Am dipyn bach o hwyl.

Dwi’n dwlu ar eiriau Cymraeg – mae ’na rywbeth jest mor hyfryd amdanyn nhw. Weithiau’n ddoniol i’m clustiau. Weithiau’n rhamantus, bron bob amser yn gerddorol. Fel y geiriau yn y teitl. “Cant o nadroedd mewn perygl“. O’dd stori ar y newyddion heddiw am smyglwr nodedig o anifeiliaid gwyllt prin. (Wnaeth yr heddlu ei ddal e ac mae fe mewn carchar ar hyn o bryd.) Smyglwr nadroedd go iawn.  Mae’r geiriau ’na’n ymdreiglo o gwmpas fy ngheg i. A dweud y gwir, yn yr enghraifft ’ma mae’r geiriau Saesneg yn eitha’ berseiniol. “Snake smuggler“.

A bron bob dydd bydda’ i’n clywed rhyw air neu ymadrodd Cymraeg newydd sy’n gwneud i mi godi fy nghlustiau i. Yn ddiweddar, wi wedi clywed:

ymhyfrydu  – to delight in
ymddiswyddo – to resign
eu pennau yn eu plu – their heads in their feathers – dejected, downcast
Harri Parri – enw awdur a phregethwr
cyhyrog – muscular

ac wrth gwrs

cant o nadroedd.

Dyna hyfryd.

Interesting to see that Jonathan Edwards, the Plaid Cymru MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, has finally caught up with some of the recent discussions regarding lower corporation taxes for Wales.

In the current political climate of public sector cuts, this makes easy headlines but it seems that Mr Edwards, in his interviews with the Western Mail, always seems to constantly and conveniently forget to ask some key questions, particularly about his own party’s role within the Welsh Assembly Government.

For example, if corporation tax was devolved to Wales, would it necessarily be reduced by the Welsh Assembly Government that was dominated by the Labour Party?

Currently, Plaid Cymru is wedded to a Labour Party that, during the last Brown administration, actually raised corporation tax for small firms across the UK.

Given the ambivalent attitude of many Labour members towards wealth creators, there is simply no guarantee that Assembly Government control over corporation tax would reduce taxes for business in Wales. Indeed, given Labour’s recent record at a UK level, could it end up increasing corporate taxes as a justification to support increased expenditure in public services?

There is also the question of Plaid’s record in Government on the other  main form of business taxation, namely non-domestic rates.

Back in 2007, the Party of Wales promised that 50,000 businesses in Wales would no longer pay business rates.  Yet, despite this being their main economic policy during the Assembly election, the pledge was quietly dropped as part of the One Wales Agreement.

Not surprising really, given that this was an agreement with a Labour Party that, during the previous 2003-2007 WAG administration, had doubled rates within rural parts of Wales when they abolished the rural rate relief scheme.

As a result of the broken promise by Plaid Cymru, Wales is left with a situation when the majority of small firms actually pay higher business rates than their equivalents in England and Scotland. Indeed, one has to ask how a political party that asks for cuts in corporation tax doesn’t apply the same principles to business rates.

As three quarters of small businesses in Wales are sole traders or partnerships, it is clear that any reduction in corporation tax would have no impact on the majority of Welsh firms whereas a cut in business rates would help enormously.

Easy headlines for the Western Mail are all well and good but when it comes to actually doing something to help small businesses in Wales through equalising business rates with England and Scotland, Plaid Cymru has simply failed to do anything, despite having the powers to do so.

There is also the question of Plaid Cymru’s Economic Renewal Programme, which has withdrawn financial support for the majority of small firms in Wales through focusing it effort on six key sectors. How will a decision to stop small businesses in key sectors such as construction, business services, wholesale and retail, food and drink and other non high technology manufacturing from accessing support help the Welsh economy emerge out of the recession over the next couple of years, especially in rural Wales?

Finally, has anybody bothered to ask the Welsh Assembly Government (in which Plaid holds the economy portfolio) whether it has actually begun any discussions with the UK Government and the other devolved administrations about the feasibility of devolving corporation tax, as suggested by Gerry Holtham in his recent review?

I would suspect, given the current chaos within the Department of Economy and Transport, that the answer is no.

