if we stopped it, the voting figures would show it.

- Frank Little

PS It seems from a letter to Peter Black that the Green Party in Swansea is the worst offender of the lot!

Labour election machine snubs Neath Port Talbot

Following Tony Blair's praise for LibDem-run Cardiff's renaissance, Welsh Labour's recent election broadcast highlighted the dramatic reconstruction of Swansea (run by a coalition in which Liberal Democrats are in the majority).

The Labour leaders of Neath Port Talbot council must be quite put out. There is large-scale building going on - the southern distributor road, the refurbishment of the Gwyn Hall, Llandarcy village, the gas pipeline (well, perhaps that last is a bit sensitive), yet Neath and Aberavon receive not even a name-check.

The uncharitable may think that the Labour parliamentary party does not like Dr Gibbons, Gwenda Thomas or Cllr Derek Vaughan. Coalition conspiracy-theorists could believe that Labour is deliberately boosting the Liberal Democrat vote.

The truth is more likely to be that the New Labour machine, run from London, has lost touch with the party's roots. It probably turned over the production of its election media to bright political graduates with presentation skills, but no knowledge of local government.

If Scotland, why not Wales?

The Scottish Liberal Democrat manifesto has just been launched.

Global Warming - more than one swindle going on

As a recent letter to the South Wales Evening Post showed, almost as many people were taken in by Martin Durkin's Channel 4 documentary (also shown on S4C) entitled "The Great Global Warming Swindle" as believe entirely the word of Al Gore in "An Inconvenient Truth".

While virtually no climate scientist will state that all the global warming which started in the late 20th century is caused by man's efforts alone, few - unless they have a vested interest - will say that man has not contributed and is not contributing to the increase in greenhouse gases and thus global warming.

Al Gore may have over-simplified the case against carbon dioxide, but Durkin, through using misleading graphs, turning a blind eye to some data which came in after 1991 and selectively quoting a respected scientist (who considered suing as a result), presented a dishonest case for the defence.

Durkin has form. A previous documentary of his had been found to distort the truth. Chris Huhne, the LibDem environment spokesman, felt strongly enough to ask for Channel 4's comments on green campaigner George Monbiot's view that it was distinctly odd for Durkin to be commissioned again, in view of the ITC's earlier findings against him.

There is an even more trenchant criticism of the 2007 programme which suggests a far-left political motivation.

Those of us who can afford the time and money for broadsheet newspapers as well as watching TV are able to take in a broader and more objective view of the climate debate. Unfortunately, there has been no significant attempt on TV to put the various films and documentaries into context.

Carbon footprint

I am grateful to a scientist member of the Liberal Democrats for the following survey of carbon footprint calculators:

"I did some Googling on carbon calculators and came up with the following:

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.html
covers household fuel usage and travel

http://www.carboncalculator.co.uk/
has both a carbon calculator and a shopping calculator but requires you
to register

http://www.mycarbonfootprint.eu/
is the European Commission's version

http://www.foodcarbon.co.uk/
just calculates the carbon from the food you eat

http://www.clevel.co.uk/homecalc.html
covers all the areas but fairly crude on food &waste

https://www.edfenergy.com/climatebalance/edf-energy/calculator.do
only covers house heating

http://www.resurgence.org/carboncalculator/
covers everything apart from food

http://www.esd.rgs.org/link6.html
links to 10 different calculators

http://www.safeclimate.net/calculator/
only covers travel and home energy use

Quite a few local councils have a link to carbonfootprint.com, and it
looks quite comprehensive apart from ignoring food; combined with
foodcarbon.co.uk it is probably the best for an overall estimate."

Anonymous allegations

Many people reading this will have received, in the mail, a well-produced printed statement of criminality directed against a potential candidate in the forthcoming Welsh Assembly elections.

These allegations are serious, and, if true, would surely disqualify the person concerned holding public office. They merit investigation by the proper authorities or, if the author believes the judicial process has failed, another investigative medium.

However, an anonymous attack is dangerous for public well-being in general and the political process in particular. That is why there are laws against anonymity in publishing printed material.

That is why, although my party would appear to be the main beneficiaries of this attack, I shall be referring my copy of the communication to the police.

- Frank Little

Housing and infrastructure

There is new housing going up all over the county borough. But can the infrastructure - sewerage and roads in particular - cope?

All the county borough's money appears to be directed towards the new Port Talbot southern distributor road. Ordinary scheduled maintenance is clearly suffering. Regular travellers remark on the poor quality of the road surface in Neath Port Talbot compared with the roads in Powys.

A Welsh national cricket team?

I trust that the Plaid Cymru AM who suggested that Wales aspire to a national cricket team which competes in the World Cup has had second thoughts after watching Scotland's dismal performance in the Caribbean.

(There is, of course, a Wales team which competes in English one-day cup and minor county competitions, but, reliant as it is on ex-county and club players, has not had much success)

Competing in the county championship, Glamorgan has done more for Welsh pride and reputation over the years than any separate national side would do.

- Frank Little (Glamorgan CC member)

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).