15th May 2006
The Revolution Comes To Parliament
Just met Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, in the Churchill Room (of all places) of the House of Commons. Chavez spoke passionately, personally and without notes about the ideas behind the Bolivarian revolution which has turned Latin America to a beacon of hope for the poor and downtrodden worldwide.
I was there as an honorary “Labour” Friend of Venezuela – some Tories who slunk in, presumably to enquire after their investments, were unceremoniously ejected – and Hywel Francis MP even took my picture with the man himself.
In Chavez, Morales and the Latine American Left we hear echoes of our own radical tradition of social justice and national liberation as two sides of the same coin of popular empowerment. In Chavez’s speech, there was that acute sense of history that comes from belonging to a nation, oppressed and dispossessed, and the high political price that national liberators – Bolivar, Sucre, Miranda – often paid in the cause of freedom. In the failed coup a few years ago, he almost did the same.
We should not forget those hundred of Welsh volunteers that died on Bolivar’s side in the Battle of Carabobo, just outside Caracas in 1821.
Thankfully, not a single drop of Welsh blood is needed now to liberate our nation from poverty, disadvantage and disease. All we need to give is our time, our creativity, our passion and our dreams.
Hasta la revolucion galesa.
4th May 2006
Y ni a nwy
Ynni yw cyrrensi grym yr oes sydd o honi.
Nol ym mis Ionawr ces i’r ateb isod gan Malcolm Wicks yn esbonio na fydd hawl gan gwmni’r National Grid i brynu tir yn orfodol gogyfer eu piben LNG o Felindre i Tirley nes iddyn nhw cael caniatad cynllunio. Syndod felly oedd gorfod delio yn ddiweddar gyda achos etholwr oedd wedi derbyn llythyr cyfreithiol gan y cwmni yn bygwyth cyfarwyddeb prynu gorfodol. Mae’r cwmni wedi gorfod camu nol nawr o’r tacetegau bwlian yma ar ol pwynto mas iddyn y sefyllfa cyfreithiol.
Ar raddfa fwy, mae’n pery gofid i ddarllen am ddiddordeb Gazprom, y cwmni ynni gwladoledig enfawr o Rwsia Ymerodrol, mewn cymeryd Centrica, rhiant gwmni British Gas, drosodd. Dyma’r cwmni sydd wedi bygwth Belarus dros yr wythnose diwetha’ gyda threblu eu prisiau nwy os na chawn nhw rhagor o gonsesiynau gan y Belarwsiaid. Y llynedd gofynon nhw am berchnogaeth o ran Belarws o’r biben o Yamal i Ewrop a chwpl o “booster stations” ar hyd y ffordd tebyg i’r un yn Felindre. Y Cymry, yn amlwg, ydy Belarwsiaid y cyn-Deyrnas Gyfunol.
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which alternative routes were explored before the 1km corridor for the liquid gas pipeline proposed by the National Grid from Felindre to Tirley was chosen; on what basis these alternative routes were not chosen; what consultation there has been between National Grid, Carmarthen county council and the general public on the pipeline; and whether a compulsory purchase order will be granted for the land owned by those who refuse to accept the terms offered by the National Grid. [43171]
Malcolm Wicks: National Grid have not applied for consent to lay a pipeline from Filindre to Tirley. If and when they do then an explanation of the alternative routes considered, the reasons for the preferred route and justification for the discounting of others will have to be given. Any such application will be advertised and an opportunity given for representations to be made to the Secretary of State.
In view of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial responsibilities for confirming compulsory purchase orders, I cannot give an indication as to whether or not such an order would be confirmed.
