Nick Bourne AM

There has been a clear indication that the people of Wales want an easy to understand food-labelling system known commonly as the “traffic light” system. (Red being the least healthy – Green being the most). A website called “netmums” surveyed more than 17,000 parents and found 80% backed traffic lights, a clear indication.
 Sadly however the food industry seems to prefer giving percentage figures of guideline daily amounts (GDA) which are much more complicated and hard for children to understand.
 It seems quite obvious to me, on the one hand we have a system which is widely accepted by the public and easily understood and another that is complicated and dull. I hope supermarkets like Tesco will see sense and implement the traffic light scheme.

I was one of the 11,000 signatories to a petition calling on Tony Blair to make March 1^st a national holiday in Wales. My response from Tony Blair was less than satisfactory, with him stating yet again that there are “no current plans to change the arrangements”. 

I, alongside my Welsh Conservative colleagues have long been pressing for St David’s Day to be given official bank holiday status. But despite widespread support across Wales, including all political parties, the Labour Assembly Government has so far failed to persuade Westminster to bring forward the necessary legislation. 

On March 1^st, 2000, the Assembly voted unanimously to seek approval to make St David’s Day a bank holiday. The only barrier to making St David’s Day an official bank holiday appears to be the reluctance of the Labour Party. 

Rhodri Morgan claims to have a ‘special Labour relationship’ between Wales and Westminster. Perhaps this is one of those “clear red water” issues, Rhodri wants it, Blair won’t give it him. I will continue however to push for a St David’s Day to become a bank holiday. 

 This weekend Conservative Future held their annual dinner in the Marine Hotel ,Aberystwyth with Justine Greening ,the Member of Parliament for Putney, as their guest of honour. Justine had previously had engagements in Monmouth and Brecon and Radnorshire and a crowded programme and got the milk train back to London the next day.In 2005 Justine’s result in Putney as a Consevative gain had shown that the party was at least  and at last making some modest headway at Westminster.

She spoke very well about the interesting dying days and months of Tony Blair’s Prime Ministership and how things are shaping up at Westminster.

Also at the dinner was the CF chair for the UK, Mark Clarke,who is the candidate for the next door seat of Tooting. This is the seat which would  notionally give David Cameron a working majority in the next parliament. The seat is profiled in the Sunday Telegraph today. It has a population of 90,000 and is considerably larger in population terms than Welsh seats.The poll is interesting as a snapshot of opinion and confirms that the direction of travel is the right one but is not otherwise of any significance– or so politicians are accustomed to assert.

That last statement is  in fact another of those lines that politicians say but never quite believe ( the Western Mail is only read by people who have made their minds up and so doesn’t really matter is  another such ). I suspect just like the Sunday Telegraph’s Patrick Hennessy politicians of all parties have been analysing the poll ‘to death’. I am sure it will have been compulsory reading for the Brown campaign  but of great interest too for Reid, Johnson and Milliband supporters. It may well have put a spring in Cherie’s step and was interpreted as a call to arms by Michael Meacher ( misreading of the message in that last case!)Not since that Michael Portillo draft order has BT been on such a crucial standby for phonelines!

Last week it was Wales the sun-drenched paradise insulated from the effects of harsh worldwide consequences of climate change. This week we have been treated to some very loud noises off on the Westminster front from the very man who said he hoped that there would be no Westminster noises off.The highly personalised attack on David Cameron by Rhodri Morgan is certainly indicative of  a leader who has little positive to say.

Then we have Rhodri inferring that Labour  in Wales has no real connection with Labour at Westminster.The truth ,of course, is that the electorate are rightly not going to buy the line that ’ Labour in Wales is no relation to the business in London run by Tony Blair under the same name.As if to underline this connection Cherie Blair complete with entourage including nanny was out campaigning in Cardiff  this week and Tony was in Llandudno . And why not they are the same party after all? 

Then Rhodri goes negative again. Not only are we told we should vote for him because he has no real connection with Tony Blair  we are told we should vote Labour to stop any coalition containing the Welsh Conservatives. Now this really is undiluted nonsense, as the essence of democracy is choice and Rhodri Morgan is trying to assert that people have no choice but to re-elect his government.

