In the Daily Post article on my 'unmasking' yesterday, Albert Owen MP is quoted as saying that I have "hoodwinked" people into thinking I was a "caring voice". I suppose the inference is that a Conservative candidate could never truly be caring. I hope people will see his comments for what they are: silly and needlessly tribal.
The fact is this: writing this blog, like compiling the People's Manifesto, has been a labour of love for me. Whatever Albert Owen, or other over-excited blogs on the mainland might say, I doubt that anyone can question my commitment to this Island and my desire to find practical solutions to its problems. I hope that I will now be able to use whatever extra influence I have as a candidate in next year's Assembly elections to further much needed change on Ynys Môn.
Finally, as Albert Owen accuses me of having "hoodwinked" people, let me remind him of some of his utterances over the past year:
- In January, Albert wrote this in the letters page of the Holyhead and Anglesey Mail: "David Cameron’s closest energy advisor Zac Goldsmith clearly states that if the party sticks to its existing policy it would never allow the building of a new nuclear power station. Well that rules out Wylfa B under the Tories". What Albert failed to mention was that both Labour and Conservative policy regarding nuclear was identical: supportive as long as there were no subsidies. Anyway within four months of the coalition government taking power Wylfa was indeed granted preferred nuclear build status, thus providing government support for Horizon to proceed.
- In April, Albert wrote on his election leaflets that he had "delivered to: secure new investment (£635 million) in RAF Valley by creating new jobs now and for the future in fast jet training and the Search and Rescue HQ". I revealed on this blog that the £635 million figure was the entire budget, spread across 25 years, for running the UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) across a number of air bases in the UK -- not just for RAF Valley. The press picked up my post and Albert defended himself by merely insisting, "I am comfortable with using this figure". Says it all.
- Albert Owen has been most creative when seeking to find something to blame other than his own Party's policies for the catastrophic closure of Anglesey Aluminium and the loss of 450 jobs. In March he claimed it was down to "Tory hypocrisy", by September it was the fault of the company itself. The real reasons behind Anglesey Aluminium's closure are: (a) EU law which prevents government subsidy of business -- this required Wylfa to stop its cut-price supply of electricity to AAM after being acquired by the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency; (b) Peter Mandelson's removal of import tariffs on Russian aluminium; and (c) the Labour government's pledge to reduce CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050 which makes all primary metallurgical industries increasingly unviable in the UK.
- As it reflects badly on him and 13 years of his government, Albert has repeatedly tried to deny that Ynys Môn is the poorest locale in the UK. This is despite the Office for National Statistics releasing data which proves that it clearly is.
I could go on, but I think the above is sufficient. I am not trying to make a partisan point here -- politicians from all parties tend to be economical with the truth. However the problem I have with Albert's frequent 'distortions' is that they do not help us find solutions for our exceptional problems on Ynys Môn. Unless we accurately identify our problems, and their real causes, then we will never find workable solutions for them. And from now on, as a candidate, thats exactly what I intend to do.
P.S. I wrote yesterday about Ieuan Wyn Jones's lack of engagement with his own constituency. As if to prove my point yesterday's Daily Post article reported that, "Anglesey AM, Ieuan Wyn Jones, was unavailable for comment".
61 comments:
Strange that IWJ wasn't available for comment, given that he was busy shopping at Asda in Llangefni on Thursday. Maybe he'd left his iPhone in the Politburo limousine, currently somewhere between the north and south of Wales?
Re your ps, as I understand IWJ was to ill to attend a Plaid meeting on Saturday, therefore he was unavailable for comment.
Yesterday on the previous thread "TGC said...
Red Flag: I share the discomfort about supporting the Tory party, but in reality, like any party, there are endless shades of representatives."
Indeed, and stepping back from the issues of party politics I asked myself, "Which politicians (in my own lifetime) have my greatest respect"?
