Madam,

I’m sure we’re all glad to see the plan to open a train station at Bow Street.

However, before people become too grateful for the crumbs offered to Ceredigion and Wales let’s put it in context.

The Tories intend to waste £55bn on the HS2 vanity project so that people in some English cities can arrive in London 20 minutes earlier. The Tories have also broken their promise to electrify the line between Newport and Swansea – making Wales the only country in Europe apart from Moldova and Albania without a mile of electrified railway.

Before Labour supporters attack Tories, let’s also remember that their own Labour MPs voted with Tories against devolving railways to the Assembly. By doing so, Labour MPs have deprived railways in Wales of hundreds of millions of pounds. How? Because of the Barnett Formula which decides on how the UK budget is shared.

In any devolved matter (education, health, for example) or big spending projects, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland get a percentage cut according to their population.

So, had rail been devolved, a five per cent cut of HS2’s budget would mean some £2bn would have been awarded to Wales – a bit more than a one-off station.

That is a huge amount. It could have easily paid for reopening the line to Carmarthen as well as other vital new lines and upgrades.

Unlike Plaid Cymru MPs, Labour and Tories voted to keep Wales as a part of England and Wales and, so, deprived their own constituencies and people of vital money – and then complain about it! That’s the face of Westminster nationalism.

So, the £7m spend on Bow Street station is welcome, but it’s minuscule to what Wales could have had had Labour and Tory MPs not voted to keep rail in Westminster hands.

Rail is better off in Welsh hands.

Wales is poor because of Westminster priorities – let’s stop being thankful for crumbs.

Yours etc,

Siôn Jobbins, Rhiw Briallu, Llanbadarn Fawr, Aberystwyth.

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