They used to be a legendary party , redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor, creating the NHS etc 

Now what do they do? What are the results of their policies? What have they achieved in 25 years? How do they get away with it without scrutiny?

Drugs rife

job centres shut

Lowest GDP per head in UK

Town centres fallen to pieces, excessive car parking fees. Yet free parking in out of town shopping zones where land is often gifted free to these massive retailers who then wipe out all the small shops. Why do they allow this?

Rising council taxes

Endless problems at GP practices

No help for the industries

NHS wales the worst its ever been, longest ever waiting lists

Not even an A and E in Llanelli

Roads an absolute disgrace, potholes everywhere, speed bumps too big in many cases and every 30 yards in many roads damaging cars and ironically the stop starting creates greater emissions 

No support to sme's as rates rise and footfall collapses

Our national sport the teams are bankrupt

The lowest GDP per head in the whole of the UK

Rapidly rising council license fees for business

Few and fewer refuge collections

Police stations closed

ONLY 1 airport run by the govt where prices are so high as the WAG dont have a clue how to run an airport, no one uses it any goes to bristol or heathrow instead

Old people neglected in care homes

Endless public wasted money

Public land sold cheap

No proper road between north and south wales

But we do have endless cycle paths, road works 

Yipeee

Before anyone distracts to oh the tories are worse. We all know that. My point is what the heck has the labour party done for wales

They love gimmicks and identity politics and things that appear helpful on the surface but in reality their policies since the WAG opened have made our society worse..It really shouldnt be this hard to run such a small country efficiently

We either need a new party for the masses or plaed to seriously get their act together and fight to help the silent working majority

 

Yeah, keep regurgitating that narrative. I'm just your woke enemy 

It does however infuriate me too that welsh labour somehow get a free pass from their failings. There is no doubt people are intimidated in wales to not criticize labour and simply get shouted down as tories

Thanked 

sir duckling is justified to have a rant, although I have given up ranting , as I am now used to losing.

The fabric of our society has changed, it is true..all WAG fault..lets examine .

Drugs Rife - (its the same all over uk, if not the world)

Job centres shut-(open in Llanelli)

Lowest GDP inn UK- (just look at social deprivation caused by national government policy)

Town centres-( out of town shopping ie Trostre the brainchild of local government..sadly )

Rising council tax( Carmarthenshire rise very small)

Problems at GP surgeries ( problem complex, some fund holders, some run by health board, all affected by extra demand of ageing population in wales and under investment)

No help with industries-(WAG has an active policy of assisting business in wales)

NHS Wales worst its ever been(agreed , after 13 years of Tories)

No A& E in Llanelli ( this decision was made by health board)

Roads a disgrace ..etc-( do you realise Sir Duckling that Gorge Osborne slashed the rate support grant for local gov)

National sport _( ( just have a hard look at WRU, and the mess they have made of governance)

not finishing the endless list.

Totalybiasedscarlet, has made the point eloquently, that WAG, clearly has made mistakes , things it can do better, but at the end of the day its budget is set by Westminster.

Devolved health and education budgets are run by WAG, but there is only so much cake you can divide.

Wales issues go back years to the closure of heavy industry, in wales , when we as an economy were totally dependent upon it. Thatcher saw to that.

Nothing replaced, no jobs, no investment , no hope !Social deprivation pockets, some of the worst in Europe

Little has changed, as inward investment in green tech , yet to happen !!

UK gov said NO to the Swansea bay scheme, as just one example.

What has replaced jobs and prosperity? Social deprivation, and an increasing reliance on benefits,.

An ageing population, adversely affected by the above, now struggling with a high degree of ill health

putting a huge pressure on the health service, both hospitals and GP surgeries.

When WAG, and other devolved governments in Scot and NI, have their  budgets SLASHED by Cameron & Osborne, during austerity... What the hell do you expect ?

This is on top ,as already mentioned, of local gov, having rate support grant slashed.

Nothing much has changed under May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak.

Apart from that the Barnett formula, on how devolved admiration receives its funding, has now clearly become not fit for purpose.

Until Wales has a better way of ensuring that the challenges that have changed the face of this country, don't disadvantage it , NO GOVERNMENT of whatever political persuasion, stands a chance of really putting right the wrongs that affect a changing society , that is the Wales we see today.

