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No powers of any consequence have been devolved to Wales although they have been allowed to do their own thing for the badgers ( hoorah ) and incomprehensible street signs ( boo) .
What this means for the man on the street in Wales is higher taxes and more money spent on parliaments and WiMPs. One result is the vertiginous decline in Welsh state education.
Nobody much lived in the valleys before coal and there is no obvious reason why they should do so now that coal has almost gone. It is hilly and rains all the time. Bristol has a lot more going for it ( being relatively flat lol) and on top no chance of maniac van drivers and Torchwood. The valleys are slowly turning green again.
fwiw my ex mother in law was from Pontypridd ( boo ) and my cat is from Risca ( cheers ).
baa
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English think it is fine to have that superior attitude to other countries in Europe and think England is best for education, health and social services and local government. Rollo.
Sounds typically patronising to me. And we have had nearly 500 years of it in Wales, and Scotland over 300 years, and we take it with more humour than the Irish or French would. So we tend to be relaxed about it and beat you on the rugby field (Scotland had a fantastic result yesterday, by the way).
I think you will be surprised in another few years how much better health and education (and local government) are in Scotland and Wales compared to England :-) ;-) Our kind of socialism (sprinkled with national pride and respect) will work better.
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Well I sort of understand how you feel ... my roots are in Rutland, England's no.1 county. For some years we were under the Leicestershire yoke. Nobody cared.
Wales Scotland Ireland etc have never been able to grasp that the English barely register that the other countries are there let alone consider their politics or economy. They are not "condescending" they simply don't care one way or the other.
If the Engish could vote in the Scots independence referendum then 80% wouldn't vote and 90% of those who did would vote in favour. If Cameron could think up some way of really upsetting the Scots then he could have a near permanent majority in England.
All added up together the 3 countries barely amount to 5% of the UK economy.
Historically Wales might just have remained independent if it had not gone head to head with the Norman ( not English ) Marcher Lords. As it is England got Lloyd George and have never forgiven or forgotten, especially considering the near miss with Neil Kinnock.
Welsh friends tell me that Wales future is in tourism. It has a fantastic coastline and lots of heritage. The downside is that it just as quick to get to Malaga and the water is warmer and the beer colder. Wales should push for InterCity125 ELECTRIC all the way to Fishguard. It could be paid for from a fraction of the cost of knocking down half Camden so as to get to Aston a few minutes sooner.
Rugy tends to go in cycles and Wales had a long time out in the cold. Again most of the UK population barely registers either kind of rugby. As to soccer. Will Swansea stay up ? Probably. And Cardiff ? Probably not.
Do they do fireworks day in Wales ?
Meanwhile thanks to the common purse arrangements Wales will go on getting a mighty subsidy from across the River Wye not.
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Lets get back to basics. what exactly does the government do? In reality there only two things it can do.
1. Make laws which prevent bodies and individuals from doing certain things or to force them to do other things.
2. Takes money away from some with one hand and gives it to others. If the amout taken is less than the amount given then the difference has to be borrowed, incurring more expense in interest charges.
If we look a bit more closely at point 2 we see that this year the government is planning to give the following away - the cost of this to each and every person in UK is in ()
Pensions - £144,000,000,000 (£2,250)
Health Care - £130,000,000,000 (2,030)
Welfare - £102,000,000,000 (£1,590)
Education - £89,000,000,000 (£1,390)
Defence - £47,000,000,000 (£735)
It is all very well blaming the government but what would you do if you were in their place, given that whatever you decide will affect either 1. or 2. or both above?
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IGP. On your Point One, isn't some crackpot Pensions Minister in this Coalition trying to crack down on how much pensions funds charge for admin. Currently they typically charge 0.5%. But our Labour Coalition Government (on no, that is Wales only).
Our Tory/Lib Coalition in London wants to cap admin at 0.75%. What is all that about. I can be in a pension scheme that over 30 years charges me £100,000 in charges and I get a pension pot worth £300,000. And another provider might charge me £150,000 in admin and I get a pot of £400,000. Which one will I prefer?
Are not pension fundholders free spirits who can attend meetings and vote Trustees in etc.? On Point One - why do the Government nanny us all the time?
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