Summertime is always the political silly season. With our parliaments in recess there can be a lack of real stories.  Trivia gets hyped.  It’s a bit like the circus or a Christmas panto.  But that provides a smokescreen; add a few political mirrors and the clowns can so easily turn things in to a horror movie.

 In the real world it usually comes down to money.  There is never enough to do everything, and in our own lives we live with that day in day out.  Compromises and hard choices have to be made; what do we want versus what do we really need?

We all want great public services and in truth we like the idea of our lives being enhanced by public spending. Who in Ceredigion doesn’t want Aberystwyth to be a great place to live or to visit?  Clean tidy streets, local shops and a promenade that attracts visitors and locals and facilitates business.

Our politicians have a tightrope to walk.  They need tax revenues to pay for these things we all want.  But too much tax and they kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.  If plundering wealth stifles economic growth, the only way is down.  Let’s not pretend that this balancing act is easy, because it isn’t.  We can’t demand the miracle of jam today and forever.  But we should expect our leaders to apply themselves diligently to these issues and to demonstrate respect for our money. 

That includes high standards of probity.  But it also demands focus on what government has to do, doing it well and then getting out of the way and allowing us to do the rest for ourselves.  Better government and not more government.

The Cambrian News of 11 September highlighted these issues. The Senedd gets expanded (at great cost). Rali Ceredigion (enjoyed by many and bringing tourists and trade to the area) is supported with an undefined wad of our money.  Ceredigion gets the lowest uplift in funding from Welsh Government.  Rural schools are going to be closed.  And a care home and community hospital are likely to go, at a time when the NHS desperately needs availability of care placements.

It’s really useful for all of us to understand the costs of public services.  For example, we know that in Wales a hip or knee replacement costs the tax payer just under ten thousand pounds.  A primary school place comes in at just under five thousand a year.  

Likewise, we need to know just exactly what an event like Rali Ceredigion costs, and what money it brings in to the local economy.  Some people really enjoy it.  It could be good value and we do need economic activity to generate those tax revenues.  But right now it looks as if we are happy to compromise our children’s education and Wales’ future on “luxury spending”.

Expanding the Senedd is going to cost just under £6 million with additional ongoing costs of just under £18 million a year.  We can all figure out what this means in terms of hip replacements, or rural schools remaining open or care home provision.

So, is it a panto or a horror movie?  A few years ago my party had a real clown in Downing Street; Boris seemed to be chaotic with money (his own and everyone else’s) and those of self-proclaimed virtue were only too happy to point it out.  What goes around comes around; “glasses for passes”, a Labour Party celebration for donors in the garden of Number Ten, and lavish gifts of clothes along with tickets to events raise legitimate questions about probity.  Some of us might detect a bit of hypocrisy!

But the return of Mark Drakeford as Cabinet Secretary for Finance surely confirms it’s a horror movie.  With an established track record of squandering our money on ill thought out vanity projects, it’s like “The Return of the Mummy”!