Wales is dominated, hence the problems

IN his letter in Monday’s edition of the Western Mail, Mr Richard used an impartial Sky broadcast which stated voting Labour as the reason why Wales was the poorest country in the EU.

Having read the letter again, it is difficult to know where to begin. Well, to begin with, Sky may be called many things, but impartial is not one of them.The broadcaster is also weak when using facts to support its content. Even the most cursory internet search reveals that the poorest countries in the EU are in Eastern Europe. Neither is Wales the poorest country/nation in the UK.

The problem does not lie with the fact that people have voted Labour, but that Parliament is and always has been dominated by English MPs. Currently there are 650 seats in the House of Commons. Of that number, 82% are occupied by members elected by English voters, while the Celtic nations have only 18%, of which Wales only accounts for 6.15%. The Celts are therefore merely “guests” (with little or no influence) in an English parliament. Given the sheer weight of numbers English interests can only dominate.

Finally, our economy has always been dominated by English interests who have extracted vast profits from mineral extraction, agriculture and manufacturing. Even central government has got in on the act through the devolved grant system. Government data shows that total HMRC receipts (excluding landfill tax and stamp duty) had grown steadily since devolution and by 2017/18 they amounted to £19.370bn. Yet central government has cut resource spending by 7.6% and capital spending by 18%. It does not end there, the total block grants is a little over £15bn, which is reduced to £13bn because WAG is allowed to tax landfill and stamp duty. Overall therefore Wales is short-changed by about £5.5bn. As a result of being so dominated it is hardly surprising that we have problems.

David Bevan Y Fenni