Full steam ahead

IT IS nearly 20 years since Wales was granted its own National Assembly, a historic devolution of power from London that the then British prime minister, Tony Blair, later said had given 'a lead to the rest of the UK'and to Europe'. Since that reform, triggered by a referendum in 1997, further rounds of devolution have given Welsh politicians control over policy areas including housing, health and education. Yet today in Ebbw Vale, a former steel town in the country's deep south, few locals seem enthusiastic about their national government. 'It's a waste of money and a waste of time,' says Wayne Grist, a butcher, who is among the more diplomatic of the government's critics.Undeterred, the Conservative government plans to devolve more powers from Westminster to the Welsh capital, Cardiff. It is part of a promised 'devolution revolution' in which English cities will get more powers over transport, planning and, in some cases, health care, and Scotland will, from next year, get the right to set some taxes and welfare payments (the result of panicky promises made by English politicians ahead of a referendum on Scottish independence in...Continue reading
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