IT REALLY makes me laugh when Labour nationally complains about the two track economy in the UK, ie London and the rest. A situation in part brought about by mainly private sector and overseas led investment when Welsh Labour have used billions of government and grant money to replicate the same environment in Wales. An environment they claim to bitterly oppose.

Since devolution it is fair to say Cardiff has boomed as the mainly sole recipient of all the European grant money that comes into Wales, billions poured into our capital city and the benefactor of thousands upon thousands of well-paid non-jobs down the assembly. Nearly half the city works for the state, we even have to subsidise the airport, not that any of them chose to use it, and the city seems to get more state aid than Israel. It is no coincidence that in this period Newport has seen a dramatic demise from a once average town to the wreckage it has now become today, the Welsh Assembly only begrudgingly gave us a grant to knock down the bus station multi-storey when it was deemed to be near collapse. It really is the tale of two cities.

C Bradley Caerleon Road Newport