Building Bridges, Roads or Gazebos our neighbours will make us pay for them.

News that  Prime Minister has said he will look again at the M4 relief plan around Newport. despite the Welsh Senedd not being in support (if not actually fully opposed) is a worrying development.

In an interview with ITV Wales, Boris Johnson said it "will certainly be one of the things that we'll be seeing if we can take forward".

"The £1.4bn plan to cut congestion around the motorway in Newport has been rejected by the Welsh Government and Mark Drakeford recently said that the "decision is over" and people should move on.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that he would try to find a way to revive the project.

He said of the Internal Markets Bill, "one of the things that it will enable us to do is to strengthen our ability to support people in Wales, for instance in transport spending."

In a new interview with ITV Wales, he was asked if that meant ministers in London would try to force it through if local authorities and Welsh Conservative MPs supported it but the Welsh Government continued to oppose it.

He said: "What we’re going to do is look at projects like the relief road, and I must say it was quite extraordinary that the Labour Welsh government managed to spend £144 million on a study … which they then filed vertically.

"So we'll look at the relief road and look at how to relieve congestion in the Brynglas tunnels, that will certainly be one of the things that we’ll be seeing if we can take forward."

Now this may be political posturing  like a bridge or tunnel actually be built between Scotland and Northern Ireland? I an idea that has been suggested several times by Boris Johnson and will now be looked at as part of a national review into UK transport connections.

The aom as with the M4 relief road is to give the impression that it is the UK goverment  that is innovative and to lead people to asl Why do we need, a devolved government.

A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah!) is a 1972 alternate history/science fiction novel by American writer Harry Harrison. It was serialized in Analog magazine beginning in the April 1972 issue.

The title refers to the construction of a submerged floating-tube pontoon bridge/tunnel across the Atlantic Ocean in the novel.

In an alternative history, the United States lost the American Revolutionary War and George Washington was executed for treason. Thus, America in 1973 is still under the control of the British Empire. The divergence point between this world and our own occurred far earlier, however, when the Moors won the battle of Navas de Tolosa on the Iberian peninsula, on July 16, 1212. Thus it was that Spain was unable to become unified, owing to the survival of an Islamic presence in its territory, and therefore could not finance the expedition of Christopher Columbus in 1492. Instead, it was John Cabot who discovered America, just a few years later and the bridge seems just as fanciful.

The study will investigate the feasibility of a fixed link between the two nations including cost, practicality and demand.

But some critics have already dismissed the idea as impractical, arguing the money would be better spent elsewhere.

Mr Johnson has previously put a price of "about £15bn" on building a bridge which could stretch from Portpatrick in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland - a distance of more than 20 miles across the Irish Sea.

I doubt that the bridge will not get any further that the study even if it's report is positive.

What we are seeing is efforts by the Tories  to make elaborate plans which may capture the imagination but that's its intention  "castle in the air", reduced to a bridge.

The M4 relief road may be a bit more  realistic , the intention to undermine the Senedd and build the relief road whether we need it  or want it.

Its a kin to your neighbour saying.

"I've bought you a gazebo for your garden"

"But I don't want a gazebo at the moment it will take up to much space".

"Never mind that I've brought you a new gazebo, well when i say"bought" you are going to pay for it"

"What".

It will be interesting how "Welsh" Tory Senedd leader Paul Davies will spin this a manifesto , which makes promises  dependent on thier London masters decision will be somewhat controversial , though not unique.

Welsh Secatary snubbed by Home Secretary over Penally camp.

Earlier this week John Dixon over at at Borthglas saved me a fair bit of typing time with his piece on using in a military training camp to house asylum seekers.


For as John writes

"....I know Penally reasonably well (during three election campaigns, I reckon to have knocked just about every door in the village), and it is not well-served with facilities able to cope with a sudden unplanned increment in the population. On the other hand, the wider area does cope with a large seasonal increase in population every summer (with the obvious exception of 2020), so it should not be as large a problem as it’s been painted as long as it is properly planned and executed (a wholly unrealistic expectation of Patel and Johnson in itself, of course). I don’t know enough about the conditions at the camp to know whether they’re suitable for the purpose, but reports suggest that they really are not. The bigger question is whether it is, in any event, appropriate to treat people like “cattle in a holding pen” as Nicola Sturgeon put it in response to a suggestion that remote Scottish Islands were also on the list of possible sites for an offshore processing facility. She thinks not, and I entirely agree. It’s dehumanising and inhumane.

