Every published report on the Welsh economy says that we are a basket case and that we receive far more in ‘handouts’ from the UK government than we contribute. But it is clear from the a study of the Welsh gas industry that even when we have a flourishing local business, the true benefit to the Welsh economy is hidden. Read More
Month: January 2019
An Irish centenary and a fresh resistance
EXACTLY a century ago this week, in January 1919, the political order of the UK was completely upended when Ireland declared its independence from Westminster. Read More
Welsh Oil Discovery
I had always believed that the Liverpool Bay oil and gas fields themselves were in English waters – and only processed in Wales. But when I overlaid the ‘Welsh Zone’ boundaries onto an oil and gas map of Liverpool Bay, I was surprised to find that the Douglas Field is clearly within Welsh waters. The Douglas platform (in Wales) receives gas from Hamilton and Lennox fields (in England) as well as oil and gas from Douglas field itself so not all of the gas processed at Point of Ayr is Welsh sourced. But one thing is clear: Its Our Oil !! Read More
Paraffin Heaters and Seaweed Gin
Wales has always had an affinity with the Basque Country. The status of the Basque Country and its ancient language ‘Euskara’ within Spain is very similar to that of Wales and Cymraeg within the UK. While the languages are not even remotely connected, recent DNA research suggests that the Basques, Irish & Welsh are closely related – and we even share the same colours for our flags. Read More
Energising the Case for Independence
There’s surprisingly little correlation between a country’s natural resources and its average wealth, and resource-rich countries with high incomes and healthy economies – such as Norway – are very much the exception rather than the rule. Read More
Rising above the left versus right argument
ONE of the elements that has confounded many people since the emergence of GWLAD as a new national party for Wales, is the announcement that it will be a hybrid party, open to ideas from all quarters as long as those ideas will benefit Wales and her people. Read More
The Thales Investment in Ebbw Vale
The Welsh Government has never been able to resist the lure of big, shiny, headline-grabbing projects. Read More
Twin Towns
What is it with Plaid Cymru that as soon as they taste success they want to throw it all away? Read More
A banquet of consequences for Carmarthenshire
Quite a banquet of consequences should be served soon at Carmarthenshire County Council In a Carmarthenshire County Council Planning meeting on January 10th, a major planning application was blocked by… Read More
The Norway Option
The nordic countries, on the other hand – by which I mean the three Scandinavian countries (Norway/Denmark/Sweden) plus Finland and Iceland – offer a much closer parallel to the British Isles than the Balkans do. For much of history since mediaeval times they were dominated by Sweden in just the same way that England has dominated the British Isles over a similar timespan, but one by one they have gained their independence (most recently Finland, after a period spent under Russian domination) and are nowadays associated with everything that the Balkans are not. Read More