North Korea

This weekend I watched an excellent BBC documentary presented by Sue Lloyd-Roberts on North Korea.

It is extraordinary that more than twenty million people are still in thrall to the hereditary Communist dictatorship that governs their country.

The Beloved Leader, revered as a God and dead for 16 years rules from beyond the grave whilst his son, the Dear One carries out his earthly will.

There is little or no contact with the outside world and a North Korean youth asked to compare the Beloved one ( or was it the Dear One?) with rivals for the throne of greatest living leader could only mention Stalin and Mao as in the same league.

Famine haunts much of the country outside of Pyongyang and probably disease as well.

There are some markets for food and goods but although Sue Lloyd Roberts was ultimately allowed to visit one no cameras were permitted. Seemingly the hosts were embarrassed by their success and these markets she was assured were to be phased out. I was reminded of a good friend of mine, Edwin Liechtenstein, whose daughter Olivia was producing a TV programme on an aspect of Soviet life in the late 80s and had secured the visit to London of a Soviet policewoman. The Soviet woman could scarcely comprehend the freedoms in Britain and could not grasp at all that members of the public, as opposed to party officials, could buy goods in shops full of goods.

The mystery of North Korea is how the terror and the brainwashing has kept the state going for so long. Then again I recall a friend of my grandparents who was convinced that the Berlin Wall had been built to keep out West Berliners determined to seek a better life in the West. The reality, of course, was somewhat different.

Labour Leadership

The ballot opens for the leadership of the Labour party.

I believe that the election of a leader is going to help the Government as much as the Opposition.
Any likely victor (sorry Diane) will have been a Cabinet minister in the Gordon Gang and so 'steeped in the blood'.

He will have to explain where he was when all the policy errors on diverse areas from Iraq to pensions to tax and government borrowing were made. He will also have to set out a convincing argument for an alternative strategy to the current one.

Bring it on.

David Kelly

A full inquest into the death of Dr David Kelly is surely needed to allay any doubts about his sad death.

It will be recalled that the normal inquest procedure was suspended by the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer.

Medical opinion continues to cast doubt on the cause of death.There are evidential doubts too. There is also a most unusual if not unprecedented embargo of 70 years on the release of Dr. Kelly's medical records.

The Hutton inquiry substituting for an inquest only briefly looked at the medical evidence.
Dr. Kelly served his country. In all conscience a proper inquest is needed.

Calendar Girls

Thanks to the cast of Calendar Girls. I managed to get along to the last evening of its run at the Wales Millennium Centre.

You can tell when a cast is enjoying itself and this cast clearly was. It was an exuberant performance of a life enhancing story before a very appreciative audience.

It is good to see the Wales Millennium Centre buzzing, and Ffresh restaurant straining at the seams too serving pre-theatre suppers with their usual grace and courtesy. There was obviously quite a lot of other activity going on too.

This really is a national institution that we can be rightly proud of.

Barry John

Chance encounter with the great Barry John in Cardiff on Saturday as I walk home with my brother and his girlfriend from a trip into town.

Then on Sunday, as happens, we get a second powerful reminder of his magic when we are having lunch in the Waterguard in Cardiff Bay as there on the walls there are photos of that same great side as well as a more recent one of Barry.

Chatting with the staff we agree he is one of the great immortals. Surely time for some lasting monument.

I remember following the great Welsh rugby side of the early 70s the fluidity, the elan and the flair of Barry John. What a great era that was.

Eisteddfod

Good visit to the Blaenau Gwent Eisteddfod and congratulations to the organisers, especially on the People’s Sunday. I think this is a fantastic innovation and I hope it will be repeated at future Eisteddfodau. Perhaps it should be aimed at the entire local community?

Our tent was very busy and I took the opportunity to tour the Maes and meet with others. The situation at S4C certainly came up frequently as a topic of conversation and there is very real concern about the future of S4C. I am sure that it will get through the current difficulties as it is a vital institution for us delivering broadcasting in Wales for Welsh speakers and will remain so.
Heard from Alun Cairns that David Davies was on the Maes, and I joked to Alun that he was probably sitting at the Cymru Yfory stand as we spoke. Short while later passing the Cymru Yfory tent there, indeed, is David chatting happily away to Cynog Dafis. I go over and speak to them and tell David that I would be very happy to handle the press on this one if he is agreeable – don’t think he is quite ready for this yet. Not since I saw Chris Gwyther standing next to a burger van at the Pembrokeshire Show have I had such a scoop.

