The general public don't generally read manifestos, they rely on the media and the wannabe politicians to tell them the plans. So people will hear the nonsense about unicorns and fairy dust and think that all sounds good. In Wales they will no doubt hear the anti Westminster/anti English rhetoric and nod approvingly. They won't think about how any of this would be implemented or how much it would cost. Who is keen to vote for the Green Party? My guess is that it is still students, trustafarians and hippy boomers. Wales has plenty of them - the Escaped From The Rat Race crowd. Do the descendants of miners in the Valleys even bother to vote any more now that nobody represents them or cares what happens to them?
Thanks – I think you’re right that most people never get beyond the headline promises and the anti‑Westminster rhetoric.
What worries me is exactly that gap between “this all sounds nice” and “who’s paying, how, and what gets cut instead?”
On the Valleys point, turnout data do suggest a lot of those old Labour communities have switched off rather than switched party – which is how you end up with small, organised groups having outsized influence over policy.
My aim with pieces like this is to get the numbers in front of people before they vote, so they can see what’s real and what’s fairy dust.
Exactly – the instinct running through the document is more direction from the centre, more rules, more things decided for people rather than by them.
Whether it’s transport, farming or energy, the pattern is the same: lots of new duties, targets and frameworks, much less interest in how people actually live their lives day to day in Wales.
Spot on Jamie. I was born in wales and had every intention on returning there when I retired. But as that time nears Wales isn’t in my top 10 places. The 20 mile limit is infuriating and I don’t even visit these days.
Once a great place destroyed by unnecessary controlling rules and legislations making people lives impossible, you can’t do anything these days without the government having an in put. (Or whoever is paying them!)
You said it: "more state direction, more regulation, more public bodies, more targets, more frameworks, more intervention." The recipe for decline. When is the UK going to come to the realization that government intervention IS THE PROBLEM?! What we need is FREEDOM from government intervention, and particularly in the economy. Freedom equals wealth and growth. Nothing else works! We have an arrogant government who think they know better than we do about our well being. This country invented freedom and capitalism, what makes nations rich. Let's return to those basics!
Thanks Maria – that’s exactly the instinct I was trying to describe in the piece: layer upon layer of targets, regulators and “plans”, but very little faith in people and businesses to make their own decisions.
Where I’d add a small caveat is that some basic rules of the game do matter – clear tax, planning and competition frameworks, and then government getting out of the way as much as possible.
Wales in particular has gone in the opposite direction: more quangos, more micro‑management, and yet weak growth, low pay and crumbling services. If that model actually worked, we’d be thriving by now.
Indeed, I agree. government does have a role, but it must be minimal. It's that micromanagement that is getting in the way of growth. Don't we have enough examples in history of the total failure of this model Wales is following? But there are ulterior motives here, and it does not have to do with making peoples' lives better!
Yes, reminds me of the famous line from Ronald Reagan who said "The nine most terrifying words in the English Language - 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help'"
The Green's opposition to Nuclear is perverse. In France 70% of their electricity is from Nuclear. They are much further down the path to decarbonising their electricity grid than the UK and what is more they have a solid, reliable, secure supply. 100% renewable electricity for Wales is just fantasy. The Greens are not very good at arithmetic.
Completely agree on nuclear – if you’re serious about decarbonising while keeping the lights on, it has to be part of the mix.
France isn’t perfect, but their largely nuclear system gives them low‑carbon, reliable power at scale in a way that a small, windy, rainy country like Wales should at least be studying rather than dismissing out of hand.
The “100% renewables plus more demand plus cheaper bills” story only works if you ignore intermittency, backup, storage and network costs – which is why I keep coming back to the arithmetic.
For battery storage they always quote GW but that doesn't tell you how long it will last. The other important figure is GWh. It is planned to install 46 GWh of battery storage by 2030 for the UK. Average demand over a year is about 30GW so say renewables are only providing half that say 15GW. If you are running completely on renewables that battery storage would last about 3 hours and then would need charging again.
