Nick Bourne AM

In another life I used to visit the Far East, particularly Malaysia, on a regular basis promoting British degrees and British education.  On one memorable tour of Sabah and Sarawak, everyday a different town, I was on the same plane and staying in the same hotels as the Malaysian pop singer Datuk Sheikh (or Shake as it became in the anglicised version). A popular Malaysian singer, it ensured that wherever we went by plane and, indeed, at every hotel there were hordes of Malaysian pop fans for Datuk’s concerts – the seminars on British Law degrees weren’t badly attended either!

 
Whether we were in Sibu, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu or Sandakan, the response was the same.  All towns looked the same to me as Simon and Garfunkel memorably said in ‘Homeward Bound’.

 
The local government campaign has provided a strange echo of that tour of East Malaysia because everywhere I went the response on the doorstep was the same and on the same issue – hostility to the government of the day on the withdrawal of the 10p tax band and more broadly on handling of the economy. 

 
Other issues were mentioned but they tended to be the local planning application for housing or the state of the pavements or the roads, but there was a crushing uniformity about the hostility to the government, to the Labour Party and to the Prime Minister, whether it was from Flintshire, Ceredigion, Powys, Swansea, Cardiff, the Vale or Newport. People thought it was time for a change and that the Labour Party had lost touch with the voters. 

 
 This was reflected in the results and, of course, not just in Wales but in England, and dramatically in London too.

Over the last week the position of powers for the National Assembly has loomed large.

 
Barry Morgan, the Archbishop of Wales, whom I greatly respect and like, has entered into the fray.  I must say I do share the views of some that Barry is possibly overstepping the mark in speaking as Archbishop on these issues. Clearly he can have a view but it shouldn’t be a view from the pulpit as it were.

 
That said, I do tend to agree with his analysis that the position that we have got at the moment is untenable. It may not be a constitutional mess but Wales is being treated as if it isn’t to be trusted with these extra powers as if we are some far flung colony that can’t be allowed to put forward our own measure on recycling or mental health or whatever the topic is.  The present process is a very time consuming one and I think that sooner or later we are going to have to come back to the basic choice offered by the Richard Commission.

 
I strongly suspect, as time goes on and the polls seem to bear this out, it will be an incoming Conservative government that has to sort out the constitutional future of Wales and the ‘English question’.

How quickly a year goes. A year ago we were in the midst of the National Assembly campaign with some fantastic weather. It has been much more like traditional April weather this month, although with some good weather.

I have been campaigning throughout Wales – Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy, Wrexham, Ceredigion, Powys, Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, Swansea, Newport and Monmouth – to name but a few.

Reception is pretty favourable and there is a combination of local issues often Post Offices, the state of the roads, environmental services and waste collections featuring strongly, together, of course, with the national backdrop of the worsening economic situation and particularly the withdrawal of the 10p tax band.

In North Wales I was also able to visit Nightingale House in Wrexham to see the excellent work that is being done there. Hospices provide a fantastic service up and down Wales and the voluntary sector and hospice movement need to be brought in mainstream in the provision of health services and need to be involved in shaping them, and we need to ensure a sound financial footing for hospices as well with appropriate financial support.

I believe the Minister recognises this and she is certainly very open in listening to representations on this issue. Viv Sugar, meanwhile, is conducting a review of this important and crucial area of provision.

Whilst campaigning last night, I bumped into Vaughan Gething, my local Labour Councillor, while I was on the campaign trail with our candidate in Butetown. We are now sporting our new rosettes which are partly blue and partly green, reflecting the environmental emphasis that the Party is now placing on policy development and the challenges that we face as a country.

 
Last week I was very privileged to be present at the Memorial Service for Sir John Harvey Jones in Hereford Cathedral.  As was to be expected, it was extremely well attended.
 

I was reminded before setting off by colleagues that there was a request to wear jazzy, flashy ties rather than a sober tie for the occasion. No sign of Peter Black to lend me one – where is he when you need him!
The addresses from former colleagues and friends for Sir John in the Cathedral were very effective in conjuring up Sir John the man - irreverent, always full of good humour, indefatigable, charming and with a totally ‘can do’ philosophy.
He was really a one off and will be massively missed.