This is a country struggling to cope with the situation many of us find yourselves in.

We need a clear vision for the future, and only national has the clout to do that , so great is the challenge .

We need to harness the natural resources t here in wales,  build and renew energy for the future.

We need to work with farmers to build a sustainable future and we need to support and invest in small business, that buy and employ local

We need to improve our infrastructure, to ensure that inward investment is permanent , not fleeting.

We need to ensure the current industries like steelmaking are supported in every way possible.

These are some of the things that WAG can do, but only with the will and determination of nat gov.

If much of the above does not happen, then the schism fault lines, already evident in UK unity will again be very much under scrutiny, and a " confederation of states", will possibly  be the future of the UK.

We will wait and see.

RR1972  , normally  brilliant,  but do'nt agree this time.

The way we are going at Westminster  you could  put a bunch of monkeys  in Cardiff bay, and they would do better.

Just the way Drakeford  handled the pandemic  in comparison  to Johhson..just one example.

Apart from that , taking decisions on a more local basis, is always better.

As a former teacher , I thanked god so many times that the assembly were taking the decisions and not idiots ,like secretary  of state for education  Kenneth Baker, who 's commonsense, you could fit in to a thimble!

I have never been a nationalist, but have starting warming to the ideas proposed by totallybiasedscarlet ,just doing things differently. 

Staying the same with current Westminster  model is undemocratic,  and unworkable. Very few  countries operate  on this basis.

There are Tories in the Senedd, much as I loath them, because of the regional  list., and it reflects modern democracy. 

How ironic would that be

I’ve never been a raving nationalist either, but seeing what damage this Westminster government has done to our wonderful country is making me more keen on the thought of a referendum.

The WAG doesn’t have the same powers that the Scottish Assembly has, and has it’s hands tied by Westminster on a lot of key legislation.  They even conned us out of £5billion in funding for transport when they claimed that HS2 was an England and Wales infrastructure project and as a result Wales would benefit, whereas Scotland wouldn’t benefit and as a result we’re entitled to a similar amount for their own transport projects as part of levelling up. That £5 billion would have transformed the transport infrastructure in Wales.

Even though there are things that the WAG haven’t handled well in the 20something years of its existence, they have proven that they can do things better than the Westminster government- our handling of the pandemic was better and far less confusing than that of the Tories in Westminster, our handling of the train drivers strike (or lack of one in Wales as the WAG runs the train infrastructure and were able and willing to negotiate with the drivers / unions to come to deal) and the fact that they have been willing to meet with health staff/unions to discuss pay and conditions, even putting a reasonable new offer on the table.

Excellent  post ..as always from Legendinmybathroom....spot on .!

You make some excellent points there, reinforcing some of the points  have been making, ahd highlighting  others. 

The problem in Wales, is we do not have enough belief,  or confidence  in ourselves or our  identity 

Contrast that with Scotland.

at least on par with Scotland. This would mean greater legislation powers, and consequently the ability to have better control of certain things.  

The issues highlighted inn he last few months, have illustrated  how hamstrung we are here in Wales, having autonomy, but not able to effectively govern due to the fiscal restraints.

In fairness to the WAG, they have taken a constructive position with regard to negotiations with all unions and workforces. The have been differences and maybe its taken too long, but there has been respect shown to those in dispute.

Contrast that to Sunak and his cronies. Disrespect and no dialogue, and no resolved disputes.

This is the party which its new deputy chairman, fancies himself as a hangman  !

The welsh assembly government has led the way on several issues, recycling and its attitude to plastic being just two. Charging for carrier bags was started, was just one small thing ,stated in Wales, and later followed by England.

Personally, I would like to see WAG go further and ban all supermarkets selling plastic bags. 

Need to be done in such a way that people are given sufficient time to obtain hessian or durable bag for life products. WE MUST stop keeping plastic in our mainstream lives, and plastic which has a 

comparatively short life span, before being thrown away.

At least WAG have shown some commitment and awareness.

There are examples I can use of WAG being a force for good , but will take up too much time here and become boring.

Mistakes have clearly been made, the record in Health ATM, frankly is not good enough, BUT ,as I said in the earlier post, the huge strain of an ageing population and social deprivation, which under the Tories, is getting worse by the day, is putting a massive strain on a diminishing budget and workforce, which is struggling to cope.

