The real Blaenau Gwent

The Six Bells memorial: well worth a visit

THIS WEEK, Blaenau Gwent will be the focus of Wales. We are proud to welcome the National Eisteddfod to Ebbw Vale. Our area is as Welsh as any in the land. Just ask the people who live here, who share that pride.

But this year’s Eisteddfod isn’t just a showcase for the vibrancy of the Welsh language, it is a showcase of the zest and passion of the people of Blaenau Gwent. For all those who will visit this week – and especially those who have never been before – we extend a warm welcome.

And while you’re here, don’t just visit the Eisteddfod but take in the other sites of interest. Anyone passing through Six Bells on the way to the Maes should take time out to visit the memorial in the town which commemorates the awful day 50 years ago when 45 men and boys perished in a colliery disaster.

On Monday 28 June, we commemorated their memory when that symbol, towering 20 meters, was unveiled. That commemoration was a tremendous event; thousands were there, including many relatives of the men killed that day. I met a Mrs Evans, a former senior nursing officer of the National Coal Board in Wales, who said that, apart from Aberfan, helping attend to the bodies taken from the pit that night was the worst evening of her career. Wayne Thomas, secretary of the south Wales National Union of Mineworkers, told me that the wonderful steel and stone memorial is the biggest mines memorial in the country.

The Six Bells Memorial is a terrific reminder of the importance of coal and how it has sometimes left a tragic mark on our communities. It is a wonderful, evocative and powerful piece of art, and it is also a reminder that while coal is still part of the South Wales Valleys, it will never again be the big employer it once was.

Jobs are important in Blaenau Gwent. This constituency has the high unemployment rate of almost 12%. We used to rely on coal and steel, but those days are gone; now we need to develop a more balanced economy. We need green jobs, digital jobs and better services. There is a real need for schemes to help those who have been unemployed back into work. The Future Jobs Fund was a critical path to employment that has already been shut down by the new government. While the new ConDem Ministers have been quick to attack the Future Jobs Fund, many important lessons have been learned from that project.

That is certainly the case in Blaenau Gwent: that important initiative has been managed by our borough council and it has led to our streets being cleaner, our environment being cleaned up and our youngsters being kept out of trouble. Furthermore, the local people given work include redundant workers, those who find it hard to keep down a job and young teenage mums and dads. In Blaenau Gwent, more than 500 people have, or will have, benefited from this initiative in recent months. It is tragic that this practical, transformational scheme is being withdrawn.

The best way to boost employment is to grow the economy, not cut it back. In south Wales, it is likely that the Government will find that the private sector is too weak to pick up the slack after Con-Dem cuts in the public sector. Recent press reports have shown that the private sector is not ready to employ the hundreds of thousands of public sector workers likely to be laid off as a result of Budget cuts. A study in the Financial Times of 12 companies employing more than 375,000 people in various sectors – including household names like Morrisons, Jaguar, the Co-op and Arriva – showed companies said they had no plans to grow as the state shrinks. Several companies have said that the financial situation is still too uncertain to consider recruiting. And if there is growth in the private sector, will it really come in a place like this?

Once again the people of South Wales will pay the price. While there may be regional growth in the south-east, and the home counties may prosper early as we come out of recession, we need investment in Wales through the Assembly Government and local councils. We do not need a hope-and-a-prayer policy that somehow assumes the private sector will ride to the rescue. All our experience in Blaenau Gwent in recent years has been that that will not happen.

This new picture compares badly with Labour’s employment record. There are about half the number of young people signing on now than in the recessions under the Tories. Long-term youth unemployment is under a third of what it was when Labour came into office. Furthermore, because of Labour’s welfare reforms, investment in child care and family-friendly working policies, 365,000 more lone parents are in work now than in 1997. That good and important record will be undermined by the new regime.

When you visit the Eisteddfod this week, take time to think about the fragility of the economy here. Contemplate the Six Bells Memorial, reminding us of past sadness and resilience. Recognise the momentum lost with the scrapping of initiatives like the Future Jobs Fund. Finally, support the alternative political and economic leadership needed to deliver economic wellbeing and social justice in our community, to show that Blaenau Gwent’s got talent and a strong future.