THIS MUST be the first document for the 2011 election campaign, writes Clive Betts from the Assembly press gallery.
Perhaps significantly, it was launched by Ieuan Wyn Jones, leader of Plaid Cymru and Deputy First Minister, rather than by Labour First Minister Rhodri Morgan.
Ieuan of course hopes that the May 2011 election will see him moving into the big fifth floor office overlooking the Pierhead Building currently occupied by Rhodri.
To be fair, blatant politics seems to find little place in One Wales 24.
In his launch of the document at the weekly press briefing for the Cabinet, Mr Jones did manage to slip in a spot of politics. The document and the period of cabinet policy launches and publicity events its spawns are a sign of “a strong and more confident nation”.
Rhodri could hardly disagree. But the nearest the document approaches pure politics is the phrase that its policies “respect our nation’s proud tradition of fair play for all”. Which could hardly be a Tory policy.
The 10 pages of solid policies amounts to a useful check-list of what the coalition has achieved or is in the process of doing.
Also a useful list of what has NOT been achieved. Such as free parking charges in all hospitals. The wording used is – “reducing the cost where external contracts are in place”.
The Assembly Government press office admitted that in some hospitals charges will continue to be paid until 2018.
Could they continue even later than that ? Perhaps not surprisingly, the press office didn’t know. Or where will charges continue beyond the 2011 election….
For some reason, the press office didn’t know.
One Wales 24 also reminds us that some policies have created real controversy.
We are told of the policy to “develop and implement a programme for improved North-South links”.
Huw Lewis, Labour Merthyr, was one of the few to ask whether that was a Nationalist policy, which was at the expense of East-West links, in particular the Heads of the Valleys dual carriageway. In other words, Plaid wants quicker links to its heartlands in Gwynedd, and as few as possible into England.
As if on cue, within a couple of hours a number of AMs quizzed the First Minister on what was happening to the Heads of the Valleys road. One asked whether the A 470 (the North-South road) would be dualled before the A 465 (Heads of the Valleys) was finished.
Mr Morgan, as usual, gave an interesting tour around the question when he didn’t want to give a real answer. He told of the “optimism bias” which surveyors employ when costing road schemes for acceptance onto governmental programmes.
The result is that the Welsh Assembly Government nowadays build in a factor of no less than 40 per cent to arrive at a more realistic cost.
But one massive question remained unanswered. Mike German, former Liberal Democrat leader, asked whether the original 2020 target for dualling still stood.
Mr Morgan preferred to speak of all the problems involved in planning and delivering a road.
The upshot to those listening is that there’s still a tremendous lot of work ahead.
And that 2020 will never be met. But Mr Morgan ensured he never mentioned the words.
