The triumph of the will

Spot on again Ben. All of which raises a salient question for the UK Govt wrt Wales. When will it choose to invest in our economy to ensure our GDP per Capita is at least comensurate with the UK average? Will it eradicate child poverty and the need for foodbanks in Wales? A good start would be giving back our HS2 money.

The article gives too much credit to Starmer and his government. What really convinced the rioters that they were on a hiding to nothing was the truly massive turnout at counter-demos, often chanting "there are many more of us than you". (To the tine of "She'll be coming rind the mountain" if you want to try it out. It is a catchy jingle). Well and good to suggest that the riots were a sort of warped response to deprivation. But it was people from those self-same areas, equally deprived, who turned out to clean up the mess and repair the damage. Condemnation of the riots was widespread. The typical response seems to have been "we don't want that here". Anyway, many of the rioters arrived by train, rent-a-mob style. So a small minority rioted. A much larger proportion of the communities they rioted in wanted nothing to do with them. That really says all we need to know.

I suspect that to get any movement from our elected representatives on the issues the majority of us are most concerned bout, the NHS, homes, jobs and education as well as the elimination of poverty, particularly that of children we'll have to start peaceful protests outside the Senedd and outside every MS constituency office up and down the land, bombard our representatives with e-mails, start petitions on the subjects we care about, such as demanding changes in our NHS so that we don't have to compete to get a doctor's appointment, so that we don't have to see people homeless or know that all the time there are children going cold and hungry because some politician doesn't want to upset the filthy rich. And if there is to be a discussion on the subject of immigration, the nature of that discussion needs to be adjusted to reflect the situation in Wales, where the already complex issue of immigration is a little more complex. Clearly, long term the only solutions we will have will be gained through independence, and if the ruling Labour Party really cared about fundamentally changing things for the better in Wales they would have long ago separated from UK Labour and become 100% backers of indy. The reality, as we all know, is that they don't give a damn about the Welsh people, and will refuse to stand up for them in their dealings with Starmer & Co in Westminster.

Excellent piece Ben. Another thing we have to do is get Welsh youngsters into Welsh universities. As the Vice Chancellor of Swansea University has pointed out, they are our next generation of doctors, engineers and teachers. We must then ensure that they practice their skills in Wales, not filter off elsewhere. Welsh Government has to take a far more proactive, pro-Cymru position. The time for pussyfooting has long gone. Stop the brain drain and invest in our future.

What this shows us, as the article states, is that action and the money for that action, can be found when the political will is there. Imagine how quickly the sort after 'growth' would happen if the will was fully there too. Recently, caution has been the name of the game. Labour in Westminster has a huge majority, it's time it used it and became braver. Growth and prosperity will continue to fail until they do.

'In recent years, it has been government policy simultaneously to inflate the seriousness of the problem and then feign powerlessness in the face of judicial restraint.' Since inward migration, and particularly the matter of the 'small boats', has become such a major political issue in the UK, I don't think that I've come across a more precise and pithy summary of 'where we're currently at' than Ben Wildsmith's terse sentence reproduced here.

UK Labour once in office are always proactive when it comes to England but forever inactive in Wales. UK Labour PM Keir Starmer deliberately withholds powers & levers in Whitehall that could transform not only our economy and Senedd democracy but he along with WS Jo Stephens refuse to devolve powers requested by Welsh Labour also sought by Paid Cymru because they know if Wales had its own destiny in its hands would become eventually become a prosperous country and as you know nations who are a prosperous tends to not vote Labour and are independent minded. See Labour cynically knows this and apply the same tactics used by people smugglers by controlling all aspects of our lives, which means we are trapped in servitude forever dependent on Whitehall poor funds even though we live on a resource rich country. To Labour, and the Tories, a poor apathetic Wales is good for business. They see us Welsh as voter cows to use & abuse every 5 years whilst keeping a tight grip on our natural resources. We hemorrhage billions every year and we benefit not where English water companies, England:s King Charles & Whitehall's Treasury grow obese off our natural & human resources.

Yvette Cooper doesn't get it... This behaviour is in part a result of Fat Shanks' occupation and ruination of No 10 and the total debasement of the office of Prime Minister...this gang of pissed up coke heads brought bit of the UK to the position of a vulnerable person whose home has been taken over by a gang of thieves, fraudsters and mad sadists and robbed blind...in the face of such criminality it is hardly surprising that Gove and Co have left many people in a bit of a moral maze...

Pensioner winter allowance....

Given the Labour party are now Thatcherite neo liberals its difficult to imagine them morphing into democratic socialists with the well being of all people at heart. I doubt the idea of printing money to invest in UK infrastructure and growth will happen. Corbyn tried and failed to implement change because of the arrogance of Westminster MP's and other Labour politicians. 'They knew best' and conspired from day 1 to destroy him. Personally I have little hope of Starmer and co doing anything for Wales. It will be the continuation of wealth extraction at the expense of Welsh people.

Well I see the media is out in force spouting the government line of everyone is a far right thug. This name calling in itself incites trouble. Of course these attackers were thugs, they always are but the tensions that are boiling over are being ignored and stamped upon. People are angry. I hear people discussing it everywhere. Usually in whispers. When the whispers grow is when we have trouble. The shame is no one listens even when people vote for change. Brits are apathetic and that's what the elite love.