Politics

EU the focus of Question Time

Published

9 years ago

June 22, 2016

Tom Sinclair

‘The opposition to Labour in
Wales’: Neil Hamilton

LOCAL ASSEMBLY member and UKIP’s leader in the Senedd Neil Hamilton appeared on BBC’s Question Time on Friday (Jun 2).

When asked by an audience member whether leaving the EU would increase her chances of getting on the property ladder or decrease them,

Mr Hamilton claimed that the principle driver for the increase in property values over recent years was ‘massive uncontrolled levels of immigration’.

“We’re adding to our population every single year, according to the Government’s official figures, a third of a million people. So we’re adding a city the size of Cardiff to the population of the UK every single year.

“If you increase the demand for property while supply remains largely constant, then prices are bound to increase.”

Mr Hamilton did acknowledge that there were other reasons for house prices being so high, including ‘restrictions on planning etc’ but said that it was ‘principally a population problem.’

However, Guardian columnist Owen Jones ‘strongly rejected’ the idea that immigration was a result of house price increases or the EU. “We let the Government off the hook when we blame foreigners for our government failing to build the houses we need,” he added.

Liz Truss recognised that there was ‘an issue’ with housing, and agreed that it was a UK Government policy issue.

Labour Out representative Frank Field MP said that he hoped no one would vote based on a George Osborne economic assertion.

In response to another question about housing and immigration, Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts managed a rather pointed dig at Mr Hamilton, AM for Mid and West Wales and Wiltshire resident.

“Speaking as the only person on the panel who lives in a house in Wales, I’d also like to note with some dismay that the only Welsh Assembly Member here kicked off on immigration, and that housing is actually a devolved matter and I would have expected some reference to that.”

She also suggested that immigration was not as much of a problem as migration, claiming that the factor of second homes was an issue, along with aging housing stock and a shortage of social housing.

In response to an audience member who asked whether it was true that no one knew what effect leaving the EU would have, given that no one had done it before, Ms Truss agreed. However, Mr Field, while agreeing that no one knew what the consequences would be, suggested that perhaps voters should take a more instinctive approach.

“I don’t believe that this reciting of facts, which no one knows whether they are true… on referendum day you are not going to make up your mind based on some politician giving you a whole series of facts,” he claimed.

“Our Very being has prepared us for this day, our history our backgrounds, our knowledge and we’ll be making a decision about the destiny of our country. And while of course we have to go through this poetry of politicians thinking they are important and boring you with programmes and facts… I don’t think sets of facts are going to help anyone do that.”

The questioner pointed out that no one was able to give any guarantees about the future, to which Owen Jones responded that workers’ rights were largely protected by the EU, and he further suggested that these rights ‘would burn on a bonfire lit by new Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnston.’

The panel was asked whether were they not in the EU, they would advocate joining, considering it was ‘corrupt and riddled with fraud. Ms Truss suggested that we had the best of both worlds at present, and a new country would struggle to negotiate such favourable terms.

One audience member said that we were not in a good position regarding Europe when ‘we have 28 unelected bureaucrats telling us how to run our country. It was also pointed out that any post-Brexit negotiations would involve the free movement of people.

Mr Hamilton said that unless we regained control of our borders we would not be able to control the flow of immigration.

However, Ms Saville Roberts said that the Labour Party had allowed immigration to become ‘a toxic subject’ and suggested that non-EU refugees from conflict zones made up a large proportion of inward migration.

Mr Field said that pressures had been put on wages and public services ‘since Labour opened the border in 2004.’ He also suggested that immigration had led to a million voters deserting the Labour Party for UKIP.

Mr Jones pointed out that many of the Vote Leave supporters who are referencing the NHS were ‘ideologically opposed’ to the existence of an NHS, quoting Mr Hamilton, who memorably described the NHS as ‘a more effective killing machine than The Taliban’.

The leadership of Jeremy Corbyn was, predictably, called into question, and it was asked whether he could be doing more to lead Labour in the Remain camp, given that 45% of Labour voters don’t know which side their party supports.

Mr Field suggested that a Leave vote would mean a change of Prime Minister, and suggested that the Labour Party had failed to show that it was ‘on the side of those who have the least in society.’

Neil Hamilton suggested that UKIP was currently the opposition to the Labour Party in Wales (ignoring the Welsh Conservatives) and, continuing his ‘unique’ approach to political metaphor, suggested that Plaid Cymru were ‘in bed with the Labour Party’.

In a debate which occasionally verged on the childish, Mr Hamilton also said that David Cameron was “a pretty pointless individual, he’s had about as much influence on events as a cork bobbing on the water, he just goes whichever way the tide goes.

“In a brief moment of candour after he became Tory leader, amazingly now 10 years ago, he let the cat out of the bag saying he was the ‘Heir to Blair’.

“I think the tragedy of David Cameron is that he doesn’t have many strong views on anything. I went into politics because I am motivated by strong beliefs.”

Mr Hamilton also gave a rather guarded argument when his troubled relationship with Nigel Farage was brought up: “I am as fond of him as he is of me,” he stated.

News

Pembrokeshire County Council group to review ‘climate emergency’

Published

11 hours ago

July 20, 2025

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

A CALL for a group to review Pembrokeshire County Council’s decision to declare a climate emergency some six years ago has been backed by councillors.

In May 2019, the council declare a climate emergency following a notice of motion by Cllr Joshua Beynon calling on the authority to back the global consensus that climate change poses a risk to the well-being of future generations.

He had urged county councillors to back a motion to take “bold, decisive action” to fight “truly, catastrophic” climate change.

He called on the council to commit to becoming a zero-carbon local authority by 2030.

