A special Remembrance Day

This year as the 'The Royal British Legion' website says at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month of 2011, the nation will pause.

We will fall silent and take two minutes to reflect on the sacrifice of our brave Service men and women from conflicts past and present.

And what 'sacrifice' are we remembering? - for me this was brought to sharp focus today by a report on Excavating tunnels from World War One by Robert Hall for the BBC.

You see sometime back me and my mate did a tour of France, and one place neither wanted to miss was the 'Thiepval Memorial to the Missing', Somme Battlefields, France. (Somme Memorials)

Now pardon my french, but with all honesty that day, when I was standing reading all them names and how young the majority were when they died, silently with tears in my eyes, I went fuckty fuck fuck as I realised the madness of mankind.

Which brings us to another memorial we visited - Lochnagar Crater,"The largest crater ever made by man in anger" (see above BBC report)

As said in Wilkipedia - "The Lochnagar mine was an explosive-packed mine created by the Royal Engineer tunnelling companies, located south of the village of La Boisselle in the Somme département of France, which was detonated at 7:28 am on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The Lochnagar mine, along with a neighbouring mine north of the village known as the Y Sap mine, contained 24 tons of ammonal. At the time these mines were the largest ever detonated.

The explosion was witnessed from the air by 2nd Lieutenant C.A. Lewis of No. 3 Squadron RFC:

The whole earth heaved and flashed, a tremendous and magnificent column rose up in the sky. There was an ear-splitting roar drowning all the guns, flinging the machine sideways in the repercussing air. The earth column rose higher and higher to almost 4,000 feet. There it hung, or seemed to hang, for a moment in the air, like the silhouette of some great cypress tree, then fell away in a widening cone of dust and debris.

Some of the British infantry waiting in no man's land were struck by falling debris and one man, having braced himself in a trench, had his leg broken and later required amputation.

The Lochnagar mine lay on the sector assaulted by the Grimsby Chums Pals battalion (10th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment). When the main attack began at 7:30 am, the Grimsby Chums successfully occupied the crater and began to fortify the eastern lip which now dominated the surrounding ground. However elsewhere the attack at La Boisselle went badly and infantry sought shelter in the crater, particular those who had been attacking up Sausage Valley to the south of the village. The prominent crater drew fire, including from British artillery although eventually it was learnt it contained sheltering infantry and the British shell fire ceased."

And that is just one reason I'm wearing my poppy with pride this year.

Cofio Aberfan - 45 - Rembering Aberfan

On Friday 21 October 1966, a coal tip collapsed sending thousands of tons of mud and colliery waste down Merthyr Mountain near Aberfan in South Wales, destroying a school and about 20 houses and killing 144 people. Susan Robertson, 8, was pulled alive from the rubble.

The collapse of tip seven sent a vast quantity of saturated sludge, a "dark glistening wave", higher than a house, roaring down the mountain and into Aberfan. One hundred and sixteen of the dead were children.

Pictures and words from BBC

Read more: The Aberfan Disaster

Time for Welsh Farmers to get real - CAP has to change.

The guest columnist in today's Daily Post, Emyr Jones, President of the Farmers Union of Wales make a case against the proposed changes to the common agricultural policy. He somehow tries to link the proposed changes to "heartbreaking images of starving population in far off regions of Africa and Asia"

Let us be clear, the answer to world hunger is not the number of sheep we have in Wales, nor the price of milk. No it will be down to how we can develop new strains of the basic food stuffs, such as grain or rice, that can be grown in the harsh conditions of Africa or Asia, so that the peoples of those continents are self sufficient.

In a way CAP subsidises, a by-product of the Second World War, has made the situation worse, in that third world countries can never hope to compete against subsidised food from Europe.

Yes to feed the growing population of the world we need produce more basic foods, but it should not be at the cost of the environment, or otherwise we might as well cut down the whole South America rain forest to produce cheap beef for our hamburgers.

