Jonathan Edwards MP

PLAID MP ADDRESSES SUPPORTERS OF STOP THE WAR

Jonathan — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:03:45 +0000

Plaid Cymru’s MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, Jonathan Edwards, will today join the voices of the Stop the War coalition, calling for steps to be taken to ensure that never again will the UK forced to enter imperial wars without the support of the public and international law.

Mr Edwards will deliver a speech to the Stop the War coalition public meeting this evening (Wednesday) in Westminster. The meeting is being held a day before parliament votes on Afghanistan for the first time tomorrow (Thursday).

Plaid Cymru has long opposed the war in Afghanistan, calling for the phased withdrawal of troops and for greater support to be given to returning soldiers and veterans of conflict.

Mr Edwards said:

“It has been clear to me and my party that the continued changing of nature of the war in Afghanistan puts everybody at risk. A war fought with no realistic timeframe, no clear cut conditions that define victory or defeat is a war without end.

“Yet that is where we are, with spin doctors regularly changing our objectives to make it look as if the surges and incursions are being successful in changing the hearts and minds of Afghans, or winning the war on the ground.

“Clearly, neither is true.

“My party has long called for withdrawal of our troops from Afghanistan from this unwinnable war – a standpoint with which I’m sure everybody here will agree.

“But these are not just wars fought thousands of miles from home – they impact upon us here as well.

“In my own constituency, I have expressed concern about the testing of unmanned drones making flights above Welsh airspace, while the decisions about the Strategic Security and Defence Review are of great import in determining our future foreign policy.

“As this review takes place, it is important that we send a clear message to the Conservative and Lib Dem administration that these imperial wars were not fought in our name, should be brought to a conclusion as soon as possible and that we should never again enter into such alliances without the full support of our international partners around the world and international law.”

Plaid warns UK government over Welsh impact of civil service jobs plan

Jonathan — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:50:51 +0000

Plaid Cymru’s economic spokesperson, Jonathan Edwards MP, has expressed grave concern at the UK Government’s plans which will make it easier to make public sector workers redundant.

The plans will be discussed in the House of Commons today (Tuesday) as part of the Superannuation Bill, and will reduce redundancy payments for civil servants.

Plans were originally laid for the scheme by the previous Labour government but were quashed by the High Court.

Plaid Cymru MPs Jonathan Edwards and Hywel Williams today joined civil servants at a PCS Union protest over the plans outside the Houses of Parliament.

Mr Edwards said:

“The terms and conditions set out by the ConDem government are written so as to make it easier for central government to sack hard-working and often poorly paid civil servants.

“In reducing the rights which workers have earned and refusing to fully negotiate with trade unions, such as the independent Public and Commercial Services union, the ConDems are treating our public sector with disdain.

“Figures released this week by the Office for National Statistics show that more than 300,000 staff in Wales are employed in the public sector, making up 27% of all jobs. This means that large-scale redundancies would impact heavily on all of the country, not just in terms of work but in the quality of service that people receive.

“Wales does need to re-orientate itself to become a better location for the private sector to do business, for example through the introduction of regional corporation tax and implementing Plaid’s progressive economic policies – but we cannot allow our important public sector to become a scapegoat for the failings of the financial sector and Labour’s flawed spending plans.

“Economic projections indicate that private sector job growth will be stagnant over the medium term, and in reality what the UK Government will be doing is sacking public sector workers without hope of any alternative employment. In terms of the health of the economy as a whole this is a very worrying situation.

“I am glad that the Labour Party has now come onside in this argument against massive cuts to the public sector, but workers will not quickly forget that they had to go on strike in March this year to protect their jobs from a Labour government following the same goals.”

Wales Home Article – Voting Reform

Jonathan — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:45:30 +0000

TODAY’S second reading of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill provides the real starting point of what could be the most important legislation of this Con-Dem Government.

The Bill contains two major parts – one the holding of a referendum on the alternative vote, the other the reduction of MPs from 650 to 600, and both have caused ire in their own way.

The most prominent complaint has been the decision, announced by central government without prior consultation, to hold the referendum on the same date as elections to the Parliament and Assemblies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as the English council elections.

