What has the Welsh Assembly Senedd ever done for us? Well they have given vital help in protecting Jobs & The Economy

Over the last 10 years Wales has had to cope with less and less money coming from the UK government and yet we have still managed to support our local authorities providing £110m of funding across Wales.  By working much more closely with them, we have ensured that they have not had spending decimated in the last few years, unlike England.  From this standpoint we look at JOBS & ECONOMY :

Here in Wales
> Unemployment has fallen to 3% – the lowest rate since records began almost 25 years ago and below both the UK and the Scottish figure of 3.8%
> Employment is up more than 282,000 since the start of the Assembly and by 23.3% since devolution, compared with a 21.3% increase for the UK over the same period
> Since devolution, the economic inactivity rate in Wales has fallen by 5.3 percentage points, compared with a fall of 2.9 percentage points for the UK over the same period
> A new Development Bank of Wales has been established which is managing £1bn of Welsh Government Funding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Wales has
> Provided additional funding money of £9.1m in support of community pharmacies
> In addition to previous grants has given the hospitality sector a further boost of £30m in recognition of the strain under which it has been working
> Developed a new rail franchise, and protected a guard on every train, and fares have fallen in Wales compared to a rise across the UK.
> Continued to be a fair nation – a nation of fair work and fair trade – and so the Senedd has repealed major elements of the Trade Union Act in order to support all workers.

What has the Welsh Assembly Senedd ever done for us? Well they have provided vital help to deal with the pandamic ...

Wales is proud to have reached its vaccination target by the predicted 15th February deadline, and has now administered over 100,000 of the 1st jab.  It has already reached over 10,000 with the second dose, primarily being given to front facing health & care workers.  And to give specific help to NHS Wales & the health care sector :
* £1.5 billion of additional resources
* A £500 payment for social care workers in recognition of their efforts
* 580 million items of PPE for the health and social care sectors
* More than 100,000 video consultations with health professionals
* Over 145,000 cases reached through contract tracing teams in the public sector - consistently over 90% contact
* Over 1,000 IT devices supplied to 580 care homes 

 

 

 

 

 

But it has does so much more, both by way of financial & other practical support …

On ensuring jobs have been both retained and created :
* Protecting 100,000 jobs through our Economic Resilience Fund
* Supporting and advising 20,000 people through Working Wales
* Our £40 million proactive jobs and skills package

Providing as best an education as it can for our children & young people :
* Funding free school meal provision in the school holidays and until 2022
* 133,000 laptops for children learning at home
* 14,500 extra counselling sessions for children and young people
* £130m extra to deliver our Covid Commitment to education, employment and training
* Providing essential childcare for 9,600 children over the spring and summer
* Surveying 23,700 children on their experiences
* £90m of support for students and universities

And helping other groups, and activities :
* Establishing the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic COVID-19 Advisory Group
* £24 million to support the Third Sector COVID-19 response fund
* £50 million to transform homelessness services
* Supporting 5,000 people into temporary accommodation
* £1.5 million more to help victims and survivors of domestic abuse
* Working with the Shadow Social Partnership Council
* £63 million for the Cultural Recovery Fund

What has the Welsh Assembly Senedd ever done for us? Well there's help for People & their Communities ...

2020 has shown how community spirit is especially important for coping in a crisis such as the Covid pandemic.   So the Senedd is pleased to have been able to address some of the issues to help support communities across Wales, particularly with regard to the more vulnerable.  With that in mind this month looks at PEOPLE & COMMUNITIES :

Wales has led the way in the UK by passing the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act.  The Act was designed to improve how public bodies responded to all forms of violence against women.  It also put a duty on Welsh Ministers to appoint a national adviser – the first of its kind in the UK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During this crisis time when many are at a higher risk from an abuser the Senedd’s communications campaign has been able to reach out with support & information to those people who are yet to ask for help.  And more than 3,300 people have been trained to recognise the signs of domestic abuse and sexual violence through a Wales only E-learning module, ahead of England.

What's the Welsh Assembly Senedd ever done for us? Well there's Environment and Housing ...

Wales goes to the vote in May this year (Covid permitting) so each month I will continue to highlight the many achievements of the Labour led Senedd (formerly the Welsh Assembly).  And l’ll start by letting everyone know that 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to vote.   Also the Senedd is are currently legislating for this to apply to voting in council elections.  This month looks at ENVIRONMENT & HOUSING :

Wales was the first country in the UK to introduce:      
> 5p charge for single-use carrier bags
> A ban on smoking in cars carrying children
> A ban on smoking in hospital grounds, school grounds and playgrounds 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

and
> Fracking has been banned in Wales
> Wales has legislated for sprinklers in all new homes
> The Right to Buy policy has been abolished in Wales.