The real answer GM food, local production with an emphasis on production of essential foods such as grain and rice. And that means using our resources carefully, which makes sense that certain parts of Wales are taken out of food production, and payment be made for preserving it's beauty and contribution to the wildlife of the area.

After all extensive farming with all it entails isn't really helping the environment, and it's a cyclic argument, we need to produce more food, cause the way we produce food is damaging the environment.

And the likely food shortage has nothing to do with farmers planting crops that will maximise bio-fuel profits has it.

Sorry farmers of Wales, cant make any money from farming - my suggestion get another job.

Unemployment - a price worth paying?

Norman Lamont famously said on 16 May 1991, "Rising unemployment and the recession have been the price that we have had to pay to get inflation down. That price is well worth paying."

In 1992 a young Conservative named David Cameron was his special advisor.

Yesterday, the latest unemployment figures published by the ONS estimates that UK unemployment rose by 114,000 between June and August to 2.57 million - a 17-year high.

A main plank of the Conservative led Coalition Governments austerity plans was a belief that jobs created in the private sector would more than make up for the jobs lost in the public sector.

Stephanie Flanders, BBC Economics Editor says in her blog: "For some time, we were able to say that employment growth in the private sector was outweighing the loss of jobs in the public sector. That is no longer true. The public sector lost 111,000 over the three months to June (97,000 excluding temporary jobs for the census), while the number of jobs in the private sector rose by 41,000."

The official government line: The Employment Secretary, Chris Grayling, said [to BBC News] that what the UK was now seeing was "the impact of the international financial crisis".

David Cameron at Question Time also defended the Governments Plan A, and as reported by the BBC:

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, rejected the criticism and said he would stick to his plans to reduce the deficit of nearly 10%.

"These are very disappointing figures that have been announced today and every job that is lost is a tragedy for that person and for their family and that is why this government is going to do everything it possibly can to help get people into work."

One worrying aspect of the latest unemployment figures has been the increase in the number of young people out of work. The BBC highlights today a survey by the Association of Colleges which claims, almost half of England's further education colleges have seen a decline in student numbers - with the drop blamed on the scrapping of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA).

Whilst the Department of Education defended the more closely targeted £180m bursary scheme, which replaces the EMA, which had cost £560m per year. It says that under the new scheme students who would have been eligible for free school meals could receive up to £800 per year.

The shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden said,"These findings are underlined by today's devastating figures on Youth Unemployment which show their failure to have a strategy for growth which will start remedying this."

Returning to the Conservative led Coalition Government, they say 'another reason why we need to stick to Plan A, is to keep international confidence in our economy, which has resulted in record low interest rates. This will benefit us all in the long term.'

In other words "Rising unemployment and a recession will be the price that we have had to pay to keep interest rates low, cut the defecit and get inflation down. That price is well worth paying"

In logic a pure neoliberal statement, but in these days of media savy politicians not one you will hear any of them declare soon.

Make this man a welshman - and be quick about it.

Never argue with our Shaun

Wales are through to the semi finals of the Rugby World Cup after a well earned win over Ireland. The captain of Wales Sam Warburton led by example, as the young welsh side justified the build up to the world cup as mapped out by Warren Gatland. A build up that saw Wales play many games against southern hemisphere teams.

Some pint half empty commentators where sceptical of Wales chances, and critical of team selection, but I do hope they now just shut up, they quite obviously haven't got a clue what they are talking about.

The current Welsh team are the most prepared mentally and physically we have had for a long time, and possibly for the first time ready to match the strengths of the southern hemisphere teams.

And defensively Wales have also stepped up to the plate, and we have Shaun Edwards to thank for that. The rough edged defensive coach can be truly proud of what he has achieved.

Let's make him an honorary welshman and be quick about it.

RBS to be nationalised?

It hard to know what to make of the news these days, one thing for certain its about to get much worse, as the world seems to be heading towards recession.

This morning Moody's Investors Service downgraded the senior debt and deposit ratings of 12 UK financial institutions and confirmed the ratings of one institution.

