Why Scotland cannot keep the Pound

On the question of currency, we have a recent example of an amicable split by two Countries when Slovakia and the Czech Republic split. Initially the old Czechoslovak currency, the Czechoslovak Koruna, was used in both countries following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia on the 31^st December 1992. By the 8^th February 1993, the two new Countries had adopted national currencies in the form of the Czech Koruna and the Slovak Koruna. At the beginning, the currencies had an equal exchange rate, but later on the value of the Slovak Koruna was up to 30% lower than that of the Czech Koruna. For Scotland, the alternatives seem to be to have a Scottish Pound or for Scotland to enter the Euro however, we know that enthusiasm to enter into the Euro has declined since the debt crisis that has occurred in several European nations.

 

Further back in history, we had the split from the rest of the Great Britain by the Republic of Ireland. Ireland had a currency, the Irish Punt, that during the days of fixed exchange rates was pegged to the pound sterling but following the advent of "floating" exchange rates, its value varied against the pound sterling until Ireland entered the Euro in January 2002.

The Czech and Slovak joint currency lasted less than 40 days; why would anyone expect a British and Scottish joint pound to last any longer?

The next question we must ask is would an Independent Scotland want to join the European Community and if accepted what would happen toits currency 

New members also have to join the Euro and adopt tougher European Treaty obligations on border controls, crime and security. Even if Scotland was to join the European Union, it would have to join on the terms offered to new members and not rely on the current agreement reached between the UK and EU.

Swansea AM calls for more 20mph zones outside schools

To coincide with the start of national Road Safety Week, Swansea’s Labour AM Mike Hedges has today repeated his support for the roll out of 20mph zones outside local schools to help improve the safety and wellbeing of children.

The calls from the Swansea East AM follow on from today’s announcement from Transport Minister Edwina Hart that the Welsh Government will be holding a public consultation on introducing new statutory guidance for risk assessing walked routes to school.

The consultation, which opened earlier today as part of Road Safety Week, aims to seek the views of children, parents, teachers and road users on improving the safety of both school walking routes and Welsh roads.   

Earlier this year, Mike Hedges, who is a Chair of governors at both Glyncollen and Ynystawe Primary schools, supported a Senedd debate with other AMs to discuss and highlight the importance on rolling out more 20mph zones outside schools and on roads in built-up areas.

Although the decision to change speed limits is a local council prerogative, the Welsh Government has given local authorities £11.5m this year to introduce more 20mph zones.    

Speaking on the news of a public consultation, local AM Mike Hedges said:

“We have a duty to our young people to ensure that the routes they use to get to and from school are safe and free from harm. That’s why I believe the introduction of more 20mph zones around school routes would go a long way towards creating an environment where children can travel safely. 

“With this new consultation starting today as part of Road Safety Week, I would urge all children, parents, teachers, pedestrians and road users to get involved by having their say on this important issue.”

The speech I would have given on The Conservative denbate yesterday If I had been called

Firstly can I join with the movers of this motion in welcoming the statement that the NATO summit will be held at the Celtic Manor in 2014 and recognises the high economic benefit that hosting such an event should have on the Welsh economy;

I believe that it is significant that the event is being held in Celtic Manor.

Those who believe in coincidences will think that is why Celtic Manor where the Ryder cup was played was chosen.

I firmly believe that this is another spin off from the successful Ryder cup held there and can I pay tribute to Terry Matthews and former first minister Rhodri Morgan for the effort they put in to bringing the Ryder cup to Celtic Manor and Wales.

On the Westminster Government’s response to Silk part 1 can I start off positively?

I am very pleased to see borrowing powers

This will allow major infrastructure investment in Wales over and above that already available

But borrowing comes with a revenue cost which will need to be factored into future budgets

The statement does leave a number of questions including

What is the Annual borrowing Limit


What is the cumulative borrowing limit


Will prudential borrowing powers, as provided to Local Authorities be available


Will the Government be able to borrow from the PWLB


Will it effect the current capital allocation formula

The statement that you need to have an income stream to borrow has been said so many times it has become generally accepted.

I believe that it is a bizarre notion

You can enter into 30 year PFI deals or 30 year contracts without a revenue stream but a 30 year loan needs one

The income stream the Welsh Government is being given

Land fill tax which Government policy is to reduce and where most of the money comes from Local Authorities

Whose main source of funds is the welsh Government

Stamp duty on land is a tax which varies depending upon the stage of the economic cycle.

