WEST’S SIDE STORIES

THE recent march through Swansea by Welsh independence supporters sent a chill through my heart.

Wales is already lagging behind the rest of the UK on education, the health service, and unemployment, yet some still want to go it alone.

First let me question Wales’ ability to handle the needs of trade and industry. There are only a handful of ports capable of accommodating large vessels including roll on-roll off (Ro-ro) facilities. We have no airports of note and road and rail links are, at best, second class.

Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire is the third largest port in the UK and a strategic energy hub. Further along, Swansea, Port Talbot, Cardiff and Newport are home to Associated British Ports facilities handling general cargo and aggregates.

In North Wales, Holyhead and Mostyn cater for passenger and freight services, with Mostyn being an essential supply chain link for the Airbus wing production facility.

While Milford Haven handles over 30 million tonnes of cargo annually, the five ports at Cardiff, Swansea, Barry, Newport and Port Talbot collectively handle just 12m tonnes.

This is compared to Immingham, on the Humber, which handles more than 55 million metric tonnes.

Cardiff Airport is a joke. The Welsh Government struggles to get any freight companies to land there. Added to this are the road and rail links, especially roads. Anyone travelling along the M4 will know the frustration at Newport, while there is no direct route from South to North Wales without driving on inadequate A or B roads.

Rail links are disjointed and seem to end at Cardiff but, according to the Senedd, Wales does have a 49-step Freight Strategy.

How long those 49 steps will take is a moot point.