When Labour came to power I was excited by the promise of something new, fresh, a government for the people.
I could not have imagined a more horrific end to the 'honeymoon'.

The decision of the Welsh Assembly says it all.

It makes clear that we have a Government ethos that permeates  from the very top, through the  Assembly, all the way down to the local Labour Councillors that it is alright to damage the health and shorten the lives of some of the most vulnerable members of our society, especially children and the elderly, for the sake of a political goal - INCINERATION.

This in spite of overwhelming and ever mounting evidence that incineration in general and hazardous waste incineration in cement kilns, in particular, is extremely dangerous. Any responsible government would, at the very least, adopt the precautionary principal and wait until more is known before allowing the potential for such long-term harm to be sited near people. After all, the German owners of the Padeswood plant burn hardly any of  these fuels in their own country.

Over the past two years, we have endured:
1)Cretinous comments from some local Labour Councillors at the original planning hearing when they demonstrated their astonishing ignorance and indifference
    to a vital issue that so concerns their constituents;

2)A casual local area health consultant who, under pressure, finally admitted that the ONLY information he relied on in making his initial  health assessment was
    from the Environment Agency who, in turn had simply passed on hypothetical emissions data supplied by a cement company with an appalling environmental
    record.
    What happened to his duty to examine ALL SIDES of the scientific argument?
    He then proceeded to further compromise his 'independance' by revealing raw local cancer data to the cement company's health representative at the Inquiry
    and then  providing any other participating parties only censored information;

3)Local Labour MPs who  steadfastly refused to represent their constituents on this matter - this suggesting intense pressure from central government not to
    get involved;

4)A powerless and possibly indifferent Environment Agency who has allowed this worst of all dioxin-polluting cement plants to move up the 'league table' of
    polluters over the last few years. With this inaction, the local population has been subjected to horrific levels of dioxin pollution causing heaven knows how much
    long-term damage.
 

Of course, consent will be given subject to EA approval of the plant. Like so much we have seen on this matter, this is a smokescreen with the EA having been described as 'a rubber-stamping outfit for DEFRA' by one of it's own Board members.

Every politician, health official and EA officer, right from the very top, who has either forced this though covertly; failed to make proper analyses; or simply washed their hands of the whole affair, will have betrayed the trust of the population and will be personally responsible for every heart problem; respiratory problem; cancer; and early death that is caused by pollution from the plant.

Never before has my life and the lives of my family  actually been threatened by the Government of the day.

As is so often the case, these days, it seems that we must look elsewhere for institutions that will respect and protect our basic human rights.

Jonathan
Webmaster
CANK