First Politics
So, we had the European Elections this month. Sadly it was not the local or national elections, perhaps then Gordon Brown would not be with us. But it did give the every day person a chance to make their voices heard. Only a third of people voted though, which I find quite shocking. That's why, in the coming months I will be getting involved in politics, hopefully standing for a local seat in this area of Neath Port Talbot.
I was looking at the voting results for Wales (and especially Ceridigion where I reside for a lot of the time), and I was shocked to see BNP in fifth place! Bollocks to Labour and Conservative, and hat's off to UKIP and Plaid Cymru for doing really well. This country needs a change and it needs one fast. The economy is failing, the National Health Service and Public Transport are falling to pieces, Unemployment is out of control, and then there's the immigration and European migration problems.
The trouble is for myself when voting, is that I like huge parts of certain parties policies and mandates, yet disagree with other bits. Labour and Conservative are irrelevant to me, middle of the road policies that are just damaging the country. I like what Plaid Cymru stand for and I like a lot of their policies, the same goes for UKIP, though they would want to get rid of the Welsh Assembly, which is probably the only thing I disagree about that party. The BNP have it right though for a lot of what they say, however the press seem intent on destroying all they have to say by making up a lot of lies about them. So, what I would like to see is the best of the three parties that I have mentioned.
I have a wide circle of friends, of all ages and all colours, during this election process I talked to them a hell of a lot. I had to find out what the 18 and 19 year old working lads thought, I had to find out what my ethnic buddies thought, and I was shocked to find out that almost all females I know just did not care one bit about voting!!! The overall feel was that of major discontent with the way the country is now. The two biggest dis concerning topics were unemployment (and the thought they would not have a job in the near future) and immigration (and European migration). I was shocked to find that a number of my Sri Lanken and Pakistani friends would seriously have voted BNP if the BNP would just let coloured people into their parties. I was also shocked that no-one under 25 that I know wanted Labour or Conservative, and either did not want to vote or wanted to vote UKIP, BNP or Plaid Cymru.
Politics is a funny old game, all I know is who I voted and why. All I know is the UK, and Wales in particular need a huge change, pull out of Europe, make Britain for the British once again and yet again be a proud Nation.
It was my Grandfather who said to me in one of his last chats while he was alive... "I fought for this Country in World War II. I fought for freedom, for the British people, and now I can not leave my house for fear of all the foreigners in my town. I fought for nothing, my friends died for nothing, and I know that's how a lot of them feel. Mark, we were let down, use your vote to change Britain and make it a better place once more".
I voted every single opportunity since, and I will always vote to make this country Great Britain again.
Transport Routes In Wales
God! It takes me three hours to get from Swansea to Aberystwyth by bus (X40), and this is the quickest form of public transport available to us here in Wales. If I was to take the train, it would take between 5 and 9 hours depending on the day and time!!!
Public Transport Routes between North, Mid and South Wales are basically prehistoric. The main service is the X40 which has two journeys from Cardiff and three journeys from Swansea daily to and from Aberystwyth. Once in Aberystwyth you then have to change buses to the X32 service to reach North Wales (Bangor)!!!
Why in this day and age is there no train from South Wales to Mid and North Wales direct? Instead we have to go via Shrewsbury which is one hell of a detour! Surely a track from Camathern to join at Aberystwyth would make sense? And a track from Aberystwyth to Bangor via a coastal route for both tracks?
Seriously, as great a Nation as Wales is, it's public transport sucks! And if you think it's any better in a car you have another thing coming. Once you leave the main roads of built up areas, the roads are a hazard to even the best driver. Surely the Welsh Assembly could spend a little money on making the roads just a little bit wider so cars can actually pass each other without fear of certain collision?
Rant over for now... But more to come!
