Audio: Devolution creating a 'mini UK' in Wales, says economist

Agree. Been saying similar myself about successive Welsh governments last 10-15 years. But you mean south east not South West.

“And what we’ve done is exactly the same in Cardiff. So we’ve swapped a big city in the south east of England for a big city in the south east of Wales." He's spot on. In the move towards independence, in the move to preserve the Welsh culture,Wales has identified with their colonial oppressors, thus becoming the new colonialists. The preservation of the mother tongue comes out of the colonial mind set, the queen's English replaced by the pure tradition of Welsh...

Professor Calvin Jones correctly diagnoses the problem but the claim that the institution of the Assembly rather than the party in power is to blame is inexplicable. Devolution is not leading to more geographical inequality in Wales - it's the policies of the Labour government that are to blame. Blaming 'the Assembly' rather than Labour absolves them from being held to account for the consequences of their actions and exasperates the problem. The headline suggests that abolishing the Assembly rather than getting rid of Labour would solve the problem - the opposite is true. If Plaid Cymru was in power the party would pass a Regional Renewal Bill that would prioritise deprived areas for investment and guarantee fair funding to all parts of Wales. It's policies like this that are really needed to improve the Welsh economy, voting Labour in time after time means the economic benefits of devolution are not being felt across the vast majority of the nation.

Cytuno, "https://www.facebook.com/Cwmni-Bro-Ffestiniog-167894617174265/?notif_id=1518103421438439&notif_t=page_invite&ref=notif" "Pa fath o Gymru yr ydym am ei chreu. Cymru fel cymuned o gymunedau neu Gymru gyda gwladwriaeth sy'n gwasanaethu cyfalaf preifat ac yn canoli yn hytrach na datganoli grym. Gwladwriaeth Gymreig i'n rheoli neu wladwriaeth sy'n rhyddhau a gwasanaethu ein cymunedau a'n pobl?" "What kind of Wales do we want to create. Wales as a community of communities or a Wales where the state priorities private capitalism and centralizing power as apposed to devolving power. A Welsh state that rules or a state that serves and frees our communities and it’s people"

Millions spent refurbishing the BBC offices in Cardiff - the BBC offices in Bangor meanwhile are to close. BBC Wales Sport spending all of its budget on some minoity sport played in a couple of Welsh valleys in the South whereas the Welsh Premier League isn't even given a mention Massive road improvements along the M4 corridor whereas planned improvements on the road to the North - the A470 - are rejected. Major upgrade to the rail and "metro" network in Cardiff whereas to travel by train from the North to the capital you are obliged to pass by another country because they "can't find the money" to reinstate the Afon Wen and MMR Even the FAW insisted a couple of years ago that a Cup Final between two North Wales club be played south of the M4 because the Committee couldn't find enough native bearers to carry the drinks cabinet north Heard it all before Nothing will ever change.

Excellent point to finish on by Calvin: what will independent *Waleses* look like? Imposing an homogenous vision for Welsh communities that draws solely on myths and princes, or language and cultural motifs, or technocratic arguments about sovereignty, or the labour movement, or metropolitan urbanism, and which ignores that 1 in 3 here are born elsewhere....will fail.

Well, Cardiff is over-developed only in comparison to the under-funded parts of Wales. It's unfair to compare it to London which is over-developed almost in absolute terms. The development of Cardiff is simply taking it to a status of a normal capital. It is of course unfortunate that this development is not spreading to the rest of Wales, but investment in Cardiff is really not extravagant.

Surely by this point one of the best reasons for independence is so that we can liberate this country from Labourite ideologies and beliefs? To have a Labour government ruling Wales after independence too, with no change of government through the process, I cannot think of anything that would do more damage this country.

I live in Cardiff and find it laughable that anyone takes it seriously as some kind of metropolis. It's a knackered port down only just getting basic infrastructure investment. Every country needs a decent capital and Cardiff is poorer than most big UK cities and needs a lot of work. If you want people to take Wales seriously, you need a decent city as your shop window.

