Plaid sell out - St Athan deal dead - somebody tell them

Celtic News, France - 30 Jul 2008 Rhodri Morgan and Ieuan Wyn Jones Deputy First Minister. here

Rhodri Morgan, First Minister of Wales : "We are willing and eager to make our own decisions.................The Defence Training Academy at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan will provide thousands of high quality jobs, training service personnel in an academic environment that will turn Oxford and Cambridge green with envy when it opens for business next decade."
really? ...
Don't think so!....this school for mercenaries by war profiteers will bring nothing more trouble IF it goes ahead..

Where was the decision to bring the defence training academy to Wales made? In Westminster by the hated new labour government!

Leanne Wood AM..."I accept that the decision around this development is not an Assembly decision and that it is not a devolved issue, but Members need to be satisfied that if this project falls apart, the Assembly’s budget will not be adversely affected." (more here)

Bob Ainsworth (Minister of State (Armed Forces), Ministry of Defence; Coventry North East, Labour) recently "The right hon. Gentleman is right that this is taking longer than is ideal. The financial appraisals have thrown up some difficult issues, and we are working them through with a view to taking a decision before the end of the year."

Sold out ...Plaid....Ieuan Wyn Jones...what ever you say Rhodri!!!

The Government has finally acknowledged major affordability gaps in the delivery of the defence training review programme. Given the worsening of public finances, would Rhodri Morgan and Ieuan Wyn Jones think to ask the prime minster to give an undertaking to have a review of this undeliverable and unaffordable project - Documents produced following a recent meeting of the “defence training review executive board” reveal that the project, under which training will be handed to the Metrix consortium through a 30m PFI contract worth around £11bn, poses catastrophic risks on the front line.” dummies...Call for the prime minister to immediately instigate a National Audit office investigation. STILL NO SIGNED CONTRACT..BIN IT!!!

other stories

Accusations fly on defence training Shropshire Star, UK - 22 Jul 2008
http://www.shropshirestar.com/2008/07/22/accusations-fly-on-defence-training/
The Government has been accused of backtracking on the defence training contract won by South Wales in a two-headed contest with RAF Cosford, reports London ...

Union leaders at Cosford believe that it is increasingly likely that the St Athan deal will fall through...Welsh Nationalist MP Adam Price told Mr Ainsworth yesterday: “This project was announced with considerable fanfare in the run-up to the Welsh Assembly elections, but, 18 months on, there is still no signed contract.

Yesterday in parliament
guardian.co.uk, UK - 22 Jul 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jul/22/houseofcommons.lords

Defence ministers were accused of "backtracking" over plans for a new defence training academy in south Wales. Adam Price, for Plaid Cymru, said there was ...

New defence training academy in south Wales
Defence ministers were accused of "backtracking" over plans for a new defence training academy in south Wales. Adam Price, for Plaid Cymru, said there was "fear and concern" in St Athan that the multi-billion pound investment would not go ahead. Armed forces minister Bob Ainsworth conceded that the project had taken longer than expected. ...
...is this the same Adam Price who is against privatisation , war ? Yes fear and concern if it goes ahead..

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence
Defence Technical AcademyAll Commons debates on 21 Jul 2008
« Previous debate Next debate »
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2008-07-21a.515.5&s=Adam+Price#g517.0

2:30 pm

John Smith (Vale of Glamorgan, Labour) Link to this | Hansard source | Watch this

What progress is being made on the defence technical academy, St. Athan; and if he will make a statement.


Bob Ainsworth (Minister of State (Armed Forces), Ministry of Defence; Coventry North East, Labour) Link to this | Hansard source | Watch this

The Department continues to work constructively with the Metrix consortium on a range of issues on defence training review package 1 to achieve an affordable, value-for-money, acceptable and deliverable project. Negotiations with Metrix are continuing and both parties are working hard to drive down costs and obtain maximum value for money for the taxpayer.
Add your comment

John Smith (Vale of Glamorgan, Labour) Link to this | Hansard source | Watch this

I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. Will he take this opportunity to pay tribute to the integrated project team, Metrix and the Welsh Assembly Government for the way in which they are progressing this £12 billion private finance initiative, and especially their involvement of the local community in the planning and design stage, which has already resulted in a number of major improvements? Does he agree that, with a project of the scale, complexity and importance to the armed forces of this technical academy, it is important that we get it right and do not rush it?
Add your comment

Bob Ainsworth (Minister of State (Armed Forces), Ministry of Defence; Coventry North

I thank my hon. Friend for his comments. As part of the planning process, we and Metrix are committed to an ongoing programme of consultation with the local community in Wales. We have involved the community in the redevelopment of St. Athan. That is a priority, and local comments will have a direct impact on how the details of any plans evolve. Public consultation exhibitions will take place—and, as my hon. Friend is aware, some are taking place at present.
Add your comment

James Arbuthnot (North East Hampshire, Conservative)
But while it is important not to rush it, as John Smith says, the defence training review does seem to be taking longer to come to signature than everybody had thought. In Bordon in my constituency, this is a very important matter because the regeneration of the town depends on everybody having a clear idea of the Ministry of Defence's intentions. Are there any problems with the sale of MOD land that we need to be aware of? What is going on?


