Thursday, March 13, 2008
Burnham Wood comes to Dunsinane
Peter Hain is in the news again, warning that the One Wales Government needs to shape up by ploughing more investment into private companies or risk losing out to India and China. He has told BBC Wales that the Welsh government has given too much priority to spending money on public services:
Mr Hain said ministers have tended in the past to focus most of their effort and investment on the public services and schemes like free prescriptions and breakfasts.
He said: "I was happy about free prescriptions and the latest decision about free hospital parking. Everybody likes that. None of us likes paying these charges.
"But is this the priority for the future is the question that I'm putting.
"We've got to make a really hard choice, focussing our spending on skills, on infrastructure, on technology, on research and development."
He added that he was worried for the future if his warning were not heeded.
He said: "I do not think Wales can compete with China and India in the future, let alone with Eastern Europe today unless we have the best skills, unless we have a growing private sector which is able to compete on the world stage.
"If we don't get that, then Wales will limp along and we won't build on the success we've had in the last 11 years.
"We'll limp along and eventually lose out so it's as big an issue as that for me."
The former Welsh Secretary clearly fancies himself in an elder statesman role, however if he carries on in this vein Rhodri Morgan may consider that he is more akin to Banquo at the feast.
Mr Hain said ministers have tended in the past to focus most of their effort and investment on the public services and schemes like free prescriptions and breakfasts.
He said: "I was happy about free prescriptions and the latest decision about free hospital parking. Everybody likes that. None of us likes paying these charges.
"But is this the priority for the future is the question that I'm putting.
"We've got to make a really hard choice, focussing our spending on skills, on infrastructure, on technology, on research and development."
He added that he was worried for the future if his warning were not heeded.
He said: "I do not think Wales can compete with China and India in the future, let alone with Eastern Europe today unless we have the best skills, unless we have a growing private sector which is able to compete on the world stage.
"If we don't get that, then Wales will limp along and we won't build on the success we've had in the last 11 years.
"We'll limp along and eventually lose out so it's as big an issue as that for me."
The former Welsh Secretary clearly fancies himself in an elder statesman role, however if he carries on in this vein Rhodri Morgan may consider that he is more akin to Banquo at the feast.
Comments:
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I realize Peter that you are not saying Peter Hain is wrong (or right for that matter), but all the same, the man is right! The public sector in Wales is too big relative to the size of the private sector, and yes, this is a serious problem.
Because the public sector in Wales is so dominant, any lethargy or lack of leadership in the public sector will translate into bad news for the Welsh economy. The level of earnings, Welsh education at the school level, R&D spending, IP protection, Wales is not doing well.
Because the public sector in Wales is so dominant, any lethargy or lack of leadership in the public sector will translate into bad news for the Welsh economy. The level of earnings, Welsh education at the school level, R&D spending, IP protection, Wales is not doing well.
The problem is not the size of the public sector per se - it's probably at the minimum required to service a 21st century society - but the relatively small size of the private sector.
I'm disabled severely, the only chance I have to find employment was in the public sector, mainly because what ever jobs I can get the local cat will be more productive, sadly thats what disablity does for you, my mind is great my body packed up after my accident. I once was offered a job the chap said all you have to do is keep up with the slowest bloke on the production line, up the line I go with my wheelchair, the manager said shit we do have a problem, my wheelchair went under the conveyor.
I was then told we will look at what we can use you for, look go home and we will get back to you, of course they never did.
The NHS once would have been my area of work, like it or not many disabled people went into this area to work and made something on themselves and then moved on, others did nothing because the disability was to much.
Llanelli has nearly 16,000 people on IB, this week at the job center we had sixteen jobs, it's worry when the new rules come in where is labour going to find the much vaulted jobs or is this another way of saying JSA is cheaper then IB.
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I was then told we will look at what we can use you for, look go home and we will get back to you, of course they never did.
The NHS once would have been my area of work, like it or not many disabled people went into this area to work and made something on themselves and then moved on, others did nothing because the disability was to much.
Llanelli has nearly 16,000 people on IB, this week at the job center we had sixteen jobs, it's worry when the new rules come in where is labour going to find the much vaulted jobs or is this another way of saying JSA is cheaper then IB.
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