At the July meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, a notice of motion by Cllr Mike Stoddart called for the establishment of a working group to review the decision made by the council to declare a climate change emergency.

Cllr Stoddart’s motion said: “Given the turbulence on the global financial markets; the parlous state of the UK’s public finances; Pembrokeshire County Council’s projected funding gap; and the government’s softening of its policies on the switch to EV vehicles and heat pumps, this council establishes a seven person, politically balanced working group to review the authority’s decision to declare a climate emergency at its meeting on May 9, 2019.

“The working group will be asked to: (a) examine the effect of the emergency declaration on the level of council tax in Pembrokeshire and particularly the extent to which any such increases militate against the authority’s anti-poverty policies.

“(b) The cost of decarbonising the council’s housing stock and the effect this has had on the authority’s ability to finance the building of new housing.

“(c) The extent to which the council’s decarbonisation programme has contributed to a reduction of the risk of runaway global temperature increases, and (d) any other effects that the working group considers may have adversely impacted the wellbeing of the residents of Pembrokeshire.”

Cllr Stoddart’s notice of motion was previously supported at the June meeting of the council’s corporate overview and scrutiny committee, with a recommendation to full council in July meeting, to reinstate the Net Zero Working Group to review the contents of the notice of motion and, subject to the outcome of this review, review the future delivery of the Net Zero Action Plan.

Cllr Stoddart’s call was backed by Cllr Steve Alderman, and Cllr Rhys Jordan, who said: “I fully support this, it couldn’t come sooner; around England and Wales councils are looking at this, there’s been a huge push for a ‘net zero’ agenda at any cost, I don’t think we’re in a position to drive that.”

Cllr Aaron Carey said: “We’ve set ourselves some lofty goals, but we haven’t got the money to back it up.”

Members overwhelmingly agreed to back the June committee recommendations.

Climate

Newgale road scheme proposal report expected by autumn

Published

15 hours ago

July 20, 2025

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

A FULL report on Pembrokeshire council proposals for a £40m-plus road realignment scheme at flood-hit Newgale before a formal planning application is made is expected to be completed by the autumn.

Newgale was hit hard by flooding following storms in early 2014 storms, and later by Storm Dennis in 2020.

In 2014 it even saw a visit by the-then Prime Minister David Cameron following the storms.

A public consultation – through agent AtkinsRéalis – was launched earlier this year ahead of a formal council application to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park for Phase 1 of the Newgale Coastal Adaptation Project, which would see the development of a new inland section of road with bridge over Brandy Brook some 2.3km inland, to replace the coastal section of A487 at Newgale that will be closed.

Varied claims have been made about the cost of this scheme, from £20m upwards, some even saying it could cost as much as £60m, with millions spent on consultation fees to date.

An alternative, cheaper, scheme has been proposed by STUN – Stand Up for Newgale, proposing a section of the shingle bank at Newgale be realigned 10-12 metres seaward leaving an over-wash barrier between it and the A487 to capture any pebbles and sea water.

In a question, on behalf of Solva Community Council, heard at the July 17 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, community council chair Gareth Chapman said STUN’s proposal “appears to be an under £1m proposal with up to 85 years’ lifespan compared to the conservative £40m-plus estimate for the PCC proposal”.

The question added: “PCC’s proposal is to counter for road closures that rarely happen and, even then, require little expense to restore the pebble bank. It should also be remembered that on several occasions, flooding at Newgale occurs because the river outlet is blocked preventing water from the valley escaping and not as a result of a high tide or storm.

“It is acknowledged that climate change and coastal issues at Newgale may eventually in many years force a change in the highway arrangements at Newgale but it is felt that all efforts should be made to retain the character of the village and iconic views for as long as possible.”

It also asked for the council to “commit to thoroughly examining the alternative proposal,” and to “fully take on board the overwhelming public opinion regarding the future of Newgale”.

Responding, Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services Cllr Rhys Sinnett said a full presentation had been given to the local community council earlier this month, adding a number of options had been considered in 2016 and 2017 which were “ruled out at that stage for a number of reasons” prior to the scheme now mooted.

He told members the council had undertaken “extensive consultation which has all fed into the development of the scheme,” with a full report expected before the autumn prior to a formal planning application.

“Any coastal protection scheme, we believe, would be a multi-million-pound scheme, certainly in excess of the £1m from STUN,” said Cllr Sinnett, adding those proposals would “only delay the issue for a short period of time, if at all.”

He told members a response to the STUN proposals would be included as part of the full pre-application consultation responses, with council representatives agreeing to meet with STUN.

Cymraeg

Call for more support for rural areas of Pembrokeshire

Published

15 hours ago

July 20, 2025

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

A CALL to protect Pembrokeshire rural communities, “to ensure no part of our county is forgotten”, was heard by councillors.

At the July 17 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, members heard a notice of motion submitted by Cllr Delme Harries, Bro Gwuan county councillor and vice-chair of council, calling for a working group for supporting rural areas.

Cllr Harries’ motion said: “It is increasingly evident that while significant effort and investment has been directed toward revitalising our towns, many of our rural areas are being left behind.

“These communities are the backbone of our agricultural economy, custodians of our landscape, and home to vital heritage and culture and the Welsh language. It is time we restore balance and give our rural communities the attention, voice, and opportunities they deserve.

“To ensure that no part of our county is forgotten, I propose that we establish a dedicated cross-chamber working party focused on reigniting our rural areas — supporting rural enterprise, connectivity, housing, access to essential services and how we can help young people to live and work locally.”

Members agreed the notice be sent to the council’s services overview and scrutiny committee for discussion, the call potentially returning to a future meeting.