Nick Bourne AM

Today I received a letter from Dafydd Wigley concerning funding for the hospice movement. Dafydd has been a strong advocate of core funding for hospices and I am very sympathetic to his stance on this. Before budget negotiations broke up on Monday, there was a discussion about extra money for hospices and £2m is in the budget that has now been laid, and as this has cross Party support I am confident that that will at least remain and possibly be enhanced if extra money is available, certainly in future years. 

Mark Isherwood has done a lot of work organising the hospice lobby in the Assembly, together with a number of Welsh Conservative candidates from North Wales like Matt Wright and Antoinette Mackeson-Sandbach.  It was, of course, David Jones who brought this issue to great prominence in the Assembly in a short debate when he was a member here in the first Assembly.

The Chancellor’s pre-budget report announces more cash for Wales over the next four years, although not a great deal in the next year only £9m.  This does, however, provide some wriggle room for the First Minister and Sue Essex in terms of the budget.  We need to remember that extra money that has been announced at Westminster is for schools and there is also some money for universities, so clearly education has been signalled as an important area at Westminster.  

We are not obliged to follow that, but in view of the fact that the sticking point on the budget negotiations here has been on schools and universities, there is a happy coincidence here.  It seems to me that this is the best way forward thought ultimately, as I said before, my Party will vote against the budget that was laid by Sue Essex yesterday if it doesn’t accommodate the amendments that were passed by the Assembly last month as we feel strongly that there is a need for extra money to go to schools and extra money to go to universities to close the funding gap with England, or at least to start to. 

The opposition leaders together with Rhodri Morgan and Sue Essex have met several times over the last three or four weeks to try to hammer out a final budget deal and it seemed to me that we were making slow but inexorabable progress towards a deal that would satisfy  the opposition amendments and yet deliver Labour its budget. I was wrong. The meeting broke down on Monday night not in acrimony but with a seeming unbridgeable gap between us I am still not convinced that there is not a means out of the seeming impasse but time will tell.
Mike, Ieuan and I held a press conference today to explain our position and were asked the inevitable question. as to whether we would be prepared to take over if Rhodri Morgan walked.
This is certainly not sometyhing we are seeking but nor can we ignore the possible if not probable consequence of voting down the final budget, in those circumstances I believe we would have to be prepared to take over as a caretaker administration.
We live in interesting times.

I generally come over to Bath for Advent Sunday for carols at the Abbey. As the weather is fine I do the Bath Skyline walk which is promoted by the National Trust and is  about a  9 milles circuit with some truly brilliant views above Bath, the Abbey, the Royal Crescent and the Georgian terraces before going to the Abbey. It is muddy underfoot and deafening near the Dogs home but there are a load of walkers out.
The train from Cardiff was heaving so much so that by the time we got to Severn Tunnel Junction some people just cannot get on. There are literally hundreds of people standing all the way to Bath! Mental note to write to Great Western.

The Centre for Alternative Technology just outside Machynlleth was set up in the 1970s and is now along with Powys Castle one of the two most popular tourist destinations in Mid Wales.It is also a signoificant employer with over 100 employees which in this area is a massive number.

Its presence has also contributed to Mach becoming something of an eco town with a range of shops selling organic products and a thriving car share club. Most importantly it has helped thousands of schoolkids to understand more fully the importance of preserving the environment in which we live, adults too for that matter. Lavatories using rainwater, now becoming more and more standard in public buildings, have been part of the territory here for a long time.  Buildings heated by solar panels, yes the sun always shines in this part of the country! also around there is a section on recycling too. 

Work has started on the Welsh Institute of Sustainable Education which has been supported financially bt the Lottery, the Welsh Assembly Government and Europe amongst others. It looks to be a very worthwhile project and is set to be completed at the end of 2007.
The Centre has very close links with various universities including Aberystwyth and university College London and many research students visit the Centre. 

All those associated with the Centre like Peter Harper who showed me around are passionate about there environmrnt and speak with real commitment. I am sure they felt initially like missionaries but now their work is regarded as mainstream.
 

I was delighted that Jonathan Morgan was victor in the category AM of the year. Jonathan is an outstanding poilitician and a very effective spokesman on Health as well as a good friend.
I was also pleased at the lifetime award to Neil Kinnock presented by Lord Kenneth Morgan of Aberdyfi. Neil Kinnock has made an outstanding contribution to British politics . There is no argument about that and I think his speech denouncing Militant in Liverpool at the Labour Conference must rank as one of the finest political. speeches of recent times. On a personal note he is also a very generous and kind man. I well remember when a group of politicians from the Assembly  across political parties went out to Brussels and on the agenda was a meeting with Neol Kinnock as Commissioner. Amongst the group were several Labour politicians like Rhodri Morgan whom Neil knew very well. It would have been the easiest  thing in the world to spend the time talking to his political colleagues but he took a great deal of time and trouble to make sure that Jonathan Morgan and I were fully briefed and made to feel at home.

Today I visited Brecon Recycling to underline our commitment to improved recycling rates. The centre is well run by the Powell family and I met the terrific Gail Powell again today. The family. not only offer superb facilities for recycling a great range of materials but they also provide an educational experience for school kids.
 Then on to Aber for the students’ Christmas dinner. The branch is in good shape and a very good evening has been organised by the Chairman, Paul Rogers and his deputies Anna and  Brad. The youth wing of any political party is vital to its well- being and the Aber branch is stronger now than for many a year. It, no doubt, helps that Trefor Jones, the Assembly candidate for Ceredigion, is a former Aber student and was active in the Conservative Future just a few years ago.