A Paralympian Congratulations and Welcome Home

Members of the Welsh contingent of the Great Britain Paralympic team will be attending a welcome home celebration in Cardiff Bay today.

At the games, Dave Roberts equalled Tanni Grey-Thompson's record of 11 golds by winning the 50m freestyle; and 13-year old Eleanor Simmonds, won 2 gold medals and achieved a World Record in the pool.

The event will take place outside the Senedd building in Cardiff Bay at 12 noon, with a procession to the Senedd led by a traditional Chinese Lion. Another excuse to pop down to the bay for a lunch-time coffee.

Congratulations and Welcome Home

Members of the Great Britain team arrived back in the United Kingdom from China on Monday following their best Olympic performance for 100 years.

We'll be seeing some of you down the bay tomorrow!

Independence versus Part of the Union

Ever wondered what Welsh Labour's views are on the future of Wales, but were too afraid to ask for fear of upsetting a coalition-caring AM? Ask a councillor. How far should Wales travel down the road towards independence? Following Plaid Cymru AM Helen Mary Jones’ essay on the issue, Labour councillor David Rees today presents an alternative view.

I WOULD like to set out for the Welsh people what I believe are the key facts about the devastating impact separation from Britain would have on Wales.

Recent research by Channel 4 News has highlighted the fact that Wales receives £5.4bn more to spend on public services each year than we pay in taxes.

This is the approximate amount of money that Wales spends each year on the entire NHS. This money would disappear from Wales on day one of separation.

There would be no transition period of 20 years. The English Government, as it would be, would, quite rightly, keep this money to spend in England.

What the English Government would do with all this extra money, we cannot know. They could increase public sector pay. This would result in a brain drain from Wales to England of nurses and teachers.

They could slash corporation tax. This would result in Welsh companies being unable to compete and relocating just over the border, taking thousands of jobs with them.

In addition, on day one of independence, Wales would receive its share of what was the United Kingdom’s debt. We can only assume this would be derived on a pro rata basis of the population. Current UK national debt is approximately £500bn. This would mean on day one of Plaid Cymru’s independent Wales, they would have to finance approximately £25bn of debt.

Now I’m not a pessimist by nature, but I can foresee that were this to happen, Plaid Cymru would be going to the International Monetary Fund with the begging bowl on day two of independence.

Helen Mary Jones makes the case for independence by pointing out the relatively high GDPs of countries like Ireland and Norway. What she fails to mention are the true facts behind these figures. Ireland’s relatively current high GDP figures mask the fact that much of this wealth is held by multinationals, which Ireland has attracted with the aid of lavish handouts from European taxpayers. However, money held by multinationals goes back to the parent country of the company and does not get circulated in the domestic economy.

Norway is probably the richest country on earth per head of population. There is one simple reason for this. Norway is surrounded by huge amounts of oil and gas. Norway is the world’s third biggest exporter of oil. Successive governments there have kept hold of the money generated to create the only sovereign wealth fund of any western country, valued at approximately $400bn.

To my knowledge there are no vast reserves of gas and oil off the Welsh coast that we can sell.

What plan would Plaid Cymru have in place to provide jobs to the thousands of civil servants who will surely lose their jobs on day one of independence?

Thousands of civil servants will be jobless from the DVLA, the Office for National Statistics, the Patent Office and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs Offices.

This would have a devastating effect on those local economies.

How many millions of pounds find their way into the tills of shopkeepers in Swansea from the many staff working at the DVLA?

Thousands of military personal would be jobless and we could very quickly say goodbye to the £16bn training academy in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Plaid Cymru will say people like me talk Wales down. Far from it. All I am doing is highlighting the realistic facts.

The fact is that Wales does very well from being a strong player in the United Kingdom and that the United Kingdom is immensely stronger for having Wales as part of it.

Independence for Plaid is an ideology, nothing else. A dream, if it came true, which would have very serious consequences in 21st century Wales.

The United Kingdom is in Europe?

While travelling.

Just wondering if anyone knows where I can get a new Sat Nav? Mine says Cardiff is in Europe!


Thats not right, is it?

Enter the Dragon and one MP's call to update the Union Flag

In a Commons debate, Wrexham's Labour MP Ian Lucas said Wales' Red Dragon should be added to the Union Jack's red, white and blue pattern.

He said the Union Jack currently only represented the other three UK nations. But Stewart Jackson, Conservative MP for Peterborough, said the plan was "eccentric" and would be unpopular. "I do not believe it would add to the unity of the country," he said.

However as the BBC has reported, Culture Minister Margaret Hodge conceded that Mr Lucas had raised a valid point for debate.

She said the government is "keen" to make the Union Jack "a positive symbol of Britishness reflecting the diversity of our country today and encouraging people to take pride in our flag".

And the minister acknowledged that a number of people across Britain were unhappy about flying the Union Jack as they felt it does not "truly represent the United Kingdom." However, she said redesigning the flag had not been part of a consultation currently being carried out.

Wales had no explicit recognition in the Union Flag because Wales, having been annexed by Edward I of England in 1282 and following the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, was legally part of the Kingdom of England and was therefore represented by the flag of England. (The present-day Flag of Wales and St David's Cross emerged, or re-emerged, in the 20th century: the former based on the historical emblem of Wales, the Red Dragon, and the latter based on the arms of the Diocese of Saint David's.) I have always thought this to be the reason of its omission, in addition to Wales never having been a kingdom, however, the Kingdom of Ireland, which had existed as a personal union with England since 1541, was likewise unrepresented in the original versions of the Union Flag.

What are the chances of us starting to see variations of a possible design in the press? I'm wondering whether or not only the dragon will be used, and possibly placed in the centre. What part will be green, if any? Will a mythical creature appear too odd, and the use of blue and green too painful on the eye?

It's not as if it'll be the first time the Union Flag has been updated, and there are more variations than the possibilities of different coalition governments at Cardiff Bay.

One final question before I get back to work: Why do I get the impression that certain people are merely attempting to sound more Welsh by raising the issue?

Update: David Cornock has posted a photo of Ian Lucas MP and his version of the flag on his blog. I can't see his version ever being taken seriously as the dragon dominates the flag.