David has some good ideas about issues that will be looked at by the Welsh Affairs Select Committee. I think it is really good that David has this niche and is taking it very, very seriously and obviously wants to make a positive contribution to Welsh issues. I think many of his detractors are in for a surprise.

The only problem with the Maes is it is very dusty, and on a warm day there are clouds of dust everywhere. It might be great for a remake of ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (another great Welsh location for filming). It is a small price to pay for what, in every other respect, I think is an excellent Eisteddfod and all credit to the organisers.

Reading

As usual I read a great deal in the summer recess.

I have read 'The Third Man' by Peter Mandelson.

It is predictably well written. Its hero is prdicatbly vindicated on the major issues of the day. He is tough on Gordon Brown, who, whatever positive qualities he doubtless has, seems to have been a nightmare to work with and even worse to work for.

He is also clearly much more tribal than either Peter Mandelson or Tony Blair and so out of synch with the times. The tribal instinct seems to be what finally and fatally did it for Gordon and enabled Dave Cameron and Nick Clegg to make the groundbreaking Coalition agreement. A point not lost on the Baron Foy and Hartlepool.

From this tome of some 550 pages to an appropriate antidote in the shape of 'The Gropes' by Tom Sharpe. I am a massive fan of Tom Sharpe but in this volume he is not at his best, I feel. Certainly all the usual Hogarthian grotesques of characters are here as are many of the usual Sharpe ingredients:- explosives, bulldozers, violence, bandaged officialdom and Northumberland wilderness.

It is not as rib-huggingly, laugh-outloudishly funny as some of the classic Tom Sharpe's, particularly the Wilt series.

I have just finished reading one of the Morse books, which I must have missed, 'The Secret of Annexe 3 ' by Colin Dexter. It was a very enjoyable read indeed. For much of the tale it is not clear who the victim is, let alone the murderer.It is not oflen that I stay awake to read a book from alpha to omega but this was an exception.

And now to 'Jeeves in the Offing'. It could be forgiven to Shakespeare, some 350 years in advance of Plum to maintain that sleep 'knits the raveled sleeve of care' and so it does, but so too does the world of Wodehouse.

It is a world that never palls and it is a gentle, kindly humour that pervades the page. The reader is safe in the knowledge that order and justice will triumph. That's fine as far as I am concerned!

Social Legislation

Attitudes change. When the breathalyzer was inteoduced many people opposed it as an infringement of personal liberty. Not now. Indeed there is a strong case for reducing the alcohol limit in line with most other countries in Europe. I have sympathy with that view.

Then again when the Race Relations legislation was first mooted there were voices raised against legislating in this area. I believe had we not done so there would have been racial division and bitterness in Britain today that has largely been avoided.

We would probably not have seen the emergence of politicians, business leaders and sportsmen and sportswomen from the ethnic minority communities that has occurred.

Thank goodness that we live in a country that has embraced change and diversity and recognised the strength that this gives our country and us all.

HAY NEVER CEASES TO AMAZE

I have always considered Hay-on-Wye to be an economic wonder. The fascinating blend of literature, boutiques, cafes, restaurants and pubs, together with a lively local arts movement, seems unique to such a small town.

We are all aware of those who helped to create the wonder of Hay that we see today and it is this wonderment that continues to attract people from far and wide. For sure, this attraction ensures a certain level of financial affluence but it is also the continual stream of new ideas that serves to stimulate the whole town.

Hay could easily serve other towns as a social and economic blueprint for success; if you could ‘bottle’ its charms, it would be a sure-fire best seller.

Selections

So we have our first three new candidates selected for Assembly seats. So far it has been a triumph of the double-barrels.This bucks the previous trend where accusations of discimination against double barrels were rife.

Anthony Ridge Newman who fought Ynys Mon for us in the General Election and who is committed and energetic gets Gower.

