No Business Like Show Business

I am indebted to Gruff Meredith of Sovereign Wales for forwarding me a letter he received from the ‘Welsh’ Government. (Below right, click to enlarge.) A letter signed by Carl Sargeant, ‘Minister for Housing and Regeneration’, and addressed to William Powell, the Lib Dem chairman of the Assembly Petitions Committee. It relates to a petition submitted by Gruff asking the ‘Welsh’ Government to introduce a deposit loan scheme for local first-time buyers, which would of course necessitate local occupancy regulations.Sargeant letter

There is nothing revolutionary about local occupancy schemes, such schemes already operate in, among other areas, the Peak District and North York Moors National Parks in England. (Click on images below to enlarge.) The wider problem here is of course one I’ve dealt with many times before – the difficulty Welsh people experience in buying a home in rural and coastal areas suffering from coloniotourism and the resultant colonisation.

You’ll notice that I’ve highlighted two sections. The first refers to ” . . . an under-supply of properties across the UK”. But should this be the concern of a ‘Welsh’ Minister, whose role is restricted to Wales? It can only be of relevance if Wales is tied in to an Englandandwales planning and housing system with Wales being used to help meet England’s demand for housing. Which of course it is, as I have pointed out many times. For not only is the Planning Inspectorate an agency of the Department for Communities and Local Government in London but other civil servants based in Wales answer to this and other UK government departments. We can be ‘bet-your-house-on-it’ certain that the civil servant who wrote this letter for Sargeant to sign answers to London. Which of course, makes Sargeant an expensive irrelevance . . . as are the others down Cardiff docks, all of them mouthpieces for scriptwriters up in London and their stage managers in Wales.

Peak Districy local occupancyLocal occupancy North York Moors

 

 

 

But you mustn’t think that this ‘make-it-as-difficult-as-possible-for-the-Welsh’ system applies only to the open or private housing market, for it also extends to social housing. This was made clear to me just before Christmas 2010 in an e-mail from Nick Bennett, then chief executive of Community Housing Cymru, who wrote: “There are over two million people on waiting lists for social housing . . . “. Not in Wales, matey! Bennett is a former business associate of recently-resigned minister, Alun Davies, and is now Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. (Click here and scroll down for more information.) This explains why housing associations – sucking up Welsh public funding in order to provide work for English companies – either build more housing than is locally needed, or else allocate properties to English undesirables while locals are left on waiting lists. (Click here and scroll down to the section, ‘Cartrtefi Cymunedol Gwynedd’.)

The second passage I’ve highlighted in the letter signed by Sargeant reads: ” . . . however I would be very keen to hear his (Gruff Meredith’s) views on housing supply and barriers to development in Wales”. What ‘barriers to development’! There are none. Is this an attempt at humour, even sarcasm?

To sum up, local occupancy clauses could easily be introduced, as they have been in many parts of England, but the ‘Welsh’ Government refuses to do so, which means that the ‘Welsh’ Government is refusing to serve the best interests of the people it is elected to represent. Though when we remember that Wales is actually run, via civil servants, from London, then this refusal to help Welsh people have homes in their own country is easily explained by ‘London’ wishing to facilitate further English colonisation.

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The overarching issue here, and on which I have regularly written, is that no matter what those mummers down Cardiff docks may like to think of themselves, and despite the image projected to a gullible public, they are powerless, because devolution is a sham, real power still rests with London, just as it did pre-1999. There are examples a-plenty.

Having mentioned Alun Davies, let’s take a look at this video (F/F to 2:04) of a presentation he made before losing his job as ‘Minister for Agriculture’. The background is that someone in London decided to transfer 15% of EU agricultural funding allocated to Wales from Pillar 1, which goes to Welsh farmers, to Pillar 2, which will be spent on the vague and all-encompassing description of “rural development projects”. Which in practice means it will be allocated to Greens, hippies and other pushy colonists to fund ludicrous ‘projects’ that will be little more than non-jobs for those involved. Basically, the Third Sector goes rural. As I say, the sap who had to deliver London’s decision was Alun Davies. Note in the video how he is flanked by two English civil servants, there to make sure he doesn’t fluff his lines or deviate from the script, reminiscent of a Stalin show trial. This is one of the saddest cameos from the era of phoney devolution.

Or how about the M4 relief road? It seems that a carefully-orchestrated clamour arose demanding a new £1bn motorway around Newport, but how was it to be funded? Answer: the London Government would allow its provincial repertory company to borrow the money. To translate . . . the Old Etonians in London told Carwyn Jones he could borrow a billion pounds from their chums in the City of London on condition he gives out construction contracts to major donors to the Conservative Party for a project that, when completed, will faciliate the easier flow of English goods into the richest corner of Wales. In fact, on a visit to London, and in a bout of uncharacteristic extemporaneity Jones had told his scriptwriters that if he wasn’t allowed to get Wales into debt . . . well, he wouldn’t go up to Scotland to line up with the Nazi-Loyalists and others. And lo, it came to pass . . .

