Random Stuff!!

[KARFA]

Well it is how we pay for our public services and tourism taxes are used to invest in local facilities.

absolutely! more taxes

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I tend to agree with Jerry's earlier post about his stay in Majorca. If the tax is included in the overall price most people would not be aware. There might be some dissenters if, say, the tax was collected or identified separately from the hotel booking or whatever else was subject to a tourism tax.

Sometimes when I've looked to self-book an overseas hotel the quote comes with a note that there is an additional daily charge of x euros/dollars or whatever currency is used which is the hotel tax in that particular country.

It's a bit like when airports increase their car park drop-off charges. To listen to some people you would think the world was about to end. Yet I bet that if an airline put a couple of quid on a ticket price compared with the last time a person flew with that airline nothing would be said, if many people even noticed it.

 

[KARFA]

that's not really my argument tho. it is that governments automatically reach for the tax lever whenever they can in order to take more of our money away. i very much doubt any of this will actually result in better local services and facilities.

 

[Jerry]

Looks like we may be saying goodbye to the biannual rugby airlift to Rome from Cardiff. Which of course will effect Cardiff's revenue as well.
I genuinely hope this doesn't happen but suspect it will because rugby doesn't seem to actually give a crap about developing the sport and expanding it internationally but just want to keep it between 10 teams just to make money for a bunch of fat cats.
Guess that's modern day sport though.

EXCLUSIVE: South Africa are set to join the Six Nations in 2025

EXCLUSIVE BY CHRIS FOY: With the country's provincial sides set to participate in European tournaments from next season, the next step is for the Boks to be integrated into the Six Nations.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Very much mixed feelings over this over this. How long has Italy been in the Six Nations? About 20 years? They don't seem to improve generally although they have had some notable successes at times.

In terms of encouraging the 'lesser' European rugby-playing countries I wonder whether a pre-Six Nations competition might be held in, say, September with the winners progressing to the Six Nations in the New Year.

Or perhaps use the Europe International Championships to decide which country qualifies for the Six Nations.

The snags with that are (a) that some of the top UK, Irish and French club sides might lose one or two players to the pre-Six Nations tournament and (b) competing in the Six Nations for just one season with no guarantee that the same country would qualify for the following season might place a too onerous financial burden on the country involved.

The benefit would be the chance for other countries to have an opportunity of competing against the Northern Hemisphere's 'Big Five'.

I'm not sure about South Africa. Don't they have their own Southern Hemisphere competition against Australia, New Zealand and Argentina?

Then there are the logistics. It would probably mean South Africa travelling to Europe to play two or three away matches in a row, The alternative would be to travel back and forth almost every week of the Six Nations. At least the time zones are fairly close so jet lag should not be a problem although 12-hour flights would be.

On balance I'd prefer to offer more 'minnows' the chance of competing in the Six Nations through winning a qualifying competition than for South Africa to become part when it has its own equivalent in the Southern Hemisphere.

Cardiff Airport might lose a bit of rugby trade but then again with my suggestion perhaps the Rome airlift might be replaced with something like the Bucharest airlift.

 

[geoff]

There was talk sometime ago, of Georgia becoming a member of the six nations, they have several forwards playing top class rugby.

 

[Jerry]

Or perhaps use the Europe International Championships to decide which country qualifies for the Six Nations.

Promotion/relegation for the Six Nations has been suggested for a while now but the problem is that european international rugby is a lot weaker below the Six Nations, it would potentially mean either a team yo-yoing back and forth. Georgia has always been touted as a 7th country but is quite far away and commercially wise probably not in the league of say Italy. Spain is a country that is on the rise so could be a potential candidate but i personally suspect that what we could see isn't Italy out of the tournament but South Africa come onboard as a 7th nation.
That would change rugby as the Rugby Championship would go to just Australia, New Zealand and Argentina though i suspect it would look to add Japan and Fiji and become a Pacific competition. I couldn't see The British and Irish Lions ever touring South Africa again but that could mean Argentina or Japan could become potential hosts in the future. It could also potentially free up test match slots in the summer and autumn for the 6 Nation teams to play more of the tier2 sides as i'd expect that South Africa would want to host teams like Australia and New Zealand in those windows.
Italy have vowed to fight being replaced so it'll be interesting to see what happens. I generally hope that Italy won't be replaced.

 

[Jerry]

2022 Wales Metro update

A summary of this blog appeared in the Business Section of the Western Mail in March 2022 There has been some recent coverage in the media and some social media chatter about Wales’ Metro projects,…

swalesmetroprof.blog

 

[geoff]

Nothing new for the airport then.

 

[Jerry]

Nothing new for the airport then.

Just the electrification of the VofG line up to Barry. I believe that the airport rail shuttle is i believe due to shift to Barry station from Rhoose.

 

[Jerry]

Welsh Government launches 'exciting' new space strategy

The Welsh Government have launched a new space strategy they say will ensure that Wales takes advantage of the growing space industry and help create high-quality jobs across the country. Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething today unveiled the Welsh Government’s National Space Strategy for Wales...

nation.cymru

 

[Jerry]

Nice advert for Wales in Aberdeen Airport!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1495704537763622912

 

[mathers_wales_uk]

Great advert one issue is you can’t fly from Aberdeen to Wales.

 

[Jerry]

Great advert one issue is you can’t fly from Aberdeen to Wales.

Yep slight problem there!

 

[Jerry]

The leader of the Conservatives in Wales has joined the calls for St David's day to be a bank holiday in Wales.

Everything you need to know about St David's Day and why we mark it

Here, we outline the story behind St David, the patron saint of Wales

www.walesonline.co.uk

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Yet another attempt at resurrecting the Severn Barrage idea.

Severn Barrage tidal energy plans are back on the agenda

New commission set up to look at how to get electricity from the second biggest tidal range in the world

www.bristolpost.co.uk

 

[Jerry]

This is part of the UK government's response to a petition of 12,000 signatures over making St David's day a bank holiday for Wales, same as St Andrews day is for Scotland and St Patrick's Day is for Northern Ireland.
“The decisions to create bank holidays for St Andrew's Day, and St Patrick's Day have been developed against a backdrop of different histories, economic, social, cultural and legal systems. Different factors require separate considerations."

'UK Gov must say sorry for its insulting St David's Day holiday response'

The UK government's response to a petition calling for a bank holiday on St David's Day is insulting nonsense

www.walesonline.co.uk

 

[geoff]

This Government in Westminster know absolutely nothing about Wales, some of them seem to think it's a county of England, their reply is farcical.

 

[Jerry]

This Government in Westminster know absolutely nothing about Wales, some of them seem to think it's a county of England, their reply is farcical.

Well that is the problem they do believe that Wales is essentially part of England still and don't seem to believe we should have the same devolution settlement as Scotland and Northern Ireland. Hence HS2 being considered a Wales England project and things like justice and policing not being devolved which is apparently ok for Manchester and London but not Wales and the railway line between Wales 2 biggest cities not being electrified.
I think another petition has been launched over St David's Day being a bank holiday so i don't see the issue being dropped.

 

[KARFA]

does any part of the UK have a public holiday for their national saint?

as an idea, why not just use one of the other public holidays (say the late May one) and instead move that to 1 March for Wales only if having a public holiday for your saint is important for Wales? that would seem to solve the problem.