Angela Jones Evans is the choice for the Vale of Glamorgan. Angela fought Cardiff West for us previously.

Then last night Janet Finch Saunders who leads our group on Conwy council was selected for Aberconwy.

There has since been a headlong rush of candidates seeking to hyphenate their names before the selection process goes any further!

Quite seriously I wish them all well. I know all three well and they will make excellent members.They were all up against some very strong competition.

NHS policy a real concern for council staff

During my most recent meeting with the Conservative group on Powys County Council, we discussed at length the implications of closer collaboration between the Council and the Local Health Board.

My concerns at the recent plans to merge these two organisations are well documented and consequently I was relieved when the merger idea was shelved only weeks ago in favour of ‘closer collaboration’.

One of the problems identified in preventing the merger was the NHS’ no redundancy policy at the Health Board; a policy that remains a very serious problem for the collaborative model.

The primary driving force behind this closer collaboration between Powys County Council and Powys Health Board is the desperate need for both organisations to reduce costs.

The envisaged streamlining of office functions between the two organisations will inevitably mean job losses. One would naturally expect and hope the burden of such cuts to be shared between both organisations, however as things stand with NHS policy, it is the Council that is going to incur all the consequential redundancies.

The Conservative group and I are in complete agreement on two points here. Firstly, the burden of any job losses must be shared between the Council and the Health Board; I will be raising this concern with the Health Minister as this policy will need to be addressed. Secondly, both organisations must focus solely on voluntary, rather than compulsory, redundancies.

We are all painfully aware that the consequences of Labour’s disastrous economic policy and their legacy of unprecedented debt, will mean some very tough years ahead. The need for Powys County Council and the Local Health Board to make these cuts is because of the financial and political incompetence of successive Labour led governments. However, where job losses are now inevitable, we must make sure that redundancies are made fairly and with as little pain as possible.

Political Success

Looking at Europe since the Second World War it is clear that those societies that have succeeded, that have brought more prosperity to their people have been those that have combined freedom and fairness.

Totalitarianism and over-regulation explain why Eastern Europe had a marathon task of catching up to do when the countries behind the Iron Curtain threw off the Communist yoke, entered the free world and sought to trade through the European Union.

I am keen for Wales to emulate Singapore in terms of a low regulation, business friendly environment which will grow employment and swell the nation's coffers.

We need fairness too. No government for Wales can turn its back on the Valleys and their considerable challenges. We need to provide first class education in our schools, and we must tackle the deep seated health problems that confront so many people in some of our poorest communities.

One challege is that as transport links are improved to Cardiff some of the Valleys communities are developing into dormitories rather than living communities.

Use of European funds to attract jobs to these towns and villages is part of the answer. As a nation we have not so far made that transforming breakthrough with European funds, witness the fact that contrary to popular belief we are in danger once again of qualifying for additional funds because of I believe too that we need to draw the line a little closer to individual freedom than is the case in Singapore. I am personally pleased at the libertarian instincts of the present Conservative - Liberal Democrat Coalition government.

Future challenges in the next Assembly term will include, hopefully with full powers, electoral reform, financial accountability, working closely with the Higher Education sector (much undervalued) in delivering for Wales, freeing up schools and cutting bureaucracy, assessing how social care can be provided in a fair and cost effective way for our senior citizens, providing funding certainty and assistance for the voluntary sector, driving up literacy and numeracy in more deprived communities by focussed funding, protecting and enhancing the Welsh language including through the broadcast and written media.

Keeping the party united and heading in the same direction being not the least of the challenges!

Not much work to do there then!

British Retail Consortium

I had a very useful discussion with this body - thanks Andrea and Alison.

It focussed on healthy eating and labelling.

I have always taken a rather paternalistic line on this. I believe that we do need a system that is clear to consumers on the amount of fat and salt etc in foods. Different supermarkets operate in different ways. Sainsbury's go for the traffic light system, and this has certainly resulted in switches to healthier options. Others like Marks and Spencer specify what percentage of the GDA (guideline daily amount) the salt, fat etc is. This too has shown changes by consumers to healthier options. Probably there is no need for prescriptive regulation on this.

The Consortium has also had success in that members like the large supermarkets, Burger King and McDonalds have been reducing salt and saturated fats in products.

