Thursday 14 April 2011

Helping our neighbours

The Lib Dem manifesto has a handy little table at the end setting out where they will make savings and where they will spend more.  Apparently, they're planning to spend £1.5 million a year on a clinic in Camden.  And I thought that foreign aid was a non-devolved matter...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw that as well but i did not want to comment. Probably for Welsh lib dem's going to London for the weekend and needing a clinic they can call home.

Anonymous said...

Is that really the case.what is that all about

John Dixon said...

VM,

I'm sure that they have some sort of rationale for what they're saying, but I'm blowed if I understand what it is. All I know is that they've included an expenditure for 'Camden Clinic' in their revenue sheet, with no further explanation of what it's for, at £1.5 million a year from 2012/13 onwards, and that there's not a single mention of Camden anywhere else in their manifesto.

Asking for trouble...

Boncath said...

John

I suspect that it is a rehab clinic
for MP,s involved in divorce proceedings arising from acrimonious coalition separations.

On a more serious note ?? is it true that the Welsh Conservatives are going to finance the Welsh Air Ambulance service using Barnett formula money via a Conservative led Assembly?
Surely this is a case where the people of Wales have already seen a need and come forth to deliver the service at their own expense just as mining and other communities did with the building of Aberystwyth University.

Or is it all just so that the Tories can fly Welsh lib dems to Camden clinics free of ground based protests.

John Dixon said...

Boncath,

"Is it true that..."

I don't know - I think that today is the publication date for their manifesto. I can tell you though that the Lib Dems say that they would be "Funding the Air Ambulance to provide a full, seven-day-a-week service for the first time.", so they would not be dependent on any Tory promises in your scenario.

Plaid say that "We will support the Air Ambulance Service and we will work to effectively integrate the Air Ambulance with other emergency services." I'm not sure what 'support' means in that context - it's one of those wishy-washy words which infests most manifestos, and can be taken to mean anything from loads of hard dosh to issuing an occasional supportive press release.

As far as I can see, the Labour manifesto is silent on the issue.