The spending review and Wales: predicting the predictable
Almost one year ago I put together some notes for a hosted by a thinktank on "Life under the Tories".
I suggested then that several "big ticket" projects proposed by the last Labour Government could be vulnerable under a Conservative administration.
Given the economic climate, then as now, you didn't have to be Mystic Meg to predict what was likely to happen.
I questioned the viability of the St Athan project (ditched today), was sceptical about the Severn Barrage (ditched yesterday) and electrification of the London to Swansea rail line (ditched tomorrow?). I also wondered whether reviewing the way more than half of public spending in Wales is decided would be a priority; the Barnett formula review is some way away.
Today, St Athan bit the dust, or more accurately the Metrix consortium's preferred bidder status on the £14bn project was terminated. Anti-Metrix campaigners estimate that around £100m of public money has been spent in preparation for the project.
Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan, who told us recently that "I remain committed to our military activity and the programmes that were put forward for St Athan and continue to do so" told us today there is a good future for St Athan: "The MoD is reviewing its training and estates requirement and has confirmed it still hopes to locate the training facility at St Athan."
In the two hours it took the Wales Office to publish her reaction to the news, Labour politicians had hit the phones, the web, and the airwaves to warn of "undisguised anger" at the decision. Of course, had Labour stuck to the original timetable on the St Athan project, which had been delayed by more than a year, it could have been under construction by now. (Rather like those aircraft carriers whose cancellation was too expensive to cancel.)
So it may not be the end of St Athan, but it is the end for Metrix and its expensive lobbying operation, seen out in force at the recent party conference season. As that Swansea ex-pat Michael Heseltine put it in another context, never have so many crustaceans died in vain.
I'm now back in Westminster, refreshed by my road trip across south Wales. The second leg, featuring encounters with a headteacher, a multi-millionaire and the good citizens of Newport, is due to air on Wales Today this evening.
Hello. I'm David Cornock and I'm parliamentary correspondent for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Wales. This is the blog for the latest news and gossip from the Westminster village - with a Welsh accent.
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