Comment DBCC-8350

Given the proposed future system*, Brecon and Radnorshire should obviously be combined with Montgomery and Glyndwr and named accordingly, rather than extending southwards. This would accord with the historic links of the "former (3) counties", with a more logical river catchment combination - i.e. the Wye, Usk and Severn, rather than combining with the R Tawe. Also, it would combine essentially similar rural constituencies with similar farming practices and maintain the links with "The Marches" of great cultural & historic importance. Arguments about disrupting other arrangements ("knock-on effects") hold no water: they in turn are arbitrary and illogical. Transport links are of course even better within "my" proposed combination here - BOTH road AND rail! - compared to the the "official" proposal. All arguments though seem redundant as the decision has clearly been made by a wasteful, and already unrepresentative, political system. Votes and decisions are driven by urban centres to the detriment of rural areas. The increase in the number of Senedd members, to name just one profligate measure, is a scandal; the sums dissipated are shocking: meanwhile genuinely important local facilities such as the Wyeside Arts Centre in Builth are starved of funds. Ditto NRW.
*but of course the real problem is the move to the (modified) d'Hondt system: weakening the link with individual MPs/ AMs for whom one votes, giving parties the chance to manipulate "lists" and emphasising "smoked-filled-room" combinations - both before and after the elections - for which the electorate does not vote and whose policies are not transparent.

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