Nick Bourne AM

A very useful meeting this week with Network Rail.  During the course of the meeting we discussed the possibility of re-opening stations that have closed and, indeed, of opening stations that haven’t existed before to ease commuter traffic and contribute to a reduction of the carbon footprint.  We also discussed the opening of new lines, again I think something that must be looked at very seriously given the massive growth of rail travel, which I believe will only increase further given the energy cost hikes and the very positive reasons that exist for taking public transport. 

 Very interestingly we talked at some length about the possibility of a high speed link from London to Cardiff and South Wales. It seems that such a link would deliver a journey from London to Cardiff in an hour.  50% of what it is now. This is something the Assembly government should be pursuing as there will be massive competition for the new high speed routes that are being offered, and already there is talk of Glasgow and the east coast to Edinburgh. 

James  Selkirk has sent me a copy of the Institute for Public Policy Research’s study into Barnett and the Politics of Public Expenditure just published.
We are reaching a point where just about everybody wants to change the Barnett formula, though admittedly for different reasons.  Some blame the Barnett formula for spending disparities within England – that, of course, is wrong headed since Barnett only covers distribution of public spending between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Not only is the Calman Commission in Scotland looking at the financial powers of the Scottish Parliament, but our own Commission on Finance, set up by Labour and Plaid, is now looking at the Barnett formula as it affects Wales.  These days the Barnett formula has few friends.  It is probably time to replace it with some updated needs based top up grant. 
No doubt, like the Institute of Public Policy Research’s paper, our own Commission will be looking at what happens elsewhere. In Australia, for example, the Grants Commission assesses claims made by the Australian states for support from central government.
In many countries, individual states or provinces collect some of their own revenue and this is then topped up from money from the centre.  This is what happens in Canada and Australia for example, as well as Belgium and Germany. 
Many people mistakenly think that the Barnett formula is a complex area, in fact the Barnett formula itself is gloriously simple, but finding a suitable alternative may not be so straight forward.  Local government rates were strongly disliked as a means of raising finance for local government, but finding an alternative, as many remember, was not so easy.

Along with millions of other people, I was horrified at the story of Majid Ahmed who had gained a place at Imperial College London to study medicine only to have it snatched away from him at the last minute. 

 Majid is from a poor background in Bradford.  He worked flat out to get decent A level grades, achieving 4 ‘A’ grades at A level to fulfil his dream to obtain a place at Imperial College London to study medicine.

 In his spare time he worked as a volunteer with disability charities, raising money for poor and disadvantaged children. 

 Majid told Imperial College he had a criminal conviction when he was 16, he had a bit part in a burglary and served a period of community service for four months.

 This conviction is, of course, spent for most purposes, but the College, ascending to heights of moral indignation, which frankly I find amazing, withdrew the offer stating that “Medical practitioners hold a position of responsibility in society and must often deal with vulnerable people.  The public must have confidence in the integrity ad probity of its doctors”. 

 I believe in second chances and this is scarcely a major crime on the criminal calendar, given his tender years and the community service sentence that he has since fulfilled, and given his exemplary good character. 

 To his credit his response to this set back has been to say he knows he will qualify as a doctor somehow, sometime.  Good for him and shame on Imperial College.

This week the National Health Service has reached the grand old age of 60.  It is an institution of which we are all rightly proud, and being younger than the health service I have known no other system than the National Health Service.

 The Health Minister in Wales has obviously spoken during the course of this anniversary week, giving her vision and her views on the health service.  The Health Minister is, in many ways, admirable.  She has positive qualities of decisiveness and clarity.  She is robust and she gives a clear sense of direction.  Where I differ from Edwina Hart is on our general outlook.  For all her talk of pragmatism and although she doesn’t micro-manage as much as her predecessors, Jane Hutt and Brian Gibbons, she does not seem content to give a broad sense of direction and set goals for the health service and then leave the experts to get on with the job. This is what I would do as I am convinced that the health service is best left to experts – the education service is similar but I will leave that for another day.

 I watched the Health Minister being interviewed last week.  She claimed to be pragmatic on the use of the private sector with public money in the provision of health care, but this isn’t borne out by the approach.  The approach is dogmatic, doctrinaire and ideological.  It is simply ruled out.  It is not possible to use the private sector in delivery of health care under the One Wales agreement drawn up between the Labour Party and Plaid Cymru. I think that this is a mistake.  It is far better to judge each case on its merits pragmatically.  There will be occasion to use the private sector to help bring down waiting lists or for some other purpose and this is to be welcomed because it helps the people of Wales.  There will be other instances where it is inappropriate, but that is what a pragmatic case by case approach to this question would make possible.  It is not the approach of the present government, indeed, it is ruled out in their terms of reference.

 Thus ends any possibility of painting the approach on health care as one that is pragmatic rather than ideologically driven. I think that that is a mistake for the government and for the Minister.

Not only has the weather been rather good for this Wimbledon, but so too has the play.  This has been exemplified particularly by the men’s final on Sunday. 

 The battle between the Williams’ sisters presented good tennis, even if it was kept off the front pages of most of the Sundays by a British success in the junior Wimbledon in the shape of Laura Robson, mature and able beyond her years. 

 It was the gladiatorial contest between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on Sunday that really captured the imagination however.  Here was the longest Wimbledon final ever, even allowing for the fact that in pre tie-break days, sets would have been longer, and surely this was the greatest final ever with some astonishing tennis and rallies of real quality.  Both players represent true champions and fulfilled the Olympic ideal of modesty in victory and magnanimity to an opponent.  It was a pleasure to watch such brilliant tennis and also good to see a new champion take his place in the pantheon of greats of Wimbledon.

A visit to the Centre for Alternative Technology just outside Machynlleth is always worth while and I always come away with some fresh information or some new insight.