Whatever, even if the conditions and facilities were entirely suitable, I suspect that many of those objecting would still do so. And lest anyone think that I’m being unkind to the good citizens of Penally here, I believe that that statement would probably apply to any and every town and village across the UK; people will object to having refugees in their patch and would find other ‘valid reasons’ to oppose it. I’d like to believe that it’s not a majority view, but I have little choice but to accept that it’s the view of a substantial minority at the least. It’s easy enough to blame the politicians who have planted the idea that we should reject refugees (and I do blame them) or the tabloids for stoking anti-immigrant feelings (and, yes, I do blame them as well), but we cannot merely shrug off the fact that a substantial number of our fellow citizens harbour some very dark views when it comes to refugees. They are content, and in some cases even enthusiastic, to see refugees go without the basics, be sent ‘back’ without due process, be separated from society, be demonised, and even, as Sturgeon characterised it, ‘treated like cattle’. That doesn’t reflect well on any of us....."

It would be hypocritical for anyone who tales a sympathetic view on asylum seekers to to take a "Nimby" view  but as   Plaid Cymru's equalities spokeswoman, Leanne Wood, said a military camp was a "perverse" place for people who may have witnessed "the horrors of conflict".

"In meeting its moral duty to protect these individuals, the UK government should identify sites which are both safe and suitable to house them. At present, they seem to be failing on both fronts."

Still Penally looks a suoft option compared with  a Whitehall brainstorming session prompted by Priti Patel thatl ed to the idea being floated of sending asylum seekers to a volcanic island in the South Atlantic, the Guardian understands.

The Financial Times reported that the home secretary had asked officials to look into the idea of processing asylum seekers on Ascension Island, an isolated volcanic British territory, and on St Helena, which is part of the same island group but 800 miles away.

Nevertheless you would also expect the Home Sectary Home Secretary Priti Patel , to consult with the Welsh Senedd ro seek how best Wales could do its part in aiding these unfortunate people.

Mind you I don't think Ms Patel is the sharpest member of what already appears a pretty (no pun indented) mediocre cabinet.

Still she does work in that cabinet with the Welsh Secretary has said he was not informed by the UK government of plans to house asylum seekers in athe tary training camp which is also in his constituency .

Simon Hart said the Home Office "admitted" its plans to house up to 230 people at Penally, Pembrokeshire, "wasn't handled very well".

He said not "enough" respect had been shown to Welsh Government or the area.

The Home Office has previously said it had "worked at pace" to provide suitable accommodation.

Following demonstrations at the site, Wales' first minister said it had become a target for "hard-right extremist" protesters.

Men from Iraq and Iran housed at the camp said they were shocked by the conditions.

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement programme, Mr Hart said it was "not a satisfactory situation for anybody concerned".

Mr Hart, the MP for the Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, said he found out from Pembrokeshire council.

"I've taken it up with [Home Secretary] Priti Patel on three, if not four, occasions now, plus the immigration minister," he said.

"The policy I can understand, and I understand the difficulty with Covid and finding Covid-compliant accommodation.

"I understand the difficulties at the moment over transport and all the things which have led to this.

"But the fact is that we all discovered completely by accident because of some comments on Facebook. There was no official contact.

"The practical application of this particular saga wasn't handled particularly well and the Home Office have actually admitted that.

"Whether it would've made any difference to the final decision is debateable but it's not really the point.

"We shouldn't be discovering these things by accident and by the fact that somebody posted something on Facebook."

He also said there was an "ongoing conversation" between the police and the Home Office around extra funding to deal with policing.

If the Home Secretary can snub her equal in the Cabinet in such a way one wonders  how much say the whole cabinet have in the actions of the Home Secretary, having such a loose cannon in that position , especially such a draconian right winger  is a worrying issue.

Covid rules in Wales must be obeyed , by those entering it.

 Boris Johnson has rejection  a call by First Minister Mark Drakeford to ban people travelling from Covid hotspots in England to Wales is a appalling kick in the teet for Welsh First Minster  Mark Drakeford.

The BBC report that

People living in locked down areas of Wales can only leave with a "reasonable excuse" but there is no equivalent rule elsewhere in the UK.

It means people from locked down areas of England can holiday anywhere in Wales not under local restrictions.

