Welsh Lobbyist make an interesting point

This excellent post was put up by Welsh Lobbyist- has anyone considered using the sites etc for social housing or to fill any needs that small business may have - answers to Welsh Lobbyist!

While the commentators, journalists and MP are still working out who got what for supporting the Government's 42 Day Terror Detention Bill yesterday, what the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) maybe have negotiated could be significant for all the devolved nations.

As Iain Dale has noted 'It is strongly rumoured that one of the DUP's conditions for voting with the government on 42 days was that the revenues from the sale of disused army bases and barracks in Northern Ireland would go to Stormont, rather than the Treasury, as would be normal in these circumstances.'

If true, Brown may have made a very big rod for his own back. My SNP friends are already licking their lips in anticipation of a precedent now having been set. The precedent is that that revenues from UK assets in a devolved territory are the property of that devolved government, not Westminster. This means Alex Salmond is sitting on a potential goldmine at Faslane (one of the world's very few facilities dedicated to the servicing and upkeep of nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed submarines - which could mean an independent Scotland using the facilities to service American, English or French subs...for a price, of course) and more importantly...oil.'

There are implications for Wales as we have a number of empty military bases that could be exploited in this way, I hope the Welsh Assembly Government and the Civil Servants are at least aware of the opportunities this offers after all any extra cash is welcome when current budgets are so tight.