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part of the European Economic Area, and with a trade deal'. It is, of course, correct that some voices on the Remain side warned that leaving the EU might well precipitate our departure from the Single Market. At the time, Brexiteers referred to these warnings as 'Project Fear'. Still, at least we’ve got President


TWO NIL! On Tuesday (Jan 24),


the Supreme Court unsurprisingly confirmed that the Prime Minister is not allowed to wave a hazel twig, utter incantations in Latin or by whatever alternative mechanism she prefers invoke the Royal prerogative to overrule laws passed by Parliament. What Parliament has done only


Parliament can undo. This includes the bringing into UK law of every right, privilege and obligation that flows from our membership of the European Union. If we are to invoke Article 50, it must be by an Act of Parliament. The result should have surprised


Theresa May and her government. After all, following their defeat last November in the Administrative Court, May’s spokesman told journalists that she was 'very confident we will win in the Supreme Court. We remain of the firm belief that we have strong legal arguments ahead of the case which will be moving to the Supreme Court next month'. Whatever those strong legal


arguments were, the government chose not to deploy them in court. Attorney- General and sacrificial lamb Jeremy Wright stood blinking before 11 men and women with minds like bacon slicers, delivered himself of the same short speech that failed to persuade the lower court, and legged it before Lord Sumption could get stuck into him. Eight to three, the Supreme Court


ruled against the government, who then (in contrast to the hissy fit in November) announced that they knew this was coming all along and it didn't matter anyway because Parliament would vote how they were bloody well told. The Daily Mail did its Völkischer


Beobachter bit and attempted to get worked up about the ruling, but by and large all but the most wilfully obtuse (that being IDS, who grunted his disappointment at the result) have realised that there was nothing political about the case.


It was also unsurprising that


interventions by the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland failed. Unlike the Westminster Parliament, the Senedd, Holyrood and Stormont are not sovereign in themselves. They exist as creatures of statute, and the extent of their powers is defined by law. Dealing with the EU is a matter explicitly reserved to Westminster. Angry reports in the press howled


that Carwyn spent £90,000 on the Welsh Government’s legal challenge. This is very nearly as much as we pay the Future Generations Commissioner every year. It is terrifying to think that Wales might have to go without a Future Generations Commissioner for a year to pay for this extravagance. Although


the devolved


administrations have no veto over Brexit, it would be wise for Theresa May to take the views of the Welsh and Scottish Governments properly into account (Nort Iron has no Government at present, since Sinn Fein picked up their suspicious package and stormed off after a tiff with the DUP). All the devolved administrations


want to stay in the European Economic Area and Customs Union, and to continue to trade freely with the 27 remaining members of the EU. The UK Government, banging on with the whopping lie that everyone who voted Leave was voting to leave the EEA and Customs Union, wants neither. The referendum campaign that


Brexiteers are now describing is not the one many of us remember. Last year, the complaint was that in 1972 the UK joined a common market, not a political union. Leavers wanted free trade, not federal rule. “Absolutely nobody is talking about threatening our place in the Single Market” said Brexit headbanger Dan Hannan, as he banged his moon-sized head. Nigel Farage himself comforted the public that we would 'find ourselves


Trump, who is going to put us at the front of the queue for a trade deal, right? Anyone who listened to The Donald’s beastly inauguration address and observed his first ugly days in office might have reason to doubt this. Amidst the wall building, Muslim


barring, approving of torture and other executive acts calculated to turn the USA into a stinking muckheap on a hill, Trump scrapped a free trade deal, the Trans Pacific Partnership, because he felt that it threatened American jobs. His first message to Americans as President was that 'we will follow two simple rules. Buy American and hire American'. His priorities? 'America first. America first. America first'. Brexiteers are optimistic that Trump


means well by Britain. After all, he put a bust of Churchill, not Hitler, in the Oval Office. Remainers are pessimistic, in the way that someone who has just seen a small child dash a Ming vase to shards is pessimistic when the child comes back with a tube of glue. In any trade deal, America first


cannot mean Britain first. To open our markets fully to American products, we will be clearing the way for the genetically modified products of million-cow hormone-stuffing Midwestern intensive beef units, heavily protected and subsidised steel and (to use some five tons of that steel up at once), the Chevrolet Suburban. If this sort of stuff starts flowing