However the prime minister said he did not want to introduce limits on travel.

"I don't want to impose travel restrictions within the UK generally," he said.

"We are all one country, people should exercise their common sense.

"They should follow the guidance. And that's what we're going to do."

Mr Drakeford told Members of the Senedd on Monday he had written to the prime minister urging him to impose a ban on non-essential travel in local lockdown areas in England, in the same way the Welsh Government has in Wales.

He said it was only "fair" to have the same rules on either side of the border.

"As we act to prevent people who live in hot spots in Wales from travelling to England, and taking the risk of the virus with them, so the prime minister ought to do the same to prevent people from English hot spots from travelling elsewhere because of the risk that that undoubtedly poses," he said.

While people are unable to go on holiday to any areas of Wales under local lockdown, many of the country's popular tourist attractions are in places where prevalence of the virus remains relatively low.

The argument simple   if Wales imposes restrictions and lockdowns then this should apply to people from outside the local area visiting that area no matter where they are fromj.

In an interview for Politics Wales, Mr Johnson said he heard Mr Drakeford's concerns "loud and clear" but dismissed imposing travel restrictions in the immediate future.

Mr Johnson said he was open to taking further measures in the future "if it's necessary".

"Of course we will look at that and I hear what Mark Drakeford is saying loud and clear," he said.

"But what we want to do is drive down the virus across the whole country, but particularly in the hot spot areas, and that's why we've put in the measures that we have.

"We do want to make sure people are responsible and I urge people who are coming from areas where there is a high rate of infectivity not to thoughtlessly go and risk spreading it.

"The most important thing is to drive the virus down across the whole country and that's what we are doing together."

Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts, had previously  pointed out that  the latest Welsh restrictions mean that those living in locked down areas of England – including parts of the north west,  the midlands and West Yorkshire – are permitted to travel through Wrexham, Flintshire, Conwy and/or Denbigshire into the non-locked down counties of Gwynedd or Anglesey.

While holidays do not qualify as a “reasonable excuse” in Wales, no equivalent rule applies in England, where residents continue to be allowed to go on holiday with people they live with.

Quizzed during Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, Boris Johnson accepted there were “seeming illogicalities” but offered no assurance that advice would be amended for the affected English areas.

Speaking in the Commons, Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts said:  “2.3 million people will not be able to travel in or out of Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire or Wrexham without good reason.

“Yet people in locked down areas of England can still visit rural Wales.

“Travelling from Betws-y-Coed to Beddgelert can land you with a fine. But Rochdale to Rhosneigr? No problem.

In response the Prime Minister said: “There are different measures in place but overall the UK is proceeding with the same approach and I’m very grateful to Mark Drakeford and everyone else in the Welsh Government for the way we’re working together to defeat the virus.

“Yes there will be some differences and some seeming illogicalities which are inevitable in tackling a pandemic, but I’m grateful for the cooperation she is giving.

This is not a case of  illogicalties , but a case of disrespect and  the UK Prime Minister attempting to enforce his authority over Mark Drakeford and  Wales.

It is clear that although the Welsh Government have taken a a different approach to the de facto "English" government in Westminster. the latter has constantly tried to impose its disastrous  policy on not  only Wales but Scotland and Northern Ireland.

if this crisis has taught us anything, it is that we can not deal with it  whilst having our hands tied by Westminster.

Naturally an Independent Wales competence to effectively depends on who we elect, but it does mean no more begging letters to the English Prime Minister , but communications hopefully cordial reminding him that his Citizens on entering Wales must obey welsh laws and rules.

Forcing on Cymru "Music we don't Like" and we pay for it.

This week MPs voted 340 to 256, majority 84, in favour of the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill at third reading, despite warnings that the “law-breaking” legislation threatens the Union and the country’s global reputation.

The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster addressed MPs in the Commons on Thursday to update the House on all matters Brexit and coronavirus-related. But when confronted by SNP MPs in the House on the strength of the Union, Michael Gove was forced to shut down all calls for an independent Scotland in a fiery outburst. SNP MP Tommy Sheppard (Edinburgh East) asked whether the Cabinet Office undertakes opinion polling in Scotland into attitudes towards the Union and if the Government would publish the research "since it is paid for by the taxpayer".

Responding, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said: "It is the case that Government does undertake research and that research reinforces to us the vital importance of serving every part of the United Kingdom effectively.

