News

It is impossible to ignore the Budget this week. It is the biggest item of the week in Parliament and is likely to affect us for years if not decades ahead. We are bound to ask whether the UK has learned the lessons of past recessions and whether the decisions taken this week are prudent or rash.

Regular readers will know that I am a long-standing supporter of animal welfare issues. I launched ‘Freedom Foods’ in Wales when I was First Minister. I’ve campaigned against the Canadian “cull” of seal pups and I took the lead in ending the Parliamentary stalemate on hunting. But I am dismayed that it is the fate of the badger that will push animal welfare issues back to the top of the agenda this year.

The slaughter in Cumbria showed that it’s impossible for the police to anticipate and prevent every violent incident. Politicians have wisely resisted the temptation to demand fresh legislation, but an Assistant Inspector of Constabulary said that things might have moved faster if police forces were merged. I don’t know why he said it, and in the Queen’s Speech Debate this week I urged Ministers to treat that favourite Whitehall recipe with deep suspicion.

It's salutary to compare our experience here in Penarth - or in the UK generally - with other countries. In that spirit, on Monday, Newsnight considered “austerity” in the UK immediately after looking at life on the streets of Afghanistan.

The one thing you can predict about an election is that the result won’t be as you predict. Before this year’s election Labour expected a drubbing at the polls, while Lib Dems expected to increase their numbers and to hold the balance of power. The Conservatives expected to swing in to Number 10 with a clear majority and Plaid Cymru expected to increase their number of seats to hold real power in a hung parliament. None of this happened, at least as expected.

I thought that it would be timely to turn this week's column into an open letter to former reporter on the Penarth Times, John Humphreys, on behalf of all the candidates and volunteers of all parties who will shortly be walking the streets of Penarth asking for your vote.

It is a real thrill when a Bill with which you are associated becomes an Act. The Marriage (Wales) Bill has now received Royal Assent and has become the Marriage (Wales) Act 2010.

I agree with the Chief Inspector of Police Denis O’Connor who said last week that the police need to do more to tackle antisocial behaviour. That was my message to the police when I was Deputy Home Secretary and it remains a key priority. But more also need to he done to give people the facts.

The biggest issue last weekend was the rumour – and at that stage it was merely a rumour – that further offences been committed by Jon Venables, one of the two murderers of James Bulger.

When Penarth became one of the first towns to go for “Fairtrade town” status, some people asked “so what”? Well it does make a difference, we were joined by Cardiff as the first Fairtrade Capital City, and it has now expanded across Wales. That week the Prime Minister Gordon Brown congratulated Wales on becoming first Fairtrade nation in the world. It is work by countless volunteers in Penarth and elsewhere that has succeeded in building something even bigger.