The truth is that Labour has been in power for 10 years and waiting lists are longer, hospital services are under threat, there has been a botched revaluation of houses in Wales, a string of broken promises to the Welsh electorate, most unforgivably to disabled people, and a general feeling of decay and inertia in government — and that’s before looking at the disasters at Westminster, that Rhodri doesnt want us to think about. 

 What of some of the important issues we should be discussing:

 There is a desperate need to get modern medicines and treatments to patients who are often denied the most modern medicines and treatments, for example, for prostate cancer, for Parkinson’s disease, for Alzheimer’s and many other diseases and conditions.

There is a crying need to invest in affordable housing throughout Wales.

Welsh students should not have to pay top up fees in Wales and this was brought about in this Assembly by a Welsh Conservative motion supported by opposition parties in the teeth of Labour’s opposition.

We need to monitor in Wales on an annual basis what we are doing as a nation to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions.

We need to review the Welsh Language Act which has served us very well( it was after all Wyn Robert’s who piloted it through parliament), but time moves on and circumstances change.

We need to curb the power of over mighty supermarkets.

We need affordable child care and flexible working patterns especially for carers.

We need to promote Welsh food and protect our communities both urban and rural.

These are the challenges we face and it would be refreshing, novel and unexpected if the First Minister were to engage on discussion of these important issues facing our nation.

I suspect we may have a long wait.

I am extremely concerned to hear that school staff in Powys have not been checked by the Criminal Records Bureau. I am sure that all of my colleagues in the Assembly, regardless of party, would agree that everyone in contact with children should be screened.

The current weakness in the system seems to be located in Powys but I will be asking the Government to examine systems across Wales to ensure this is not happening elsewhere. I have already raised my concerns with Powys County Council.

    In a survey of 28 schools spread across all 22 Welsh education authorities, only 11 confirmed that they vet all adults who have access to children!!! There are 125 schools in Powys. Powys County Council is to issue a statement on how many employees have been overlooked, the BBC is currently reporting around 80.  I have raised this issue with Powys County Council and the Assembly Government. This really is another huge let down for the people of Powys and Wales. My constituency postbag is dominated by people from across Powys  and elsewhere complaining about NHS waiting lists, potential hospital closures, poor roads, unemployment, school closures and now this on top of all that!

Rhodri Morgan has constantly tried to keep Tony Blair at arm’s length when there is any talk about the Assembly elections. So I am understandably confused that he has just launched a highly personalised attack on David Cameron.

 This makes it quite clear that the writing is on the wall for Labour. It shows just how desperate they are when they have to resort to tactics such as this. Rhodri Morgan has absolutely nothing positive to say whatsoever! 

Labour’s election campaign already appears to be riddled with inconsistency. Rhodri Morgan has claimed that he doesn’t want ‘noises off’ from Westminster to overshadow the campaign in Wales, yet here we have a desperate attempt to do just that by you guessed it, Rhodri Morgan.

 Come May the 3^rd the options are clear, Rhodri Morgan and Tony Blair or a much needed change here in Wales. It does seem extraordinary to me just at a time when Rhodri Morgan is laying into David Cameron the Guardian publishes an  opinion poll which shows he would trounce Gordon Brown at Westminster.   

I was out and about in Brecon and Radnorshire yesterday. I started the day off visiting a fantastic Day Centre for pensioners in Rhayader, which really does make a difference to the lives of the pensioners in the immediate area. The Hafan Day Care Centre helps them with their laundry and it provides lunch as well as a safe and comfortable area for them to chat with friends. 

I spoke at length with many of the users the scheme which is funded by the good will of local people as well as some funds from Powys County. I will continue to push for additional funding for such schemes like these across Wales. If those running the scheme were able to concentrate on delivery not worrying about the financial future perhaps they could cater for more vulnerable people in the area. 

During the visit I had a chance to catch up with our superb Welsh Assembly candidate Suzy Davies. Suzy is a Welsh speaking local girl who has been working hard across the constituency for many months. 

I continued visiting post offices and other local businesses on my way across the constituency and I also dropped in on our Conservative Women’s Branch AGM which was extremely well attended. I’m pleased to say that everyone was up-beat about our future as a party and looking forward to tackling the challenges ahead. 

