More splits in One Wales

This time on the Labour side where Huw Lewis has taken exception to yesterday's much-heralded announcement by the Plaid Cymru Economy and Transport Minister on roads and trains.

On his blog Huw writes: 'It was with deep dismay that I looked over the Trunk Road announcement made by Ieuan Wyn Jones yesterday. There's no surprise that the Minister has been dodging questions on the Heads of the Valleys road for over a year. The answers, when they finally came, were totally unacceptable.'

Huw says that the dualling of the A465 was always meant to be an ambitious programme, but now 'the Minister is reneging on Assembly Government commitments exactly because it is costly and ambitious. I now have genuine concerns about the success of the wider Heads of the Valleys regeneration programme which always relied on the dualling of the road. Leaving aside the very strong case for improvements on the grounds of safety, the current economic situation demands a better plan than this.'

He argues that this is an ideoogical issue: 'Put simply, the A465 improvements have been sidelined in favour of improvements to North-South links. That is a cultural and political decision, not a strategic economic decision.'

Expect some hard-hitting questions at future scrutiny sessions.