The Chancellor, Mr Osborne said [to the BBC] he was confident that British banks were well-capitalised. "They are not experiencing the kinds of problems that some of the banks in the eurozone are experiencing at the moment."

However in his blog, Robert Peston, BBC Business editor says:

If the minimum stressed capital ratio were set at 8%, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and Lloyds would all be forced to raise new capital.

Among the British banks Royal Bank of Scotland is most vulnerable to being forced to raise new capital, because under July's health checks its stressed capital ratio emerged relatively low at 6.3% (compared with 7.3% for Barclays, 7.7% for Lloyds and 8.5% for HSBC).

So if the new minimum capital bar were set at 7% (and we have no idea where it will ultimately be set) RBS would seem to need to raise a few billions of additional capital.....

.....I would therefore expect the chancellor to argue pretty strongly to his eurozone counterparts that RBS has quite enough capital for now.

And if he were to lose this battle, he might well be better off launching a takeover bid to acquire all of RBS - to nationalise it fully - than recapitalising the bank through an exercise of the existing rescue mechanism.

Wind farms and tourism 'compatible'

A report in the Daily Post today speaks of 'High Stakes' as Ynys Môn Council considers a number of applications for new wind farms. The most controversial perhaps is an application for three 100 metre high wind turbines at Penymynydd. This application was the reason that the protest group Anglesey Against Wind Turbines was set up.

As the (now defunct:Jan 2012) Photon Blog explains:

Despite my overall support for renewables, I have to say I was glad that a protest group has sprung up to protest at the several wind turbine applications now in the pipeline, some being decided upon this week. Different views are a healthy thing, and are especially welcome on an island that, traditionally, is reluctant to protest or speak up against anything at all.

I too am a supporter of renewables, we have wind farms already on the island, albeit not as tall as some of those proposed at Penymynydd. To the north of the island there are many existing wind farms, which from certain viewpoints can be seen as a continuous strip across the landscape. Maybe because I have got used to them, but for me they blend in, they do not stand out, they have become part of the landscape.

A spokesman for Anglesey Against Wind Turbines said to the Daily post "After a bumper year for tourism, what a pity to ruin it by spoiling our island. A decrease in tourism would have a widespread effect, not only on those directly involved in providing accommodation, attractions, shops, cafes and restaurants, but also a knock-on effect on all the other places where those business owners then spend that money."

Yes, this year Anglesey, as result of a number of factors; including the royal wedding, cost of the pound, and staycations  - had a bumper year for tourism. Or to put it another way, the existing windfarms that can be seen quite predominately from the A5025 coast road doesn't seem to have deterred the tourists.

If anything is likely to deter the tourist from returning it's the delays on the A55.

But what written evidence is there about the effect of wind farms on tourist?

The title of this post Wind farms and tourism 'compatiable' is from the Scottish Government press realise on their website.

And Three quarters of tourists surveyed for the study into the Economic Impacts of Wind Farms on Scottish Tourism felt wind farms had a positive or neutral effect on the landscape. 97 per cent of tourists in the sample said wind farms would have no impact on their decision to visit Scotland again.

The full study into the 'Economic Impacts of Wind Farms on Scottish Tourism' can be downloaded from the Scottish Government website.

We need a balanced debate about organ donation.

In Wales, nearly 300 people are waiting for an organ transplant, many through no fault of their own.

Which brings us on to the "controversial" issue of organ donation. Let me be clear as an atheist my thoughts on the matter are very simple.

When I die I'll no longer need my body or any of its parts. Therefore after my demise, if any of it could be used to enhance the lives of others, what's the problem? - especially if I'm to be cremated, isn't recycling the done things these days.

And that is why I'm a supporter of the "soft" opt out system. But what exactly would a "soft" opt out system of donation mean?

There would be a presumption that a person consented to organ donation on their death, unless they had indicated otherwise (opted out), or their relatives objected.