Last year a Canadian reactor beat the record set by an Indian reactor by running and generating electricity continuously for over 3 years. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The general public don't generally read manifestos, they rely on the media and the wannabe politicians to tell them the plans. So people will hear the nonsense about unicorns and fairy dust and think that all sounds good. In Wales they will no doubt hear the anti Westminster/anti English rhetoric and nod approvingly. They won't think about how any of this would be implemented or how much it would cost. Who is keen to vote for the Green Party? My guess is that it is still students, trustafarians and hippy boomers. Wales has plenty of them - the Escaped From The Rat Race crowd. Do the descendants of miners in the Valleys even bother to vote any more now that nobody represents them or cares what happens to them?
Thanks – I think you’re right that most people never get beyond the headline promises and the anti‑Westminster rhetoric.
What worries me is exactly that gap between “this all sounds nice” and “who’s paying, how, and what gets cut instead?”
On the Valleys point, turnout data do suggest a lot of those old Labour communities have switched off rather than switched party – which is how you end up with small, organised groups having outsized influence over policy.
My aim with pieces like this is to get the numbers in front of people before they vote, so they can see what’s real and what’s fairy dust.
More control! Over the people!
Exactly – the instinct running through the document is more direction from the centre, more rules, more things decided for people rather than by them.
Whether it’s transport, farming or energy, the pattern is the same: lots of new duties, targets and frameworks, much less interest in how people actually live their lives day to day in Wales.
Spot on Jamie. I was born in wales and had every intention on returning there when I retired. But as that time nears Wales isn’t in my top 10 places. The 20 mile limit is infuriating and I don’t even visit these days.
Once a great place destroyed by unnecessary controlling rules and legislations making people lives impossible, you can’t do anything these days without the government having an in put. (Or whoever is paying them!)
And it’s not just Wales.
You said it: "more state direction, more regulation, more public bodies, more targets, more frameworks, more intervention." The recipe for decline. When is the UK going to come to the realization that government intervention IS THE PROBLEM?! What we need is FREEDOM from government intervention, and particularly in the economy. Freedom equals wealth and growth. Nothing else works! We have an arrogant government who think they know better than we do about our well being. This country invented freedom and capitalism, what makes nations rich. Let's return to those basics!
Thanks Maria – that’s exactly the instinct I was trying to describe in the piece: layer upon layer of targets, regulators and “plans”, but very little faith in people and businesses to make their own decisions.
Where I’d add a small caveat is that some basic rules of the game do matter – clear tax, planning and competition frameworks, and then government getting out of the way as much as possible.
Wales in particular has gone in the opposite direction: more quangos, more micro‑management, and yet weak growth, low pay and crumbling services. If that model actually worked, we’d be thriving by now.
Indeed, I agree. government does have a role, but it must be minimal. It's that micromanagement that is getting in the way of growth. Don't we have enough examples in history of the total failure of this model Wales is following? But there are ulterior motives here, and it does not have to do with making peoples' lives better!
Yes, reminds me of the famous line from Ronald Reagan who said "The nine most terrifying words in the English Language - 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help'"
The Green's opposition to Nuclear is perverse. In France 70% of their electricity is from Nuclear. They are much further down the path to decarbonising their electricity grid than the UK and what is more they have a solid, reliable, secure supply. 100% renewable electricity for Wales is just fantasy. The Greens are not very good at arithmetic.
Completely agree on nuclear – if you’re serious about decarbonising while keeping the lights on, it has to be part of the mix.
France isn’t perfect, but their largely nuclear system gives them low‑carbon, reliable power at scale in a way that a small, windy, rainy country like Wales should at least be studying rather than dismissing out of hand.
The “100% renewables plus more demand plus cheaper bills” story only works if you ignore intermittency, backup, storage and network costs – which is why I keep coming back to the arithmetic.
For battery storage they always quote GW but that doesn't tell you how long it will last. The other important figure is GWh. It is planned to install 46 GWh of battery storage by 2030 for the UK. Average demand over a year is about 30GW so say renewables are only providing half that say 15GW. If you are running completely on renewables that battery storage would last about 3 hours and then would need charging again.
Last year a Canadian reactor beat the record set by an Indian reactor by running and generating electricity continuously for over 3 years. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.