Bob Ainsworth (Minister of State (Armed Forces), Ministry of Defence; Coventry North East, Labour)
The right hon. Gentleman is right that this is taking longer than is ideal. The financial appraisals have thrown up some difficult issues, and we are working them through with a view to taking a decision before the end of the year.
Add your comment

Chris Bryant (PPS (Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC (Leader of the House of Commons)), Leader of the House of Commons; Rhondda, Labour)
The Minister will know that there is a warm welcome for this project not only in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Glamorgan, but across the whole of south Wales. There are people in my constituency who formerly worked at St. Athan and who are looking forward to the prospect of working there again in the near future, and many of them have important skills. Will the Minister confirm that none of the delay that has so far occurred has been because any of the services is reluctant to work with the other services, because where all the services work together in providing training they can significantly add value?
Add your comment

Bob Ainsworth (Minister of State (Armed Forces), Ministry of Defence; Coventry North East, Labour)
The St. Athan proposal added significant value to training in the whole area that was covered by package 1, and that was why it was considered to be value for money. That is not the reason for any hold-up. We are getting total co-operation from within the services, and also from the local community in Wales. There are affordability issues, however, which we are trying to work through with Metrix. That has caused some delay, but we are still doing our best to bring this to a good conclusion.
Add your comment

Adam Price (Spokesperson (Communities and Local Government; Culture, Media and Sport; Defence; Transport; Ministry of Justice); Carmarthen East & Dinefwr, Plaid Cymru)

This project was announced with considerable fanfare in the run-up to the Assembly elections, but, 18 months on, there is still no signed contract. We already have one empty aircraft hangar in the area that John Smith serves as a result of a previous MOD U-turn. Does the Minister understand that there is fear in the community that the Government may be backtracking on the scale of the project, and can he reassure it that there is no truth in that?

what adam had to say ...no to miliatarism no to privatisation.. but yes to the academy on 'economical grounds!!! See his letter here


Bob Ainsworth (Minister of State (Armed Forces), Ministry of Defence; Coventry North East, Labour) Link to this | Hansard source | Watch this

All I will say to the hon. Gentleman is that he and his nationalist colleagues ought to reflect upon the size of the defence training capability in Scotland and Wales were they to get their way and form governments in either of those places.
Add your comment

Robert Walter (North Dorset, Conservative) Link to this | Hansard source | Watch this

There are obviously serious difficulties with package 1, and it is clear that package 2 will never get off the ground. Does that not challenge the financial viability of the whole scheme, and has the Minister considered looking again at some of the investment the MOD has already made in my constituency at Blandford in the Defence College of Communications and Information Systems—more than £100 million over the past eight years—and at not sticking with the original defence training review plan, which was to locate communications and information systems training at Blandford?


Bob Ainsworth (Minister of State (Armed Forces), Ministry of Defence; Coventry North East, Labour)
We have announced a change in policy on package 2. As the hon. Gentleman will know, the synergies and, thus, the advantages in bringing people together, in the package 2 area were never as strong as those in package 1, so we are examining alternative solutions in those areas. Package 1 remains the best way of enhancing defence training, and we are committed to working through these problems and trying to deliver the proposal for St. Athan.

...........

The Defence Training Academy at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan will provide thousands of high quality jobs, training service personnel in an academic ...
Architects’ new regional director...WalesOnline, United Kingdom - 22 Jul 2008
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business-in-wales/business-news/2008/07/23/architects-new-regional-director-91466-21385813/

“We have been appointed as the architect and landscape architect on the Defence Training Review in St Athan, which represents a significant regional ...

ST Athan move may take 8 years leaked email

1.St Athan move ‘may take eight years’
Jun 21 2008 by Nick Machin, Western Mail here

2. 20th June Military transfer 'delay' worry here
The planned switch of military training to Wales to set up a £11bn new facility could be put back eight years, an e-mail obtained by BBC Wales suggests.

3. Don't miss on 26th June, 5:30-7:30pm Temple of Peace Rae McGrath, International Spokesperson on Cluster Munitions, is attempting to get the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament to support the ban on cluster bombs. He is aware of our campaign and that it has highlighted Raytheon's production of such weapons.

4. Next meeting of the campaign against St Athan Military Academy will be at 3pm 28th June 2008 Temple of Peace ..more information http://www.antimetrix.org/
News

