| Tourism, Independence, Economics... |
A Political Diary |
| Four Things That Caught the Attention , Public Commentary in Wales in 2021 , December 18, 2021 |
Culture is never so powerful as when it acts invisibly, when its recipients are without the self-awareness that they are held by it. There are facts of Wales. The census of 2021, when its results are published, will endorse them. The proportion of residents who claim a Welsh identity will continue to drop. The last figure is 62.8%. The language is eroding. The young migrate. There is so much commentary in an age of surfeit. These four occurred in the first part of 2021. * * * * The election of 2021 was robbed of the electricity that hustings provide. Its outcome was not as predicted and resulted, it was said, in a continuation of the status quo. Except not quite. It underlined the divisions, north versus south. All the areas with the lowest rates of participation return Labour members. The majorities of Plaid Members soared. At its core was the issue of what the north is for. The issue of what it is for entwined with who it is for. Two views jangled together. In an election campaign that produced few words to be remembered. Adam Price addressed tourism, calling it “exploitative” and “extractive”. This is not new, being at the centre of discussion by those who studied on the Coleg Harlech Welsh Studies course in the 1980s. J. Geraint Jenkins’ essay "Wales in a Glass Case" posited Wales as a theme park, the pay booths on the Severn Bridge acting as entry turnstiles. “Welsh culture is alive and thriving", said Price, "yet in comparison our tourism industry has been left to wither.” Wither? The numbers in these stay-in-Britain summers of the pandemic had no precedent. The peaks of Snowdonia were tramped on as never before. Source: . https://nation.cymru/news/price-calls-for-an-end-to-extractive-tourism-and-says-industry-must-work-for-wales-communities/ * * * * Councillor Gareth Thomas,Gwynedd’s Head of Economical Development, took a different view. Tourism “provides high quality jobs for local people as well as supporting the county’s environment, language, culture and destinations”. Few agree, leisure sector employment being among the lowest in value-added metrics. As a matter of record public signs and declarations "Nid yw Cymru ar Werth" were ubiquitous across the north. Rallies were held at Tryweryn and on the steps of the Senedd . A sector professional added a voice. Ant Pickles on the promotional structure: "Unlike every other part of the UK, Wales chose not to have an independent arms-length structure, but a departmental body, with Visit Wales staffed by civil servants who, whilst carrying out many of the functions of tourism agencies, don’t have the operational independence to push back on ministerial instruction. They are responsible for delivering on Welsh tourism strategy, industry engagement, product development and marketing. ".... Make Visit Wales an independent body. Centralised tourism bodies are the exception to the rule, and the industry-partnership, creativity and independent thinking often utilised by other tourism agencies works. This isn’t to take away from the many good people and ideas that come from Visit Wales, but why does a Minister in the Welsh Government have final sign off on an industry that operates based on thousands of small businesses?" Source: https://www.iwa.wales/agenda/2021/11/tourism-how-can-wales-perform-better/ * * * * The umbrella organisation campaigning for independence, Yes Cymru, boiled over, necessitating a complete fresh start and institutional re-build. Dyfrig Jones wrote to resist the reform on the grounds that it aimed for "independence for independence’s sake, nothing more." It is an odd view that the organisation should forgo the purpose for it was created. Organisations that place higher value on secondary activities fail. It is a universal rule. Philip Jones responded with a verbal punch: "The barefaced hypocrisy of the writer is breathtaking." John Ball too: "Ignore this rant...Read this article very carefully and his ideas are aimed at making YC a dumbed down left wing pseudo political party...It was this one sided view that caused the problems in the first place." Source: https://nation.cymru/news/plaid-cymru-conference-votes-in-favour-of-co-operation-agreement-with-welsh-government/ * * * * A government riposte to the independence cause was given by the First Minister: "We need a more powerful devolution settlement, one in which we secure home rule for Wales in a successful United Kingdom - internationalist, not nationalist; outward facing, not inward looking... a Wales that takes ownership of its own destiny alongside working people in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland who share our progressive values....a Wales which has the confidence of knowing that we are at our best when we break down barriers, not build them up, where we create our future alongside others, not despite or against them." This argument is clogged with lifeless metaphors that lack precision: outward-facing, breaking down barriers. The economics lack the courage to look at reality: "In a globalising economy, those places which will prosper in the future will be those which offer the clearest sense of stability, sustainability and identity. When information flows around the globe in nanoseconds, so that it no longer matters if your desk is in Hirwaen or Honolulu, Snowdonia or Singapore, it will be the attractions of local natural assets - of coast and climate, of scale and cultural infrastructure - which will provide an economic edge." This is a nonsense nudging into fantasy. Many of the boom areas across the world are high in disadvantage- crowding, pollution, housing costs, crime. In short they are cities. Prosperity is a social phenomenon. "In a world where people and organisations can go anywhere, the somewhere has to be not just another anonymous spot on the world’s surface but a place which offers a sense of identity which is confident and out-going, and a quality of life beyond the workplace which sustains a sense of creativity and well-being." This is political language on autopilot. Source: BBC Wales 26th February |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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