Add that to numbers of medical staff departing these shores, thanks that wonderful thing called BREXIT.

There are 4, 5000 less doctors alone now , as opposed to before Brexit.

The WAG, of whatever political colour would struggle to manage that issue alone, particularly in the the current financial climate, and with morale and workforce pressure spiralling

To conclude, If I was marking the WAG's homework, as a teacher, I would say, "Reasonable progress, but room for improvements in key areas".

A lot of this can come from greater autonomy, and a better funding formula to replace Barnett.

I have traditionally never been a nationalist, but I look at that outdated , sexist, privileged, inefficient, undemocratic, cess-pit, that is Westminster., AND particularly the events of the last year !

Laughable adversarial politics, belonging in the schoolyard, booing , hissing, gross disrespect, is this the "Mother of Government " ? 

If that was my mother, I would want to cut the umbilical cord.

In the immediate future, things have to change for the better, and that doesn't just mean to turf  out his appalling "sleazbag"  of a government !

I wholeheartedly think, we can be better than this in this country, and consequently politicians can glean a little more respect than the dismal situation, we find ourselves in now.

Constructive dialogue has to take place on constitutional change, although I am not hopeful on that score.

If this does not happen, and the worse things get, more and more people ,with disengage with the world of decision making, and what sort of society does that leave us with ??

I have to say that in my time as a health employee I have seen it decimated by 2 Tory governments (major’s first and more recently under 5 different PMs).

Every year of Tory austerity or just public service cuts hits all NHS trusts (across the UK) but more so in Wales (due to funding formulas used to distribute the funds).  This means that the WAG ever have to pass on the cuts to the welsh trusts or they have to rise taxes (which would be a vote killer).  The only time when the NHS was funded properly (early noughties) staff morale and numbers were much higher and there was a lot more funding for proactive and preventative treatments (such as drug and substance misuse).

As an NHS employee  people should  listen to what Legend has to say.

Cuts in real terms,  regarding  budgets and spending,  has been on a downward  spiral  for years.

This is why the most dedicated  workforce  inthe UK is striking. 

I spoke toba nurse in Glangwili past ,when we went for the wife's 

routine appointment. 

This lady had given a lifetime of service , 40 years.nAs a RCN member , had NEVER EVER, considered  industrial  action. 

Now on the cusp of retirement,  she is striking,  not for herself , but for the future  of the NHS. How can we encourage  the best young people to look after us,to become doctors, nurses, or any other medical  professionals when those  already  employed are treated  shabbily. 

Do'nt know whether Roy Munster  read my previous post.

In that I eluded to the levels of social deprivation  in Wales, vastly  exceeding  Enlgland.Pockets of poverty  here in Wales are the worst in Europe .

To add to that demographics  , point to an ageing  population, proportionally,  in comparison  to large parts  of England,  ,particularly  tye South East. Making comparisons  therefore  is dubious. 

This as a consequence  places a huge an increasing  strain  on GP services,  and the NHS in general. 

The wag and councils do nothing for sme's that's a huge reason why Wales is the poorest part of the uk

|Small and medium size enterprise, are an essential part of Wales recovery from economic stagnation,

I mentioned this in my post in reply to the leader post by Sir Duckling On Feb. 9th. 

Some of the work with the promote and re-energise smaller and medium size business was done by the WDA, but I believe this was abolished around 2005/6.

Grants are still available, as a few of my friends have benefitted.

The issue now for SME's is that the climate for prosperity and diversity is dire.

Brexit has stifled our market opportunities, and red tape and bureaucratic system and new checks and tariff's making trading incredibly difficult, combined with the weaknesses of our currency.

As has been indicated in earlier posts, Wales decline , is not down to one or two pinpointed reasons , there is a wide diversification of reasons.

Its clear that WAG and cash strapped local authorities do not possess enough clout to get us out of that hole.

There needs to be a total NEW WAY TO APPROACH THINGS .

Ford transferring jobs to the USA (news today) underlined the help the American government is providing in research and investment of electric car production.

We are the worst in Europe for this , and one of the worst in green energy projected investment

The Tories in London have overseen a period of grotesque greed and corruption. The country never recovered from the 2008 economic collapse