Politics
Pembrokeshire election hopefuls face off at college hustings

CANDIDATES for the new Westminster seat of Mid and South Pembrokeshire outlined why they should have your vote at an electoral hustings last week.
The joint Planed/Pure West Radio general election hustings was held at Pembrokeshire College on June 27, with six of the candidates for the Mid and South Pembrokeshire seat attending.
Those attending were: Alistair Cameron (Welsh Liberal Democrats); Stephen Crabb (Welsh Conservative); Stuart Marchant (Reform UK); Vusi Siphika (Independent); Cris Tomos (Plaid Cymru); and Henry Tufnell (Welsh Labour), with Hanna Andersen (Women’s Equality Party) and James Purchase (Green Party) unable to attend.
The candidates initially outlined why they should have your votes before a series of question and answer sessions.
Stephen Crabb said: “My promise at this election is the same as every single time I’ve been elected, to be the very best for Pembrokeshire.”
Vusi Siphika said: “It’s a real honour to be here as an independent to put myself forward; there is a choice, there is a word we’ve used, having a love for each other, not very often used in politics, it can be used for the betterment of people.”
Cris Tomos told members he was standing for “activism and localism”: “I’m a fifth-generation dairy farmer, it’s great to be part of a community; I’m standing for activism and localism, we can do great stuff, now is the time grasp these natural resources, starting from the grass roots upwards.”
Alistair Cameron, a county councillor, said: “As liberal Democrats we want to do a lot for job opportunities, particularly in floating offshore wind, and in social care, an enormous challenge for the county council at the moment.”
Reform’s Stuart Marchant said: “I think our best days lay ahead of us; there are so many opportunities in Pembrokeshire; it needs a member of parliament that will shout and scream and draw out the best of the community.”
Labour’s Henry Tufnell said: “It’s tough out there, there’s a cost-of-living crisis; next week we have a fantastic opportunity for change, I want Pembrokeshire to be at the forefront of that change.”
In a submitted statement, James Purchase said his party was “the only party talking about the climate crisis”.
A question about “the crisis in social care” as a “consequence of generational underfunding,” by the Rev Neil Hook, who later said the biggest crisis was around the elderly, but also included the vulnerable in society, was asked.
Alistair Cameron said: “The biggest challenge faced by the council is how to pay for it, and treat people with dignity. Pembrokeshire is an aging county, I think it’s beyond the county, it needs Welsh Government and UK Government support.”
Vusi Siphika, a carer himself, said: “I have been through every step of the crisis,” saying there was a need for “a radical approach”.
“We’re battling to ensure dignity, it’s on a wing and a prayer at the moment,” adding: “We have to fight tooth and nail for our elderly and give them back their dignity.”
Henry Tufnell said the Conservatives had “played fast and loose with public services,” adding: “We’re struggling with where the money comes because of what Liz Truss did; this is one of the greatest issues we face.”
Stephen Crabb reacted to Mr Tufnell’s comments: “It’s an enormous challenge, there’s threadbare social care and a lot of loneliness with people retiring here without family support.
“It trivialises the importance to say three months of Liz Truss led to these consequences, for decades the government in Cardiff has failed.
“Until we take party politics out of this, we can’t have a grown-up decision.”
Stuart Marchant said the system needs serious reform, adding: “It’s not fit for purpose”.
“What Reform would do is restructure a dedicated department, partially through tax reform, making things less bureaucratic, throwing money at a broken system will never work.”
Cris Tomos said there was a need for greater resources, with a reform of capital gains.
“The money is there but we’ve got to be brave to go after the money and care for our elderly people and give them a quality of life as they get older in Pembrokeshire.”
The candidates were also asked what they would do to address housing in rural areas, “other than just building social housing”.
Cris Tomos said Plaid would ensure there was a bill of rights, adding: “Everyone deserves a first home”.
Mr Marchant said: “I have the pleasure of renting a few homes around Carmarthenshire which are affordable, I try to keep the rents as low as possible.
“Developers need to be making full use of brownfield sites; we need to reform planning laws to allow people to build on brownfield sites.”
On a supplementary question on the issue of tourism vs local housing, he said: “Both are very important to Pembrokeshire; a lot of farms are diversifying to have a holiday home, I think that’s something we should be encouraging, tourism is very important to Pembrokeshire.”
He said there was “a balance to be had” over second homes and holiday homes.
Mr Crabb said: “Unfortunately we need to build more homes, there’s not normally like enough one and two-bed starter home in Pembrokeshire.”
He said there was a need for shared equity schemes and local covenants; with one of the major issue on housing the number of empty properties.
On a supplementary question on absentee landlord, he said he had “some sympathy” in closing down “second homes loopholes,” adding there were powers with local authorities to require landlord to keep properties in good order.
Vusi Siphika said: “The private sector has control; councils need to use the powers they have in planning law for the benefit of people.
“We can’t be in a society where house prices are rocketing.”
Henry Tufnell said: “It’s important to acknowledge there is a housing crisis.
“The second homes council tax and the 182 days rule, both of these are steps in the right direction; Broad Haven and Little Haven are both hollowed-out communities; it does really come down to supply, you need to build more affordable housing.
“It’s really positive the council is starting to build council housing again, really huge. Get that aspiration back, homelessness is not acceptable.”
Candidates were also quizzed on funding for green energy projects.
Vusi Siphika said there was a need for cross-party agreement to present a strong case to Westminster for renewables.
Cris Tomos said it was “vitally important” to address the issue, with an opportunity to devolve the crown estates in Wales, with revenue opportunities in Pembrokeshire.
Stuart Marchant said a cheaper option than renewables would be “small nuclear reactors built near cities around our country, adding: “We believe that is actually the right way to go, and funding jobs around our country; we don’t believe our children should pay for our mistakes and believe we should be nuclear.”
Alistair Cameron said off-shore green energy had “a massive potential for Pembrokeshire,” with a potential to power a third of the households in the UK, adding: “If it’s going to be successful it’s got to have the support of UK Government.”
Mr Tufnell said: “We need Pembrokeshire to be at the forefront of this.”
He said he would be “cheer-leading from the front” over green energy.
Mr Crabb said: “We don’t get many big individual opportunities like this, it’s a once in a 30-year opportunity; we’ve got to do everything we can to seize it with both hands.”
The general election is being held today, Thursday, July 4.
Politics
Plaid Cymru demand for ‘fair share’ from HS2 voted down

