News

Smoke and mirrors as 20mph is here to stay

Published

2 years ago

May 5, 2024

LAST week, Labour’s new Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Ken Skates, delivered his statement to the Senedd and seemingly reversed Labour’s blanket 20mph speed limit, writes Natasha Ashgar MS.

However, looking closely at what has been said, it becomes increasingly clear that Mr. Skates has played a PR masterclass.

Unfortunately for Wales and the people who have signed the record-breaking half-a-million-strong petition. 20mph is going nowhere and is firmly here to stay.

As time has progressed since Labour’s blanket 20mph policy was introduced last year, public opinion against it has only grown. This disastrous blanket policy has negatively impacted bus services, commuters, emergency services, tourists, residents from all corners of Wales and businesses.

The most concerning aspect of this seemingly public U-turn is that Labour, Plaid and the only Liberal Democrat are all still actively misleading the public, ignoring their plea, petition and calls to rescind even more than before.

Make no mistake about it: Labour will change nothing. The Welsh public has received a lot of warm words, and the press has been quick to report that change is coming. However, no streamlined system exists to create equality amongst councils to revert back and give the public what they want. When all is said and done and when the dust settles, the default speed limit across Wales will remain 20mph.

The Welsh Conservatives have been clear from the start. We would scrap the blanket speed limit and introduce appropriate speed limits in areas where there is clear evidence that they are necessary, such as outside schools, hospitals, and playground areas and revert to 30mph where required.

The Labour Government in Wales is no stranger to anti-motorist initiatives. It has previously banned all roadbuilding and scrapped the relief road for the M4. Despite wafer-thin assurances, it continues flirting with congestion and road charging.

The estimated cost of 20mph is £33 million, a massive amount to spend on such a madcap initiative. Yet, reversing sections of this law will cost an additional £5m. This is an extravagant cost considering the lack of changes we will actually see on our roads.

However, this is all just the tip of the iceberg.

The Welsh Government’s own estimates acknowledge that the policy could impose a staggering cost of as much as £9 billion on the Welsh economy. That substantial amount could be better spent on the failing NHS, a below-par education system (as Wales ranks at the bottom of PISA), or even investing in local public transport services such as buses and train services.

By imposing their punishments on motorists, Labour is strangling economic activity throughout all of Wales.

Blanket 20mph zones and a ban on new roadbuilding before creating a strong, sufficient, and synchronised public transport infrastructure is put in place is nothing short of madness, particularly at a time when Labour-run Transport for Wales (TfW) has come bottom in the UK for overall customer satisfaction and clocked up 1 million minutes of delays last year alone.

Labour’s unexpected change of tack is nothing more than an attempt to curry favour of voters in the run-up to a General Election. Keir Starmer will not want such a divisive issue standing in his way. Yet, with him referring to Wales as a blueprint for what a Labour Government will look like in the UK if he wins the next GE, we can see far more of Labour’s divisive socialist policies becoming law throughout the UK with no light at the end of the road.

In a world where we are seeing huge technological advancements and transport innovation, Wales has had a Labour government in place for twenty-five years who, in the words of Doc Brown from Back to the Future, have firmly decided ‘where we are going, we don’t need roads.’

Natasha Asghar is a Welsh Conservative member of the Senedd for South Wales East and Shadow Minister For Transport.

Named British Vogue’s Force for Change
Named as BBC’s 100 women
Award winner- ‘Devolved Politician of the year 2024’ for her work on the 20mph campaign in Wales.

Crime

Motorist banned after cocaine found in system

Published

3 minutes ago

December 16, 2025

Sarah Jane Absalom

A Merlins Bridge man was more than four times over the legal drug-drive limit

A MERLINS BRIDGE motorist has been banned from the road after being caught driving with cocaine in his system.

Police officers stopped Paul Evans, 39, on June 8 as he drove along Clay Lane, Haverfordwest.

Haverfordwest magistrates heard this week that when officers spoke to Evans, he admitted smoking a cannabis joint the previous day. Blood tests later carried out at the police station showed he had 240 micrograms of benzoylecgonine — a cocaine metabolite — in his system. The legal limit is 50 micrograms.

A number of other drugs were also detected, although these were all below the legal threshold.

Further enquiries revealed that Evans was driving without third-party insurance and otherwise than in accordance with a licence.

Evans, of Fern Hill Road, Merlins Bridge, pleaded guilty to all three offences.

He was fined £200 and disqualified from driving for 17 months. He was also ordered to pay £85 in court costs and an £80 surcharge.

Crime

Man given conditional discharge after attempted theft following child’s death

Published

6 minutes ago

December 16, 2025

Sarah Jane Absalom

A magistrates’ court heard how alcohol misuse after a tragic bereavement led to the offence in Haverfordwest

A MAN who turned to alcohol after the death of his child has been given a conditional discharge after attempting to steal two gas canisters in Haverfordwest town centre.

Andrew Berrigan, aged 39, was arrested in September 2024 after trying to take the canisters, valued at £80, from a property at Winch Crescent.

Appearing before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court this week, Berrigan pleaded guilty to a single charge of attempted theft.

Mitigating, his solicitor Tom Lloyd said the offence came during a period of profound personal distress.

“This was a very silly and almost inexplicable offence,” he told the court. “Shortly beforehand, he and his partner lost their child, and things spiralled out of control. They were drinking to excess, and he cannot clearly remember what happened that day.”

Mr Lloyd added that Berrigan, of Princess Royal Way, Haverfordwest, has no previous convictions.

Magistrates imposed a 12-month conditional discharge. Berrigan was also ordered to pay £85 in court costs and a £26 surcharge.

Crime

Young woman admits knife possession at Milford Haven retail park

Published

8 minutes ago

December 16, 2025

Sarah Jane Absalom

PEMBROKE DOCK teenager handed curfew and rehabilitation order after court hears of repeated police call-outs

An 18-year-old Pembrokeshire woman has been released on conditional bail after admitting possession of a knife at a Milford Haven retail park.

Jaylane Bamford was arrested shortly after midnight on Sunday (Nov 24) at Haven Head Retail Park, where officers found her with a cut to her hand and a blade in her possession.

Prosecutor Ryan Colamazza told Haverfordwest magistrates this week that police had been dealing with repeated incidents involving the defendant in recent months.

“The police go out, they find her drunk in the street with the same group of friends, they speak with her and she becomes abusive,” he said. “The police are having difficulty dealing with her.”

Mr Colamazza added that on two previous occasions Bamford had been found with injuries to her hand. The most recent incident also placed her in breach of existing bail conditions, which prohibited her from contacting a female who was with her at the time of the arrest.

However, her solicitor Tom Lloyd said the offence must be seen in the context of significant personal difficulties.

“This isn’t simply a young lady running wild in the community and misbehaving,” he said. “This is a young lady with a vast array of problems and difficulties.

“She was in possession of the knife for the sole purpose of causing self-harm, so she’s a threat and a danger only to herself.

“Spending four weeks in custody has been a huge thing for her. She’s found it very difficult and she never wants to go back.”

Appearing via video link from HMP Parc, Jaylane Bamford, of Britannia Drive, Pembroke Dock, pleaded guilty to possessing a blade in a public place and to breaching her bail conditions.

She was sentenced to an 18-month Community Order, including a three-month electronically monitored curfew between 7:00pm and 7:00am, and 18 days of rehabilitation activity requirements. A destruction order was made for the knife.