I came up with a list, (it's both my short list and my long list):
Tony Benn
Babara Castle
Ming Campbell
Ian Gilmour
Dafydd Wigley
(alphabetical order)
( I would include Jimmy Reid, but he wasn't strictly speaking 'a politician', though he did have a political voice)
What I believe these politicians to have in common is a passion for representing the people; the will to speak their own minds, oft against the run of the party line; a belief in the social values of governance; and a demonstrated personal integrity.
That these four come from four different parties tells me that what I value is the personal contributions made by these individuals rather than their party affiliations.
Lao-tzu, traditionally considered the founder of Taoism is quoted as saying "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step".
I trust and hope that Paul will be treading in the footsteps of the type of politicians I mention as he beings his political journey.
Your fame/notoriety now reaches these distant shores in the Gulf!As an Anglesey born and educated ex-resident originating not too far away from your family home I was fascinated to see recent news coverage of your blog's existence and took time out to browse through it. Politically I am a million miles away from you but I share your deep concerns about local politics in Ynys Mon. They have been in a mess for years - factionalised and self-serving it was long overdue that special measures were applied to the Council. I hope things will turn around but I remain sceptical. I shall follow your future posts with interest.
Cardiff's only 250 miles away.
And why should Ieuan be expected to make a comment about who the Tory candidate is? Calm down, Paul, you're not that important.
An apology is due to Mr Dew, surely? For being tarred with the 'old politics' jibe. Not a very good start, Paul.
Anon 17:47 - As I have already explained in the previous thread, I characterised the Rhosneigr by-election as "old vs new" in terms of 'policy transparency': one candidate was fully open about his policies and about which grouping he would join if elected -- the other was not so forthcoming. This blog has long argued that one of the problems with Anglesey County Council is that there are too many Independents elected without revealing what policies they want to pursue. The WAG appointed Recovery Board also recognised this point and has subsequently required all Independent Council Groupings to issue Statements of their Aims and Values. The People's Manifesto also addresses this point -- I recommend you download it and read pages 4-6.
Prometheus: What about Tony Benn? Dafydd Wigley I agree with - probably the most polite man I ever met (and a man with plenty of business experience).
Mochyn Mon: Any chance a local prince could lend us a few hundred million for a couple of years?
You seem to have a serious issue with self-importance - Mr Dew had no need to send his policy ideas to your blog. He only needed to take them to the electors of Rhosneigr - which he must have done with some effect to win so well.
Not speaking to you and your blog is no indication of 'old politics', Paul. You should aplogise for the slur - without that this will hang around your neck until election day. Poor judgement counts.
Anon 18:05 - I am as entitled to my opinion as everyone else. In the meantime I wish Mr Dew the best of luck as a councillor.
18:05
What about openness and transparency?
You are indeed entitled to your opinion and we're happy that you now give your opinion openly instead of behind a mask. But wishing Mr Dew well won't do, Paul. In the context of a vitriolic blog towards the councillors you painted Dew as council old politics. This is a slur on the man's character, who has not spent one day in the council yet. He deservs an apology. Will he get one?
Anon 18:46 - If you want me to apologise for campaigning for potential county councillors to issue their manifestos during an election then you will be waiting a long time. I would do the same if there was another council election tomorrow. I made it very clear in the post in question that the context of the 'old vs new' title was about 'policy transparency' and nothing else. Before replying again read pages 4-6 of the People's Manifesto which makes it clear why this is such an important issue.
Shame you backed the losing candidate. Let's hope the Tories haven't made the same poor judgement.
Dear Paul,
Ignore the ignorant, the malicious, the devious; have a heart and listen, and keep listening to the pleas of the ignored, the betrayed, the "forgotten".
These, are your main supporters, and these are the people that will defend and look after you, against the old fools when they feel threatened, and our right to challenge these tired old skins is taken away from their fat greasy hands.
Take heart, Paul, we were expecting one of the fools to get annoyed with your selection, they don't like change, they don't like the idea of anyone coming along and upsetting the cart, especially this new cart that is rolling along Anglesey, full of supporters, that are totally disillusioned with Albert Owen, and the Labour Party, and the tiny minded Ieuan Wyn Jones and the Plaid Cymru brigade, we are with you, all the way. Bring one, bring them all, bring them down to Llangefni to carthu cytiau'r cyngor!
anon 18.04:
I'm sorry I don't understand your question.