 The people who founded the Centre a generation ago were, at the time, regarded as cranks or hippies at best, and at worst dangerous anarchists.  They were not. They were visionaries.

 Their thinking is now mainstream government policy around the world.

 They encourage the use of renewable energy.  They nurture and encourage the principles – reduce, reuse, recycle.  They provide a marvellous educational facility for schools and youngsters explaining the importance of home grown, fresh, local food and how to compost.  They explain to many people who visit the site how to use low carbon and carbon neutral materials in constructing houses. 

 I always come away inspired and renewed from such a visit. 

 I was astounded that BT, who have a phone box  site and which is part of an experiment using renewable energy via a solar panel is talking about closing the BT phone box at the Centre. If ever there were an insensitive and inappropriate move by a large organisation, this is surely it.  Here is the Centre for Alternative Technology seeking to demonstrate to people, and particularly to school children, the importance of renewable energy and of conserving our planet via an iconic emblem like a BT phone box, along comes BT and tries to close it. I have, needless to say, written to them objecting to this crass, insensitive move.

 In the meantime, the Centre for Alternative Technology goes on, attracting more visitors, spreading the message wider than before, and generally doing excellent work. It is something that we should all cherish and be proud of here in Britain and in Wales.

I go back a long way with Helen.  We both have campaign medals for serving on the National Assembly Advisory Group.  She is a congenial and pleasant colleague even if there is a deep political rift between us.
I have just had a meeting with Helen and Peter Black on the need for safety barriers along the walks by the river Tawe in Swansea.  The three of us are all agreed on the need for barriers and are working, along with our parties, to this end.  The meeting was prompted by the campaign of Malcolm and Charlotte Lucas following the tragic death of their son Craig. 

A very good day in the constituency.  First a visit to the Community Hospital at Machynlleth to talk about the Minor Injuries service there.  There has been concern that the Minor Injuries service is going to cease but I get reassurance from members of the Local Health Board and from staff at the hospital that discussions are going on with the Hywel Dda Trust and Bronglais to provide this service, and that if this fails it is likely that the local doctors practice will provide this service.  This is reassuring and it is also good to see the hospital vibrant and morale there very high. 
I then visit the Owain Glyndwr Parliament Building which should have much more of a historical, cultural and tourist focus than it does have. This is no fault of the people working there and when I speak to them they tell me that they are hoping to get a telephone soon.  I am staggered.  Has nothing changed here since 1461?   It does remind me of some of the museums that I saw soon after the Berlin Wall came down in the former Eastern block in terms of how the exhibitions are laid out.  Again, this is nothing to do with the dedication of the people there but this needs an injection of support from the Assembly Government and from Powys County Council so that we can really make this something that we can be proud of because of its historic significance.  Machynlleth was put forward quite seriously as a candidate for the seat of the Welsh Assembly because of its historic significance as the home of Owain Glyndwr, its Parliament and the fact that it was the ancient capital of Wales. Much more needs to be made of this.
I then visit the Tourist Information Centre in Machynlleth.  No signpost to this throughout the town which is pretty astonishing.  Once again the town is well served by the people working in the TIC just as it is by those working in the hospital and the Owain Glyndwr Centre. 
I leave both the Tourist Information Centre and the Parliament Building with the view of what Machynlleth could be as a tourist centre, particularly with its focus now on attracting people because of the eco dimension and the Alternative Technology Centre nearby.  This is an attractive town with a massive tourist potential.
From here to Tywyn to visit the hospital in Tywyn, which I do quite often, and am reassured that there are no pressing problems here.
After this back to Machynlleth to meet some constituents for lunch at the Wynnstay Hotel, and then on to Rhayader for a visit to the Royal British Legion home at Crosfield House which has been given a reprieve and has been the subject of much sustained and strong local campaigning.  I meet the Matron and we have a chat about the future and she is pretty upbeat about the whole thing, which is excellent.
After discussions with constituents at the home, I drive back down to Cardiff, arriving late evening. 
Having gone through the paperwork to do with visits and constituency queries during the course of the day, I switch on the television hoping to see some of today’s play in Wimbledon when a familiar face and an even more familiar voice hits me from the screen. It is Helen Mary Jones.  What on earth is she doing at Wimbledon.  I then realise that I am actually watching Newsnight and she is giving us all the benefit of her personal view on the issue of choice in the Welsh Health Service.  I linger long enough to hear her say that choice is not important in Wales because of the geography and deprivation.  I ponder if this is the same Helen Mary Jones who was keen to deny the people of North Wales a choice of having neuro surgery services in Liverpool which they wanted, a choice that was particularly important because of the geography of Wales as they didn’t want to have to travel to Swansea and Cardiff.
There is a gulf opening up between the Opposition and the Welsh Assembly Government, particularly on health.  The Welsh Assembly Government is deeply ideological and I don’t think this sits with the pragmatism of most people in their desire for first class services.  It strikes me that the parties in decline are always the parties that have a strong ideological perspective on the world.  It was like that in the 80s with the Labour Party,  and threatens to be so with the Conservative Party in the late 90s and early part of the 21^st Century.   Helen Mary Jones is brining it back into fashion!
I eventually find some play at Wimbledon and, with the aid of a beer from the fridge, endeavour to forget Helen Mary Jones’ view of choice in the Health Service so that it doesn’t mar what was, in every other way, a pretty perfect day.

The Ceredigion Coastal Path is now being officially opened.  I hope that this development in my home county is as successful for leisure and tourism as the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path has been for that area. 

 I know not everyone is in favour of this development but, properly executed, I think this could be a massive gain for Wales.  Also, as a keen walker, I will certainly be using the path and so should declare an interest!