 |
| Why are we are still waiting... |
Westminster’s failure to commit to the Swansea Bay Tidal lagoon and
the broken promise over electrification of the min line to Swansea from
Cardiff, while being disappointing are simply very visible symptoms of the
Westminster Parliament and most Westminster parliamentarians (with some honorable
exceptions) lack of concern for Wales and our national interests. Westminster
is simply not interested in making Wales thrive, or allowing Wales to become a world-beater
in the development of renewable energy technologies and to generate the
technologies and jobs that go with it.
As I have said previously I have long believed that Westminster
government’s regardless of their political hue, before and after devolution,
and before and after BREXIT, remain fundamentally indifferent to our needs, our
aspirations and our national interests.
The cancelation of the electrification of the Great Western line, from
Cardiff to Swansea should have come as no real surprise. I had long advocated
beginning the electrification process at the Swansea end of the line, something
that may well have made the cancellation more difficult.
The foot-dragging over the fate of the Swansea Tidal lagoon remains ominous,
but sadly it is to be expected from a Westminster system that remains hooked on
expensive subsidies to foreign owned and foreign constructed Nuclear power
stations. One reason for this is that it is perhaps easier for former energy
minsters to get better paid jobs post their involvement in politics, with
subsidy rich energy companies.
Interest in developing Tidal lagoons is not new; the concept has
been floated around in Wales since the late 1990’s. The problem that successive
private companies when faced with sluggish perhaps finely calculated
indifference from both government (at all levels) and the civil service have
moved on or lost interest.
Post BREXIT we need the Tidal lagoons more than ever, if Westminster
is serious about reducing the UK’s dependence on imported energy supplies from
unstable regions, run by brutal repressive regimes – then developing Tidal
lagoons could be a step towards real energy independence. Rather than
marshaling their lame tired old excuses as to why they cannot or won’t buy in
to the project, we need a commitment to secure power generation.
The devolution of powers relating to energy resource development to
Wales and a Welsh government that is not sleeping walking on the job is
necessity. Post BREXIT we need to step away from our low wage culture and to
develop a much more economically dynamic and sustainable Welsh economy. We are not going to get anything done with a
Labour in Wales government in Cardiff Bay that’s too busy looking after its own
personal and party political interests rather than our national interests.