THE SENEDD rejected Plaid Cymru calls to demand HS2 be redesignated as an England-only project to unlock billions of pounds of consequential funding for Wales.
Senedd Members voted 42-12 against a Plaid Cymru motion on HS2, a high-speed railway from London to Birmingham, following a debate on March 12.
The project was classified as a Wales-and-England project in 2015 by David Cameron’s UK Government despite not an inch of track crossing the border.
As a consequence, no funding has come to Wales under the Barnett formula but Scotland and Northern Ireland have received a population share of HS2 spending.
Plaid Cymru has made the case for £4bn in compensation based on estimates of the total cost but the Welsh Government has quoted a £400m figure based on spending to date.
Peredur Owen Griffiths, the party’s shadow transport secretary in the Senedd, warned Welsh rail infrastructure has been systematically underfunded by the UK Government.

Calling for an end to “fundamental injustice”, he said: “Wales has received a fraction of the rail enhancement funding it is owed, our infrastructure has suffered from decades of neglect and the UK Government has failed to deliver the fair funding Wales needs.”
The Plaid Cymru politician pointed to an acknowledgment from Heidi Alexander, the UK transport secretary, that Wales has received low levels of funding historically.
“But this underfunding is not just historical, it is ongoing,” he warned. “Westminster, whether red or blue, continues to deny Wales the consequentials it is due.”
Mr Owen Griffiths raised concerns about reports that UK chancellor Rachel Reeves plans to freeze spending on major new rail projects until after the 2029 general election.
Pointing out that Welsh ministers previously called for £5bn in consequential funding, he told the Senedd: “Clearly, the people of Wales cannot trust this Labour party to stick to its word.”
Mr Owen Griffiths criticised the Welsh Government’s “delete-all” amendment, which was narrowly agreed, for “U-turning” on previous policy positions.
He said: “Now, when it truly matters, they have collective amnesia. What has changed? … The only thing that has changed is Labour’s willingness to stand up for Wales when they finally got the chance to do something about it.”
Peter Fox, the Tories’ shadow transport secretary, accused Labour of playing politics. “It must be embarrassing for Labour backbenchers, hence not many here,” he said.

