In the news

From The Guardian Rave notices for the new intake of MPs looks at 2005's new bunch and includes a little quote from Jenny Willott.

A letter to the Western Mail and another to either the Mail or the Echo probably need some sort of answer from someone a little calmer...

Vote against students...

SIR - Under the law governing elections certain categories of citizen, such as the insane and prisoners are ineligible to vote. In view of the travesty of natural law in Cardiff Central and Ceredigion, where well respected sitting members lost their seats due to student vote, could we not make students ineligible to vote, except at their home address.

In Wales we have the major problem that our universities and colleges have expanded beyond the demands of the indigenous population. Thus we now have large majorities in our universities who are not born in Wales. This has changed the nature of our universities but also has changed the nature of the towns and cities where they are located.

The distortion caused by this has been highlighted in the recent election. The presence of a large transient student body has in effect disenfranchised the indigenous population. Thus the people in the hinterland of Ceredigion lose the benefit of a good MP just because the students at Aberystwyth voted for the flavour of the month Liberal Democrat, an MP who will be there for the next five years, long after most of his voters have gone onward and upward in their careers.

And Can you keep your promises? ...

THE election is over and we in Cardiff Central have a new MP, not long since a student herself, running with a policy of the "abolition of student top-up fees". She obviously successfully mobilised large numbers of the student vote to support her in this area.

The real choice of Cardiff Central's long-term residents (regardless of which political party) has no doubt been influenced by what are, after all, "short-term visitors".

Surely students should vote in their home town constituencies.

Can I ask our new MP, how she intends to deliver on the promise and "abolish student top-up fees"?