This goes against independent reports into the holding of different elections on the same day by Gould and Arbuthnott, the former taking place after the problems held in Scottish elections in 2007.

Cost, not democracy, is the over-arching consideration for the UK Government, meaning that we in Wales are left hanging over whether we will go to the polls once, twice or even three times in a number of months. That is to say nothing about the huge administration pressures for under-staffed electoral services departments or the ordering in which ballots will be counted. The Vale of Glamorgan finished counting at 10:30am in 2007 with just the Assembly ballot papers.

There is, of course, no reason why we need to hold the referendum on an alternative vote with quite such indecent haste. The Con-Dem government want to introduce a five-year, fixed-term parliament, meaning that the next Westminster elections will be in 2015. The administrative work to host the referendum would far outweigh the effort of changing the ballot papers over four years.

Others have pointed to the irony of pointing to the cost-savings of holding ballots on the same day as other elections while at the same time proposing the introduction of an extra set of elections for police commissioners.

After all that, of course, the referendum will be on the alternative vote, rather than a more proportional system such as the single transferable vote, the system backed by Plaid Cymru and, previously, by the Liberal Democrats.

If we were discussing STV then the debate could be presented in terms of proportional and fair votes reflecting real choice, with multi-member constituencies and the end of safe seats. Yes, the Liberal Democrats would probably be the main winners, but they could argue this from behind the screen of fairness. Instead this will largely be seen as a seat-grab by the Liberal Democrats, and part of a grubby deal to get them more influence.

This failure to discuss a genuinely proportional system also impacts upon the second part of the Bill – the reduction in size of the House of Commons. Nick Clegg wants all votes to be equal in weight, and so intends to equalise the size of constituencies as well as having fewer MPs.

The effect of this on Wales will be significant – around a quarter of our seats at Westminster will disappear at the next election – our voice reduced by 25%.

But equality of vote is itself an interesting concept. By basing the constituencies on electoral registration, then there is likely to be a bias against areas with high levels of poverty and low socio-economic background where electoral registration take-up is lower than in wealthier areas.

Then there is the deeper meaning of ‘equality’ of voting. Think-tank Demos last year published a ‘power map’ of the UK, noting the areas where electors had greater ‘power’ in a swathe of political fields and where your vote was relatively meaningless.

By sticking to a first-past-the-post system we will maintain the present situation in which only a handful of swing constituencies are of importance – the Labour voter in Kent and the Tory voter in Blaenau Gwent will not be empowered by these changes. Nick Clegg’s rather glib responses fail to scratch the surface of these considerations.

In terms of seat reductions, both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats went into the election with the aim of cutting the number of MPs – by 10% to 585 in the Tory case and to 500 in the case of the Lib Dems. The advantages of this, other than relatively minor cost savings, have not been well articulated. It certainly isn’t so that everyone can get a seat on those green benches.

Some people have tried to link greater powers for Wales in the Part 4 referendum with the cuts to Welsh seats, and suggested that Plaid Cymru shouldn’t be fighting against these cuts to Welsh constituencies. My response to that is that there is certainly a place for that debate and it is one that should be held, but that is not the argument being made by the UK government in London and that debate has not yet been held or given the real scrutiny that it should have.

In short, the reduction of seats comes from the introduction of a UK-wide principle and it perhaps says more for how the Con-Dem UK Government perceives Wales that it hasn’t even considered this issue. While London holds the purse strings and makes major international decisions such as going to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, we need a strong representation from Wales there to voice our issues and concerns.

Of course, while I’m sure that Labour are genuine in their concern for this loss of voice, they are nevertheless making many of these arguments from a position as much out of self-interest as anything else. It is Labour who will inevitably lose more seats than anyone else when this boundary changes take place – boundary changes that will ignore traditional geographical and historical considerations in place of getting the numbers right.

But it was this self-interest that saw Labour put up a bizarre straw man argument that the cuts in these seats couldn’t take place because of a clause in the 2006 Government of Wales Act which linked Westminster and Assembly seat boundaries.

This Bill will instead de-couple those boundaries – meaning that if the fixed term parliament bill goes through then we will be voting in 2015 for three different electoral areas (Assembly seat, Assembly regional list and Westminster) with three ballot papers in two different administrations and possibly three different voting systems.

