Hands up who’s surprised by the news today that Wales has lost out on yet another economic advantage to Northern Ireland and Cornwall because of the Welsh European Funding Offices, certainly not this blogger.
Apparently WEFO failed to include superfast broadband in its bid for Convergence Funds for Wales which could help rural communities across Wales, unlike the Northern Ireland Executive and the Cornish County Council who are now well ahead of Wales in terms of rolling out broadband for rural communities.
According to the Western Mail ‘Northern Ireland Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said rolling out super-fast broadband was bringing huge benefits and enabling rural residents to participate in the economy on equal terms with city dwellers.
Asked how Northern Ireland had managed to access European funding more quickly than Wales, Mrs Foster’s officials said they had decided what they wanted to do and presented a strong case to the European Commission, which approved their plans. BT has invested £30m, matched by £18m from Europe.'
And according to Russell Lawson of the Federation of Small Business Wales ‘“Homeworking and teleconferencing are very important examples of how super-fast broadband can be applied. One of the biggest problems we have in Wales is the low number of companies involved in exports. Having super-fast broadband provides the opportunity to develop new export markets.”
He said he is not surprised that WEFO had omitted to include broadband infrastructure in the initial application for Convergence funding.
“WEFO was constantly saying that EC money couldn’t be used for infrastructure, an argument that never stacked up. I’ve seen buses in Dublin saying ‘part funded by the EU’ on the side. It seems WEFO has this mindset about not being able to do things because of EU rules,” he added.'
Of course WAG will try ignoring this, pointing to Ieuan’s Broadband proposals in the Economic Renewal Programme and staying quiet while WEFO take the heat, but where was the scrutiny by Ministers of the Convergence Bid that went to the European authorities I wonder?
The full article is HERE
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
‘Benefit cuts will encourage the poor to breed’, Tory Peer
Hat Tip to Valleys Mam
The Coalition has had to deal with a few gaffes of late, another Tory Lord Young’s statement “For the vast majority of people in the country today, they have never had it so good ever since this recession — this so-called recession — started...” that got him sacked by David Cameron.
Today we have a newly created Tory Peer Howard Flight quoted in the London Evening Standard as saying ‘ “We're going to have a system where the middle classes are discouraged from breeding because it's jolly expensive, but for those on benefit there is every incentive,”
It’s not really that surprising that these attitudes exist, but it makes you wonder what planet these people living on?
The full article is here
The Coalition has had to deal with a few gaffes of late, another Tory Lord Young’s statement “For the vast majority of people in the country today, they have never had it so good ever since this recession — this so-called recession — started...” that got him sacked by David Cameron.
Today we have a newly created Tory Peer Howard Flight quoted in the London Evening Standard as saying ‘ “We're going to have a system where the middle classes are discouraged from breeding because it's jolly expensive, but for those on benefit there is every incentive,”
It’s not really that surprising that these attitudes exist, but it makes you wonder what planet these people living on?
The full article is here
Sunday, November 21, 2010
WAG’s Budget like UK Budget, big cuts and lacking ideas for job creation and growth
The fact that both the UK and Welsh Budget were heavy on the politics and light on the economics was hardly a surprise due to the sheer scale of the cuts and the Assembly elections next year means politicians of all parties want to be able to blame someone else for the pain still to come.
And from a strategic political perspective this approach is understandable, but given the mess Wales is in after the credit crunch and recession and the significant ongoing challenges the country faces in the coming months and years this week budget it looks rather cheap and hollow.
A reminder of the challenge was report from Sheffield Hallum University on worklessness in the weakest economy in the UK this week stated that in the South Wales Valleys alone to reach the current GB average there would need to be 38,000 new jobs created.
I'll repeat that figure 38,000 jobs just to stand still, even the most optimistic economist couldn’t see that happening in the Valleys in the good times.
And while the politicians at both ends of the M4 continue their pointless arguments of who got us into this mess and what they will and wont cut, the most needy communities in North and South Wales are in need of practical help before they reach the point of no return and can’t be rescued.
And from a strategic political perspective this approach is understandable, but given the mess Wales is in after the credit crunch and recession and the significant ongoing challenges the country faces in the coming months and years this week budget it looks rather cheap and hollow.
A reminder of the challenge was report from Sheffield Hallum University on worklessness in the weakest economy in the UK this week stated that in the South Wales Valleys alone to reach the current GB average there would need to be 38,000 new jobs created.
I'll repeat that figure 38,000 jobs just to stand still, even the most optimistic economist couldn’t see that happening in the Valleys in the good times.
And while the politicians at both ends of the M4 continue their pointless arguments of who got us into this mess and what they will and wont cut, the most needy communities in North and South Wales are in need of practical help before they reach the point of no return and can’t be rescued.
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