The Labour election circus came to Swansea yesterday leading the First Minister to try to claim sole credit for all the investment coming into the City at the moment.Labour have form on this of course. When things go wrong then local Councils are the easy scapegoats. When Labour election pledges such as those on school buildings do not materialise then it is everybody's fault but theirs. They are a good news government, only interested in associating themselves with success and failing to take responsibility for their failures.
I am not going to deny that the Welsh Assembly Government has played its part in helping Swansea get back on its feet, but we do need to note that it was the failures of a Labour Council that got us there in the first place. Rhodri Morgan's Government and his Transport Minister have also failed to provide the investment that Swansea needs to build on our success. In particular they have consistently failed to give us a proper share of Transport Grant, delaying unreasonably the re-building of the bus station.
So when Rhodri Morgan says that the City's success is built on his government's investment he is only telling half the story. The Swansea Administration has played a large part in that success too, creating an atmosphere in which investors want to come back here once more. The Administration's decision to re-open the Leisure Centre, the can-do attitude in the City Centre and the new confidence we are creating in the City have all played a part.
It is not a Labour-run Assembly that is helping to transform the fortunes of the city, it is a partnership being led by the Council, putting right Labour's mess. If anything the Assembly Government is holding us back.
