I quote from the leaflet that landed on my doormat: “Alex Williams is committed to protecting frontline health services from Labour’s £1 billion cuts”. I had to double-check. Yes, this is a Conservative talking. I am sorry Alex, you cannot expect anyone to take this seriously. This may be an election for the Welsh Assembly, but you cannot be so utterly at odds the actions of Westminster Conservatives in government.

There is of course, very little difference between Conservatives and Labour over the issue of public service cuts. Both are intent on decimating the services that the poor and vulnerable rely on. It is an absolute lie to say that there is no alternative to these cuts. The Green Party offer fully costed alternatives that would fully protect these services. How would we make ends meet? By stopping tax evasion, especially by big business and the super-rich. By reforming the tax system to ensure the tax burden properly reflects people’s ability to pay, and also makes polluters pay for the consequences of their actions. By slashing defence spending so that a relatively small country like the UK does not have the 4th biggest defence budget in the entire world (to fund us meddling in the affairs of other countries). By creating jobs that create tax payers, instead of putting people out of work to become a burden on the nation’s finances.

The readers of this paper have a rare opportunity on the 5th May. They can stick with the different shades of right-of-centre politics offered by Labour, Conservative and Lib Dems on the first constituency ballot paper, but then they can try voting, on the second regional ballot paper, for what they have traditionally always wanted and always known is best for Wales – a left of centre party that will properly look after the interests of the workers, the less well off and the disadvantaged – the Green Party.

The message to all with a genuine concern for protecting the NHS, and other public services, from Conservative and Labour cuts, is vote Green on the second regional ballot. That includes you, Alex, if you would only recognise it.
     
Andy Chyba
Bridgend Green Party

http://www.earthlings.com/

AGENDA

1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Apologies for Absence
3. Minutes and matters arising
4. Officer reports
5. Elections – WAG and 2012
6. Campaigns update – Fracking
7. Autumn Conference motions
8. Fundraising – pub quiz
9. AOB
10. DoNM – and next policy discussion topic

Policy Discussion Topic – Nuclear energy.
http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/en EN600 onwards

Bridgend and the Vale Green Parties have been the principal movers of this petition, also backed by the Vale Says No campaign group.

We desperately need every body to take a minute of their time to sign up and support what we have been doing.

Please spread it far and wide via Facebook, Twitter etc. And all your email contacts too!

Thank you for your support.

Andy

We know from what we have seen in Bridgend CBC that the frackers will be back. I never thought that Centrica pulling out of Bridgend CBC was the end. New applications will pop up at any time and almost any place. We have seen it happen. After the huge own goal at Llandowthey will certainly stick to the tried and tested strategy of finding remotetucked out of sight places from now on.

It was no surprise to me that Coastal Oil & Gas and their partnersEden Energydecided to pull the application. There was the very real risk that the public outcry we helped produce may have led VoG to make a landmark decision to deny the planning application at Llandow. They could not risk that. The rest of the industry would have been appalled that they were clumsy enough to give scope for this to happen.

We are left with a situation of no precedent for turning down test drilling applications and local authorities in BridgendNeath Port Talbot and Swansea with a track record of quietly processing and approving these applications.

A little more substance from Jane Hutt this week and continued support from Alun Cairns and some local councillors who have clearly been taking good notes from my speeches at the last two meetings and from this blog.

I left with somewhat mixed feelings today. On a positive note, there is clearly a groundswell that may lead to VoG making a landmark decision to reject the test drilling application. On the downside, I think we could then see a lot NIMBYists melt away from this campaign. We even heard one VoG councillor effectively saying leave the lovely Vale alone and go and mess up the grotty Valleys! And this is exactly what will happen, for sure, if we let them.

And if the test drilling gets approval on Thursday, we then have to monitor its activities, which I suspect will have very modest impacts, and then sit around indefinitely looking out for phase two applications, which will probably avoid Llandow like the plague and pitch up somewhere a bit more discreet. Either way, Thursday will be the end of the beginning of the wider battle we will need to fight.

The next stage is the peaceful, placard waving, slogan chanting fun of site visit protest. Join us at the Llandow site at 2.00pm.

Copy and paste this map url for an accurate location fix of the site

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=51.438634,-3.500508&num=1&sll=51.438922,-3.500433&sspn=0.0043,0.009474&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=51.439029,-3.499231&spn=0.016051,0.025749&z=14&source=embed

Dear Labour Voters of Wales,
Nearly 250,000 Labour votes were wasted in the Assembly second ballot in 2007, because they could not elect any extra Labour members. So use your second vote to make a difference and fight the Tory cuts: vote Green on the second ballot.

I quote: “DON’T MISS: For an in-depth look at what “fracking” could mean for South Wales, see tomorrow’s Echo”. (At the end of today’s piece on Wednesday’s meeting – pg6).