Voters don’t want to be kept clueless
THE National Audit Office’s report into the cancellation of rail electrification schemes is a horror story demonstrating that original estimates were wildly wrong and the projects were in jeopardy long before the formal announcement.
The official axing of the electrification of the Great Western line from Cardiff to Swansea was slipped out last year just as MPs broke up for the summer recess. This was unfortunate as, unfairly or not, it created the impression that the UK Government was trying to dodge scrutiny.
Ministers had agreed, we are told, that two other electrification projects would be cancelled in March but these were not announced until July. The decent thing would have been to let the country know before the June election.
It is this type of revelation which makes people wonder what else is going on behind Whitehall’s closed doors. When ministers refuse to answer straightforward questions people can only conclude they either do not know the answer or will not share it with the public.
If politicians refuse to treat the public like mature citizens who are entitled to the truth they cannot complain when trust erodes and cynicism corrodes our democracy.
When the electorate tires of a political establishment that will not deign to share information they may turn to populists who pledge to put power in their hands. On both sides of the Atlantic we have seen figures elected who until recently would have been considered far outside the political mainstream.
Alternatively, people may decide that they want to start new nation states. The push for independence in Catalonia and in 2014 in Scotland shows the willingness of swathes these populations to cut ties with distant capitals.
Governments should welcome transparency and seek to empower citizens by making as much information available as possible. People should be able to track how their taxes are being spent, and the quality of governance will only be enhanced if people can inspect how each stage of a project is developing.
The people of Swansea deserved to know much more about the problems with electrification. Today, the UK Government could exercise much greater transparency about the future of the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon. All politicians should lead by example and show that an informed citizenship possesses an undeniable strength. The Western Mail newspaper is published by Media Wales a subsidiary company of Trinity Mirror PLC, which is a member of IPSO, the Independent Press Standards Organisation. The entire contents of The Western Mail are the copyright of Media Wales Ltd. It is an offence to copy any of its contents in any way without the company’s permission. If you require a licence to copy parts of it in any way or form, write to the Head of Finance at Six Park Street. The recycled paper content of UK newspapers in 2016 was 62.8%