I do however welcome the devolution of both as a positive step

I like many others am disappointed that the aggregate levy and air Passenger duty were not devolved

Neither raises large sums of money but meet the criteria of being easy to identify where the tax is being collected

I hope the Westminster Government will reconsider both and the fact that air passenger duty was not given to Scotland, despite Calman recommending it, is no reason why it cannot be devolved to Wales

Turning to income Tax which is the major revenue source in Wales. I have two major concerns:

Firstly the Barnett formula needs to be reworked and also we would need an income tax floor to deal with catastrophic events such as the major Steel closures of the 1980s over which a Welsh Government would have no control

Secondly Scotland never used its tax varying power for very good reasons. If you increase above England you upset the electorate. If you decrease it and then have to cut public services then you upset the electorate.

Also income tax varies considerably, 300 million pound between 2007/8 and 2010/11 so a treasury facility to borrow for revenue expenditure would be needed. Income tax is not a one twelfth of total each month tax but one which has spikes and troughs.

I have also read another bizarre statement that without income tax raising powers there is no incentive on the welsh Government to grow the economy. I do not believe that there is any member of this assembly who does not wish to grow the Welsh economy, we might disagree on how to do it but we have the same end aim.

Finally whilst we await the detail on Silk part 1 we further await Silk part 2.

Which I expect to recommend reserve powers and I hope will recommend the Northern Ireland model of future devolution but that is a debate for a future plenary session

Remembrance

The last two days have included a remembrance service in primrose park, Llansamlet, a civic remembrance service in St Mary's church on Sunday and a remembrance service at the cenotaph today.

I was heartened by the number of people both young and old who have attended. I believe the oldest attendees were in their 90s whilst there were also toddlers and all ages in between.

Many people there like me  have names in the family bible of those killed in the First World War.
My grandfather fought on the Somme and like many of his generation would not talk about it and at the end of the war went back to be a plumber.

We all owe that generation a huge debt of gratitude.

Living Wales

I make no apologies for returning to this issue. It affects a large number of my constituents. There is a huge difference in thev quality of life you can enjoy on the living wage as opposed to the minimum wage that is why I wa so delighted to sponsor a living wage event inthe National Assembly.
 

On Tuesday I hosted an event in the National Assembly with Cuts Watch Cymru and other civic society organisations to mark Living Wage Week 2013, which is an annual celebration dedicated to Living Wage accredited employers and organisations.

The Living Wage is the minimum hourly wage necessary to ensure an adequate standard of housing, food and other basic needs for individuals and their families.

As part of this year's Living Wage Week, Cuts Watch Cymru launched their Living Wage Charter where Welsh Assembly Members were asked to sign-up and show their support for the Living Wage.

Speaking at the launch of the Living Wage Charter, local AM Mike Hedges said:

One of the biggest problems facing us in Wales today is in-work poverty. Research has shown that the best way of tackling this is by paying low-paid staff a living wage, which is the minimum needed to enable workers to afford a basic standard of living.

Importance of Engineering

 

I arrived at my office this morning

In a car designed by engineers

Fuelled by Petrol drilled for using equipment designed by engineers

On a road designed and built by civil engineers

Arrived at a building designed and built by engineers

All the things we take for granted water out of a tap, electricity into our houses, flush toilets and many more owe their very existence to engineering and science

The sciences and Engineering provide :

Life sciences giving us cures for diseases

Physics giving us inventions such as LASERS

Geosciences which allow us to find fossil fuels

ICT that has transformed our lives, I remember before the Internet!

Chemistry which gives us various chemicals for everyday life

Engineering that makes it all happen

Without scientists and engineer both Wales and the World will regress

 

 

Living wage

Today's Independent on Sunday "Labour would give tax rebate to firms that pay living wage" made me feel very happy. I have been pressing for a living wage, alongside UNISON for some time. work needs to pay and people need to feel that their work is valued by their employer. Remember when we were threatened with the loss of millions of jobs when the minimum wage came in? People who know better still talk about employment as a benevolent act by employers rather than as a means of increasing income. I have yet to meet someone who would benefit opposing a living wage.