Rural mid-Wales is underfunded – here's what your MPs are doing to fix it - video Dailymotion

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00:00Our part of the world needs investment in key infrastructure more than anything, and

00:04by that I mean I think I'd like to see more attention be given to the Barnett formula.

00:12That is fundamental, it is the alpha and omega when it comes to the provision of public services

00:17and investment infrastructure in the UK.

00:19If we don't get the Barnett formula working fairly so that we do get our fair share, then

00:24no matter how much of a case we make for other things, the funding just won't be there to

00:29realise them.

00:30So the resistance is I think born from a reluctance to change something that is so fundamental

00:37to the way that the UK works.

00:40If you think of the Barnett formula almost as the wiring of the country in terms of how

00:46much money does Healthcare in Wales have or how much money is spent on investment in railways,

00:52the Barnett formula is at the heart of it and so changing it would mean that there are

00:57winners and losers.

00:59I think we have to be frank and open about that and acknowledge as well that there will

01:03be certain aspects of the formula, the way it works, that disproportionately benefits

01:08us.

01:09But I'm very much in the interest in the game of fairness and so in ensuring that we have

01:14a fairer system, we have to accept the rough with the smooth.

01:18But at the moment we're having a lot of rough, so addressing this would mean that we do benefit

01:24significantly from a fairer allocation.

01:26We're also looking at other areas, the particular area of course is the Crown Estate.

01:30Crown Estate money turns to the Treasury, that's not the same situation as Scotland.

01:35In Scotland that money is decided by Scottish Government how it can be used that will benefit

01:40local supply chains and local communities.

01:43Again that would strengthen our arm rather than being a begging bowl and asking for extra

01:48funding from here that we manage our own funding from our own natural resources.

01:52Prior to the election our fellow Senedd members, Welsh Labour in Cardiff, many Welsh Labour

01:59MPs here as well, could be heard quoting exactly the same funding figures that were owed to

02:05Wales for HS2.

02:07Exactly the same need for the Crown Estate to be devolved.

02:10Now that they're in power, hey ho, they're not doing it are they?

02:13So our job is to call out primarily the effect of that, what we could do differently, and

02:18to call out frankly the hypocrisy.

02:20If Labour talk about having a partnership at both ends of the M4, why are we still missing out?

02:25I think that very often the answers are there in more smaller community energy projects

02:33than in these gigantic huge infrastructure projects by big multinationals.

02:41So that's something I'm glad you asked because that's something I would like to see promoted

02:44and I've actually written to the Minister about that exact topic.

02:48I'm saying we want to see the funding, we want to see the support, because if we go

02:53back to the election, if you go back to the Green New Deal, Great British Energy, publicly

02:59owned, a publicly owned energy company.

03:02So I'd like to see more work in the spirit of that rather than looking to these huge

03:06multinationals for the answers.

03:09We have a chain of castles and ancient monuments along the line of the Tawiusk, and once those

03:19are desecrated, once you have this line of infrastructure, this steel infrastructure

03:25coming down the whole valley from Kynghordie where you have a viaduct, they obviously hadn't

03:32done any work, any background information on that area at all.

03:38Who else in their right mind would put a pile and structure over Garn Goch?

03:43You know, for goodness sake, look at what you've got and if we don't respect what we

03:50have within our own communities, what hope is there for us?

03:55For goodness sake.

03:56So get it underground and nobody opposes the fact, or nobody is against the fact, and we

04:03all realise that we need more electricity infrastructure, but it's the way to do it.

04:10And if it's good enough for other European countries, such as Denmark, Belgium, Holland,

04:16if they're doing it, why can't we do it?

04:19Especially with regards to boot energy, when most of the money is coming from Denmark anyway.

04:25So if it's good enough for Denmark, and the finance that's coming from Denmark, well it's

04:30good enough for us in Wales.

Rural mid-Wales is underfunded – here's what your MPs are doing to fix it

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