High office

Having being chairman of the Conservative party in Pembrokeshire for nine years and later chairman of the Party in Wales during the time Nicholas Edwards now Lord Crickhowell was Secretary of State for Wales I am more aware than most of the responsibility and pressure this office demands.

We have to admit that there has developed a great vacuum since Mr Edwards stood down which was a tremendous loss to Wales.

We would not have had Withybush Hospital to the size and standard that we have come to accept only to see now falling into decline and much of the service move to Carmarthen and beyond.

We saw the M4 extended to Pont Abraham and a dual carriageway to St. Clears and all we have seen since are minor improvements with notoriously dangerous three lane in Llanddewi Velfrey and Robeston Wathen.

Are we now going to see this duel carriageway which is overdue and needed extended to Fishguard? What about our snail pace railway line from Fishguard to Paddington which has seen little improvement since it was built by Brunel?

We do not wish to hear the old saying that there is no money when we read about the HS2 High Speed line being proposed in England which no one seems to want - only the government ministers on an ego trip and we are told the estimated cost will be over fifty billion, but true to government form it will probable cost in excess eighty billion.

We now hear of a proposed HS3 in the North of England, why not an HS4 in West Wales? Scotland almost left the union and unless urgent steps are taken to move the wealth out of the South East of England to the regions, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will leave the union in the next ten or twenty years. Throwing a few crumbs to the Assemblies will not now satisfy the people.

Why not cancel this project and use money in the deprived areas of the U K like West Wales and these two services also serve Southern Ireland which links them with Europe?

Should Southern Ireland and the E U make a substantial contribution or at least a contribution.

We wait in anticipation and your record in this office will be judged against Nicholas Edwards and for the sake of Pembrokeshire and beyond we hope you will not let us down.

SIR ERIC HOWELLS CBE

Llanddewi Velfrey