PCS Workers Deserve Our Support

The PCS workers who recently went on strike at Revenue and Customs offices in Welshpool and Newtown derserve our support if only because we shall all lose out if, as the Labour government proposes, they are all but closed by 2008.

The loss of 47 posts will take around £1.8m out of the local economy and with jobs in adjacent offices like Oswestry and Aberystwyth also being cut the chances of the workers finding similar jobs is slim indeed.

Also as the nearest manned Tax Office will be in Telford or Wrexham anybody who depends on a face-to-face interview to sort out their tax affairs will be faced with a long journey or will have to use the phone or internet.

With tax evasion and VAT fraud conservatively estimated at no less than a staggering £30bn it would make sense for staff to be retained to recoup these losses which are robbing us all of due revenue.

It is hypocritical of Labour AMs to pretend to support the PCS officers when it is their own government which is cutting their jobs!

A Good Day on the Campaign Trail!

Nerys Evans, Mid and West Wales list candidate, and I spent a very useful day in Welshpool today starting with an hour in the market with Montgomeryshire's farmers. Following that we met with Clive Faulkener of the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust and shared some thoughts about sustainable farming, especially in the uplands, which Clive thinks will be particularly at risk from climate change.

We had a very pleasant working lunch with Nick Knight, Mark Lingard and Anwen Evans of the County Times and then spent an hour with Oldford Commiuniites First and heard about some of the very interesting developments there from Mandy and Hannah. We then met with Dave Morris, PCS union convenor in HMRC Welshpool, who had done some research on the economic consequences of the proposed job losses and had calculated that the impact on the economy would be about £1.8m per year - an awful lot for an area like Welshpool.

Our final visit was to Derwen Farm Shop in Guilsfield where we met Rachel Joseph, the owner, and Zoe (see photo above with [l to r] me, Zoe, Nerys and Rachel) The shop is full of superb and mostly Welsh produce and is a shining example of what can be achieved by local sourcing of food - something Plaid Cymru will be treating as a priority in the new Assembly after 3 May.

I should like to thank all the above for taking time to meet with us today and also to Arwyn Groe, Mike Allen and Sion Powys for accompanying us during parts of the day.