M4-relief-road2

The one given credit for overseeing the process and approving the £1bn ‘black’ route is Edwina Hart who, in the current line-up, plays the Minister for Economy, Science and Transport, a role for a mature and rounded character actor. Though odd, in a way, that a country with little in the way of economy, science or transport should need such a part at all. But there you are, this is showbiz not real politics. Hart is said to be reluctant to give live interviews, or to defend her decisions, but chwarae teg, that’s asking her to explain what she had no part in deciding. Making it perfectly understandable why she should choose to emulate the great Garbo. (In fact, the rest of the cast could do a lot worse than follow her example when off-stage.)

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Having begun this piece with Carl Sargeant it’s only fair to bring down the curtain with something else he put his name to in January this year. (For those with the stomach for it, the full, three-page letter can be found here.) In this letter Sargeant, who plays the ‘heavy’ in London’s Welsh provincial repertory company, tries to explain the relationship between the ‘Welsh’ Government and the Planning Inspectorate. It is the biggest load of bollocks I’ve read, and believe me, I’ve read some bollocks in my time. Despite that, it also very revealing.

Sargeant Planning Inspectorate

Many times I have read it argued that there are two Planning Inspectorates, one serving England, one serving Wales, with the latter having its own office in Cardiff and answering to ‘Welsh Ministers’. This letter makes it clear there is but one Planning Inspectorate, though we are asked to believe that it has been “. . . empowered by Welsh Ministers to take a range of decisions on their behalf”. But how can those with no power themselves empower others? What this really says is that for the purposes of the Planning Inspectorate Wales is part of England. To disguise this, and allow the troupe of players known as the ‘Welsh Ministers’ to retain some credibility, it allows them the fig leaf of pretending it has been empowered to operate in Wales by them. I also love the second sentence in the extracted paragraph, an encomium for the Planning Inspectorate . . . “openness and impartiality” be buggered!

To disguise the ugly reality that Wales is a colony of England we have a bunch of mouthpieces masquerading as the ‘Welsh Government’. Though they have no control over planning or housing in case they interfere with the colonisation programme. Nor are they allowed to control our natural resources or our economy lest this power be used to serve Welsh interests. Though, and perhaps significantly, they are allowed freedom in those areas London is reasonably confident they will screw up – education, health – so that they can then be held up to ridicule and used to warn English voters of the dangers of the Labour Party in government.

This system cannot be improved, it can only be swept away. And the sooner the better.

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dafis

one in the eye for the W’minster planners M4 Newport pet project – story today in a business news column –

http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/wales/126322-?utm_source=newport_gwent_newsletter&utm_medium=business_article&utm_campaign=newport_gwent_news_tracker

“Associated British Ports has expressed concerns over the ‘black route’, a proposed M4 relief road which it said would restrict the development of the Port of Newport.”

It goes on to say “If plans are approved, the ‘black route’ would involve constructing a bridge which would divide the North and South docks. ABP said this would have a “major” impact on the size of the vessels entering the port, which handles in excess of 1.5 million tonnes of cargo per year.”

Later it adds – “We are committed to investing in the Port of Newport, indeed more than £10m has been invested in the last 18 months alone, including a warehouse that will be constructed later this year, and are in the process of developing a 20-year Port Development Masterplan for the port. However, the current proposals for the M4 relief road represent a real threat to these plans.”

Evidently lots of thought went into this plot before it was floated, and the muppets down the Bay just picked it up & ran with it !!

dafis

On another show business related matter with a big budget……….

Just noticed this report in W Mail online and am a touch surprised by the alleged “job creation”.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/s4c-relocate-headquarters-carmarthen-after-7968727

it says………. “Carmarthenshire council leader Councillor Kevin Madge said the move would mean the creation of around 150 jobs and would be a “real boost” to the local economy ” …………

S4C HQ doesn’t employ that many any more, does it ?, and I suspect many of their current staff will just relocate/ commute along M4 ( on generous “transitional support” terms ). So was the guy overdoing the magic mushrooms again ?

Something that the paying public don’t know about ??

dafis

ah well, bit of a problem isn’t it ? trying to figure out some effective remedial actions without offending authority figures and their lackeys.

This lark of getting shot of budgets before year end, referred to earlier, is another bit of nonsense that’s gone on for ages, yet no politician/senior public servant has had the cojones to say “don’t spend, save it or reserve it cos we’ll need it for real some time soon !”. Instead every bleedin’ heart with a well written cover story ( in English, of course,) gets a “social investment” courtesy of self seeking politicians & officials.

dafis

Brychan’s report highlights yet another example of the madness that is swamping the country. In some ways funding this type of drivel is even more subversive than relocating disfunctional families from the Anglo conurbations, but the 2 together adds up to very deliberate policy of destruction of social, financial and moral fabric.