"The research that we undertake, for example, reveals that across the UK people believe that it's vitally important that governments work together in order to deal with the current COVID pandemic and I think it is important that the good co-operation we've recently enjoyed with the Scottish Government continues."

SNP MP David Linden (Glasgow East) asked how much money had been spent on the polling, adding that Mr Gove was behaving like a "slippery fish" in avoiding the question.

He said: "Given that all public polling shows that there's an increase in support for Scottish independence, isn't it correct that support for the Union is actually pretty weak at the moment and it's only a matter of time before Scotland becomes and independent country?"

But Mr Gove hit back: "Talking about fish, slippery or otherwise, one of the benefits of leaving the European Union is that we're taking back control of our territorial waters.

"And as a result, as the Scottish Government pointed out, it will be the case that there will be hundreds of thousands of new jobs and millions of pounds of investments in the north-east of Scotland as a result of leaving the European Union.

I leave it to you to judge just who is a Slippery  Fish but the whole power grab issue has brought back the argument of Quebec politician Jean-Martin Aussant .who sums the whole issue of  there thus.

"Imagine you have $50 to buy music you like. Your neighbour takes the $50, and promises to give you back $55 worth of tunes.
"What he doesn't tell you is that it's music you don't like -- and there are $25 in administrative fees," Aussant tells viewers. "So you started off with $50 and you ended up with $30 worth of music you don't even like.
"That's Canadian equalization. We need to face the facts: We'd be better off keeping our money and choosing our own music."

It's perhaps an argument that we should be putting forward in Wales, especially as it is clear that we could easily face another Tryweryn..

In 1960, a private bill sponsored by Liverpool City Council was brought before Parliament to develop a water reservoir in the Tryweryn Valley. The development would include the flooding of Capel Celyn. By obtaining authority via an Act of Parliament, Liverpool City Council would not require planning consent from the relevant Welsh local authorities and would also avoid a planning enquiry at Welsh level at which arguments against the proposal could be expressed. This, together with the fact that the village was one of the last Welsh-only speaking communities, ensured that the proposals became deeply controversial. Thirty-five out of thirty-six Welsh Members of Parliament (MPs) opposed the bill (the other did not vote), but in 1962 it was passed. The members of the community waged an eight-year effort, ultimately unsuccessful, to prevent the destruction of their homes.

Almost unanimous Welsh political opposition had failed to stop approval of the scheme, a fact that seemed to underline Plaid Cymru's argument that the Welsh national community was powerless.^[ At the subsequent General Election the party's support increased from 3.1% to 5.2%

Of perhaps greater significance, however, was the impetus the episode gave to Welsh devolution. The Council of Wales recommended the creation of a Welsh Office and Secretary of State for Wales early in 1957, a time when the governance of Wales on a national level was so demonstrably lacking in many people's eyes. By 1964 the Wilson Government gave effect to these proposals. 

However it took nearly 40 years for Wales to get its own legislature and in capitulating  over the power grab Mark Drayford  has opened the door for the Tories to build anything in Wales weather we want it or not.

S former Plaid Leader  Leanne Wood put it 

It's only a few months that the Assembly was renamed as the Senedd/ Parliament in order to give i a further semblance of authority.

At the same time Labour capitulated and will now Senedd Members and some Welsh MPs be jumping and screaming as the Tories bypass them and push projects that suit  and maybe England them and not Wales.

The only way out of this can only be Independence as Westminster will never stop taking our money and forcing on us "Music we don't Like".

a

Trump " True Stable Genius'" or Latent Fascist .

 Trump added that he has always denounced white supremacists, and that any form of crime, including that perpetuated by right-wing militias, concerned him.

President  Trump thas been pressed to explain his words from Tuesday night’s debate with Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden, during which moderator Chris Wallace had demanded Trump condemn “white supremacist and right-wing militia.”

“What do you want to call them? Give me a name! Give me a name! Go ahead! Who do you want me to condemn?” Trump said at the debate. When Biden jumped in with “Proud Boys,” Trump said, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”

Within minutes of the debate’s end, this was interpreted by the mainstream media an others as Trump somehow refusing to disavow white nationalists. 

Pressed to clarify his debate comment about Proud Boys, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday they need to get out of law enforcement’s way, and insisted he has always denounced white supremacists and vigilantism.

“I don’t know who the Proud Boys are,” Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House, before he flew out to Minnesota. “They have to stand down and let law enforcement do their work.”