Given such questions, perhaps Mr Edwards would be better off, in the future, discussing such matters of economic policy in Wales with Ieuan Wyn Jones rather than Martin Shipton.

Well its one way to define ourselves.David Cameron just on Mumsnet said  he loved oatcakes, how boring is that.Nick Clegg apparently likes Rich Tea , but didn’t say if that was with or without butter.
Me I love M and S chocolate assorted. 

Whats your favourite – this list apparently gives you an indication of what you are.
What your biscuit says about you
1 Choco Leibniz:
Europhile
2 Jaffa Cake:
Extrovert
3 Chocolate Millionaires:
Lovelorn
4 Digestive:
Frugal
5 Malted Milk Cow Biscuits:
Toddler
6Jammie Dodgers:
Hyperactive
7Dark Chocolate Gingers:
Posh
8Shortbread:
Really Posh
9HobNobs:
Grounded
10Bourbon Creams:
Traditionalist

Still no queues in the canteen in Cardiff Bay but when Assembly Members do flock back after their break from these offices, they’ll find the very same problems waiting for them. Those cuts and how they deal with them top the list.

As the Chancellor, his party and just about everyone else prepare to deal with the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review in October, the BBC will be on Cuts Watch and inviting you all to join in. How does the Chancellor plan to balance the books? What will decisions taken in the CSR mean for us here in Wales? Where would you cut?

That last question has only partly been answered by this morning’s BBC opinion poll results. I say partly because it’s always – inevitably – easier to make up your mind about what shouldn’t be cut than what should. It’s the should bit that hurts.

Six out of ten people think it’s right to cut the deficit but if that means cutting health? Not so keen on that. Education, military spending? Not those either. A pretty hefty chunk of the budget out there then. A lot of help the public are, grumbled one Assembly Member. Do it but oh no, not like that. Or that. Or that.

So what about the politicians, the ones whose parties are in power in Westminster and those who are in power here, the-mutually-exclusive-club as you might know them. The Tories will remind you this is Labour’s mess they’re sorting out, Labour will continue to show the red card to “savage Tory cuts”, now being waved through by their “partners in crime”, the Lib Dems. And who’s the Minister in charge of the Welsh economy? Plaid leader, Ieuan Wyn Jones.

At last, suggested one Welsh Conservative, Plaid are getting their act together on this stuff. Their call on the UK Government to make a special economic case for Wales - much as they have already with Northern Ireland – showed Plaid were stirring “at last”. He seemed to recognise the makings, at least, of a punch being landed, even it hadn’t got there yet.

So where would they – any of them – cut? Who’d get rid of free bus passes for pensioners, or free prescriptions? The Tories would get rid of free school breakfasts but fiddling about at the edges of cuts to bus passes and prescriptions doesn’t actually make any worthwhile financial gains, does it? If David Cameron talks tough, then will we hear just the same from Nick Bourne, or will his narrative be ever-so-slightly less tough? Not much wriggle room there, granted but then Mr Cameron doesn’t have an election to fight in eight months’ time.

Will the Welsh Liberal Democrats use every inch of wriggle room they do have to send out a message that has ‘it’s the Westminster lot, not us’ written between every line? I get the feeling they might, ever more formally, as the months go by.

And how will the Cardiff Bay coalition rise to the challenge ahead, as a team of two but a partnership that’s about to break ranks and punch the living daylights out of each other in the run-up to the Assembly election?

It must be tempting for Labour to talk ‘Tory cuts,’ do little to dull the blows other than point down the M4. The ‘Tory cuts’ strategy worked very well for them in the General Election, after all. It must be equally tempting for Plaid to take their daily pick between ‘Tory cuts’ and ‘Labour mess’ but as I’ve mentioned before now, there are key figures in both parties who simply don’t think that will do. If you want to keep on governing, you have to sound and campaign like parties of government.

Come the Assembly election they will all have to come clean. Just bear in mind that the manifestos are being written right now – and keep your ears open.

Last week some friends reminded me that I haven’t said anything about climate change for some time. I spent yesterday evening reading through the Energy Descent Action Plan produced by Totnes Transition Town group. It’s available on: http://totnesedap.org.uk/ and makes some very important points about the need to a resilient (largely self-sufficient) local economy. The authors point out that money arriving in the area leaves it without creating any benefit locally – in paying energy bills, shopping in supermarkets and online and advocate localisation … Sounds familiar?