1. St Athan move ‘may take eight years’ Jun 21 2008 by Nick Machin, Western Mail PLANS to move military training to Wales as part of a new £11bn centre could be delayed for up to eight years, a leaked email has suggested.
Building on the facility at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan is due to start next year, bringing 5,000 new jobs.
The Ministry of Defence last night said it remained “100% committed” and there was “no question” about its future. But a leaked email has suggested that the Metrix consortium, which is backing the operation is considering keeping HMS Sultan in Hampshire open.
Metrix, yesterday said that the transfer of military training was just one detail of a “complex” project.
The training college at Gosport, at the mouth of Portsmouth Harbour, is the home of a number of organisations, including Royal Naval Air Engineering and Survival School.
It was due to close and move its training to South Wales in 2017, but the leaked email said it could stay open until 2025.
Union leaders fighting to keep work in Hampshire say the leaked email raised questions about the proposals. The PCS union opposes the plan to transfer. Paul Bemrose, a negotiations officer with the union, said the e-mail offered his members a degree of comfort.
But Metrix said the transfer of HMS Sultan was only one part of a scheme involving thousands of jobs. The firm said details were bound to change in what it described as a hugely complex programme running over 25 years.
.....................
2. 20th June Military transfer 'delay' worry
The planned switch of military training to Wales to set up a £11bn new facility could be put back eight years, an e-mail obtained by BBC Wales suggests.
Building on the centre at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan is due to start next year, bringing 5,000 new jobs.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it remained "100% committed" and there was "no question" about its future.
Metrix, the consortium backing the operation, said the transfer was just one detail of a "complex" project.
The memo leaked to BBC Wales' Dragon's Eye programme stated the Metrix consortium was considering keeping open HMS Sultan in Hampshire.
The training college at Gosport, at the mouth of Portsmouth Harbour, is the home of a number of organisations, including Royal Naval Air Engineering and Survival School.
It was due to close and move its training to south Wales in 2017, but the leaked e-mail said it could stay open until 2025.
Union leaders fighting to keep work in Hampshire say the leaked e-mail raised questions about the proposals. The PCS union opposes the plan to transfer. Paul Bemrose, a negotiations officer with the union, said the e-mail offered his members a degree of comfort.
He said: "There are a lot of problems with the programme now in terms of affordability, which the MoD are not talking about, because they don't want to raise the spectre of the project collapsing."
However, Metrix said the transfer of HMS Sultan was only one part of a scheme involving thousands of jobs.
The firm said details we are bound to change in what it described as a hugely complex programme running over 25 years.
The MoD said: "There is no question whatsoever about the future of this project, which will bring world class training to our armed forces".
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/wales/south_east/7465154.stmPublished: 2008/06/20 14:52:12 GMT© BBC MMVIII

SEE ALSO
Protests against military academy 26 Apr 08 South East Wales
RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Metrix
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
Sign of 'purple approach'
Politicians on St Athan 'victory'
Flying high and low at St Athan
PREVIOUS STORIES
Part of base training bid dropped
Plaid MEP queries military centre
Job hope as centre goes ahead
RAF base bid 'exceptional' - Hain
Hopes for 5,000 jobs at RAF base
Hangar opens to uncertain future

Big brother hassles Anti-metrix - St Athan protesters

http://www.cynefinywerin.org.uk/ Anti-Metrix protest march to demonstrate opposition against the St Athan privatised military academy. PCS where there to support the staff whose jobs are threatened and show opposition to the protest - Cynefin y Werin members - CND Cymru and CAAT supporters, Cymdeithas y Cymod and Church, Chapel and other faith representatives. Along with Green Party protestors and speakers Jill Evans Plaid MEP, Davy McAuley of the Raytheon 9 and stop the war.

In an attempt to silence the protesters they were banned from marching through Cardiff city centre as police used the the public order act to suppress opposition and the human right to protest in public. The MOD spend huge sums of money on propaganda and publications especially in the vale of glamorgan and John smith has thousands of pounds to promote the academy and even go in to schools with unbalanced material in favour of the academy. Recently we saw the NUT protest at the MOD & government lies to school children regarding Iraq.

Yesterday - the huge police presence was totally disproportionate and a waste of tax payers money. Police photographers where busy taking pictures and videos - to what purpose - the real criminals and evan murders are the arms dealers Ratheon and serco and the new labour politcans like John smith & rhodri morgan who supported or voted a policy of going to war and this academy to train people to kill.

Yet they want to stop http://www.cynefinywerin.org.uk/ and its suscribing member organisations and supporters like PCS - there defending its members jobs and the public protesting at their expensive failed PFI policy being applied to MILITARY TRAINING.

We don't want a school for mercenaries in Cardiff - we don't need it - we want sustainable jobs to benefit the community not mercenary soldiers to terrorise them and put our young people at risk of rape and worse.

Note this story today Police in court over pictures at arms protest Politics The ...
This article appeared in the Observer on Sunday April 27 2008 on p6 of the ... Arms campaigner Andrew Wood from Oxford claims that his human rights were ...
The power of the police to mount surveillance operations at peaceful protests will be challenged in court this week. In a case seen as opposing Britain's move towards a Big Brother-style society, the High Court will determine if police are legally entitled to take photographs and compile information on protesters even if they do not break the law www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/27/police.humanrights -




More Videos of the protest can be found here
Videos of protest Police crahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ7WfAG0VxU&eurl=http://cardiffpr.wordpress.com/video/ck down hard as St Athan demo finally awakens mass media
OU out of metrix & St Athan military academy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqJcp8fKR0s
No2 privatised military academy at St Athan -anti-metrix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyLaZKD47jU
Jill evans 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkrqpPxG_Bo
Jill Evans 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFm3oTxx8Rk

St Athan protest with Davy McAuley 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqJcp8fKR0s
St Athan protest with Davy McAuley 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXCY4usUAHA

Raytheon, EDS, Privatisation and a New Labour Think Tank

Raytheon, EDS, Privatisation and a New Labour Think Tank

The state is utterly clueless on the public-private divide

Simon Jenkins The Guardian, Wednesday February 20 2008 tells us that Northern Rock is far from unique. The government has long been throwing cash at behemoths that have failed to deliver.

