They won’t take it and rightly so.”And is Labour really ready to attach the importance to Northern Ireland that John Major has? She insists that the Labour leader is “up to speed”. But for the party as a whole, she admits: “It is quite a serious question for Labour to address because there is quite an uncertainty in both communities and both North and South of the border. They have a history of Labour governments with different approaches.”But she has no doubt she wants to be Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. “There is something about the nature of Northern Ireland: once involved, it’s very difficult to withdraw.”. BY DAVID LISTER
Arts Correspondent
Self-defence courses for all women, better street lighting and community policing to help women and families feel safe are the sort of millennium schemes being urged by the Independent’s last alternative millennium commission.This group, consisting of five senior members of the Women’s Institute in Wales, may have looked on paper a safe and conservative alternative commission.
Instead, it proved radical and challenging.Just like last week’s alternative commisssion of sixth formers, our five women have rejected a key basic premise of the Millennium Commission – grand new buildings and cultural schemes that make a statement about Britain. Instead they want money spent on schemes to help women and families, and those living in rural areas. Rather than a new opera house, lavish festival or monument, they prefer government schemes to guide the nation in healthy eating and a national helpline for carers in the community.The members of our alternative commission, all aged between 45 and 60, were: Rhiannon Bevan, general secretary of the national federation who lives in Cardiff; Katherine Hughes, rural affairs officer from Caerphilly; Mary Thomas and Bethan Williams from Dyfed; and Dilwen Phillips from Barry, south Glamorgan.”We felt brand new buildings are a red herring,” said Mrs Bevan. “Wales has the highest percentage of retired people in the UK and also the highest percentage of people on low incomes We need investment in the rural areas. Also, more women are retraining and returning to work because of the decline in agriculture, and we need better quality childcare facilities.”Their deliberations showed a dual concern for women and for the difficulties of living in rural areas, and their recommendations reflected both concerns.Members wanted adequate provision of rural transport and communication at local community levels to reduce the sense of isolation. They also called for the development of more cycle paths in Wales, investment in the development of community centres and village halls, and millennium grants to develop co-operative village shops as one-stop centres of information and advice.The group insisted that there should be better provision of childcare facilities for women to assist them in returning to work or education and retraining.The women were also concerned that the new millennium should be marked by schemes providing greater opportunities for women to serve on public bodies. “We are the ones who use the services, are the consumers, go to the primary schools, go to the doctors’ surgeries, yet too often our voices aren’t heard,” said Mrs Bevan.They were adamant that health and well-being should be an area of major concern for the commission, calling for schemes to guide the nation in healthy eating and access to sport for all, together with greater support for carers, including national and local helplines.
They also wanted a nation-wide scheme of lifesaving courses taught and self-defence courses for all women.But they also suggested two schemes that would uniquely mark the millennium. The first was a giant tapestry depicting village life throughout the country with each area designing their own contribution. The second was a national audit of villages showing what facilities they had and what facilities they needed It would also become a historic record. The group proposed that the WI, with its 280,000 members, could organise this.tNext week: ideas suggested by Independent readers. Send ideas to David Lister, Millennium, The Independent, 1 Canada Square, London, E14 5DL.The key proposals8 Better child care facilities for women8 Self defence courses for all women8 Government scheme to encourage healthy eating8 Safety provision for families, e.g street lighting8 A tapestry depicting village life8 Cycle paths for Wales.
The public wants the highest share of proceeds from the National Lottery to go to charities rather than be spent on Millennium projects, the arts, sport or national heritage, according to a Mori poll, writes David Lister. Almost one-third of those questioned did not want any of the money to go on millennium projects.
Women would prefer to give more to the Charities Board and less to the Sports Council than men; of every pounds 100 given away, women, on average, would give pounds 34.50 to the Charities Board and pounds 18 to the Sports Council, whereas men would give pounds 30 to the Charities Board and pounds 23.50 to the Sports Council, the survey found. Women only wanted to give pounds 7.80 to millennium projects, and men pounds 9.80.The legislation that set up the National Lottery provides that the proceeds be spilt equally between the five recipient bodies, sport, arts, charities, national heritage and millennium projects.The public thinks that almost one-third – pounds 32 in every pounds 100 – of lottery money should be given to the National Lottery Charities Board to distribute, one-fifth (pounds 21) to the Sports Councils. Less popular were the Heritage Fund (pounds 17), the Arts Council (pounds 13) and the Millennium Commission (pounds 8).Almost one-third of those questioned (31 per cent) would give no lottery money to the Millennium Commission, and nearly a quarter (23 per cent) would give none to the Arts Council. By contrast, only 10 per cent would give none to the National Lottery Charities Board, while 14 per cent would give it more than half the money.A sample of 1,023 adults aged from 15 to 75 across Britain were interviewed in the survey, commissioned by the National Forum Trust, which hopes to set up a national debating centre in Britain.
The poll found that 46 per cent were in favour of such a centre while 27 per cent were opposed.. Islanders on Harris will today give their verdict on a proposal to sink Britain’s largest quarry into a 1,500ft mountain, on one of the most scenic coastlines in the Hebrides. About 1,000 people have been balloted in a referendum over plans to remove 600 million tons of rock from Roineabhal mountain, which stands on the southern tip of Harris, looking out over the Cuillin hills on Skye. The results of the poll will be published this afternoon.
The referendum, conducted by the Electoral Reform Society, has been organised by the local people, who are known as Hearrachs. They believe the pounds 50m quarry will pollute fishing grounds and create few jobs for the depressed local economy.In an earlier poll in 1993, islanders voted 2-1 in favour of the development by the Surrey-based mining group Redland Aggregates. Although the quarry would destroy a peak which local Gaelic-speakers call “an aite boidheach” – “the beautiful place” – many welcomed the initiative; the area’s population has more than halved in the last 70 years, as islanders move to the mainland for work Now the mood has changed.
