Noises off

The reaction among enthusiasts at the prospect of Wales losing the British leg of the 2010 World Rally Championship will probably be on a par with the anguish expressed in other circles over BBC ending live coverage of Assembly proceedings on S4C2.

Perhaps it could be argued that neither will be missed to any great degree by ‘mainstream’ audiences, but the manner in which two notionally accountable public bodies decided their demise does tend to raise a question. Namely, if an anticipated squeeze on public expenditure is all it takes to prompt executive action over events deemed to have only anorak-appeal then where does it all stop? After all, this is an administration which lacks the financial clout to even build a decent road network. So why not go a stage further and ask ourselves if the whole expensive apparatus of devolution and its entourage of flame-proof quangos is affordable or even desirable.

OK, maybe that’s all slightly OTT but if a Welsh government and a regional broadcaster cannot uphold their respective remits to recognise & support a diversity of interests within the community then just the absence of a debate should in itself ring a few alarm bells.

Those who want Wales to go it alone – and those who think that coalitions are just a temporary anomaly - need to come to terms with a few realities. One of these is that it is money, not strategy, that talks. Without the ability to exert financial influence, it will be only a matter of time before the Assembly is regarded by the sporting and business worlds as not so much a golden goose as the squawking, annoying variety that gets far more attention than it merits. In some circles, that change of perception has already begun.