Do you mean that Tony Benn should be on my list? If that's what you mean then he's the first one listed.
If you mean he shouldn't be on it ... well it is my list ... though I would be interested in seeing which other modern politicians other contributors would include in their short list.
:)
Paul, I know it must be difficult for you to have come out so strongly in favour of one candidate and then have him lose so badly - but Dew does not deserve to be tarred with the same brush as you and your blog followres have been painting the council.
And your update on the said post only makes things worse, by suggesting that Dew has not been transparent during the eelction. I don't live in that area but I doubt whether Dew won so well without knocking on mnay doors and speaking openly with the voters. He had no need to speak to you or your blog. He had no need to have anything published. He spoke to the voters face to face - to suggest that he is somehow lacking in transparency is shocking coming from a potential AM.
Very poor judgement, Paul.
An apology IS needed. Not doing so shows an astoundling level of arrogance.
This is an open blog, we can all agree or disagree, but one thing is certain, free speech and democracy is what we have here, free speech and democracy, words taht are totally alien to teh cretins we have at the moment, they are supposed to represent us, all they have done is allowed this Island to drift on to the edge of the abyss, now we are all pulling together to drag it back.. no thanks to Albert and Ieuan, we the PEOPLE will do this, together!
The thorn in the side of the Council, the voice of the People, the reason we need to change, the reason we need jobs, the reason we need to fight to get our Island back, well done the Druid.
Um,didn't Albert just get re-elected as the face of of one of the worst post war governments ever?I was amazed at his success which just goes to show how unfathomable the Ynys Mon electorate is.
Oh yes,and I think Ieuan will get back in as well ,not least because the Tories will be humongously unpopular by next spring!
Let's hope that the People see the difference and can tell the difference between the old skins and waste of breath and new blood and new life!
68.000 people living on Anglesey and all pining there hopes on you Paul.
Only two or at best three stick in the muds trying to give you a hard time.
Anglesey County Council's continual denial of wrong doing, starting this week will jump up and smack then in the face that hard they'll be rocking and rolling for months to come.
That why we should never forget and keep telling people who got us into the mess,"The Last Labour Government !!!"
This happens every time we get a Labour government they leave the Tories to sort the countries problems. So why blame the Tories for providing the essential medicine !!
Sorry Paul but I think you chose the wrong party, nice to put a face to the name but I don't think the conservatives will get the vote and although I really don't like him I think you've just handed it to IWJ
Anon 19.53:
“Oh yes,and I think Ieuan will get back in as well ,not least because the Tories will be humongously unpopular by next spring!”
You may well be right, but whoever was in government would have been unpopular and though Labour may have not been so quick in making cuts they would have still have been making some. Also these are Welsh elections and the government here is a Labour/Plaid coalition and dissatisfaction with the Welsh coalition is just as likely if cuts to Welsh services are seen as harsh.
Polls have shown that a majority of people are in favour of the cuts in order to reduce the huge deficit.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11181833 “Need to cut deficit supported, suggests poll”
Liberal Democrat support will likely collapse in all but the strongholds of their more radical elected members and UKIP may gain support as strongly right-of-centre parties tend to do better in times of recession/cut backs.
Where it becomes interesting is looking at the last Welsh Assembly election results and the recent UK results for Ynys Mon.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/w01.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2007/welshasssembly_english/html/839.stm
In the 2010 election the biggest swings were towards the Conservatives 11.4% and Peter Rogers 6.5%, while Plaid -4.9% and Labour -1.3% both dropped in their share of vote. (This was also a drop for Peter Rogers who stood in both elections but received only about half his 2007 result in 2010 – understandable as the 2010 elections were for the UK parliament, notoriously difficult for Independents unless there has been a scandal with the incumbent or a major local issue (e.g. hospital closures).