However, this does open up the possibility of other debate surrounding possible changes to the Government of Wales Act, the most obvious being the ending of the restrictive candidacy rules that prevent candidates from standing for both constituency and regional list and allowing the Assembly itself rather than the Secretary of State the power to change or vary election dates.

There is no good reason why the Bill links the alternative vote referendum and the reduction in seats, and Labour have used this argument as a reason to go back on their manifesto pledge to support an AV referendum. The Lib Dems, of course, will support the Bill and in Wales hope that hosting the referendum at the same time as Assembly elections will give them a bounce, while the Conservatives seem relatively quiet on the issue, watching largely from the sidelines.

While economic issues and the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review will rightly dominate much of the discussion, the impact of this Bill upon Wales in 2011 and 2015 cannot be under-estimated

Lack of consultation shocks county representatives

Jonathan — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:19:30 +0000

Plaid Cymru have blasted Carmarthenshire Council for treating county residents as an after though in the proposals for education in the county. Outlined in a copy of the council’s Modernising Education Plan for 2010-11 are proposals to move ahead with the closures of Llanwrda, Llansadwrn, Nantygroes and Llangain schools as well as the federalisation of Ysgol Capel Cynfab and Cilycwm. Whilst consultation with head teachers and governors has taken place, parents and local residents have again been forgotten. Plaid’s Council group leader in Carmarthenshire, Cllr Peter Hughes-Griffiths, Local AMs Rhodri Glyn Thomas and Nerys Evans, as well as Jonathan Edwards MP have reacted angrily and have vowed to arranged public meetings to give local people the opportunity to have their say.

Cllr Peter Hughes Griffiths said:

“I am astonished that yet again we are seeing sweeping changes to education provisions in the county with little or no regard for how parents, residents and communities may feel. It is as if this Labour-Independent council either can not, or maybe will not, learn from their mistakes.”

Plaid Cymru’s Education Spokesperson, and a former pupil of Llangain school, Nerys Evans AM added:

“We will be aiming to host a series of public meeting that will give us the chance to hear what people think about the proposals. It is a real shame that, not for the first time, it has been left to the opposition councillors and us as AMs and an MP to do the work of the council.

To think that drastic changes to education in Carmarthenshire can be made whilst totally ignoring the views of county residents is at best naive and at worst plain ignorant.”

Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM said:

“It is simply a matter of common sense to seek the views of those that will have to deal with the impact of these changes before pushing ahead with them.

No one in the county expects education services to stand still. There will always be some form of change and possibly that will not always be popular, but by refusing to be open and discuss proposals with parents the council once again risk alienating the very people they are supposed to represent.”

Jonathan Edwards MP added:

“It is little wonder that people believe there is no point in taking their concerns to the council when decisions of this importance are made without any consultation. We would be delighted if Members of the Executive Board and any relevant officials were to come along to the meetings we will be holding so that they can explain the proposals to parents directly rather than leaving them in the dark.”

Pensioners Urged to Claim Tax Reduction

Jonathan — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:00:27 +0000

County pensioners are being urged to ensure that they do not miss out on gaining a reduction to their tax bills. If you are aged over 65, are a Council Tax-payer and are not in receipt of Council Tax Benefit you can get a reduction off your 2010-11 bill. Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM and Jonathan Edwards MP have outlined their concern that the process has not been communicated efficiently after a large number of residents made contact with their office requesting advice. Applications need to be returned before September 30th and can be sourced by contacting Carmarthenshire Direct on 01267 234567.

Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM added:

“We have had a lot of people coming into the office asking how they can get a reduction on their bill and so we are worried that pensioners will miss out on this opportunity. Hopefully people eligible will get in touch with Carmarthenshire Direct to make sure they save themselves some money.”

Jonathan Edwards MP said:

“In this day and age when everyone is struggling financially a tax reduction is a big bonus and I would be very disappointed it pensioners who should be getting it missed out.”

Council Pool Decision Delay Frustrates Local Politicians

Jonathan — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:08:15 +0000

Brynamman’s local AM and MP have issued their disappointment that the council will not be opening the areas swimming pool because damage caused as a result of poor weather it is too expensive to repair. Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM and Jonathan Edwards MP have criticised the timing of the announcement made just before the start of the summer holidays.

Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM said:

“I am slightly disappointed in the councils approach to closing the pool. I understand that we are in tough times financially. When there is talk of job losses finding the £20,000 that the council suggest is needed for the damage to be repaid is difficult. However I am sure everyone concerned would have benefited from being told this sooner. Not only would early notice have avoided the current situation, where just as the school holiday’s are starting children locally are being told they will not have use of the facility, but it would have also given all parties more time to be able to look for funding elsewhere.”

Jonathan Edwards MP added:

“We obviously would love to see this local service repaired and open for public use. It seems unlikely at best that this will happen this year but we shouldn’t simply accept that it will close on a permanent basis. I know local members of the Swimming Pool Association have been proactive and wanted to find a resolution to the issue. Rhodri and I will be looking into what finance can be made available through various avenues and have already been in touch with officials at Westminster and the Assembly to see what options, if any, can be pursued at present.”

AM and MP Oppose Court Closure in Official Consultation

Jonathan — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:27:59 +0000

Local politicians fighting to save Ammanford Magistrates Court have submitted their response to the consultation process. Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM and Jonathan Edwards MP have written to the consultation team outlining point by point the numerous factors the pair believe have not been considered. Both are urging residents throughout the county who rely on the service to put forward their opposition to the closures before the consultation closes on September 15th.

Jonathan Edwards MP said:

“I would urge as many people as possible to submit their views to the consultation process. It is vitally important that if we are to have any chance of saving the court that the strength of opposition locally is made clear. People are passionately opposed to these closure plans and that needs to be expressed.”

Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM added:

“We have made it clear in our representations, as part of the consultation process, that there are a range of factors that we believe make the court closure a huge mistake. We believe that it will lead to increased costs, increased travel, increases in the number of people failing to turn up to court and a decrease in the number of victims of crime receiving justice. There is little doubt that the plans have failed to take into account the geographical, social or economic impacts the closure will have on the community.”

DIWEDD / ENDS

Nodiadau / Notes:

Anyone wishing to take part in the consultation should send their views to:

FAO Stephen Whale

Director, Courts Transformation (Wales)

HMCS Wales

Churchill House

Churchill Way

Cardiff CF10 2HH

stephen.whale@hmcourts-service.gsi.gov.uk

02920 678 304 (Phone)

02920 678 406 (Fax)

http://www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/consultation-cp15-10.htm

Carmarthenshire Residents Treated as Test Subject for Low Flying Training

Jonathan — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:04:23 +0000

Plaid Cymru have called on the Conservative-Lib Dem Westminster government to rethink its policy on low-flying training in UK air space, and for immediate steps to be taken to tackle the severe health dangers linked to the practise.

For a number of years Plaid Cymru politicians in the county have been campaigning against the practice, which disproportionately takes place across Carmarthenshire in comparison to other areas of the UK. Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM and Jonathan Edwards MP say that their office is routinely contacted by concerned constituents who have a range of complaints from health issues, noise issues and the damaging impact it has on livestock.

The Carmarthen East and Dinefwr AM and MP were left angry after recent information gathered by the parties Westminster leader, Elfyn Llwyd MP, revealed that low flying activity had increased by 11% in the past year at the same time the Westminster government, under the previous Labour administration, had agreed to allow sixteen different countries, including Germany, to use UK airspace to carry out low-flying training at no cost.

Jonathan Edwards MP has now formally requested a parliamentary debate on the matter to discuss the health issues relating to the military training.

Jonathan Edwards MP said:

“This is a major issue in the county. I am appalled that instead of looking at the detailed impact that low flying activity has on the health of county residents, the Westminster government, under Labour previously and now continued by the ConDem coalition, have actually been increasing the frequency of these flights. What is worse they have allowed other nations, including Germany who have ceased low flying in their own country on health grounds, to use Welsh residents as test subjects.”

Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM added:

“For years I have been speaking to constituents who have endured a great deal of stress as a result of low flying activity in the county. Residents, especially the more elderly and vulnerable in our communities, are often left at their wits end as a result of the frightening noise these flights create. There are also serious questions about the damaging health aspects, specifically with hearing problems, which is a big concern when dealing with young children.”