Labour’s heckler-in-chief Lee Waters pointed out: “There’s nobody on your front bench.”
Mr Fox said: “Politicians in both Wales and England were calling for billions of pounds … but now Labour are in power in Westminster, their call is for just a meagre £400m.”
Labour backbencher Mick Antoniw pointed out that the previous Conservative UK Government could have designated HS2 as an England-only project.
Mr Fox, a former council leader, said the Tory Senedd group has stood against its own party on HS2 funding, adding: “It’s a kick in the teeth that you are turning your back.”
His Conservative colleague Gareth Davies warned of a “grotesque imbalance” between spending on rail in north Wales compared with the south of the country.
Labour’s Hefin David remarked: “The closer we get to an election, the poorer the standard of debate happens to be in this chamber. You would swear … that actually there’s been no progress whatsoever on rail in Wales which is manifestly not the case.”

Dr David pointed out that the newest trains in the whole of Europe now run on the Rhymney line through his Caerphilly constituency following an “incredible transformation”.
Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds said: “I feel these … debates are really the opposition parties putting down a motion and the Welsh Government saying ‘delete all’, and it feels like on this occasion just for the point of doing it and that depresses me beyond belief.”
Labour’s Alun Davies agreed, saying: “I don’t believe that’s the correct way of approaching these debates. We should look for consensus where possible – and that’s coming from me. We should look towards amending motions rather than deleting them.”
Wales’ transport secretary Ken Skates said the Welsh Government took ownership of the core valley lines and “transformed a liability into an asset”.

He told the Senedd: “And now that we have a Labour UK Government we will transform services across north Wales as well, increasing services by 50% next year.”
Mr Skates said a review of Network Rail processes will ensure Wales finally receives a fair share of all future rail infrastructure investment.
Business
‘We can’t carry on as we are’: NRW set to face ‘rough old 12 months’

NATURAL Resources Wales is not out of the woods after making £10m cuts, slashing 250 jobs and receiving a £19m loan to cover an unexpected tax bill, a committee heard.
Llŷr Gruffydd, who chairs the Senedd’s climate committee, warned Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has been in a constant state of evolution and flux for many, many years.
David Henshaw, who chairs the board, said: “We can’t carry on as we are,” with NRW having agreed a target of cutting £10.9m from its budget by April 1.
He told Senedd members NRW’s massively committed workforce has found the “case for change” process really tough, with 256 posts removed and vacancies unfilled.
But he stressed: “Our duty is to face the challenge and actually deal with it.”
Appearing before the committee for scrutiny of NRW’s 2023/24 annual report on March 12, Sir David warned: “It’s going to be a rough old 12 months or so.”
Ceri Davies, acting chief executive, described NRW as being at a pivotal point, with a renewed focus on climate and nature.

She told the committee NRW has been trying to focus more on areas where it is uniquely best placed to deliver such as flood risk, biodiversity, water quality and regulatory work.
“It’s with a heavy heart that we give up some things,” she said.
Ms Davies added that NRW implemented a recruitment freeze, to minimise redundancies as far as possible, which has impacted on current staff.
“But we’re coming out of that now,” she said. “We’re supporting our staff through that and … we will be very shortly releasing opportunities for us to reinvest and to take on new staff.”
The Conservatives’ Janet Finch-Saunders questioned why NRW has an interim chief executive and a chief executive, asking how long the situation will continue.
Sir David replied that chief executive Clare Pillman has been off sick, saying: “She’s on the road to recovery, I think, so that’s why Ceri has been wonderfully acting up for us.”
Ms Davies has been acting up in the £150,000-a-year role since at least November, according to board papers.
Asked about funding in 2025/26, finance director Rachael Cunningham said NRW will have a total forecast budget of £298.3m – representing an annual increase of about £32.5m.
Carolyn Thomas, who chairs the petitions committee, raised public concern about NRW’s plans for its Nant yr Arian, Coed y Brenin and Ynyslas visitor centres.
Her Labour colleague Julie Morgan said the visitor centres are “much more than just a cafe”.
Sir David stressed: “These forests and places are not being closed, let’s be clear … what’s been looked at is the closure of cafes and shops which cost about £1m a year.”
He added: “We weren’t doing massive business in these shops and cafes, they were a big lossmaker … given the challenges of the budget, we had to look very seriously at it.”
On a 6% cut to enforcement, Ms Davies explained NRW has instead prioritised prevention. “When we’re in the enforcement territory, the damage has already been done,” she said.
She told the committee NRW will continue to take action on significant offences as a deterrent, with a 30% increase in enforcement in 2023/24.
Pressed about the Welsh Government having to cover an estimated £19m tax bill for NRW due to off-payroll working, Sir David said a long list of public bodies face a similar situation.
“It’s an issue which has been very difficult for us,” said Sir David, a former chief executive at Liverpool Council. “And there are some questions we need to ask ourselves.”
He added: “Should we have been more aware earlier? Probably, yes. But actually would it have made much difference…? Probably not. We’ve made clear that in terms of employment now, we have none of the issues … so that’s been settled.”
Ms Cunningham declined to provide detail on the extent of liability accepted by NRW following February’s board meeting “because that’s in the hands of HMRC”.
Education
‘When you’re in a hole, stop digging’: Cardiff University urged to rethink cuts