Consider this:The IPPR think-tank published on the 13 Feb, 'The New Front Line: Security in a changing world' from the ippr Commission on National Security, Working Paper No. 1 written by Ian Kearns and Ken Gude. This paper is on British Security
Policy and claims to analyse the key changes taking place in the national and international security landscape and assesses their implications for policy, examining the context within which a national security strategy must now be forged. As a result, they c;aim that it becomes clear that the contemporary security landscape is about much more than terrorism alone. Umm... Yes it is a rather turgid and jargon riddled document. As Henry Porter pointed out this policy work has been sponsored by Raytheon who proudly boast of their support for IPPR.

This is Raytheon Arms Dealers of cluster munitions fame who have been excluded on ethical grounds from the vast Norwegian pension fund. This is the Raytheon who won a 10-year contract to ‘improve’ UK border controls and who the government gave a contract addendum worth £92 million on 12 Feb. Raytheon one of the Metrix consortium who the government wants to run military training not only for British service personnel, but those from any regime or private military company that can fork out the ready cash at St Athan in Wales where there have been allegations of pork-barreling. Raytheon has received over £750,000 in the last four years from Invest Northern Ireland. Just how much have they received in Wales we don't know.

This IPPR paper sponsored by Raytheon is full of turgid jargon like ‘Diffusion of power from state to non-state actors’, ‘Some of this diffusion has been driven by states themselves through use of private military firms’, ‘Governments in any case no longer own and control all of the relevant and necessary expertise and assets required in the making of an effective security policy…. private businesses …add value to the policy making process’, ‘Governments in any case no longer own and control all of the relevant and necessary expertise and assets required in the making of an effective security policy….private businesses ….. all add value to the policy making process.’ Yes whether overt or subliminal we get the message. Public Sector and governments no longer own or control the capability of managing their own security! Private Sector to the rescue, TINA!

Who wrote this? Ian Kearns is Deputy Chair of the commission on National Security

In the 21sr century Director of IPPR and is currently leading the institutes international and security programme. He has a wide range of experience in the private sector as a former Director of the Global Government Industry practice at Electronic Data Systems (EDS)! EDS another member of the Metrix Consortium. As Jenni Russel commented in the Guardian ‘The collapse of the Child Support Agency, and the years of misery its incompetence brought to mothers and children, was due in large part to the fact that its half-billion-pound computer system, designed by EDS, never worked properly. An internal company memo admitted the system was "badly designed, badly delivered, badly tested and badly implemented". The disastrous implementation of the tax credits system, where a third of the 6 million families involved were over- or underpaid and a billion pounds was lost in the first year, was made infinitely worse because the computer system built to run it repeatedly crashed.’ In addition to the EDS debacle at the child support agency and the Inland Revenue's Tax Credits systems there was the disastrous unworkable MOD new computerised payroll system. Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: "It is astounding that the MoD is prepared to reward failure by handing over billions more pounds of taxpayers' money to a consortium that has failed to deliver what it said it would.” So a former director at EDS is just the person to advise us on the role of the private sector and Security in a changing world.

ippr’s Commission on National Security in the 21st Century was established in May 2007 and is Chaired by Lord (George) Robertson, and Lord (Paddy) Ashdown. Shami Chakrabarti is one of the commissioners and I wonder if she has thought about it..

http://www.ippr.org/publicationsandreports/publication.asp?id=588

Qinetiq cuts jobs

Defence site 'to lose 200 jobs' 17th Feb
BBC News – UK About 200 jobs are to go in a Worcestershire town at the defence and security firm Qinetiq, a union claims. The firm, which has a site off Poolbrook Road, ...
"Qinetiq is undergoing a restructuring of its UK business that involves redundancies of up to 400 people."

You have to ask Qinetiq a key partner in the Metrix consortium bid to run the privatised military academy at St Athan, Wales how many jobs they actually intend creating here as they are in the business of cutting jobs - less people - more profit. Not the thousands promised then? That's why PCS the union representing MOD staff are fighting the privatisation!

Protest against Crooks, War Profiteers,Liars on St Athan Military Academy

no2militaryacademy@inbox.com

Press Release: For Immediate Release

One year on the half of the St Athan project not yet dumped is blasted - Skeptical Citizens question ethics and job numbers!

Jan 17th 2008 There will be a demonstration at the Senedd 13:00 to oppose the St Athan White Elephant. The red choir will be there to add its support in harmony with other concerned citizens. PCS members will join in the protest. ‘Cluster bombs’ will be scattered by the grim reaper to highlight the role of arms company Raytheon.

Thursday 17 Jan marks the anniversary of the announcement that the Metrix consortium had successfully bid for the contract to build a privately run military academy in South Wales.

