More Labour Negative Campaigning

Right on cue, Wales' own blogespondent reports that labour are now claiming that an independent Wales would be kicked out of the EU. We've heard it all before of course, nothing new here but an usual Labour scare tactic - it's about as new as stale bread.

The assumption is ridiculous of course - if the UK broke up the transition would be seamless. Can anyone remember the difficulty Greenland had in getting out?

Labour's argument is based on the assumption that the Member State, ie the UK, would continue in the event of Scottish or Welsh independence. That presumption is incoherent - i thought the main plank of unionist thought was that all three nations were equal parts. Therefore if one component part decided to grasp its destiny all three would have to reapply. if this isn't the case then Wales or Scotland isn't an equal component.

New Labour when in trouble will always resort to Welsh bashing and talk Wales down. the slight problem they face is that there is a growing sense of confidence amongst the people of Wales. Labour has had its day.

Rhodri Morgan to Join Plaid?

Hot on the heels of his stinging assessment of the damaging effect of a London centric economic system on Wales, Rhodri Morgan concluded his speaking tour of the US by making the case for independence for Wales.

Friday night at Columbia University, New York the First Minister (according to a press notice sent out by his team) said:

“In population terms Wales is bigger than five Member States and not very much smaller than another three. Why should this matter? Because Malta , with a population hardly bigger than Cardiff , has a direct seat at the table and access to the entire EU decision making machinery. It also has a much higher number of MEPs in proportion to its population. “

Thanks for making our case for us yet again Rhodri. I wonder what the unionist wing of the Labour party has to say about their Assembly Leader making the case for full EU membership for Wales, a status the EU term independence – and directly in line with Plaid’s constitutional ambition for our country.

I’m led to believe that the membership form is in the post!

The Cost of Dependence

Unionist politicians always try and talk down Wales with their scaremongering about our dependence upon subsidy from Westminster. Peter Hain comes up with a rounded figure of £1000per head, conveniently neglecting the fact that if Wales had grown at the modest rate of UK growth over the last generation, then each person would be £1000 richer in terms of GVA. If we had matched EU growth, then each person in Wales would be £4000 richer. And if Wales had matched the Republic of Ireland each person would be an astonishingly £19,000 richer.

The reality of the situation is somewhat different of course. In real terms wealth levels in Wales is in free fall. GVA in the European Objective 1/Convergance Funding areas is only 65% of the UK average. In hard figures this means that in most of Wales GVA per head is £11,126 whilst the UK average £17,677. Most worryingly, the trend is downward.To put things in context two hours down the road in London GVA is at 140% compared to the UK average – clearly portraying the wealth inequities caused by the prioritisation of the service sector of the South East of England by the London parties, and their clear failure to compose let alone implement a genuine regional economic policy.

Labour despite a decade in power, far from addressing the infamous north-south divide has exacerbated the divergence. So when the London parties harp on next about how Wales is to poor and weak to achieve its potential – ask them exactly what are the economic benefits for the people of Wales in being ruled by a fiscal and economic strategy that works against the key components of our economic make up. Ask them how after ten years most of Wales continues to be amongst the poorest regions of the whole of the EU – despite the inclusion of 10 new member state, most of which had to endure half a century of Soviet totalitarianism.