Johnson the M4 vandal

 Arrogant, destructive, careless of our future: those are the terms which immediately came to mind when it was announced that the government in Westminster wants to impose the M4 Relief Road on Wales. It may have been by narrow margins each time, but the people of Wales have consistently voted against the concreting over an irreplaceable wetland for what was, even before Brexit and Covid-19, a minimal gain.

For justification, walesonline quotes Simon Hart MP, Secretary of State for Wales, airily saying: "Our trade takes place overwhelmingly with the rest of the UK and it is vital that it continues to be seamless, safeguarding thousands of Welsh jobs. For all parts of the UK to grow and thrive, products, ideas and investment must continue to flow unhindered."  He offers no specific evidence for growth in Welsh jobs, which in any case would be restricted to a narrow corridor in the south. Saving ten minutes on a journey between London or Bristol and Cardiff would do nothing for growing poverty in mid and north Wales. Hart has even abandoned the figures of billions of pounds in gains which used to be thrown around by the Tories.

The businesses which benefited most from the M4 up until this year were the hauliers taking advantage of fellow-membership with Ireland of the European Union. In severing our ties with the rest of Europe and at the time of writing consistently refusing to conclude a mutually beneficial trade deal with the EU, Johnson's Tories have devastated that business. Irish trade with the rest of the EU will bypass British ports, and Wales will be the worst sufferer. The effect will be to reduce pressure on the M4.

Apart from lobbing large contracts to construction companies which traditionally contribute to Conservative Party coffers, I suspect that the true reason for increasing capacity on the border crossing is to relieve pressure on housing in the Bristol area. Already Bristol commuters take advantage of cheaper housing in Gwent than they could buy in Somerset and Gloucester. The proposed relief road would open up Newport, Cardiff and the Vale to further development for the benefit of jobs on the other side of the Severn estuary.

However, the pandemic has shown that for at least 50% of office workers it is practical, thanks to improved IT, to work from home. Moreover, as public transport restrictions ease, the benefits of Great Western electrification to Cardiff will begin to show. 

None of these arguments will even be considered by prime minister Johnson, who has a history of wasting tax-payers' money on fruitless schemes, both as mayor of London and throughout the current Covid-19 emergency. Uppermost in his mind will be a show of power over a nation of the UK which dares to use the tools which devolution has granted her, while he sees the UK's and his own regard shrink on the world scene, thanks to his misguided petty nationalism.

One trusts that, though his crony cabinet will support him, the growing opposition in the rest of the Conservative party to his petulant would-be autocracy will either remove him or at least prevent this and similar destructive decisions.