The announcement was celebrated by Wales First Minister Rhodri Morgan with a champagne-popping photo-opportunity outside the Senedd in Cardiff.

The proposed military training academy at St Athan will be built and run by an international consortium including major multinational arms companies. It will train not only British service personnel, but those from any regime or private company that can fork out the cash.

Anne Greagsby campaigning against the Academy said “What the government didn’t tell the people of Wales was that this project would make the Welsh Assembly Government a business partner of Raytheon - one of the world’s largest producers and dealers of weapons of mass destruction.

Raytheon is a core member of the Metrix Consortium. Today we learn that the Norwegian Government pension fund has dropped a further three companies involved in producing nuclear weapons or cluster munitions in addition to Raytheon, Serco, another Metrix partner, is dropped. I call on the Welsh Assembly government to have a full investigation of Raytheon's role in producing cluster bombs and other weapons of mass destruction. I challenge Rhodri Morgan to tell us why he was so keen to work with Raytheon.”

Other Metrix partners include EDS and QinetiQ. EDS is the company responsible for messing up the Child Support Agency and the Inland Revenue's Tax Credits systems and for the disastrous unworkable MOD new computerised payroll system. Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: "It is astounding that the MoD is prepared to reward failure by handing over billions more pounds of taxpayers' money to a consortium that has failed to deliver what it said it would.”

QinetiQ, the privatised and research and development wing of the MOD, one of Britain’s most blatant war profiteers, was recently heavily criticised by the National Audit Office.

Already half the St Athan White Elephant (package 2) has been has been dumped by the government as too expensive. Politicians have been promising thousands of jobs – for which there is no firm basis in truth. PCS - the union that represents many MOD staff who also oppose the privatisation of military training - says the predicted number of jobs in package one has fallen from 1500 to 1100.

PCS met with Jill Evans recently and highlighted the blatant distortion being disseminated by a number of Welsh MPs as to the number of new jobs being created in South Wales as part of the St Athan deal. Members explained that the thousands of new high skill jobs promised by welsh MPs were an illusion because existing civil servants were already employed in them.

The St Athan project does not offer the Wales that people want – a nation that addresses honestly the issues of global warming and the environment, champions equity and human rights, teaches our children that violence solves nothing. A nation that does not invest in the arms trade, encourages valuable, long term employment and delivers decent public services.

The champagne sprayed by Assembly Ministers Morgan, Hutt and Davies to welcome the signing of the contract to build the academy, on January 17th year ago has turned sour.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Norwegian government pension fund & Serco

http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2008/01/07/daily56.html

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/news/article_1386050.php/State_pension_fund_sells_shares_in_munitions_companies

SERCO http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/gen/company.html?gcode=CA7E1AC425FD42A2A539900C67B6705D

Norwegian government on Raytheon

Recommendation on Exclusion of Cluster Weapons from the Government Petroleum Fund Oslo, 16 June 2005

...Corp, L3 Communications Holdings Inc, Raytheon Co, Lockheed Martin Corp, Alliant Techsystems...from the Government Petroleum Fund. Raytheon Company produces, according to its own web-site, 3 http://www.raytheon.com/products/stellent/groups/public..

PCS DEFENCE INSTRUCTIONAL OFFICERS

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9629850934

EDS http://metrixconsortium.blogspot.com/2007/12/eds-coporate-incompetance.html

More information on our blogs

http://metrixconsortium.blogspot.com/

http://stathanmilitaryacademypoliticians.blogspot.com/

Contacts

Anne Greagsby mobile 07817513610

Temple of peace 02920 821058

no2militaryacademy@inbox.com

Website: http://www.cynefinywerin.org.uk

CND Cymru campaign for nuclear disarmament  

yr ymgyrch dros ddiarfogi niwclear

 press release

 January 16th 2008

 From Jill Gough t:01495 773 180 m: 07704 67 57 87 heddwch@cndcymru.org

 Campaign Against St Athan Military Academy

 Protest at Y Senedd, Cardiff Bay

 Thursday January 17th1pm

Protestors will gather at the steps of the Welsh Assembly building at lunch

time tomorrow to mark the first anniversary of the WAG 'celebration' and

announcement of plans to build a military academy at St Athan.

On January 17th 2007, Assembly Ministers Rhodri Morgan, Andrew Davies and Jane Hutt welcomed the signing of the public private finance initiative contract to build the academy, by spraying champagne over the steps of the Senedd. A year on, opposers of the project will be pointing out where their enthusiasm was misguided.

CND Cymru Chair Jill Evans MEP said today:

"This demonstration is a reflection of the opposition to the privatisation of military training and to making Wales the base for that training for Britain and other countries. Coming in the wake of the disastrous and illegal invasion of Iraq, the celebrations a year ago rang hollow to many people in Wales. We in the peace movement want Wales to continue to be recognised internationally for its traditions of peace and reconciliation and not for its contribution to war. We want a full and open debate about the implications of this development for Wales."

