Policy into practise

We note that Labour continue to mock the new road system being installed in Swansea City Centre, but are they really in touch with what voters are thinking?

In this article in yesterday's Evening Post a Kingsway trader is quoted as saying that "The council has done an excellent job of improving the look of the Kingsway and the surrounding area. The flow of traffic has also improved." This appears to be a common view and is one reflected amongst taxi drivers, a normally reliable barometer of public opinion. Labour are living in the past.

The brothers and sisters are also scathing about the time being taken to get the city centre strategy right. Quite why they feel that they have to repeat the cost of this strategy is beyond us. After all it was the previous Labour Administration who commissioned it and it is the Labour Assembly Government who is helping to pay for it.

We have had decades of Labour failure to get things moving in the City Centre, now at last there is some action. Important as the policy framework is, we are not going to sit around waiting for it to be completed. The future prosperity of Swansea is more important than that. Not that we would expect Labour to understand. This Administration has succeeded in getting investors interested again. All Labour can do is sneer from the sidelines.

Jokers

Even by the standards of the Inside Outers the latest speculation on what is going on within the Administration group here, here and here is really scraping the bottom of the barrel. When they do not know what is going on then they make it up.

They are obsessed with the idea that the Administration is being held together by the love of money and cannot even begin to appreciate that there may be other bonds, such as the desire to put right decades of Labour incompetence and its impact on the City.

David Phillips also seems to be under the impression that the Council leadership has agreed to roll over and let him and his Tory allies walk into key positions on the authority. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact the Administration group is united in their obstinacy and are reinforced in their opposition to the process every time David Phillips stands up in Council and speaks. His behaviour last Thursday was nothing short of disgraceful, even going so far as to openly misrepresent advice he had received, as well as the position of the Council Leader.

All of the group meetings we have observed have been unanimous in endorsing the tactics of the so-called 'rebels' and in supporting the Leader in finishing the job he started in July 2004. If Labour think this process is going to end with them walking back into power without having to face the electorate once more then they are very much mistaken.

The Wonderful World of Labour

We all know that the New Labour contingent of the PLC Coalition inhabit a different world to the rest of us; a world where things exist because they say they do. (Or do not exist - like the non-existent scrutiny chair offer letter that Plaid somehow managed to reply to).

The latest example is the way the Inside Leg spinners refuse to accept the truth that money for the city centre roadworks came from the New Labour Assembly Government; and that the grant was approved by a New Labour Minister, and Swansea AM, Andrew Davies. If they don't like the scheme, they should take it up with him.

Colour Blind

It is a well known scientific fact that the most common form of colourblindness comes from the failure to differentiate between red and green. This was confirmed by a Labour activist who decided to drop his party's guard in the letters page of the Evening post with this interesting point of view:

"Members of Plaid Cymru and Labour at least stand for something more than just personal ambition and the pocketing of council allowances; what a pity Plaid didn't take power with Labour in 2004 and save the city and county from the shambles that now passes for local government in County Hall. "

Of course we'd already worked out that Labour were only using the Tories to get themselves back into power but its nice to have it in print all the same.

None the less there should be fun and games in Cockett come 2008.

Hope for City

Tonight's Evening Post editorial has backed up what we have been saying for some time: Swansea City is on the up.

New investment is coming into the City, whilst existing operators are re-positioning their product to take advantage of potential opportunities. Tescos too is preparing new plans for its Oystermouth Road store.

As the Post points out the long awaited development of the former David Evans store is also underway. It will bring new names to the City Centre.

When you add in the boost to the local economy that the new casino will bring, then we can see that the Administration's policies are starting to bear fruit and that the disaster we inherited from Labour is being left far behind.

Economical....

What is it with Labour leaders and the truth?

Despite Lord Blair of Kut-al-Amara's assurances to the contrary to Parliament, there really weren't any weapons of mass destruction waiting to be deployed against British territory in 45 minutes, but Labour took us to war alongside Bush anyway.

On a far less significant scale; despite David Phillips' assurances to the contrary to the last Swansea Labour Party meeting, there really is a letter, addressed to both the Labour and Plaid whips and dated 18th June 2004, offering them chairs of scrutiny committees. Plaid wrote back and declined - so we know the letter exists. No doubt Swansea Labour members will draw their own conclusions.

I'm also told that Phillips assured the meeting that he was not in coalition with Rene 'Dear Leader' Kinzett, and his New Model Tories. This was before he got up to propose his fellow leader for Area 2 Planning Chair last Tuesday. Sorry Councillor Phillips, but if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. And this is a coalition. Again, Swansea Labour members will draw their own conclusions. They'll just have to hope that the voters won't.

Mind you, it's lucky for Labour that they are in coalition with the Tories and Plaid. What is clear is that without Tory backing, Labour would not be mounting this clumsy challenge to get what they were already offered way back in June 2004. This is clearly a marriage made in heaven.

PLC Coalition in trouble already?

Is the PLC Coalition in trouble already? I'm now told that when the Plaid-Labour-Con attempted to unseat Tregoning and Tucker went belly-up on Tuesday, it did so because a significant number of Labour members did not attend. Could it be that there are some Labour members who resented having to vote for a Tory - especially Rene 'Dear Leader' Kinzett - and stayed away accordingly? Can't David Phillips get his members to do what he says? We can be sure that the 'Dear Leader' will be bending Phillips' ear about it. Perhaps they could do a job swap?

Labour's Little Helpers (Plaid) were champing at the bit to vote the Tory Leader in. They, at least, have no concerns about voting Conservative to help Labour.

P.S. It seems ex Dunvant Community Councillor and former suspendee Lis Davies was in the public gallery - no doubt to see the hated Tregoning get his. Will the Coalition's failure to get rid of him mean that she will have second thoughts about joining PLC? I t would be a pity if all Phillip's good work at Planning last week (see Phoenix posts passim) were to come to nothing.