The new-look State of Wales launches, albeit still as a work in progress (expect bugs to iron out), with one of the new recurring features – Word Salad – which will be a sardonic (haters will say nit-picking) take on strange, funny, confusing, flowery and reality-bending statements from our politicians, the media and public bodies.
The 2021 Senedd election is first up with a particular focus on the manifestos. It’s true that nobody really cares about manifestos, but political parties really, really do.
You can see there’s a drop-down menu to skip to different sections. The days of a massive 3,000-word wall of text are hopefully over.
“Our vision is backed up by our costed plan for change….”
No costings were provided.
“Guarantee the NHS is there for everyone by building five new hospitals….”
Except they wouldn’t be new hospitals, more like upgrades to existing ones.
“Enhance Test, Track and Protect with funding to meet demand to clamp down on any outbreak, avoiding any more national lockdowns.”
£37billion has already been budgeted across two years for track and trace by the UK Government. A bit more money can’t hurt I suppose. The Welsh system actually works too.
“Build the M4 relief road in South Wales, upgrade the A55 in North Wales and the A40 in West Wales.”
That’s about £2-2.5billion worth of roadworks there and rising by the month. Are these counted as part of the 15,000 “green jobs” the Tories were promising? How’s the building supplies shortage going (and the shortage of builders)?
“Return Cardiff Airport to private ownership.”
Because the previous owners did a brilliant job.
“Work with the sector to recruit and retain care workers, including training care home workers to undertake basic checks such as blood pressure and to tackle common ailments such as trips and falls.”
Or as they are otherwise known as: “a nurse”. While I’m sure every care home worker is taught how to deal with routine medical incidents, someone with limited mobility falling over is not an “ailment”, it’s potentially life-threatening.
“Implement council tax referendums for local people to have a say on excessive council tax rises above 5%.”
Yeah, but how much would that cost?
“Ensure that veterans are given priority for access to social housing and that no veteran is forced to live on the streets.”
Surely this should have been preceded by “Work with the UK Government to….” The last time I checked, defence policy was above the Senedd’s pay grade. Precious union and all that.
“Restore Right-to-Buy in Wales, reinvesting sale proceeds into more social housing and protecting homes from sale for 10 years.”
It’s impossible to have a “one-for-one” replacement due to the costs and discounts involved. According to the UK Government, in 2018 about 3-4 homes would need to be sold under Right-to-Buy to fully cover the cost of building a single replacement.