In the 2007 Welsh Assembly elections Peter Rogers came second with a 23% swing, with up to 15% of which he will likely have taken from the conservative candidate. Plaid also increased their vote share by 2.3% and UKIP increased by 2.2%. Labour and the Liberals both dropped by 6.4% and 4.9% respectively.
So in both these elections the swing was most marked towards candidates with a Conservative background.
These percentages give an indication of the direction of swing over a three year period.
When you look at the actual amounts of votes you can see an interesting situation. When both Peter Rogers and the conservative candidates’ votes are combined they fall about 1,000 – 1,500 votes short of the winning candidates tally. (~11,000)
One wonders what would happen if Peter Rogers were not to stand in the Assembly elections? One suspects the conservative candidate would be the most likely recipient of the bulk of his vote share.
Were this to happen then it would make the next election much more of a two horse race between Plaid and the Conservatives with Labour in third place.
(In saying all this, I'm not aware of what Peter Rogers' candidacy intentions are for the Assembly elections)
Recent history shows that the incumbent has held the seat when they have stood for election.
However these statistics suggest that it would be a close margin of victory for whoever wins, should the above scenario occur.
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY LOST
Paul; as I have said before, my experience in September 2009 of bringing to Anglesey "on a plate" a clean-tech new industry to manufacture in Holyhead that would have generated 250 plus jobs "delivered into IWJ's lap" ended in absolute failure with no monitoring, no follow up and ended in complete fking embarrasment as WAG did not perform.
The meeting was attended by Sasha Wyn Davies, Clive McGregor, Bryan Owen, IWJ AM, Brynle W AM and Brian Rees Jones of WAG along with yours faithfully.
There are no notes of this meeting except mine as it was a confidential meeting. However the company owner and his legal advisor also attended and suffice to say, they are now in discussions with locating the business in another part of the UK.....needlessly
A shambolic mess and IWJ is the Economic Minister ....along with deputy first minister
When the time is right, I will reveal all about the company concerned and I would expect readers jaws to drop....in amazement.
When Albert was contacted about this he showed "absolutely no interest" by not replying to my email.
I cannot reveal more details just yet.....as you know Paul.
why oh why would you allow an 800 word post from someone annonymous? why oh hwy indeed!
Paul ...nan nite. back to the books
"I don't live in that area but I doubt whether Dew won so well without knocking on many doors and speaking openly with the voters."
Nah. You get votes here if you fit a certain mould: identifiably local, first-language welsh and with some notion of being 'one of us' rather than someone who can string a sentence together.
What I do agree with, though, is that there is now an immediate problem for Paul: no longer can this blog be said to be an independent or 'radical' voice for Anglesey people. It is a vehicle, perfectly legitimate I grant you, for garnering support for a political campaign. Posts must now be 'approved' before appearing, which must mean that some posts are not approved - and what might they say to us? It is not enough to say that abusive posts were always removed, because they were removed after the event, not before it. That kind of stuff is precisely what we have attacked as coming out of the Council Offices.
Personally, I think the original concept of the Druid blog - if indeed it was at all the original concept - is now largely defunct, as Paul will inevitably have to follow - as he is following - the party line by controlling completely what happens on what is, I accept, his blog.
It is a shame, but it was also rather inevitable. I say this as a supporter, so perhaps Paul will take note?
However weel intentioned his blog initially, the fact is Paul represents a party which is undertaking a savage cuts programme, which will communities across Wales.
Anglesey will not be immune from this devastation, which will end up being worse then what even Thatcher tried to do.
With their eager little helpers, the LibDems, the Tories are on a frenzy trip towards their much loved "small state".
Don't believe this nonsense about the deficit cut, as they are just using this as cover. Labour would cut the deficit in half over 4 years under former Chancellor Alistair Darling's plans anyway.
So I am afraid on the surface Paul Willimas is just the apparently acceptable, local face for the frenzied Coalition "cereal killers".
TGC - Fully noted. All I can say is that I have never been a candidate before so I'm going to have to try to figure it out as I go along. In the meantime the rules for posting will remain largely the same, and those which break any of the below rules will no longer be approved rather than deleted after the fact.