Which brings me on to some ill thought out comments made yet again by Rob Davies (The Daily Post's Outspoken columnist)

Putting aside the frankly ridiculous statement of "I suspect the drive to introduce presumed consent for organ donation in Wales is fuelled in part by the separatist agenda of Wales-isn't England' lobby".....he goes on to make factually incorrect statements, take for instance in his column of today in the Daily Post he states:

Take this scenario: a young man is fatally injured in a crash. His is not on the organ donor list but lives in Wales and so is presumed to have given consent to the removal of his organs. His distraught parents are duly informed that doctors are to take out his heart...etc...What will haunt them for ever more...that their son had never actively agreed [to organ donation].

But the above scenario is wrong, it would not happen.

In the first as is the practice today, their next of kin would need to be consulted before a decision could be made. As reported in the Telegraph: The new laws would still require doctors to consult with the relatives of the bereaved as part of a "soft" opt-out system.

Whereas today the relatives could agree to organ donation, even though the deceased person when alive objected to do so, it would be similar in a 'soft' opt out system. The relatives could object to the donation of organs, even if the deceased when alive had no such concerns. Or if they had any 'doubt' which would haunt them for ever more they could just say no.

In reality you are more likely to take action if you object to something, as opposed to those who don't think it matters. Let's be honest the vast majority of us are far more concerned about what's happening now, than whats occurring when were dead.

The Christian Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan says it has to be a choice "that is freely embraced".

Surely, if you decide not to opt out of the organ donation system, you have so to speak "freely embraced" the idea that on your death your organs could be used by others.

There could be a number of safeguard built in, your doctor, health nurse etc could easily explain to those who have not opted out the consequence of not doing so. I'm sure the church could also have a role.

At the end of the day it will still be a personal choice, you could always opt out.

Above all what is important is that we have a balanced debate, and using emotive language or spurious arguments, will not help at all.

TATA to build factory by Wolverhampton - the Enterprise Zone wat did it?

If only the Welsh Government had got it act together and followed blindly the policies of the Conservative led Coalition Government on enterprise zones, the new engine factory could have been built in South Wales. Or that is what the Conservatives and some in the media want us to believe.

TATA the Indian owned car manufacturer, had decided that rather than buying engines from Ford plants including Bridgend and Dagenham, they are to build their own engines. What affect this will have on the viability of the Ford plants is not known.

There was some speculation that TATA would build the new engine factory in India, were it already has a production plant for it's Freelander 2, but seeing the local difficulties they have had over there (see:Indian state to return Tata factory land to farmers) maybe the UK was a more appealing prospect.

As reported by Reuters:

Mike Wright, executive director at Jaguar Land Rover said they had considered building the facility in a number of locations within the UK and outside the UK.

"One obvious location would have been India," Wright told journalists.

"There are a whole host of factors that go into these decision ... but on the balance of all of those factors, we determined with the support of Tata Motors, in this instance, the UK was the best option," he said....

"Clearly, situating it almost equidistant between our Halewood, Solihull and Castle Bromwich plants does have efficiency benefits," said Wright.

As part of its growth strategy and investment, Jaguar Land Rover is targeting 40 new products over 5 years, as it eyes emerging market growth.

"(The site) will enable us to accelerate our new products to penetrate new markets," said Wright.

"Our latest investment decision follows a period of rising sales, rising demand and rising profitability," he said, adding that the business is performing in line with expectations...

...Jaguar Land Rover already employs more than 19,000 people in Britain and supports up to 140,000 jobs. It has been boosted by strong demand from emerging markets such as Russia and China for its cars.

"As we invest 1.5 billion pounds a year for the next five years on new product developments, expanding our engine range will help us realise the full global potential of the Jaguar and Land Rover brands," said Ralf Speth, JLR CEO.

