When a Plaid Cymru-facing blog like Cambrio Politico starts to argue that the Assembly Government-subsidised air service between Ynys Môn and Cardiff is a potential electoral embarrassment for the nationalists then we have to sit up and listen:
That northern air link is threatening to turn out bad for Plaid. The Penarth Times carries on attack from an intelligent left-wing Labour supporter on the coalition, which focuses on Plaid, and refers to the “heavily subsidised Ieuan Air Link”. Even Plaid people have been known to refer to “Air Ieuan”.
The party replies that it was the previous Labour government which set up the daily flight to Holyhead, not far from the party leader’s home in Llangefni.
They then add that important users of the flight are civil servants who are running Wales. After all, it takes around five hours to reach Holyhead by road from Cardiff, and four hours to Llandudno.
So how much does Ieuan himself use the flight? One way each week he goes by plane (to Cardiff), while the other is by train.
What about Labour AMs? Unfortunately, that party doesn’t possess any Assembly seats in the north-west. The electors don’t seem to vote for them …
In other words, this flight could turn into an electoral embarrassment.
Commentors on the site suggest that these claims cannot be taken seriously and they may well have a point. However, the fact remains that a Plaid Cymru Minister has maintained the subsidy to this service when the money could have been spent on more sustainable transport options.
This is not just about the effective use of public money or an air service that seems to have been provided entirely for the convenience of politicians, civil servants and quangocrats. It is also about Plaid Cymru’s so-called green credentials. How can they claim to be environmentally-friendly when they spend taxpayers cash so extravagantly on gas-guzzling short-haul passenger flights between north and south Wales?
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