So With Regard To Transport In Wales....The Price Is Right ...It Should Be A Case Of Skates Off

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As regular readers will know when I lived in Bridgend I always wondered at how the arrogantly incompetent Labour Council assumed that if you ignored the basic realities of people's lives and just went for grandiose gestures then things would work out fine.

Doesn't matter that they've allowed Bridgend town to rot almost beyond repair and fearful what any diminution of production in the nearby Ford plant would mean to the area. Oh no. Instead you build funky new flats for "young professionals" to do whatever "young professionals" do or move the town centre library away from the town centre. That should sort things out....look at this new building here ...not the number of closed businesses over there.

And then Labour was surprised when it lost overall control of the council?

Well it appears that First Minister has taken a leaf out of the council's tactics (he is after all AM for the area). We are as people living in Wales supposed to ignore the lacklustre way the country is being run. We are supposed to ignore a stagnant economy, We are supposed to be grateful for the glories of Labour in the past and ignore the mess they're making of the nation in the present. We are supposed to ignore the years they have had in running our children's education which has proved to be so incompetent the Minister now responsible is a Libdem

"Look people of Wales." Labour will say "Look at this. We don't have an economy minister. We do things even better here. We have an "economy and infrastructure minister. Look at that...you're impressed huh?"

And the man given this grand title is Ken Skates (whose business card is probably the most impressive in Cardiff Bay if judged solely by words needed to fill it).

Today Plaid Cymru AM Adam Price has said that the portfolio is too wide ranging and that transport should be hived off from Skates' responsibilities. Of course he is right. Women (and certainly my wife) will say that men cannot multitask. What should be crystal clear though is that aside from leaders no minister whether male or female should multitask. They should focus on their portfolio which should be as specific as possible.

Perhaps Carwyn Jones should look at a dictionary. The words "Economy" and "infrastructure" means completely different things. By themselves they are massive undertakings to administer. Together Ken Skates would have to reveal a big S under his shirt to show he's capable of doing this superhuman task. Unfortunately events would suggest Skates is all too human.

I won't go into detail at the risk of boring you, but there are issues regarding the next rail franchise (an argument between the UK government and the Assembly) which a transport minister would look at intricately and also the cancellation of the electrification of the railway line between Cardiff and Swansea by London). But how can he deal with that properly when there's the minor matter of the economy to consider?

The Welsh road system is a mess at the best of times. The bus service outside of the major towns is patchy. All this shows integrated Welsh transport hub is but a dream. Then there is the proposed South Wales Metro Link. Which seems all very flashy but makes me nervous should there be any issues with cost increases down the line. It needs someone with their Skates on...wait a minute he's doing something else.

Speaking of flashy projects there was the Circuit For Wales that Labour eventually scrapped. If Bridgend Council had control of the National Assembly that would have passed through with no qualms. I'm in no way an expert, but from what I saw on TV I think the scrapping of support for it was correct. However it took a very long time (starting before Mr Skates was minister) to make the decision....as if he was too busy on other issues.

As I've said the Welsh economy is in a delicate state at the moment. The effect of Brexit on Welsh and international businesses based in Wales has yet to be foreseen (though regular readers of this blog will know of my concerns regarding Ford and Bridgend) . You would hope that the economy minister is making plans to cover all eventualities. He should. Perhaps though just like the Welsh government reaction when Tata steel proposed the closure of Port Talbot steelworks or when Tesco announced that the call centre in Cardiff will close next year the stable door will be shut when the horse has gone far, far away.

(A quick aside a spokesman for Mr Skates said "It is disappointing that Plaid Cymru seem content to use an important situation like this to play political games and exploit a situation for their own narrow ends" .  Thus saying how dare an opposition AM oppose Welsh Labour. well.It's the job of an opposition to oppose...particularly when an obvious way to improve the situation is staring people in the face)

So First Minister, forget following the tactics of Bridgend Council. Go back to basics. An economy minister, a transport minster. Accept that the Price is right and it's just a case of Skates Off transport.

Until the next time.