 While our elected representatives have so far welcomed the project,

campaigners are suggesting to them that it would be sign of strength, not weakness for them to 'think again' and will be asking them:

Do you really want to put Wales at the forefront of the global arms trade?The developer of the St Athan Academy, the Metrix Consortium, aims for the academy to be a centre of military training for armies from all over the world -not just the British military.

Do you really want Wales to promote the privatisation of war?

We are well aware of the disaster that comes with the privatisation of

warfare, we only need to point to the Blackwater affair. St Athan Academy would represent the largest privatisation of the military in British history.

Do you really want Wales to become a business partner with one of the

world's largest manufacturers of weapons of mass destruction?

A core member of the Metrix Consortium is Raytheon, a company that produces and sells bombs and missiles to any country with the money to pay. Cluster bombs, depleted uranium weapons, thermobaric bombs, bunker buster bombs - all these and more are Raytheon products.

Do you really want Wales to become a business partner with a company that the National Audit Office has criticized for 'unethical business practices'?

Another member of the Metrix Consortium is Qinetiq, a company that has been mired in ethical controversy since its very beginning, and has been accused of taxpayer rip-offs, profit-gouging, 'sweetheart contracts' and conflicts of interest. The National Audit Office has condemned the company for the "excessive profits" earned by senior managers and investors.

Do you really want Wales to sell its own youth on the business of war?

Since 2003, more than ten young Welshmen have lost their lives in the

illegal and unjust war in Iraq. Why are Welsh politicians embracing the St

Athan Academy, a project designed explicitly to do a better job of selling more of our youth on military work instead of speaking out against this utterly unnecessary and immoral loss of Welsh life?

Do you really want Wales to embrace an industry that is inherently

destructive of sustainable development?

If a cigarette company were to claim it was in a healthy line of business  because the factory where it made cigarettes was a clean work environment,we would laugh - the relevant issue is what the cigarettes made in thefactory do to people in the rest of the world. The Metrix Consortium claims it is environmentally friendly because the Academy will practice energy conservation, recycling and waste reduction. Yet this will be an institution in the business of training armies to wage wars all over the planet. The Rio Declaration from the 1992 Earth Summit explicitly states that "warfare is inherently destructive of sustainable development" (Principle 24). "All major wars of the 20th century," the US Center for Defense Information notes, "have had a hidden casualty: the environment. Unexploded weapons,polluted rivers, contaminated soil, and damaged landscapes have all harmed human health, local economies, and ecosystems." Would this be something for

Wales to be proud of?

Do you really want to commit the future of Wales to the culture and economy of militarism?

Should Wales seek to become a country tied closely to the business of making war, the global arms trade, the production of weapons of mass destruction or one committed to sustainable development, responsible international citizenship, and the creation of green and ethical jobs?

Jill Gough National Secretary of CND Cymru commented:

"Many people in Wales are in a serious mind to examine other sustainable non-violent avenues in dealing with social and international conflict,ideological and environmental dangers. We owe it to our children and our

children's children to build the foundations of a safer, tolerant, just and healthy world in the best way we know how."

ENDS

*       Interviews are available: please contact Jill Gough CND Cymru 01495

773 180 m:07704 67 57 87 HYPERLINK

"mailto:heddwch@cndcymru.org"heddwch@cndcymru.org or Ray Davies (CND Cymru

Vice Chair - and who will be singing with Côr Cochion tomorrow) 
for no2militaryacademy campaign contact Anne Greagsby co-ordinator:

02920 626 287 m: 078175 13610 HYPERLINK

"mailto:annegre@aol.com"annegre@aol.com or no2militrayacademy@inbox.com

 *       More about the campaign to stop St Athan : HYPERLINK

"http://www.cynefinywerin.org"www.cynefinywerin.org

 *       For Bilingual interviews with Jill Evans please contact David

Bradley 

 *       Protestors will gather at the Senedd for 1pm tomorrow. Cor Cochion

will be singing. 

*       PICTURE EDITORS note: large banners will be a feature of the protest

EDS contract slammed by union chief Mark Serwotka PCS

Ministry of Defence criticised over EDS contract - ZDNet UK Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: "It is astounding that the MoD is ... bid on this contract and other contracts such as defence training. ...
news.zdnet.co.uk/itmanagement/0,1000000308,39285436,00.htm - 67k -
see also
EDS coporate incompetance

Keep the private sector out of Military Training!

While PCS call for work to be brought back in house politicans in Wales are welcoming private sector involvement in Military Training - are they crazy? This is not just the private sector - these are arms dealers - Raytheon- QinetiQ - EDS - Serco - would you trust them? How many jobs?? Can you believe them? Keep the privatised military academy out of St Athan!

UNION RESPONDS TO DRIVING STANDARDS AGENCY DATA LOSS

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) called for the government to consider bringing back in-house, work undertaken by private companies in the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) and across government, following the loss of the details of 3 million candidates for driving theory tests by a private contractor in the US.

Commenting, Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: “This latest data loss by a private contractor in the US raises serious questions about the role of the private sector and the security of data. The fear is that in a dash to cut costs, the government are contracting out sensitive work to unaccountable private companies resulting in personal data being held by third parties half way across the globe. The security of personal data should be paramount and not subject to cost cutting, which is why the government should be bringing the work in-house
house and giving the public sector the resources to hold it securely.”

