We read an awful lot in the papers these days about the millions that are being spent in or around Cardiff, millions on a relief road around Newport and to upgrade the railway line at a cost of two billion between Cardiff and the Valleys and add more trains.

When we move East over Offal Dyke we read about the proposed HS2, 200 miles per hour high speed railway line from the North of England to London at a proposed cost we were told first forty billion, now seventy billion and suggest one hundred billion and against all the advice they would like to build a third runway at Heathrow instead of upgrading Cardiff Airport which is crying out for business. If we look West we have a railway line from Fishguard to London which has seen little improvement since it was built by Brunel, travelling not at 200 miles an hour, but 55 miles an hour and slower from Pembroke Dock with no proposal improvement in the pipeline. If the proposed electrification ever happens it will be to Cardiff and maybe Swansea, but not Whitland. The main A40 road serving Pembrokeshire and Southern Ireland from St.Clears to Fishguard has seen little improvement since it was first used by the drovers bring cattle over from Ireland to the English market with the exception of adding a little tarmac and the so called improvement that they have done between St.Clears and West of Haverfordwest is a big disappointment to local road users and a death trap.

In 2015/6 the planned route should be nothing short of a dual carriageway.

The Secretary of State for Wales seems to be most anxious to promote the Welsh Assembly at all time sorry Steven) with the ultimate aim of home rule for Wales.

Do the powers that be realise that only a quarter of the people of Wales voted for the Assembly in the first place and its record over the years has been so disappointing that its popular rate has fallen even lower. The members of the Assembly want to increase their numbers to 100, why, and their salary by ten thousand and again I ask why, because judging by their record they are very well paid already. In order to safeguard their own jobs they want to reduce the number of county councils to eight. I do accept that there should be some voluntary amalgamations, but do they not remember Dyfed County Council and have they not learned anything from past experience.

Secretary of State you are on the whole doing a superb job, but can you give us a referendum to vote yes or no whether we want to retain the Welsh Assembly. This is an urgent decision or at the next general election we end up like Scotland with the Conservatives and Labour losing most if not all their seats.

Sir Eric Howells CBE

Llanddewi Velfrey