But it is frustrating to see how few and far between sustainable practices are. Food co-operatives in Wales such as in Cardigan have great potential as does the allotment movement and the community-owned wind turbines at Gigha and at Findhorn in Scotland. But I wonder if the focus on localism isn’t self-defeating when it clouds the need for national action.

Without a doubt Wales can produce more electricity than we need from renewable sources. So why aren’t we? And why aren’t we making sure this potential stays in Wales?

The first phase of the Gwynt y Mor off-shore wind farm off the North coast will produce just under 10% of our national electricity need. This is projected to rise to producing around half our national need in phase 3. While I do have concerns about the scale, it is mostly hidden from view, which is more than can be said for most dry-land developments.

The Syniadau blog has discussed the 30% equity stake the Munich Municipal Utility holds in Gwynt y Mor. See: http://syniadau–buildinganindependentwales.blogspot.com/2010/06/stadtwerke-munchen.html

Munich has long invested in alternative technologies, we haven’t.

Such investment in energy production by our County Councils is not currently possible, but it is a very interesting model to consider. It also raises important issues around the financing and ownership of sustainable energy production.

Faced with a crisis of the magnitude of global warming, we must find ways of allowing communities – large and small – to borrow so that they can be really resilient in terms of food and energy production. Much of the sea bed also remains in the hands of the Crown Estate. Both those discussions need to happen on a National Welsh level and in case of the Crown Estate, in the UK Parliament too.

The Offshore Valuation Group suggests setting up a super-grid for electricity in Europe through which we could sell energy to areas which do not have our advantages in terms of wind and sea. For a copy go to: http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/30/2122775//offshore_valuation_full.pdf.

Not only can sustainable technology help us meet – and pass – our 40% CO2 reduction target, but here is an incredibly valuable resource that we can use to keep Welsh people in work and raise our standard of living.

Plaid has long called for a Green Investment Bank to develop long-term jobs and expertise. I’m sceptical about what we’ll see in the UK Energy Bill but I do hope to see discussions about alternative financial models to promote sustainability in the next few months.

Diwedd y gan yw’r geiniog? As always it does come down to money, but this could be the start of something very big

It seems from this report, however, that the government has been trying to fiddle the figures by only counting emissions which actually occur in the UK. And on the basis of that little conjuring trick, they’ve announced that the UK is succeeding in reducing its carbon footprint.

It’s good to see that their own chief environment scientist is challenging them on this. Exporting our manufacturing industry, increasing our consumption of manufactured goods, and then claiming that China and India are responsible for increasing global levels of CO2 whilst we are achieving a reduction is downright dishonest.

I accept, as the report notes, that counting ‘embedded’ carbon costs is not going to be a straightforward exercise, but if we are to be really honest about the true size of our carbon footprint, it’s an essential step to take. Saying, as the government has, that we don’t have jurisdiction over the carbon content of imports may be a true statement, but it misses the point. The issue isn’t jurisdiction, it’s responsibility. And we all have to take responsibility for the resources we use.

There is another aspect to the way in which our carbon costs are artificially reduced as well, of course. The carbon cost of overseas military activity is completely excluded from the figures. So all the fuel and high explosive being used in Afghanistan is counted at zero carbon cost as far as the UK Government is concerned. Another way of avoiding our enviromental responsibilities.

The ballot papers were sent out last week, and many of those eligible to take part will already have voted. But there’s still a chance someone could be unnerved enough by a question – about their favourite biscuit, for instance – to adversely affect their chances.

In Wales, as in the rest of the UK, Labour support seems to be evenly divided between the Miliband brothers, at least amongst MPs, who hold a third of the votes in the electoral college.

But some good news just in for Ed Miliband – he has secured the backing of Dai Havard, the MP for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney. Mr Havard had been considering his options after his first choice, John McDonnell, failed to get on the ballot paper.

That leaves Ed Miliband with 12 Welsh MPs behind him, David Miliband with 11, Ed Balls with 2 and Diane Abbott with just the one. Andy Burnham will have to make do without the Welsh PLP, barring any late changes of plan.

Trade unionists who pay the political levy and Labour party members also have a vote; the winner will be announced on September 25.