"In late November 2018, it was reported the FBI had classified the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalism.^[Two weeks later, an FBI official briefing Clark County, Washington law enforcement officials on the group, denied that it was their intent to classify the entire group in this manner and ascribed the mistake to a misunderstanding. During the briefing, FBI agents suggested using websites for more information, including the SPLC resource. The official said that their intent was to characterize the possible threat from certain members of the group."

So either the President of the United States is lying (no news there , he hasn't been briefed on the Proud Boys  ot this  self styled " True Stable Genius'" is anything but one.

Wikipedia described  the Proud Boys as 

... a far-right neo-fascist^] male-only organization that promotes and engages in political violence.^{[10][11][12][13]} It is based in the United States and has a presence in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.^[14][15] The group was started as a joke in the far-right Taki's Magazine^[16] in 2016 by Vice Media co-founder and former commentator Gavin McInnes, taking its name from the song "Proud of Your Boy" from the Disney musical Aladdin.^[17][18] The Proud Boys emerged as part of the alt-right, but McInnes began distancing himself from the alt-right in early 2017, saying the alt-right's focus is race while his focus is what hThe Proud Boys is a far-right^{[1][2][3][4][5]} neo-fascist^[6][7][8][9] male-only organization that promotes and engages in political violence.^{[10][11][12][13]} It is based in the United States and has a presence in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.^[14][15] The group was started as a joke in the far-right Taki's Magazine^[ in 2016 by Vice Media co-founder and former commentator Gavin McInnes, taking its name from the song "Proud of Your Boy" from the Disney musical Aladdin.^[17][18] The Proud Boys emerged as part of the alt-right, but McInnes began distancing himself from the alt-right in early 2017, saying the alt-right's focus is race while his focus is what he defines as "Western values." This re-branding effort intensified after the Unite the Right rally.^[19][20]

The group believes men—especially white men—and Western culture are under siege; their views have elements of the white genocide conspiracy theory.^[21][22][23] Officially, the group rejects white supremacy, although members have participated in multiple racist events and events centered around anti-left violence, with a former member organizing the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville^] The organization glorifies violence^{[25][26][27][28]} and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has called it an "alt-right fight club."^[24][29][30]

In late November 2018, it was reported the FBI had classified the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalism.^[12][31] Two weeks later, an FBI official briefing Clark County, Washington law enforcement officials on the group, denied that it was their intent to classify the entire group in this manner and ascribed the mistake to a misunderstanding. During the briefing, FBI agents suggested using websites for more information, including the SPLC resource.The official said that their intent was to characterize the possible threat from certain members of the group.

The organization has been described as a hate group by NPR's The Takeaway and the SPLC^] In February 2019, despite having said that he broke his ties with the group in November 2018 McInnes filed a federal defamation suit against the SPLC over their "hate group" designation, saying that it was untrue and had damaged his career

The group believes men—especially white men—and Western culture are under siege; their views have elements of the white genocide conspiracy theory.^[] Officially, the group rejects white supremacy, although members have participated in multiple racist events and events centered around anti-left violence, with a former member organizing the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.^[The organization glorifies violence and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has called it an "alt-right fight club.

In late November 2018, it was reported the FBI had classified the Proud Boys as an extremist group with ties to white nationalism. Two weeks later, an FBI official briefing Clark County, Washington law enforcement officials on the group, denied that it was their intent to classify the entire group in this manner and ascribed the mistake to a misunderstanding. During the briefing, FBI agents suggested using websites for more information, including the SPLC resource. The official said that their intent was to characterize the possible threat from certain members of the group

The organization has been described as a hate group by NPR's The Takeaway^[34] and the SPLC In February 2019, despite having said that he broke his ties with the group in November 2018,^[36][37] McInnes filed a federal defamation suit against the SPLC over their "hate group" designation, saying that it was untrue and had damaged his career.^[    

For a President facing election to tell a fascist organisation   to  stand back and stand by.” indicates if he looses that election he will support  right wing militias  including "Proud Boys" to take to the strets to try and overturn  the result and attempting whilst still in the White House until the January inauguration to some how remain President .

It is not foe me to tell the people of the USA how to vote ,but if they vote for this Fascist  (and I am convinced he is one) , then their country will a World Pariah .

Unfortunately  this will not worry Trump suppoters.