Les

Brexit - what now?

 

I am so angry.

Partly at myself – I didn’t see it coming, didn’t realise how important the decision was, and didn’t realise how lack lustre Cameron’s campaigning had been until it was too late.

Leading up to that vote we had all been drip fed ludicrous ‘fake news’ about the EU.  Everything from it insisting on bringing in ‘straight bananas’ to ‘it’s all the fault of immigrants, coming over here, taking our jobs’. 

So I don’t blame those who voted for it …

Many have said since that they still stand by their decision, and they are untitled to their opinion.

Many were eventually so ground down by it, so bored out of their minds with it being constantly under discussion, that they caved in to accepting the decision, just wanting to ‘get Brexit done’.  (What a vilely clever little three word mantra that proved to be!)

But so many MANY more were duped from the outset by the lies upon lies that preceded the vote.

So I DO blame the result on the self serving garbage that spewed out of the mouths of people like Farage, and then Johnson who cynically chose the Brexit path for political expediency once he knew the outcome.

And I reckon they are all so wrong.  The idea of working as a team is sound, but it’s abundantly clear that there’s plenty wrong with the EU.  But you don’t solve that by leaving the team.  We should have stayed and worked on remedying this together.  Easy to see in hindsight but Theresa May could have said the vote was too close and wasn’t binding.  She would have suffered for a while but no more than she did anyway.

And now we have no right whatsoever to complain, and the consequent damage, not just in the act of leaving in itself but also through the abhorrent arrogance of most of the Tory cabinet, is such that the future – already dire for millions of individuals and businesses suffering the unnecessary austerity of the last 10 grim years – is going to get worse. 

So yes I’m so angry.

Let's celebrate the achievements of the Welsh Assembly

You may be aware that there will be an election next May to vote in your chosen representatives for the Welsh Assembly.  But you may not be aware of its many achievements, lead by the Labour Party throughout.  

Over the coming months I will be listing some of them, and as it’s especially relevant now I will start with how it has reacted to the covid pandemic, certainly handling it far better, and fairer, than the UK government’s woeful response.  Here’s just a few of many highlights :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite all this and much more there are those who would have you believe, and I quote, “the Welsh Assembly has failed to deliver for the people of Wales”.  Fake news at its worst, together with their catchy but totally inappropriate Twitter  ‘#savewales’.  If we need to ‘save Wales’ from anything I’d suggest it would be interference from this current incompetent UK Government!

I fail to see how anyone here in Wales would benefit if making decisions which directly affect us were returned to those outside of this country.  The Welsh Assembly is much closer to Wales both in distance and in spirit.  Is it perfect?  Of course not.  But has it ‘failed to deliver’?  The list above of just some of their achievements says otherwise.

Les
 

The Tory 10 Year CON

This procession of ghastly Tory governments have inflicted 10 long years of misery for the many, and undeserved prosperity for the few ...

CONditioning - whilst the rich now believe they not only have the right to their wealth but they are entitled to even more, everyone else has had 'know thy place' drummed into them

The Anti Robin Hood CON - take from the poor by imposing benefit cuts, and give to the rich by handing out tax rebates

The CON of Divide and Rule - setting the JAMS against the most vulnerable by blaming the latter for everyone else who has suffered through the effects of austerity, and taking advantage of the numerous TV programmes which have painted anyone on benefits as being scroungers

The Status of Money CON - pushing hard on the idea that money somehow makes a person better than others, where only those with money are viewed as being successful, and as a consequence the arrogance of the wealthy has grown even worse, and a culture of greed & selfishness have become more the norm

And possibly the most disgraceful of all is the 'Thankyou' CON - being used in the current pandemic crisis, and after BJ thanked the NHS workers who nursed him through coronavirus, he and his government then try a triple whammy :
* proposed increase to the surcharge applied to migrant workers, fortunately overturned by the extreme backlash from across the UK, b ut then shouldn't be there in the first place
* most of a so-called bonus where given to UC claimants and key workers will be clawed back, so not really much of a bonus
* key workers 'thanked' with the promise of a pay freeze, which makes you wonder what the government does to punish people

TORIES DON'T CARE!
Just when you think they couldn't stoop any lower they do, and still get away with it.  
THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!