-comments which contain unfounded allegations against named persons (however obliquely they are referred to);
- comments which threaten violence or are unduly offensive;
- multiple, identical 'spam' posts on one or various threads.
Don Carlos said...
The budget deficit is a red herring. While there is a deficit - of even a penny - the debt will continue to grow and that debt has interest paynments that must be serviced and capital repayments that must be met.
We are not in the clear until we are paying more off the capital amount of the national debt each year than the deficit fior that year.
To be frank, whether the tories achieve this is doubtful. Under New Labour's plans impossible.
Ina ll probability now that Ireland has been turned into debt-slaves the international money men will now move on to Portugal. Then Spain, then Italy then onto Greece for a second time (despite their bail-out they are still a shambles). Then the money men will look at no-euro currencies in the EU that have exposure to the euro and they will mount attacks on them probably starting with us.
I am delighted that the Druid (aka - as is now revealed Paul Williams) standing for election as an AM. I hope that he will in, due course, be challenging Albert Owen for the Parliamentary seat.
It is high time honourable, educated and intelligent people with principles took on and faced-down the thick, the stupid, and the self-interested left-wing Socialist/Plaid rabble which has done so much damage to Anglesey and to Wales over the last 50 years.
We can only wish Paul Williams good luck and give him our support.
...And somehow I can't help but feel that in the shadows there is indeed an ancient bearded figure in a hooded cloak standing right behind him.
Red Flag is right to say we need to push down the level of debt,because over time the amount of debt interest being paid takes more away from key areas such as schools and hospitals.
I am sure he would agree with me the danger for the UK economy will be high inflation because the ConDem government cannot afford to see interest rates rise from these low levels, as then interest repayments would balloon to unsustainable levels and further squeeze the rest of government expenditure.
Re: Dick Scheltzer:
So on that basis, you have assumed Paul Williams will lose next May, which he must if he is to challenge Albet Owen
I'm very heartend to see the depth and range of debate generated on this site, regardless of political loyalties, it shows that the people of Anglesey do actually care and are becoming engaged in th process. I believe the Tories have historically been disastrous for Wales, many of us have not forgotten the devastation wrought on our communities in the 8o's and the antipathy to Wales and all thing Welsh, culminating in the ultimate insult - John Redwood. You're probably too young to remember all this Paul, no disrespect intended, but to those of us who experienced those days first hand, we have long memories.If anyone wants to understand the real agenda behind the Coalition governments agendsa I would highly recommend you read "Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein.
Don Carlos - on the contrary. Inflation will be used as a weapon to reduce the 'worth' of the debt and is being already. Politicians will pretend they are tryig to contain inflation but in reality they will use it as a bonfire. It's what has always happened historically and this time will be no different. The 'key' is the gap between base rates and inflation. At the moment they are trapped in that they cannot allow base interest rates to rise as this will add to inflation. It's custhy at present - RPI is around 4% and base rates are 0.5%. Raise base rates to say the historical norm of 6% and to continue to devalue the debt at the same rate would require inflation of around 9.5% - along with the industrail unrest that wage demands would cause. To devalue the debt in the same proportion though would require inflation in the 20% mark.
So we're trapped for the foreseeable future with exceptionally low interest rates, credit shortages and devaluing savings in real terms. It's the only way the government can fool you over inflation.
Red Flag - yes inflation is the only way we can hope to pay down the Government debt. The government has to try to keep interest rates very low while printing more money in a manner that will not spook the international money markets on which most western governments rely. There is no reason to say 6% interest rates is a norm however, it the past there have been extended periods of very low interest rates and also low growth in parts of the world economy.
(Is that the firing up of the ECB printing press that I can hear?)
TCG - It could be that a related blog is now required to maintain a forum for independent thought and democracy?
outsider - it's the age old confidence trick on an unsuspecting unwitting populace. People don't realise that it's not what interest rates and inflation are that counts but rather the gap in between the two. 6% is the average over the last few hundred years (5 point something or other).
