VASILE Barbu, 49, sentenced to four years imprisonment after being found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving

A WELSH motorist who was involved in a collision which killed Welsh triathlon and Ironman star, Rebecca Comins was sentenced today at Cardiff Crown Court.

Vasile Barbu was driving a white Vauxhall Movano van on the A40 on Thursday 2 June 2022 which collided with a cyclist.

Paramedics from the Welsh Ambulance Service attended and confirmed that the cyclist, Rebecca Comins, had died at the scene.

Barbu was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday 7 June and today (Friday 5 July) was sentenced to four years in prison and disqualified from driving for four years.

Senior investigating officer, PS Shane Draper said: “Rebecca was an experienced and talented cyclist – she did everything she could to stay safe of the roads – but the actions of a fellow road user saw her life tragically cut short.

“Driving is a privilege, and not something that should be taken for granted or taken lightly.

“This is reminder to everyone who gets behind the wheel – you are in control of a potentially dangerous machine – your responsibility isn’t just to ensure your own safety, but the safety of everyone around you.

“I would like to thank and commend the family for their strength during this difficult time and I hope that this conviction helps provide them with some closure as they continue to process their loss. My thoughts remain with them”.

The family of Rebecca Comins previously issued a statement following the verdict.

THE Farmers’ Union of Wales will waste no time in sending a clear message to the incoming UK Labour Government at Westminster that Wales seeks a fair, annual funding settlement of £450 million in EU CAP legacy funding to support food production, the rural economy and the work farmers do for the environment.

Winning a landslide general election at a time when Welsh farming faces an important crossroads, the UK Labour Party now has the opportunity to influence the future of rural Wales for decades to come.

Speaking in response to the results, FUW President Ian Rickman said: “Firstly, I would like to congratulate the newly elected Prime Minister and his party for a historic general election victory, and thank those MPs we have worked closely with over the past five years.

“This election has brought about considerable change to the political landscape of Wales, with a significant reduction in the number of constituencies, changes in boundaries, and now a new UK Labour Government holding a majority in Westminster.

“The FUW is not affiliated to any political party and is therefore prepared to engage and work with politicians from all parties to ensure the voices of Welsh farmers are heard.”

The FUW General Election Manifesto sets out the Union’s key priorities of the incoming government, focussing on securing a fair, multi-annual funding settlement of at least £450 million per year in EU CAP legacy funding for agriculture and rural development in Wales. The role of this support in underpinning food production, environmental protection and rural communities in Wales cannot be underestimated.

It is essential that the newly elected UK Government ensures that any future deals with other countries and trading blocs take a far more robust approach that protects UK farmers and food security. With that, food imports and exports must be subject to the same custom and standard controls which provides a level playing field between UK and EU producers.

The Union’s Manifesto also calls on the UK Government to introduce procurement policies that prioritise public body support for Welsh and British businesses and promote a more transparent supply chain.

“Whilst the direction of farming in Wales heavily depends on the development of devolved agricultural policies, we must not forget how decisions made by the incoming UK administration will effectively determine the degree of funding the Welsh Government has available to support agriculture and rural development. It will also rule the extent of which Welsh producers are expected to compete against producers in other UK nations and across the globe on various levels.

“This is why we will waste no time in contacting the newly elected MPs in Wales and those that take on influential roles in parliament to ensure that we outline our key priorities at an early stage.

“Despite the challenge of navigating an ever changing political landscape, our role as the FUW in lobbying governments for the best possible outcomes for Welsh agriculture remains constant and relentless,” said Ian Rickman.

THE Electoral Reform Society has modelled what the new parliament would look like after the general election under proportional representation.

The modelling shows what Parliament would look like under the Additional Member System (AMS) [1] of proportional representation (PR), which is used for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments as well as the London Assembly, compared to the results under the current Westminster system of First Past the Post (FPTP)
 

A visual representation of how the results would look for PR compared to the First Past the Post results can be found here https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/18633267/
 
The Parliament elected under PR would far more closely reflect the way the country voted. It could lead to a number of scenarios politically, and likely lead to a government that represented a far greater share of voters. For instance, a Labour, Lib Dem, Green coalition under AMS would represent 52.7% of voters, rather than the just 33.7% represented by the Labour majority government.
 
In the coming weeks the Electoral Reform Society will also be releasing a model of the 2024 General Election result under the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system of PR, which is the ERS’s preferred system and used in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
 
The model comes after the general election produced the most disproportional parliament in British electoral history.

The results saw the Labour Party win 64% of seats (412) with just under 34% of the votes. Meanwhile, Reform UK and the Green Party won just 9 seats (just over 1%) between them with over 20% of the vote share combined.

Research by the Electoral Reform Society also showed that Labour won an MP for every 24,000 votes they received, compared to one for every 49,000 for the Lib Dems, one MP for every 56,000 votes for the Conservatives, one for every 485,000 votes for the Greens and one for every 820,000 for Reform.

Darren Hughes, Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society said: “The job of Parliament is to represent the way the country voted. However, this election has produced the most disproportional result in British electoral history.

“This is because of the distorting Westminster First Past the Post voting system, which means the seats parties get in Parliament often are not matching the share of the votes they’ve received.

“In simple terms, people should get what they vote for. Our modelling shows what Parliament would look like with a fairer proportional voting system such the ones used for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments.

“It’s time we moved to a fairer proportional voting system for Westminster so Parliament accurately reflects the way the country voted.”