into the UK, bang goes any Customs Union with the 27 EU countries. If we burn our bridges to the Single Market, we hold no cards at all when negotiating with Trump. Britain second in a trade deal with America is almost certainly going to mean Wales fourth at best, in the not unlikely scenario of Nicola Sturgeon screwing a better post-Brexit deal out of Theresa May than Carwyn can manage. The Supreme Court’s decision


puts power over the Brexit process back where it should be: with the Parliament whose restored sovereignty was supposedly the whole purpose of leaving the EU. Our MPs, particularly those representing constituencies in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, must fight to stay in the Single Market.


HEALTH SECRETARY


Vaughan Gething has taken action to relieve pressure on GPs during the busier than usual winter period. Vaughan Gething, in partnership


with BMA Wales, has taken the decision that the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) element of the GP contract will be relaxed until March 31. This move will create more capacity


for GPs and practice nurses to manage their most vulnerable and chronically sick patients during the winter period where there is a significant increase in demand for their services. The Health Secretary said: “The


positive action we’ve taken today will help ease pressure on primary care. I’d like to thank GP and practice nurses across Wales for their hard work and commitment to their patients during this busy winter period. “Instead of patients being called in


for routine appointments automatically at the busiest time of the year, doctor and practice nurse’s time will be freed up to see patients, prioritising those urgently requesting appointments


THE HERALD FRIDAY JANUARY 27 2017


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Action taken to help GPs


because they are ill. “Both BMA Wales and Welsh


Government remain committed to working positively and collaboratively to improve access to services. No GP practice will lose out financially as a result of QOF relaxation. “I hope that both primary care and


patients in Wales will feel the benefits of this decision. It’s a common sense approach that shows the agility of NHS Wales – especially when it’s under pressure.” Dr Charlotte Jones, Chair of GPC


Wales, said: “This welcome move will have a positive effect on practices by reducing bureaucracy and box ticking, as well as releasing capacity which will enable GPs and practice nurses to focus on the complex care needs of their patients at a particularly busy time. “We are committed to working in


partnership with Welsh Government to continue improving working conditions for GPs in Wales, and this agreement demonstrates what can be achieved through collaboration on an agreed vision.”


Explore the Tywi Valley Path project


BUSINESSES and members


of the public who want to find out more about the Tywi Valley Path are being invited to a special event at the end of this month. The ambitious project will see


a 16-mile shared use path created through the scenic Tywi Valley countryside between Carmarthen and Llandeilo and is expected to attract thousands of visitors every year. The path will follow an almost


adjacent route to that of the River Tywi, linking in with major tourist attractions and generating between £860,000 and £2 million a year in the local economy. An event is being held at the


Ivy Bush Hotel in Carmarthen on Tuesday (Jan 31) so that businesses along the route can look at how they could contribute to the project and benefit from the anticipated 15,000 visitors a year. They are being invited to attend


one of two sessions being held for local businesses between 1.30pm and 2.30pm or 4pm and 5pm. As well as information on the


path itself, they will also be able to speak to tourism experts, find out more about the grants available to help develop their businesses and learn more about other projects in the county, such as the velodrome at Carmarthen Park. A ‘virtual flyover’ showing the


general route of the path will also be showcased at the event. Members of the public can also


‘drop in’ between 2.30pm and 4pm to find out more about the project. The first phase of works have


taken place between Fronun and Bwlch Bach, near the concrete works in Abergwili, and included drainage and widening of the existing carriageway, thanks to a Local Transport Fund grant from Welsh Government. Executive Board Member for


the Environment Cllr Hazel Evans said: “This is a very exciting project which will attract thousands of tourists and greatly boost our leisure tourism economy. We are holding this event so local businesses can find out how they can get involved and maximise the opportunities it will bring to them. It is also a chance for the public to get more information on the path. “We are looking to make


Carmarthenshire the cycling capital of Wales and the Tywi Valley Path, together with a number of other investments in the county, such as the velodrome, will support that aspiration.” If you are a local business that


would like to attend the event, please register your interest on Eventbrite at www.eventbrite. co.uk/e/discover-the-tywi-valley- path-tickets-31256590303.


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