History on Plaid's Side in Swansea!

Dyma lun o ymgeiswyr Plaid yng nghanol Abertawe heddiw- fi, Dr Dai Lloyd,Ian Titherington gyda'r hanesydd John Davies. Roedd John Davies 'Hanes Cymru' wedi dod i gefnogi ein hymgyrch. Mae hanes ar ein hochr ni! ...Mae'r ymgyrch yn mynd o nerth i nerth. Wythnos i fynd!

Here is a picture of Plaid candidates in the centre of Swansea today. In the picture- me, Dr Dai Lloyd, Ian Titherington alongside John Davies the historian. History is on our side! The campaign is going form strength to strenght. A week to go!

Burberry workers fight until the bitter end.

I just thought that I should mention the Burberry rally today which I did hope to go to, but couldn't in the end... With good news in Swansea about Amazon, the closure of Burberry is a reminder that manufacturing jobs are still threatened, with more and more companies moving overseas. I worked in the Plaid Rhondda Office with Jill Evans for over a year, and I know that she has supported the campaign wholeheartedly, and worked with the Union in making the campaign a success. I know the area well, and it must be disappointing for Treorci to lose these well needed jobs. It's uncertain whether new industries will open shop in the area, especially as transport links are very poor due to lack of New Labour investment in the road structures. You may argue that there is now a new Rhondda relief road, but that stops at Porth!...

The rally was a success today, and the workers have protested consistently and effectively throughout the campaign. They managed to win some concessions - enhanced redundancy payments, long-service awards, and around £500,000 for workforce re-training.

Protest politics is long from being dead, and if one positive thing can be said from this, it is that the voice of the people shone through in this campaign, and that they made sure that the issue was at the top of the political agenda.

Swyddi Amazon Abertawe/ Swansea Amazon jobs

Fel Ian Titherington, ymgeisydd Plaid Gorllewin Abertawe, rwyf yn croesawu'r swyddi newydd Amazon i Abertawe. Rhaid gwneud yn siwr bod y swyddi yma yn gynnaladwy ac bod yna gefnogaeth clir i'r gweithwyr. Yn ol yr hyn rwy'n deall, mae gan Amazon trac record weddol wan o hybu eu staff i ymuno ag Undeb Llafur. Os ydym am greu ethos gwaith cyfiawn a theg yn Abertawe, rhaid i gwmniau rhoi rhwydd hynt i'w aelodau staff i ymuno ag Undebau Llafur.

Gobeithio yn wir y bydd Amazon yn datblygu eu diwydiant yn y dyfodol yn Abertawe, a hynny trwy ehangu sgiliau'r gweithwyr, ac ennyn pobl i weithio ag i fyw yn yr ardal. Mae Plaid yn cefnogi busnesau lleol yn ein maniffesto, trwy cynnig torri treth treth dethol a thorri cyfraddau busnes. Rydym hefyd yn ymgyrchu i ymrwymo i ganllawiau gwaith yr Undeb Ewropeaidd fel bod cwmniau yn cael ei orfodi i ofalu am eu gweithwyr, a dylai'r Llywodraeth gweithredu cyfreithiau Ewropeaidd i amddiffyn y gweithwyr yn llawer fwy effeithiol a thyn.

Like Ian Titherington, our Swansea West candidate, I welcome the new Amazon jobs for Swansea. Now, the task is to make sure that these jobs are sustainable and that the company provides clear support for workers. From what I understand, Amazon has a somewhat cloudy record of encouraging staff in other plants to join a Trade Union. If we want to create a truly just and fair work environment in Swansea, companies such as Amazon must allow workers to practise their rights by joining Unions.

I do hope that Amazon will develop their company in Swansea, and encourage people to stay in the area to work. Plaid, as highlighted in our manifesto support local businesses, and are pledging to cut corporation tax and business rates. We have also been campaigning to make sure that stronger employment protection laws are implemented in line with EU directives so that workers are supported and protected.

