GVA - Gross Value Added - is a measure of the contribution of each individual producer, industry or sector in the UK. It is commonly modified to a GVA per head of population, where it becomes 'how much of a contribution each person made to the UK economy.'
Anglesey has the lowest GVA figure across the whole UK. Not just Wales - the whole of the UK. And indeed, this is not the first time we've seen this outcome - it's been the same for a very long time.
And it's not just a slight difference that leads us to the bottom - our GVA per head is less than half the UK average. We are, in every sense, a poverty-stricken island.
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| My name? Anglesey. |
Worse than this is the fact that Gwynedd has seen a rise of 3.4% in the period 2012-13 in its GVA figures, whilst Anglesey dropped 1.5%. So it can't merely be blamed on geographical location. There's something special about Anglesey that leads it to consistently be a huge under-achiever.
But maybe this is not surprising when our current portfolio holder for economic development is a former farm insurance salesman who, later, couldn't even make a sweet shop pay. That, and the legion of well-paid tortoiseshell bespectacled officers who don't appear to be on any sort of performance-based renumeration. If they were, perhaps we'd see something better than sitting back and watching the island sink into economic oblivion.
Sadly, the answer has, for many years, been seen as 'Wylfa B, Wylfa B, Wylfa B'. All the eggs in one basket. A simple measure of desperation. You'd think the politicians would learn and set their sights on a diverse economy based on small, efficient businesses.
But, why worry when your councillor's allowance each year take you twice as high as the per-capita GVA? That is the simple disconnect between the governed and the governors. The workers and the wasters. Whilst they may laugh in the poor people's faces, it is a dangerous place to go, as any history book will inform.
Caught by the glitz, the self-importance and the trips abroad, our council can only join-in with its central government master and repeat that the vast majority of people support Wylfa B, when independent studies do not support this idiotic bleating.
Meanwhile, it's clear that Anglesey has been ill-goverened into the ground whilst our noddies fought amongst themselves for power and privilege. Reap the benefits, folks, and pack-off your kids elsewhere. Oh, and pray that Cardiff will wield its legal powers to bring the sick joke that is Anglesey Council to a very swift end.
