WATCH out there’s a cuts consultation about!

It is a sign of the new culture in Pembrokeshire Council that we are asked our views on the next spending cuts before proposing them.

I urge everyone to consider the relative importance of the services we could lose.

For example is it more important to have the grass a bit longer before it is cut or lose bus services? Buses make all the difference to many people’s lives whereas slightly longer grass mainly affects insects and field mice – positively.

Paying to reserve a library book seems reasonable, as does double council tax for holiday home owners, whereas leaving black bins for a month may clash with ‘the character and natural beauty of the countryside’.

Reducing the teacher to pupil ratio is a recipe for unhappiness and greater educational failure.

Essentially the cuts are part of a process that started with cutting the fat and is now entering the muscle and fibre of civilised life. The next cuts could get close to its vital organs.

We may have to update our status to Third World! We should respond to the consultation certainly but also look at the bigger picture.

Who is gaining from the UK’s taxing and spending priorities? Corporations and arms dealers certainly, but who else?

VICKY MOLLER

Plaid Cymru regional candidate