PCS: Union Responds to Interim Report on Child Benefit Loss 18/12/2007 - MEDIA RELEASE Date: 18 December 2007 For immediate use UNION RESPONDS TO INTERIM REPORT ON CHILFull press release ...

QinetiQ CUTS 400 UK Jobs so how many will they bring to Athan???

The MODs 'Defence Training Rationalisation' programme is one of the biggest privatisations ever and is set to privatise military training! QinetiQ has become one of Britain’s most blatant war profiteers. They will be expected to help other parts of government in a cost-cutting drive and to cut training facilities drastically. Watch out for the new privatised UK McMilitary, objective to expand business and profits so goodbye defence, hello offence and more war! Welsh MPs Smith and Bryant are grovelling to the consortium Metix (includes Qinetiq and arms dealers Raytheon which has been blacklisted by Norway and Belgium) to bring all training for army, navy and airforce to St Athan, Wales promising mythical thousands of jobs despite half of the deal, package 2 being abandoned as Derek Twigg told MPs, there were too few areas where costs could be cut and qinetiq cutting jobs.

qinetiq rewards mount with rise in dividend

Guardian Unlimited, There was further controversy yesterday at qinetiq, where directors made more than £100m out of its flotation last year, after they further rewarded ...As far as we are concerned, we are doing the job, which is delivering value for shareholders," said Love, who admitted that the axe would fall on 400 of the 8,000 staff employed around Britain......

....The job cuts inside a company that employs 13,500 worldwide will increase the frustration of those former civil service staff who witnessed a small handful of the top management make vast sums of money out of the privatisation of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency.

QinetiQ, which still employs the vast bulk of its staff in Britain at 38 different locations including Bristol, Plymouth and Rosyth in Scotland, is poised to help other parts of government in a cost-cutting drive.????

The company is the preferred bidder on the first part of the MoD's Defence Training Rationalisation programme which could be worth £16bn over the next 30 years. The winner of the contract will be expected to reduce the current size of the training facilities from 30 sites to 10. ..(Defence Training Rationalisation means privatising military training at St Athan and working with arms dealers Raytheon..in the Metrix consortium)

See also Union Welcomes MoD U-Turn On Training Privatisation

Is the tide turning on Defence Training Review

UK MoD reconsidering award of second training contract to QinetiQ-led consortium

Ten senior managers pocketed millions from privatisation of ...
Ten senior managers pocketed millions from the privatisation of defence technology business QinetiQ – leaving the public purse short changed, it has emerged. A.
PersonnelToday.com - Employment law news - http://www.personneltoday.com/

.......The other major beneficiary of the privatisation had been the private equity firm Carlyle Group, which had seen the rate of return on its investment increase by 112%.

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) were shocked by the report's findings.
Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: "It is scandalous that a small number of senior managers and private companies should be making so much money out of an organisation that was built by public servants with public money. It is unacceptable that returns of 20,000% can be made at the expense of the taxpayer."

The MoD said it will respond in full to the NAO report "in due course", and welcomes the Public Accounts Committee decision to take evidence on this report.

qinetiq to cut 400 despite profit jump
Times Online -
qinetiq, the defence research business in which the chairman and chief executive made more than £35 million on the flotation of the business, will eliminate ...
See all stories on this topic

QinetiQ – the War Profiteer Welsh Politicians Love to Love

THE National Audit Office (NAO) delivers a stinging rebuke to the Ministry of Defence with the publication of its long-awaited report into the privatisation of QinetiQ, the defence-technology group. National Audit Office Press Notice The privatisation of QinetiQ

QinetiQ is a company that has been mired in ethical controversy since its very beginning, for claims of taxpayer rip-offs, profit-gouging, sweetheart contracts and conflicts of interest. An early draft of the NAO report slammed the company for the “excessive profits” earned by its senior management and top investors.

In just four years, the US investment company Carlyle earned over £300 million on an initial £42 million stake in QinetiQ, while Chairman Sir John Chisholm turned his £129,000 QinetiQ investment into a £22 million personal fortune.Despite this greed of the highest order, Welsh politicians act as if they could not care less.

In January 2007, the QinetiQ-led Metrix Consortium won what is to be the largest investment in Welsh history – a £16 billion contract to build a private military training academy at St Athan, in the Vale of Glamorgan. The project would thrust Wales to the forefront of the global arms trade, since the business model at the heart of the St Athan Academy is to maximise profits by providing training not just to the British Armed Forces, but to militaries from all over the worldPrivatisation of the military, many fear, as is the case in other sectors, can undermine public accountability and erode ideas of public service and the public good, while achieving little if anything in the way of cost savings.

“The only winners in the privatisation of defence training,” says Mark Serwotka, General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, “are the shareholders of the Metrix Consortium.”Jill Evans, Plaid MEP, has recently raised concerns about the St Athan Defence Training Academy, particularly because of the Consortium members behind the project, which include other arms companies like Raytheon.