Brychan

The change funding change from pillar one (farmers) to pillar two (rural projects) has been a bonus for Ms Rachael Hertogs. She sold her house in Bristol and moved to Pembrokeshire and set herself up as a Reiki healer and conduct Doula blessings of ladies wombs.
http://www.rachaelhertogs.co.uk/
Here is her video..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTdkn0hDYmc
The song is about searching for ancestors. Maybe I can help Rachael. It’s Heswall, Merseyside. No prayer sticks or Doula involved. The latest venture is to set up a ‘red tent’ for ladies to relax at that difficult time of month, thus earning herself a rural business award.

treforus

That’s the problem with public funding. If you know how to play the system it can be like winning the lottery. Concentrate on an area where politicians are desperate to be seen to be “doing something” and have grant funds waiting to be spent. Leave it until close to the end of the accounting period. Returning an appropriation is failure not success (read Alan Clark’s diary at the dismay of his civil servants when his department came in under budget). At that stage any old rope has an excellent chance of being approved so long as the money is committed at the correct time. We can all see the results.

Brychan

Her land freehold is owned by Temple Druid Limited (09238932), which, along with a few other middle class English weirdo dropouts, Hertogs is a director incorporated as of 01/10/2014. The land in question is a parcel that was annexed from the Temple Druid Estate, Maenclochog. A trust has been set up for bidding under tier two and this land has recently received a grant from Natural Resources Wales to plant trees to increase the diversity. This includes the land where Hertogs engages her crwydro (video already linked to) which she calls ‘her land’. Capital investment in the company and affiliated trust (328159) appears to be about the same as her house in the St Pauls area of Bristol which was sold for £175,000. Total funding from the Welsh budget so far creamed is £139,244.50 (NRW). Perhaps Jac, you might want to pop in for a drumming and relaxation session in the roundhouse? The grant application stated “we aim to provide the opportunity for people to interact with the woodland environment through educational, recreational and skill based experiences.” Nice trees. Don’t be fooled by the wicca religo crap, that’s just the ‘showbusiness’ for getting funding for good lifer English colonists.

Brychan

The grant aid scheme for bio-diversity projects run by NRW is very difficult to get in the valleys. Whilst some schools with an acre or two of land have got a project up and running this has been only due to support from the council, and their tick box requirement. It’s a nightmare for genuine community groups, mainly due to planning issues. However, if an English good-lifer buys farmland in rural Wales and NRW get the chequebook out. An indigenous Welsh community group who buys a former coal tip in Nantymoel (or someone mentioned a slate tip in Nantlle) to turn into a nature reserve then you’re up against the planning system. It looks like trees, birds and bees are reserved for land where farmers are driven out of business while at the same time the former industrial land which would benefit the most from such ‘back to nature’ projects are reserved for landfill fiddles, F1 race tracks, zipwires in quarries, new motorways and power stations. While Elin Jones and Jill Evans are worried about upsetting the Yurt squatters on the Preseli there’s a million of votes up for grabs in the valleys (and elsewhere) if Plaid grasped the nettle and spoke out on issues such as this.

dafis

not surprising any more is it ? which is the great sadness, our collective inert stance unwilling to get stuck into some of these bastards and showing them that we do care about policies that dump “social waste” from English conurbations into adjacent ( or not so adjacent ) Welsh territory.

Choices ? a)You either make it a thoroughly unpleasant experience for the migrant who elects to continue the life style, or, b) invest time in persuading them that absorption into the local community requires some behaviour modification ( and language classes, which might help with the required behaviour modification) , or finally, c) set about making life difficult for the politicians who’s idea of service is to facilitate wholesale social change without giving a second thought for the native population and the pressures on existing social infrastructure.

Elsewhere someone said ……Labour is already, in panic, joining the rank of xenophobic and demagogic politicians by trying to outdo the right-wingers on welfare benefits restrictions for migrants. This despite the fact that official figures issued by this government show that EU migrants claim less benefits than UK born citizens while contributing to the economy with their taxes. ……And ignoring the right of EU citizens to work across EU borders and ignoring social security agreements. ……… That condition prevails in Wales yet when the migrants come from the other side of Offa’s Dyke they are transformed into some kind of preferred class, with all sorts of goodies laid on for them by the helpful political and 3rd sector social engineers. One of your recent correspondents has referred to this as a crude form of colonization, swamping native values, culture, indeed anything remotely Welsh, other than flags, mugs and sundry souvenirs, turning the “western territory” into a reservation for old codgers, unhealthy types, disfunctional wasters and other undesirables with the odd dash of fairly decent folk so that when challenged they can be wheeled out as evidence of good intentions.

Our 3rd rate politicians don’t acknowledge this grim reality because to do so would require them to ditch their loyalties to the City/Whitehall/Westminster axis and start working for the people they purport to represent. No chance !!