As you can see on the right, Wales is the only place
in Western Europe aside from southern Spain, Italy and Portugal where the GDP
per capita is under €20,000. In fact, even when
you compare Wales to many countries further east in Europe, it is obvious that
Wales has currently got a rotten deal; Wales's GDP per capita is €19,876,
that of Slovenia is over €28,000 and that of Estonia is over €26,000.
Both of these nations, are, like Wales, small countries but don't forget
that they have the added disadvantage of having suffered under communism until
less than thirty years ago; their economies had to grow from a low base after
they gained their independence in 1991.
It is even starker when you compare Wales to her nearer
neighbours. Take the Republic of Ireland, for example; their GDP per
capita is some €61,490; more than three times that of Wales.
Ireland, like Estonia and Slovenia, used to be much poorer; only thirty
years ago it was as poor as Greece.
Something has clearly not worked for Wales. At a time
when small nations across Europe have got a lot richer, Wales clearly has not.
It's not that Wales is too remote, since Ireland and Iceland are much
further from continental Europe and yet they are very rich. It's not that
Wales is too mountainous, since other countries like Switzerland and Austria,
also have high mountains. It's also (Welsh-language naysayers take note),
got nothing to do with Wales having two languages; countries like
Ireland, Finland, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg each have more than one
official language yet, as you can see, they are not as poor; quite the
opposite. We should also not blame everything on the fact that Thatcher
closed the coal mines - other post-industrial places in Europe aren't so poor,
and as you can see, North and Mid Wales (with the exception of Powys),
are also mostly red, despite heavy industry having not been as widespread in mid
and north Wales. What must it be?
Should I be surprised?
When Theresa May's government announced that it was going to
plough ahead with HS2, an insanely expensive high speed line to link the
already well connected cities in England, and at the same time cancel the much
cheaper electrification of the South Wales Mainline west of Cardiff, it was one
of those moments when I was again reminded of the answer. Successive
governments in London have neglected Wales, and not given it the right tools
and infrastructure that nations from one end of Europe to the other take for
granted. To use that one example again, the last time I checked, the only
country in Europe, which like Wales had none of its railways electrified was
Albania. What is the difference between Wales and all these other small
nations in Europe? All those other countries rule themselves and decide
what to prioritise within their own countries. Wales on the other hand,
has found itself on the periphery of someone else's country, and the government
of that someone else's country has its own centre as its priority. You
don't have to only look at investment to see what I mean, you can also see how
Welsh villages have been flooded to provide English cities with water, and how
Wales has been used as a dumping ground for nuclear power stations, among other
things. Ireland, when it was on the periphery of the United Kingdom, was very
poor, now 100 years later as an independent country, it is the 6th richest
country in the world.
Capitalism or Socialism?
Most
Welsh nationalists that I know appear to be socialists by default. This
is entirely understandable, given that Welsh nationalism is by-definition,
anti-establishment and anti-Westminster elite, that it is opposed to
Anglo-British Nationalism which is inherently right of centre, and given that
Wales has, for over a century, been a left-leaning country in which first the
Liberals, and then the Labour Party were the most popular parties. It
must be understood, however, that, what has made all these other small European
nations rich, is not socialism. On the contrary, it was after nations
such as Slovenia and Estonia got rid of communism that their economies boomed.
Likewise, the Celtic tiger happened in Ireland precisely because Ireland
embraced capitalism and low corporate tax rates. And put it this way,
having Labour in power in the Welsh Assembly has hardly made Wales's situation
much better.
Sorry mate..but if you think the Eastern bloc and USSR were communist....you need to study up on basic political definitions.
ReplyDeleteCommunism is state-less, class-less, borderless system. Dont confuse totalitarianism using state socialist structures as communism.......the definition been corrupted by the USA over the decades
In English, pls!
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