(Is that the firing up of the ECB printing press that I can hear?)
The amount they will churn out once the bond-pirates move on to the rest of the PIIGS it's almost certainly not the printing press, it's the photocopiers.
Red Flag - I think Don Carlos was referring to the cost of servicing the debt (so his point was not contrary to yours, merely a different one). Higher interest rates would mean the cost of paying the buyers of gilts would surge,and so, in turn a bigger slice of the public expenditure cake would be taken in debt interest, at the expense of other areas, such as health and education perhaps.
Your point about RPI and inflation - are you saying the government want to have what are effectively negative real interest rates, so as to inflate away their obligations, at the expense of those stupid enough to buy National Savings and other savings products issued by the banks, which have more than 12 months maturity?
Best to keep any deposits as short as possible - overnight?
Time to pile up my personal gold and silver bullion I guess. Oops!
Red Flag,I take your point however inflation matters most to people/governments with fixed incomes. Interest rates matter most to people/governments with debt. It is better to try to keep the level of both low in our current situation however I accept it is the gap between them that is also significant.
B. Bernanke - indeed we do have negative real interest rates and my guess is this will continue for some while. It is worth noting that when New Labour came to power with the benefit of a healthy economy in place, goods inflation stood at 1.9%, services inflation stood at 3.2% and the Bank of England with its new so called independence (after all the remit is set by Government) raised BoE interest rates from 6.25% to 6.5% in June 1997.
B Bernanke - are you saying the government want to have what are effectively negative real interest rates, so as to inflate away their obligations Cynical though it sounds that's exactly what they are doing - they have little choice.
outsider Interest rates matter most to people/governments with debt. Or people/organisations with savings or investments.
The truth about Irleand's 'income' is now starting to surface. They have 'running expenses' as a country of a tad over €50BN but an income of only €31BN. So with a shortfall of €19BN they have to keep their country going and pay back the IMF loan within three years once it's agreed and service €880BN worth of other debts. With a population of 4.5M including babies I personally would have thought that is nigh-on impossible.
Following on from the post last night about voting share - http://welsh-poll-watch.blogspot.com/p/yougov-polls.html
These show the level of support at national and regional level for Plaid and UKIP increasing at the expense of the Conservatives and the Liberals.
However these figures probably don't give an accurate picture for Anglesey as Labour don't have the same national/regional level of support for Assembly elections on Anglesey as they do at national and regional levels.
For an explanation of the national and regional statistics and how they are worked out see:
http://welsh-poll-watch.blogspot.com/p/methodology.html
Red Flag and Bernanke - I remember when the first fuel crisis hit (@£1.00 a Gallon) and
I used to drive my car on fumes, hoping to get to where I was going.
I stopped doing this after I ran out of petrol one night and when I got back to my car in the morning my wheels had been stolen.
(this is both a true story and a metaphor)
; at 16.52. - Indeed it is an appropriate metaphor, apart from robbing future generations of the whole range of welfare provision the last Government stole the family silver so to speak by hastily selling off anything it could such as Forestry Commission woodland which had belonged to us all, so this generation is also being robbed and of course the present Government has no choice but to carry on robbing us.
Perhaps it's time we reintroduced a Gold Standard. I would like to start a debate.
How about confiscating all privately held gold not for $1400 an ounce but let's say $50.
I think that is not unreasonable, and after all it would be very patriotic!
B Bernanke - I like your style!
As for the debate - if you are serious on this point then, first off it seems that in a world of 'magic' money then only real tangible things (assets) have any worth, and of course our labour and our brains. As for the Gold Standard, although Wales certainly has Gold I think it is a bit arbitary to rely on just that metal. Land might be a better standard to use rated (by the credit rating agencies!)on the basis of its fertility; mineral; rare earth potential - a bit complicated to work out I know, any other suggestions from the blogosphere? (The Queen/Crown owns the seabed for 12 miles offshore I believe).
I think perhaps we are guilty of straying to far off-topic. Perhaps one more off-topic comment then back to the script?
