52 Comment Safwynt Plaid with Simon Tomas ON MONDAY (Jan 23), the


Leader of Plaid Cymru, Leanne Wood, and the First Minister, Carwyn Jones, launched a document securing Wales’ future – a plan for leaving the European Union. The paper calls for freedom of


movement rules to be linked to whether migrants have a job and demands full Single Market access. Last year, Labour Assembly


Members failed to back a Plaid Cymru Senedd motion advocating Wales retaining its membership of the Single Market. There was a danger the Welsh White


Paper would have taken a position against Single Market membership. It is in the best interests of the Welsh economy to remain in the Single Market. A position to the contrary would pose a real threat to jobs. By jointly authoring the Wales White


Paper, Plaid Cymru has prevented that from happening. When I took part in a Farmers’


Union of Wales breakfast week in Llanfrothen, Gwynedd, there was a warm welcome for the stance of Leanne Wood and the Party of Wales. People told me about the importance


of tariff free access to EU markets and backed strongly the continued participation in the Single Market to support the future prosperity of Wales. The White Paper is the official negotiation position of Wales on leaving the EU. The UK Government has set up a forum called Joint Ministerial Committee-European Negotiation, so that they can negotiate with the devolved administrations. Each devolved government gets to


submit a White Paper or proposal to the ministerial committee saying what they want from the UK Government on Brexit.


Plaid Cymru has developed the


White Paper for Wales jointly with the Welsh Government. There are a number of Plaid Cymru


ideas in the document: We pushed for a commitment to develop stronger links between Wales and Ireland in particular. This is a priority for the Party of Wales. We achieved a commitment


to developing a comprehensive international policy for Wales, which has been agreed and should now happen. There was an agreement that EU structural funds, if they end, should


be replaced by a change to the Welsh block grant. There was a rejection of xenophobia


and racism, and the use of EU citizens as ‘bargaining chips’. We fought to keep Horizon 2020, ERASMUS+ and EU education programmes. We ensured that Wales is prepared


to legislate to protect our constitutional position and devolved powers. There was also an agreement that


Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland should have a say on trade agreements. On Tuesday (Jan 24), the Supreme


Court ruled that the triggering of Article 50 would require a vote in the UK Parliament, but does not require the consent of the devolved administrations. This matter is a political decision


rather than a legal one. The National Assembly for Wales has to have a say whether the UK Government could continue with the process of leaving the EU is a simple matter of democracy and natural justice. If the Prime Minister Theresa May gags Wales’ voice then there will be constitutional consequences.


Eluned Morgan Mid & West Labour AM


IT’S WELCOME news that


over £1.2 million will be invested in maternity and neonatal services at Glangwili Hospital. I’ve visited the maternity units at both Withybush Hospital and Glangwili and I’m pleased that this money is available. It will help improve the neonatal


unit and labour ward at Glangwili, something that’s much needed. Expectant mums and dads need to know they will continue to receive the very best care in a facility that can accommodate new parents and babies from Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire. The staff have also been working in a difficult environment – they’ve been doing a great job despite the cramped conditions. When I met the Health Board Chief Executive recently, I told him of people’s ongoing concerns regarding patient transport. This investment will also help make the hospital more accessible to patients. I asked the Chief Executive, Steve


Moore, to assure me that everything was being done to minimise the impact of the temporary reduced opening hours of the Paediatric Assessment Unit at Withybush, so I was reassured to learn that the temporary changes to paediatric services at Withybush Hospital have been working and that progress is being made on recruitment. Let’s hope this means the children’s service there will be back to full strength very soon. The Labour Welsh Government


will invest £36m to reduce infant class sizes and raise standards, we were told this week. Reducing class sizes is one part of our mission to improve standards by targeting classes where teaching and learning needs to improve and where there are high levels of deprivation. I want to see opportunities extended for all our young people. There is a positive connection between smaller classes and results, particularly for pupils from poorer backgrounds.


This is most significant for younger children, which is why the investment is aimed at infant class sizes. Wales’ first ever Bus Summit is


bringing the bus industry and others together to look at how they can work more effectively together to deliver the best, most robust bus service possible. There is no question that 2016 was a mixed year for the bus industry in Wales; the demise of some service providers left communities, services and bus users vulnerable, including here in Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire. The Economy Secretary has said the summit will look at longer term solutions to deliver a quality service across Wales. This includes hearing how young people can be encouraged to increase their bus travel. If you have ideas on this or on any other issues, I hope you’ll write to me at my constituency office - 19 Cartlett, Haverfordwest, SA61 2LH or at facebook.com/elunedmorganam.


BADGER ENTERS THE TWITTERSPHERE


LAST week, Donald J Trump


became the 45th President of the USA.


There, Badger’s said it. And now, let’s never talk of it


again. It matters not why Trump won,


how he won, whether he did – in fact – win. He is now the President. The smugger sort of conservative


commentator suggested that once Donald became the Prez, he would moderate his rhetoric and become a more orthodox leader.


Oh dearie, dearie me, readers. Consider the difference between


these words: • I won’t stop; I’ll be right there with you as a citizen, inspired by your voices of truth and justice, good humor, and love.


• Dr. King and those who marched with him proved that people who love their country can change it. As Americans, we all owe them a great deal.


• Thank you for everything. My last ask is the same as my first. I’m asking you to believe - not in my ability to create change, but in yours.


• It’s been the privilege of my life to serve as your President. I look forward to standing with you as a citizen. Happy New Year everybody.


• From realizing marriage equality to removing barriers to opportunity, we’ve made history in our work to reaffirm that all are created equal.


• We traded foreign oil for clean energy, we doubled fuel efficiency standards, and we acted on a global scale to save the one planet we’ve got.


• After decades of rising healthcare costs, today nearly every American now has access to the financial security of affordable health care.


And these:


• Ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader. Terrible!


•


If Chicago doesn’t fix the horrible ‘carnage’ going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!


•


If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.


• Congratulations to @FoxNews for being number one in inauguration ratings. They were many times higher than FAKE NEWS @CNN - public is smart!


• Signing orders to move forward with the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines in the Oval Office.


• Totally biased @NBCNews went out of its way to say that the big announcement from Ford, G.M., Lockheed and others that jobs are coming back... to the U.S., but had nothing to do with TRUMP, is more FAKE NEWS. Ask top CEO’s of those companies for real facts. Came back because of me!


One of the above appears to have


an engaged world view that suggests there is something between their ears other than spare hair. The other is the sort of screaming into the dark self- absorbed stream of consciousness that suggests that its author is one step away from a tantrum of epic proportions and possibly being sent to bed without supper. Badger has dipped into the


Twittersphere for this article and does not propose to repeat the experience very soon. The toxicity of both sides’ social media vomit factories is beyond anything he could have


THE HERALD FRIDAY JANUARY 27 2017


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