CARDIFF University chiefs have been urged to “reflect and think again” about colossal cuts, with the local Senedd Member saying: “When you’re in a hole, stop digging”.
Jenny Rathbone warned Cardiff University has been engulfed in an existential crisis that could threaten the future of the biggest and best-resourced university in Wales.
In January, the university announced plans to cut 400 jobs and courses – including nursing, languages and music – as well as merge departments such as maths and computing.
Ms Rathbone, who represents Cardiff Central, said the university is home to Wales’ only planning school and the country clearly needs a pipeline of planners.
And, raising a 4,000-name open letter signed by mathematicians across the world, she pointed out that the university provides specialist teachers who are difficult to recruit.
Ms Rathbone asked: “Where then will the brilliant mathematicians of the future come from unless they have inspirational teachers?”

She added: “If we don’t have a modern foreign languages department … what impact will it have on … inward investment and selling Welsh goods and services to other countries?”
Leading a short debate on ensuring Wales has a thriving university sector, Ms Rathbone told the Senedd: “I accept that no change is not an option. Cardiff University is currently subsidising its day-to-day operations from its reserves to the tune of £31m a year.”
The former Islington councillor argued all universities are struggling with the UK Government “killing off the golden goose of higher fees for foreign students”.
Ms Rathbone said the university’s debt now stands at £321m, according to latest accounts.
She warned: “Clearly, this is not doing Cardiff’s reputation any good. And individual schools of excellence are horrified that they may be bundled into new colleges.”
She told Senedd Members: “I’ve spoken to a wide range of Cardiff academics and I’ve yet to find any support for the university’s academic future proposals.”
She added: “I hope the vice-chancellor and her executive board will reflect and think again, because, when you’re in a hole, stop digging.”
Calling for a “team Wales” approach as in Scotland, she argued more collaboration between universities on common principles is crucial to ensuring Wales has a thriving sector.
“Cardiff clearly has to make some changes,” she said. “They can’t spend money that they haven’t got. But clearly, these proposals have got to be agreed in social partnership with their main stakeholders, principally their staff.”
Calling for genuine consultation, Labour’s Julie Morgan, whose son-in-law works at Cardiff University, was dismayed by the extent of cuts across Wales.
“Young people are our lifeblood and this is cutting off opportunities for them,” she warned, saying she has been inundated with letters from distressed staff living in Cardiff North.
Plaid Cymru’s Cefin Campbell, a former lecturer, called for a cross-party review to address a “broken” financial model, with universities grappling with a deficit of £70m.

The shadow education secretary said universities face a further £20m hit from national insurance increases as well as a loss of up to £80m due to changes to student visas.
Responding to the debate on March 12, Vikki Howells, who was appointed higher and further education minister in September, pointed to Medr’s five-year plan published on Wednesday.
Medr, which was established in August, is responsible for funding and regulating post-16 education and research – including colleges and sixth forms unlike its predecessor Hefcw.
Ms Howells, a former teacher at Caerphilly’s St Cenydd Comprehensive, said the Welsh Government increased tuition fees for two years running and has provided an extra £28m for Medr this year.

She told Senedd Members: “Medr is absolutely adamant in its belief that no university in Wales is at risk of going under and we also are not looking at any mergers at all, either.”
Ms Howells, who studied at Cardiff University, stressed that a 90-day consultation on the proposals remains open, with a final decision expected to be considered in June.
She urged universities, colleges and schools to get behind Medr’s collective vision for a more joined-up, inclusive and collaborative tertiary education sector.
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