Could a part of the money from the Isle of Anglesey Charitable Trust be used to set up an Anglesey Mutual (Bank) that would take in savings and other deposits and make loans to local SME's. Re-circulating local money into the local economy? The Mutual could be given a not-for-profit status and a remit as to the kinds of projects and businesses it could lend to etc.
Combine the classical Mutual Building Society aims and structures with those of a modern Credit Union and even a Local Exchange Trading System (LETS, look them up) and if you do it right you have a basis for a small-scale local economy which neither the banksters nor the taxman can easily lay their hands on.
Sounds like an interesting idea, gets my vote, would even get my money (which is coming out of the stock markets as soon as I can get around to it).
Found this little gem on the caergybi.com site about Tinto - it was entered yesterday :- There is interest from a middle east company. Apparently the statement reads "They want to move the assetts to the middle east". what can that mean? The decommisioning of the plant has ceased whilst the board look at this offer and compare it with other offers for the site as a whole. I dont know anything about the power issue but I beleive the interested party want to include the build of a biomass plant on the current land, which is currently going through council/government consideration, as regards planning permission for a biomass? I think this statement released today by tinto is going to set a lot of rumour around the town and high hopes for a restart.
Anyone any info?
Apparently we are all 'sockpuppets', whatever that means?
http://miserableoldfart.blogspot.com/2010/11/smelly-socks-of-mon.html
Red Flag, re : AAM rumours:
At the moment there is a huge surplus of aluminium on the world markets. One of the largest Al smelters in the world is currently being built in Abu Dhabi.
I can' think anyone from there would want to reopen an old smelting facility in a region where there is less and less action.
They chose Abu Dhabi for a specific reason - location, close to where the major global demand for Al and other metals will be for the next few decades.
Quite agree Anon 09:34. You missed also proximity to energy sources - LNG.
Red Flag - a while ago the Daily Post reported that many of the AAM managers were headhunted to work at a new state of the art aluminium refinery in Dubai (http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2009/10/15/dubai-wants-axed-anglesey-aluminium-workers-55578-24936959/). Perhaps the same people are examining opportunities to obtain AAM's capital assets too?
The Outsider
"Could a part of the money from the Isle of Anglesey Charitable Trust be used to set up an Anglesey Mutual (Bank) that would take in savings and other deposits and make loans to local SME's. Re-circulating local money into the local economy?"
This is something I have suggested before. See: http://druidsrevenge.blogspot.com/2010/08/making-success-of-energy-island-concept.html
Also, I believe Gwynedd Council already have plans to create some kind of loan fund for local companies. I have the papers somewhere and will try to dig them out.
Druid - I believe Gwynedd Council already have plans to create some kind of loan fund for local companies.
Short NWDP article:-
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2010/11/23/cash-strapped-gwynedd-council-offers-loans-to-businesses-55578-27696247/
Bearing in mind these will probably be businesses that have been knocked back by their bank, what happens if the Council lends them money and they fold? Whio takes the rapp - the councillors or the council finance officers?
Hang in there Paul (but I know you will anyway).
Nobody on this island has done anything like as much as you to determine how the people actually feel and what the people actually want. So far, it seems representative have (mainly) consulted themselves!
You are positive, the knockers are negative.
You are pro-active. The knockers are re-active.
My company is heading towards a sizeable order from Oman. IWJ removed all assistance so it will be easier for us to let an England based firm get the assistance, do the work and we can just supply them An export lost for Wales but if IWJ does not care why should the Welsh economists want to include it in their figures?
Once again good luck, I look forward to meeting you.
Best regards,
Anglesey Islander
To TGC who is obviously a man who follows his consience. To all the knowckers who spout a lot of wind.
Read John 19:5
The knockers could look at themselves from verse 6 onwards
Most important...look at what 'The Man' went on to achieve!!
A.I.
Anglesey Islander - thank you for your comment. I am very interested in what you say about exports and would very much like to discuss the issue with you further if you could contact me via the 'contact' tab above. Thanks.
Post a Comment