How quickly a year goes.  A year ago we were in the midst of the National Assembly campaign with some fantastic weather.  It has been much more like traditional April weather this month, although with some good weather.
I have been campaigning throughout Wales – Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy, Wrexham, Ceredigion, Powys, Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, Swansea, Newport and Monmouth – to name but a few. 
Reception is pretty favourable and there is a combination of local issues often Post Offices, the state of the roads, environmental services and waste collections featuring strongly, together, of course, with the national backdrop of the worsening economic situation and particularly the withdrawal of the 10p tax band. 
In North Wales I was also able to visit Nightingale House in Wrexham to see the excellent work that is being done there. Hospices provide a fantastic service up and down Wales and the voluntary sector and hospice movement need to be brought in mainstream in the provision of health services and need to be involved in shaping them, and we need to ensure a sound financial footing for hospices as well with appropriate financial support.
I believe the Minister recognises this and she is certainly very open in listening to representations on this issue.  Viv Sugar, meanwhile, is conducting a review of this important and crucial area of provision.
Whilst campaigning last night, I bumped into Vaughan Gething, my local Labour Councillor, while I was on the campaign trail with our candidate in Butetown.  We are now sporting our new rosettes which are partly blue and partly green, reflecting the environmental emphasis that the Party is now placing on policy development and the challenges that we face as a country. 

I see that the BNP has been producing a ‘video nasty’ – at least a video with a nasty message, which they have tried to disguise by using Katherine Jenkins in a Welsh rugby shirt to suggest that their message is somehow endorsed by Katherine Jenkins. Clearly it is not and this unauthorised use will be the subject of legal proceedings. 

We must be ever vigilant to try to defeat the BNP at the ballot box with their message of hatred. 

The Welsh Conservative local government launch, back at Sophia Gardens where just over a year ago we had a highly successful party conference in our test ground facilities. 

The sun was shining again today, both metaphorically and actually – it was a good launch, we were able to set out our policies for promoting lower Council Tax and value for money, encouraging recycling, safeguarding communities against Post Office closures and seeking to build more affordable housing. 

After the launch I accompanied Cheryl back to the house of her birth in Western Avenue, Llandaf. A couple of householders were taken aback in the middle of renovations as the Shadow Secretary proceeded to review the house of her childhood and with excited exclamation of recognising many features of the house still intact.  It was a moving moment! 

I am extremely glad that Conservatives in Westminster are hoping to put controversial plans to close 2,500 post offices to a vote in Parliament.

 
Westminster Conservatives will use an opposition debate in the Commons to highlight protests against the closures which have led to legal challenges to keep them open.

 
I recently met with officials of the Post Office to discuss closures and service variations planned for the post office network in Powys and let us not beat around the bush – Post Office Ltd are merely pawns of the Labour Government (who are the only shareholders)
In pressing ahead with this devastating closure programme UK Government Ministers have ignored the important social dimension post offices bring to community life.

 
Many post offices are facing closure in my own area of Mid and West Wales. This is completely unacceptable – Post Office closures have a huge impact when taken in a rural context and I will be fighting these closure plans.

 
While mobile services are not ideal at least there will be something in place, and having visited a mobile Post Office I can confirm that the range of services they provide is considerable. We need to all keep a watching brief on these mobile services though – I do not want to see them as a first step to permanent closure (which many of my constituents expect)

 
All of these closures and service variations affect our communities.  They will hit pensioners, the disabled and mothers with young families the hardest and I will fight for the retention of these valuable services.  I have already spoken to some of the Post Office Managers affected.

 
We need to be doing much more from Westminster, Welsh Assembly Government and local government level to encourage services and initiatives which could do more to utilise the facilities of post offices.

Late last week I had a detailed briefing from Huw Roberts and the Post Office team about the closures that are scheduled for Brecon & Radnorshire, Ceredigion and Montgomeryshire.  I don’t blame the Post Office for the closure programme which is clearly motivated and inspired by the government who hold all the shares in the Post Office, but I am really concerned about the effect of some of the closures that are being proposed.

 
What hasn’t happened yet is a recognition by the government (or indeed any previous government) of the undoubted social function of the Post Office.  This needs to be built in to the system so that closures do not just happen on economic grounds.  They serve many people who are old and vulnerable, and you just cannot put a price on something like that. 
That said, and although I will, of course, be opposing Post Office closures, where a Post Office is closing and a mobile service is provided this is certainly better than nothing. Indeed, I visited a mobile Post Office that was parked outside the Assembly building when the consultation was going on, and a full range of services are offered with a mobile service and they do visit at regular times, so whilst not ideal it is certainly better than nothing and credit to the Post Office for at least introducing that as a possibility.

 
This is such an important issue that I wanted to set out what I am proposing in relation to each of the three constituencies of Mid Wales in terms of campaigning to retain the services.

 
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