Heroin deaths in Swansea at all time high

Having read a letter in today's Evening Post regarding the recent heroin deaths in Swansea and the subsequent critique by the reader of the Government's drugs policy in Wales, this can only confirm that Plaid's recent announcement to prescribe heroin to long term drug users, pending the results of a pilot in England, is a necessary, and long-awaited intervention to the debate on how to deal with the growing drugs problem. The RSA (a highly distinguished body) published a report recently calling for a change in the current drug policy, including the prescribing of heroin. The Labour party in the form of Martin Eaglestone's uneccessary negative remarks on this issue are therefore a reminder of their readiness to jump on the bandwagon of scare-mongering voters, and highlights their inability to address the issues surrounding the large scale drugs problem in Wales.
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DRUGS POLICY IS FAILING

10:30 - 21 March 2007

The 16 deaths and 50 near-fatal heroin overdoses in Swansea since September should quite rightly ring alarm bells. However Ben Evans's report (Post, March 14) and the associated editorial fail to adequately address the problem.Even worse, the articles simply reproduce and endorse the central strand of today's failing drugs policy - namely the belief that prohibition works. Quite clearly it does not; if it did we would not have the problem.

.....A more serious approach is needed if we want to stop the deaths. There is a correlation between deprivation, unemployment, dead-end jobs and heavy drug use. Social policy should be directed at changing this.

In the short term, however, heroin users who want to drop the habit should be able to quickly access alternative medical prescriptions such as Methadone and Subotex, and there should be many more support agencies available to help people through the process of breaking the addiction.Incidentally, Narcotics Anonymous is only one such service; there are many other services available in the Swansea area.

Martin Chapman
Bay View Terrace,
Brynmill,
Swansea

Swansea Lib dem Councillor leaves coalition to 'vote with his conscience'

While the Lib dems like to portray themselves as a nice party who never fall out or have any internal issues, it seems that their colleagues in Swansea have burst the bubble, with Landore Councillor Rob Speht deciding to leave the leading coalition due to 'lack of inclusion in decision- making'. The council dealings are tricky to keep up with- what with ex Lib dem and new Tory group leader Rene Kinzett taking the Conservatives out of the coalition, ( something to do with the Assembly election, perhaps, and wanting to shake off associations with the Lib dems?) and a spate of defections here and there.

The Evening Post's article on the issue suggests that Rob Speht was unhappy as he failed to be selected as the Swansea East candidate for the party, but this, according to the man himself is not the case- he didn't even put himself up for selection.

He goes on to emphasise that the people of the area voted for him as a Lib dem, therefore he will now 'vote according to my conscience'. This does make one wonder what the remainder of the lib dems in the coalition base their decisions on if they are not voting according to their conscience already!

The coalition now has just 31 members to a Council of 74 members. Will there be more lib dem defections and movements towards leaving the ruling group, and does this reflect a general feeling of dissatisfaction within the Lib dems, and their lack of vision as a party?

Neurosurgery debate- will this define the election in South West Wales?

It was inspiring for Plaid in South Wales West to read the letter below in the Evening Post yesterday. Dr Dai Lloyd AM and Darren Price, the leader of Plaid Cymru's group at Swansea Council have been campaigning hard for what seems like months on end to retain the Neurosurgery Unit at Swansea. We organised a protest outside the Assembly alongside the Evening Post, and have been active in the campaign to encourage people to sign the petition to keep Neurosurgery at Swansea.

We were the only Party to vote outright against the move to Cardiff- all the other Parties showed clear signs of split loyalties. They all ultimately elected to favour their own individual priorities to that of promoting a coherent party policy on this most important issue.

Nevertheless, Brian Gibbons, the Labour Health Minister seems intent on delaying the issue until after the Assembly election; another ploy to deceive voters. I am sure that this will be a defining election issue, but Plaid will continue to campaign to keep Neurosurgery at Swansea- election or no election.

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In recent letters on the proposed neurosurgery centralisation in Cardiff there seems a sense of resignation that, regardless of when the decision is taken and what that decision is, the Assembly elections are a foregone conclusion and the existing Labour AMs will be re-elected.In a General Election, where individual majorities can be as high as 20,000, this may be the case, but the situation regarding Assembly elections is very different.

The Post petition against the proposal produced 105,000 signatures. As far as I am aware, the vast majority of the Post's sales are in nine constituencies from Aberavon in the east (Brian Gibbons's seat) to Preseli/Pembrokeshire in the west. A Labour AM was elected to eight of those seats. The combined majority of those AMs is just 26,125. Plaid Cymru was second in six of the eight seats, and not far off second in the other two. Plaid AM Dai Lloyd was quoted (Post, January 6) as saying "a Plaid health minister would want neurosurgery to stay in Swansea".

Anyone reading this letter can see from these figures their vote is crucial. I already know which way I'll be voting this year.

John Young

Llys Sant Teilo

Llangyfelach, Swansea