Labelling is important. So too is education. I recall, and not long ago either, trying to get a salad at a restaurant in the Valleys. The response was not encouraging.

School meals and those at hospitals and care homes too need to reflect the need for healthier content. To my mind Jamie Oliver is a national hero for pushing the agenda on this.

REVIEW OF ARTS COUNCIL WALES GUIDELINES FOLLOWING SPENDING CUTS NEEDED

The Arts Council Wales recently made an announcement regarding funding for the arts in Wales, and this has had a massive impact in rural Wales where many organisations have had their funding withdrawn.

I have visited some of these such as Theatr Harlech, Theatr Powys and the Wyeside Arts Centre.

Given the impact that these cuts are having in rural Wales and the importance of scrutiny, I believe the Minister should facilitate the opportunity for proper scrutiny in the autumn of the principles on which the Arts Council is basing its decisions.

I appreciate that Arts Council Wales operates at arms length from the government, which is as it should be, and the Minister has no direct input but there are guidelines and principles issued by the Minister in his annual remit letter.

I believe this should be subject to review in view of the cuts in funding that rural Wales has seen in this round.

Astral Challenges

I am trying to visualise this recently discovered star that is over 300 times the size of the sun and 300,000 times brighter than it. Astronomists say it will not burn for long, apparently that means in 3 million years it could burn out. It is hard to see this as an immediate threat to life on the third rock from the sun especially as we have only just discovered its existence!

This is almost beyond human comprehension. I find it difficult to comprehend the size of the national debt at nearly £1 trillion but this is way beyond even that.

It certainly puts things in perspective like Rick's row of beans in Casablanca.

GREAT NEWS FOR HARLECH SWIMMING POOL

I very much welcome news that Harlech Swimming Pool has secured a grant of £800,000 which will help secure its future.

I applaud everyone involved in the campaign to keep Harlech Swimming Pool open, especially the Harlech Swimming Pool Action Group which I had the pleasure of meeting on many occasions.

Without this pool, school children, pensioners and many others who used it on a frequent basis would have had to travel to Porthmadog to swim.

It is great to know that this facility has been saved for the benefit of the local community and my congratulations go to the campaign committee and to the community.

Policy Development

We have come a long way in a short time-in political terms.

The Conservative-Lib Dem Alliance has committed to review fair funding. No government has done that before and indeed as recently as the election campaign Labour's Treasury team in the shape of Alistair Darling and Liam Byrne were ruling it out. More recently still Ed Balls of the Labour persuasion said Wales was doing well from funding and Barnett should remain. They need to move on.

Members of the opposition parties in the National Assembly are missing no opportunity to push this agenda. Labour need to convince their top brass to change their tune and Plaid Cymru could do much worse than seek to convince their Scottish Nationalist colleagues of the need for change too.We need to push on other fronts too.

The economic inheritance from Labour is in stark contrast to the golden scenario they picked up in 1997 but within resources we need rail electrification to Swansea (though to hear Plaid Cymru talk you would think electrification stops in Bristol, it actually goes to the area around Heathrow, so it is quite a challenge!) The Defence Academy at St Athan is also obviously a key concern. Some aims are less costly.

I hope that patriation of the Welsh Archive to Aberystwyth from Kew can be achieved, for example.

Other things we need to deliver within NAW budgets: more focussed help for home grown Welsh SMEs, help for communities, whether rural or urban that want to protect community assets, a coherent strategy to tackle rural depopulation recognising the threat that this is to the Welsh language and to communities generally, a campaign to encourage walking and cycling, a roll out of Smart meters to homes in Wales, an NHS for for the twenty first century making fresh drugs and treatments available to all our citizens regardless of their address, a dedicated Art Gallery, a Welsh Statues Fund, and, on the process side, an effective Policy Unit drawing expertise from all sectors and all political backgrounds in Welsh life to set out policy options.

These are items from our policy menu, some of which have already been announced.

I am sometimes amazed when some of the more ideologically driven politicians in Wales talk of the reactionary nature of our policy in Wales. The most cursory of glances at our policy proposals would show how threadbare an attack this is.