In the last few years, TATA through growth in sales in Russia and China have managed to turn around a loss making company to one with growing profits year on year. In 2009 there was speculation that TATA would have to close one of it's plants in the UK. (see Jaguar Land Rover to close factory)

Sky News reports that Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister of the Conservative led Coalition Government, said he was "delighted" by the decision.

He said: "Growing our economy has to be the number one priority for Britain, and the Government is not sitting on its hands. With initiatives like the Regional Growth Fund, putting up to £10m into this new plant and Enterprise Zones boosting growth across the country, we're making the UK a better place to invest and do business."

Enterprise zones will benefit from:

• A business rate discount worth up to £275,000 per business over a five year period


• All business rates growth within the zone for a period of at least 25 years will be retained by the local area, to support the Partnership’s economic priorities and ensure that Enterprise Zone growth is reinvested locally


• Government help to develop radically simplified planning approaches for the zone using, for example, existing Local Development Order powers


• Government support to ensure that superfast broadband is rolled out throughout the zone, achieved through guaranteeing the most supportive regulatory environment and, if necessary, public funding.

The Regional Growth Fund which is giving £10 million to TATA is a £1.4bn fund operating across England from 2011 to 2014. It supports projects and programmes that lever private sector investment creating economic growth and sustainable employment. It aims particularly to help those areas and communities currently dependent on the public sector to make the transition to sustainable private sector-led growth and prosperity.

The second round of bidding to the Regional Growth Fund ended on the 1 July 2011. 492 bids were received with a combined total value of £3.3 bn. The Government welcomed this positive response to the Fund.

And that fact is quite interesting, the bid for the £10 million for TATA had to have been made by 1 July 2011, before the Conservative led Coalition Government announced the 21 English enterprise zones on 17 August 2011.

There is no equivalent regional growth fund in Wales or Scotland.

To conclude TATA decided to open a new engine factory outside Wolverhampton, because it's a logical decision and the proposal was being discussed with local Councils and Government well before the new enterprise zones had been announced.

Also in order to match the offer, the Welsh Government would have needed to find more than £10 million pounds.

Welsh Business Minister Edwina Hart recently announced the five new welsh enterprise zones, and is initially making £10m available over the next five years.

Don't get me wrong, the decision by TATA to open a new factory by Wolverhampton is good news, but I have a feeling that enterprise zones, or lack of them, had little if anything to do with the ultimate decision.

Trains are a rich man's toy

Picture from Virgin Trains

Now to be fair to Philip Hammond, the Transport Secretary, I haven't listened to the evidence he gave; when appearing earlier today, in front of the Commons transport committee. He was there to answer questions on High Speed 2 (HS2) - the planned line between London and Birmingham with a possible future extension to northern England and Scotland.

On the BBC he is reported as saying: British railways are a "rich man's toy".

Putting aside what Philip Hammond actually said, no doubt taken out of context, it cannot be denied that privatisation of the railways in the UK has been a bit of a disaster.

As mentioned in Wikipedia (about the privatisation in 1992) - "The management of British Rail strongly advocated privatisation as one entity, a British Rail plc in effect; Cabinet Minister John Redwood "argued for regional companies in charge of track and trains" but Prime Minister John Major did not back his view; the Treasury, under the influence of the Adam Smith Institute think tank advocated the creation of seven, later 25, passenger railway franchises as a way of maximising revenue. In this instance it was the Treasury view that prevailed."

Talking of rich men and women, a report from the Press Association says:

Sir Richard Branson was reportedly paid £17.8 million in dividends last year from Virgin Rail....

....The payment takes the total Branson has received from the railways since they were privatised to £188.8 million.

A spokesman for Virgin Rail told the newspaper: "Virgin took no dividend for the first seven years and now the turnover is one of the strongest in the industry"...

And the Herald Scotland recently reported:

SCOTTISH bus and rail company Stagecoach is to return £340 million in cash to shareholders – equivalent to 47p a share – with co-founders Sir Brian Souter and his sister Ann Gloag respectively in line for £51m and £37m.

Now who said that the trains of the UK were a rich man's toy again?