Finally Suzy and I met with Jim Paice MP, Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Jim joined us to address a meeting of local farmers in Brecon. He always addresses meetings with such passion for the farming industry and great honesty about the need to tackle the tough issues head on. 

We had an open and frank debate: I chaired the meeting alongside Suzy and Jim. What was terribly obvious is that our farming industry is really suffering from the effects of over regulation and a Government that simply does not care about the countryside. We may have disagreed about some issues but we all unanimously agreed that New Labour should be booted out and I very hope that Jim will become Agriculture Minister at Westminster. 

Across the UK 2,500 Post Offices are facing potential closure over the next two years. I have tirelessly opposed every post office closure in Mid and West Wales and more widely. 

I know from my constituency postbag that people in Mid and West Wales share my deep concerns at the potential impact of these branch closures on the day-to-day lives of local people, particularly the most vulnerable. 

The Conservatives are joining rallies up and down Wales, and indeed the UK, to oppose future closures and only today I joined our Brecon and Radnorshire Assembly candidate Suzy Davies to oppose one such potential closure in Pant y dwr. 

It may only be one small rural post office, which only opens every morning, but I have spoken to many local people who consider it to be “their” Post Office and see it as an integral part of their way of life and a way of meeting with friends and neighbours. 

Our Post Office network has been the envy of other countries and New Labour is systematically trying to destroy it. We need to protect our post offices before it is too late. I would ask everyone to think twice before going further afield - can you get what you’re looking for from your local post office?

  Today is the start of the Chinese Year of the Pig and Aberystwyth that most cosmopolitan of Welsh towns is festooned with Chinese lanterns. Not that we have traffic jams though. In China jams  will have been the order of the day as people in the cities go back to their villages and in Malaysia it will have been similar. I recall being  in Malaysia once for Chinese New Year and Kuala Lumpur was a ghost town, which is rare indeed.

The New Year in China coincides with some of the most unseasonably hot weather they have had for ages; an ever present reminder of the challenge of climate change. The combination of new green technology and sensible policies and personal and community inititiative should help us rise to this challenge. I see one sensible idea being floated today in the Observer  is dimmer type switches on street lights for quieter periods.

In Haverfordwest with our candidate, Paul Davies ,who is doing a great job and Brecon this weekend  I was pleased to get the message that Welsh Conservatives  will be  voting this time in the Assembly elections.I think that this reflects both the passage of time since the referendum and a total fed up to the back teethness with Labour in all its shapes and forms.

A visit  to the Brecon Museum is always worthwhile and on Saturday I went to see two very different exhibitions –on Hill farming and on  Brecon and bellringing– well worth seeing  both of them.

 Last night I hosted drinks for the Ceredigion Association. We have an excellent candidate  in Trefor Jones and it is good to see the association in good shape. Not sure how heads will be this morning but  the bottle bank is that much the richer and a walk in the Cambrian mountains is a great tonic.

  Law and order issues continue to dominate the political landscape and the media. The Guardian, for example, leads on a £350 million pound black hole in the prison plans just announced by John Reid as Home Secretary. The plain fact seems to be that while  the Home Secretary has obtained money for extra prison building he has not been given any resources to run them! In Britain, it seems to me, we have many people who are in prison who should not be there end many who are not in prison who should be inside. A national debate on this  whole issue of punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation drawing on the experience of other countries  is long overdue.

 In my own area, meanwhile , I learned yesterday that Dyfed-Powys police have appealed for help from  unpaid volunteers to monitor CCTV  images in Haverfordwest.

Now I am the first to encourage the ethos of involving the public in the maintenance of good law and order but this raises serious issues.I am sure that the vast bulk of volunteers will come forward for the right reasons but how can we be sure?

What about training for these volunteers? What about civil liberty issues as they spot their neighbours on CCTV?

I cannot help thinking that this  is a cash-strapped police force (and the Welsh forces are up against it because of a poor settlement from Gordon Brown ) having to see how they can make ends meet.  That is understandable but cannot be the right reason for going down this route.

 The most alarming news of late ,however, has been the spate of fatal shootings in South London– no easy answers here I am sure. It would be a mistake to think that the government can solve it alone although I am sure that there are measures that can be taken to contribute to a solution–measures  to encourage community provision and to help families, for example.