No government gets it wholly wrong or wholly right and the last Labour government was no exception to that rule but they did leave us with a greater wealth gap than when they came in. In Wales we have 96,000 children living in poverty.

In other devolved areas there are problems too. Still waits for many treatments are too long (longer usually than in England), and our prosperity levels have slipped behind those of large tracts of Eastern Europe that a decade ago had trailed behind us economically, so let's not pretend that there isn't a job of work to be done!

Secondary schools: Closer collaboration for sure, but closure ... absolutely not!

Powys County Council’s secondary school modernisation programme remains one of the most controversial issues in local government that we have seen for a very long time.

Over a decade of neglect from Labour led Assembly governments and an unprecedented level of economic incompetence from a Labour government in Westminster has left us in Powys well used to the continual fight to save local services. The threat of closure to primary schools, post offices, community hospitals, public toilets, libraries and leisure facilities, amongst many other services, will remain firmly etched in the minds of Powys residents as the consequences of Labour’s disastrous economic legacy.

Small primary schools in particular have felt under siege over the last few years. All too often I receive letters or emails from parents or teachers, worrying about the future of their school. I note how the residents of Clyro are the latest community to launch a campaign to fight to keep their primary school safe from the current closure threat. I have witnessed on more than one occasion how the closure of a primary school can rip the heart out of a community. The closure of a secondary school is much rarer indeed; in fact comparatively speaking, seldom do you hear such proposals. For the closure of several secondary schools within a single authority like Powys to remain on the table as a legitimate proposal is absolutely shocking and quite possibly unprecedented.

If the closure of a primary school can rip the heart out of a community, then communities are rightfully fearful of being torn asunder by secondary school closures.

I have visited some of these secondary schools recently and I simply cannot imagine the closure of any one. Change and modernisation is often a necessity but the solution to Powys County Council’s very serious problem with secondary education funding must be resolved by means other than closure. Closer collaboration between schools, the streamlining of services and the sharing of resources are other less extreme options being looked at.

Whatever the decision, we must see all of Powys’ thirteen secondary schools remain open, including their sixth forms.

Lack of indepth reporting on Plaid mess-ups

I have noted with interest that a total of nine Plaid Cymru councillors went against Gwynedd’s Plaid –led local authority line and voted in favour of keeping Ysgol y Parc open in the Berwyn catchment area of the county at last week’s explosive full council meeting in Caernarfon.

It is now clear to most parents, school governors and communities who are facing a school closure within the county, that a number of Plaid councillors are obviously struggling with their education portfolio holder’s dogmatic stance on this issue which is to railroad these closures through come-what -may. Many parents and community members across the area have written to me with concerns that the consultation process on these closures is flawed and unfair, so it does not surprise me that councillors are at long last starting to question the party’s line, (well, the party’s line in Gwynedd, that is!).

However, what does surprise me, is how little take up of the story in the local and national media.
Rumour is rife in Gwynedd that the Plaid councillor for Bala has felt bound to resign from his party over this issue. Whilst Gwynedd County Council’s website shows that he may already have resigned as the portfolio holder of the Finance brief, remarkably, no headlines anywhere commenting on the likelihood that he may also have resigned from Plaid Cymru.

Just as several weeks ago, no reports of Ffred Ffransis’ and Cymdeithas y Iaith’s loud and vigorous protest in the public gallery of the council chamber when the controversial schools’ reorganisation was being discussed and accusations of ‘Bradwr!’ (Traitor!) were being hurled across the chamber, we find ourselves hitting yet another wall of silence surrounding the full events of last week.

Ah well, time for change! I am pleased to say that thanks to local people’s own social networking sites the news is getting out!

Wales Needs Leadership on Badger Cull

The Government needs to move to end the air of uncertainty about what happens next in relation to the control of bovine TB. Last week’s Court of Appeal judgement could have gone either way. The Government cannot have failed to countenance the possibility of losing the court action in the Court of Appeal and must, accordingly, have made some preparatory moves to deal with the possibility of losing the action.

For the people of North Pembrokeshire and area, for the farming community, indeed, for the people of Wales in general, the Minister needs to move to end the uncertainty about what she intends to do next.

We have backed the Minister and will continue to do so if she shows decisive action.