Commenting, Elfyn Llwyd MP said:

“We must have an urgent rethink of this situation. More jets than ever before are now being trained and in no way are the people of north and mid Wales being compensated for this.

In my constituency, a high percentage of those who were children in primary schools there, now have problems with hearing.

Professor Ising persuaded the German Government to cease on health grounds. Where does the Luftwaffe train their low flying pilots now? Over UK air space. At no cost to them – but at a cost to the hearing of UK taxpayers!

When will the UK government stop treating the people of Wales with such contempt and do something about the intrusion and the damage to health?

The UK government should show the same respect towards people as the German government has shown over this issue.”

DIWEDD / ENDS

Nodiadau / Notes:

1. In a letter to Elfyn Llwyd dated 14th July 2004, Ivor Caplin MP (then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for Veterans) said:

“Unfortunately, it is not possible to apply the noise suppression methods used for civil aircraft without an unacceptable loss of operational capability.”

“Should new research provide evidence of a credible link between military low flying and adverse health effects then we would of course, consider what changes could be made to our operations.”

2. Recent parliamentary question by Lord Corbett:

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale asked Her Majesty’s Government:

Which air forces, other than the Royal Air Force, are allowed to carry out low-flying training in United Kingdom air space; how many nations have done so; and what charges are levied for the use of those facilities.

Under Secretary of State for Defence, Lord Astor of Hever:

The Ministry of Defence does not charge foreign air forces to use the UK Low Flying System, but permits them to do so on the basis of reciprocal agreements.

The nations that have used the UK Low Flying System are Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and USA.

3. Written Statement (19th July 2010) from the Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans (Andrew

Robathan):

“The amount of low flying training carried out in the UKLFS during the training year 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010 was … [i]n comparative terms, … an increase of 5,632 hours, or approximately 11 per cent on the previous training year due to operational pre-deployment training for both fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, and the continuing introduction of Typhoon into service.”

Ammanford Girl Named New One Show Presenter

Jonathan — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:48:22 +0000

Local politicians have congratulated Alex Jones on landing one of the biggest jobs in TV. Ammanford girl Alex has been named as the new host of the One Show replacing the departing Christine Bleakley. Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM and Jonathan Edwards MP, who was a year above Alex in school and university, say it is a fantastic achievement. The pair has written to Alex to offer their congratulations.

Jonathan Edwards MP said:

“This is fantastic news for Alex on a personal level. She has been a star in Wales for some time but to land one of the biggest roles in British TV is a huge achievement. It is also great news for the town locally. Many people will know Alex and I am sure there will be a lot of very proud people throughout Ammanford and the county upon hearing the news.”

Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM said:

“It is great for people in areas like Ammanford to have role models like Alex. Landing such a high profile position as the anchor of the One Show will no doubt inspire a great deal of others. Alex has been a great ambassador for Ammanford over the years with a portfolio of excellent work, especially through welsh language television. I wish Alex all the best in her new job and I am sure she will be a huge success.”

Support for new epilepsy branch in Ammanford

Jonathan — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:25:10 +0000

After a successful awareness event in Ammanford, Epilepsy Action, are looking to establish a branch in the town. Local AM Rhodri Glyn Thomas, who joined the charity at its recent event in Ammanford Pensioners Hall, and Jonathan Edwards MP, are backing the plans and calling for any local volunteers wishing to help to come forward.

Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM said:

“I was really pleased to have been able to meet with the charity at its Ammanford event and hear about the important work it has been doing. I am very keen to support any proposals that could see a branch open in the town and with it offer an outlet for people locally to gain help and support in dealing with epilepsy.”

Jonathan Edwards MP said:

“Anyone who would like to get involved in helping establish an Ammanford branch should get in touch with the Regional Services Manager for Wales, Ann Sivapatham on 01633 253 407. I know from the work other branches, such as the one based in Llanelli, have done that having a local facility like this is hugely important not just on an individual basis but also in the wider concerns of tackling epilepsy.”

Epilepsy Action Regional Services Manager for Wales Ann Sivapatham said:

“We had a very positive response from the public to the event we held in Ammanford, and were also very pleased to have the chance to speak to Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM about local issues. Taking things forward by establishing an Ammanford branch would be excellent in terms of offering advice and support locally.”