After 700 years of "effective colonisation" there were some uncomfortable parallels between Wales' economy and third world countries". Not sure that less than 20 years of the Welsh Assembly can be held to account as post developed rather than under -developed economy . It doesn't make sense. Other than being mindful of the make up of the audience or its listening public. But a very good portrayal of the current parlours state of the Welsh economy, and task ahead. Post Brexit. But let's not have any more shouty things from contributors about the Welsh culture, language, myths and Princes. There's enough myths and regal issues in London to keep you busy. It's Wales we are talking about and not petty hang ups from living here.

C'mon Calvin, I know you like mischief. But really. On this one I am with the sensible comments by Radek Piskorski and JD. You have left scale out of account. Likening Cardiff to London is like comparing a peanut with a pumpkin. Wales would be struggling even more if it did not have one city that was reasonably competitive within the UK and at European level. Without it we would be more of colony, not less of a colony. Cardiff is about the size of Nottingham. To put all the problems of the rest of Wales, and they are many, down to the development of Cardiff is also to ignore the impact of UK policies, e.g. on rail investment. It was not the Welsh Government that cancelled electrification to Swansea etc etc. You are simply a hoary old prejudice.

I hasten to add that I don't think you are 'a hoary old prejudice', but that you are stoking one. My slip.

When Wales is facing the biggest crisis of its recent history, and the enormous deficit it faces with continual under funding and lack of structural investment, that we ponder the lesser or bigger issues facing Cardiff. For goodness sake this Cardiff centric mind set will always endure. It's endemic even in the Assembly. Now all of a sudden Cardiff residents get the wind up. I witnessed the discussion there yesterday over the Plaid Cymru proposal led by Adam Price to seek a Govt vote on either the blue or black route for the M4 Newport by pass after the latest investigation on these proposals. Leaving the executive there to decide alone. Even this was met with silence. The case was made for a lifting of heads to the greater sum of territory, including the re opening of the Aberystwyth to Carmarthen railway. There are crucial infrastructure issues all over Wales. Not least the Metro rain link. Let's start to see what the real issues are. A totally underperforming Nation and creeping paralysis over most of Wales and no immediate solutions. Third world beckons. Great. Let's talk about Cardiff or the M4. Yours very disillusioned.

Commentators who listened to the audio will know that Wales' 700 years of colonisation as a driver of dysfunction, as opposed to 20 years of the Assembly, is not lost on me. But my key point is that the Cardiff peanut is the economic, political and cultural centre of Wales in a similar fashion to London to the detriment of the country. And the way that Labour, the civil service and the institution are structured add to this imbalance. Some think a visible shop window capital is a prerequisite for development, and here is where I disagree with my learned (if typologically challenged) friend Geraint. There is little actual evidence for this in the literature. So the judgement on whether moving the Beeb to Central Square rather than, say, Ebbw Vale or Caernarfon is a good and necessary thing remains a value judgement.

cymrufwyaf - you are absolutely spot on!

There is a broader issue here. The Welsh Government must stop confining itself to UK / England / Scotland / NI metrics and models. Better solutions to many of the challenges and opportunities faced by Wales in the Nordic and Baltic countries, in Ireland, and elsewhere. Time to free up mindsets, and recognize the relative failure of most UK solutions -- particularly in Wales.

If this article is asking why is there disproportionate investment in cities / city regions, it is because there has been considerable consensus among economist that during the 19th and 20th century European and North American cities have been engines of economic growth. So it seems like a sure fire bet to politicians. Or maybe it’s just a case of: if money gets spent in one place and not others, the place where the money is spent is going to the better off -well duh! If you live in a nice neighbourhood, got a des-res and disposable income, life in the city may be pretty sweet. It’s not the story for everyone of course. The big winners are those involved in property and transport infrastructure, along with rats and feral pigeons. Arguments frequently attached to the city region paradigm are: 1.“Mass” (size). A natural if not inevitable development (and indeed one that has been mooted) might therefore be to integrate Swansea, Cardiff, Newport and Bristol into a Severnside super-city region -the "Western Powerhouse". 2 “Effective governance” – it is seen essential that there is a unitary authority to co-ordinate planning and investment. Where would these developments leave Welsh devolution or independence?