Anne Greagsby, campaigning against the St Athan Academy said,“This cosy embrace of QinetiQ by Welsh political leaders over the past few years is puzzling, to say the least, given the country’s supposed commitment to principles of social justice and fairness, good governance, sustainable development and responsible international citizenship.“We are calling for a public debate about the companies involved in the Metrix consortium and we seek assurances that they are not involved in corruption or the trade of unethical weapons like cluster bombs and depleted uranium.”

QinetiQ also helps Wales manage and market its new UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) centre at Parc Aberporth – a facility the government has said is a key part of its plans for the regeneration of Cardigan and West Wales. Welsh Assembly Members and Ministers, in welcoming QinetiQ to Parc Aberporth, have spoken glowingly of its “vast expertise” and “international reputation.”

PCS the union representing staff involved said "Recently the MoD won awards at a PFI ceremony for privatising more functions than any other Civil Service department. This is a national scandal. Companies like QinetiQ were flogged off cheap, and now intend to make vast profits from delivering military training. QinetiQ will squeeze every penny out of the MoD that it can, while delivering training where quality is sacrificed to making profits for its shareholders.This does not benefit the people of South Wales or our service personnel. It benefits QinetiQ, and that's all they're interested in. With recent reports of the breakdown of the military covenant, PCS asks is privatising defence training going to make things better? Our answer is an uneqivocal 'No!' '"

ENDS Notes

Pfeifer (2007) “Audit Office Slams ‘Excessive’ Profits for QinetiQ Chiefs,” Daily Telegraph, March 17.George Monbiot (2006) “Greed of the Highest Order and the Worst Privatisation Since Rail,” Guardian, February 14.Public and Commercial Services Union (2007) “Union Anger Over Defence Privatisation” January 17.See QinetiQ briefing: http://www.cynefinywerin.org.uk/index.php?docid=286

our briefings on:Qinetiq - http://www.cynefinywerin.org.uk/index.php?docid=286

Qinetiq latest
BAE Systems teams up with qinetiq, GE, others for armored vehicle ...MarketWatch - 21 Nov 2007LN) said Wednesday it's joining forces with other companies including qinetiq Group PLC (QQ.LN) and GE Aviation to bid for a role on a multi-billion pound ...BAE Systems Announces UK Industry Team for FRES PCB007 (press release)BAE Systems Names Companies Bidding for Role in Building British ... DefenseNews.com (subscription)Top team named in FRES work bid nebusiness.co.ukall 6 news articles »

Channel 4 News What the former military chiefs said

History

A Good Model for a Mugging
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2006/02/14/a-good-model-for-a-mugging/
Posted February 14, 2006 Labour’s first full-scale privatisation involves the multiple fleecing of the taxpayer By George Monbiot. Published in the Guardian 14th February 2006

PCS welcomes MOD U TURN on training privatisation

PCS: Union welcomes MoD U-turn on training privatisation
Thursday, 25 Oct 2007 16:22

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) welcomed today’s announcement by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to halt the privatisation of approximately 4,000 staff who train the armed forces in driving armoured vehicles, lorries and jeeps as well as languages. The union hailed the decision to keep one half of defence training in the public sector as a victory for common sense which would ensure world class training for the armed forces whilst providing value for money for the taxpayer. PCS called on the MoD to see sense and halt the privatisation of the other half of defence training which includes technical and mechanical training.

The union warned that pushing ahead with remaining half of defence training would represent poor value for money and lead to a loss of knowledge and experience as staff would refuse to relocate to the new training base in South Wales.

The main sites that will be remaining in the public sector are: Worthy Down and Marchwood in Winchester, Southwark Park in Portsmouth, Leconfield n Hull, , Aldershot, Beaconsfield and Chicksands in Cambridgeshire. PCS members are currently voting on further national strike action across the civil service as part of the union’s campaign against job cuts, below inflation pay and privatisation. The campaign has already seen two strongly supported national one day strikes this year. The ballot closes on 31 October 2007 and the result is expected to be announced shortly after.

Commenting, Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: “Thanks to the well argued case put by PCS, the MoD have rightly recognised that keeping the linguistics and driver training of armed forces in the public sector, not only represents value for money but ensures the continuity in world class training. They now have to see sense and recognise that privatising the remainder of defence training will result in poor value for money and a poorer quality of training for our armed forces as experienced staff refuse to relocate.

The union can take heart from this announcement and will be making a renewed effort to convince the MoD that the remaining privatisation is unnecessary and damaging.” ENDS Notes to editors:

For further information, interviews and comment please contact Alex Flynn PCS national press officer on 020 7801 2820 or 07833 978216.

PCS, the Public and Commercial Services Union is the union representing civil and public servants in central government. It has over 315,000 members in over 200 departments and agencies. It also represents workers in parts of government transferred to the private sector. PCS is the UK’s sixth largest union and is affiliated to the TUC. The general secretary is Mark Serwotka and the president is Janice Godrich. Alex Flynn National Press Officer Public and Commercial Services Union 160 Falcon Rd London SW11 2LN Direct line: 020 7801 2747 Mobile: 07833 978 216 Fax: 020 7924 1847