In a 3 minute interview on Dragon's Eye Tory AM Andrew R T Davies managed to mention that 10% of Welsh people wanted independence while 90% were "passionate Unionists" a total of FOUR times!
Was the interview about independence or about the referendum even? Nope, it was an interview about whether or not we should have events celebrating 40 years since Charles was investitured and whether there should be another pompous ceremony at Caernarfon Castle when William (maybe) becomes Prince of Wales.
Can anyone else spot the relevance of quoting independence figures because I surely can't! I'm sure David Davies and David Rees will be very proud of him though.
Update: Ordovicius has the transcript here
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Barack Jones
The new Barack Obama advert has actors playing the part of McCain's campaign staff in a strategy meeting.
Reminds you a lot of Plaid Cymru's hugely successful Party Political Broadcasts last year (before you ask, my definition of a "hugely successful" PPB in Welsh politics is very very low, all that a PPB requires to reach that level is that I can just about remember what happened in them - that "We know what's best for Wales" line still chills my bones!)
Who knew the next President of the USA was such a buff of Welsh politics!
Hat Tip: Vaughan
Reminds you a lot of Plaid Cymru's hugely successful Party Political Broadcasts last year (before you ask, my definition of a "hugely successful" PPB in Welsh politics is very very low, all that a PPB requires to reach that level is that I can just about remember what happened in them - that "We know what's best for Wales" line still chills my bones!)
Who knew the next President of the USA was such a buff of Welsh politics!
Hat Tip: Vaughan
Seb Coe's Groupies
It seems that there are a handful of people who agree with Seb Coe that the FAW, WAG and Welsh football fan Federation should have their objections overridden. The Welsh Assembly website gives us voters the ability to start a petition, similar to the Number 10 website that has had a lot of publicity.
One of the petitions currently running states:
One of the signatories is an Alwyn ap Huw - I very much doubt that that's the Miserable Old Fart!
The petition's nemesis, a petition calling for a Welsh Team in the 2012 Olympics found here, is well ahead in the number of signatories at the moment, but there's plenty of time left to sign either!
One of the petitions currently running states:
After the great success of team GB at the Beijing Olympics, a great example of our united strength. We call upon the National Assembly to lobby the Football Association of Wales to work with the three other football associations in the UK to put aside their vested interests to allow a Team GB football team to compete on home soil in London 2012, hopefully adding to our medal haul.The petition was written and added by a David Rees. I wonder if this is the same David Rees that sleeps in the same "No" bed as David Davies!
One of the signatories is an Alwyn ap Huw - I very much doubt that that's the Miserable Old Fart!
The petition's nemesis, a petition calling for a Welsh Team in the 2012 Olympics found here, is well ahead in the number of signatories at the moment, but there's plenty of time left to sign either!
That's Why Councils Go To Iceland
The list of Welsh Councils who have money stuck in Icelandic bank account continues to grow, with Caerffili announcing that they have £15m deposited in the island's troubled institutions. They join Ceredigion (£5.5m), Powys (£4m), Gwynedd (£4m), Fflint (£3.7m), Rhondda Cynon Taf (£3m), Mynwy (£1.2m) and Gwent's Police Authority(£1m) in sweating on the fate of their deposited millions. (Neath Port Tabot is still checking!)
Update: Neath Port Talbot have confirmed they have £20m in Icelandic banks, putting them squarely at the top of the "Welsh Councils Crapping Themselves" list, South Wales Police have £7m in jeopardy while Dyfed-Powys Police complete the list with nother £2m and and bringing the total of Welsh publc money at risk to £66.4m.
Plaid AM Chris Franks said today:
Franks isn't the only one to speak nonsense on this issue. The Taxpayer's Alliance also seems to totally misunderstand how the world works. Their spokesman stated:
Update: Neath Port Talbot have confirmed they have £20m in Icelandic banks, putting them squarely at the top of the "Welsh Councils Crapping Themselves" list, South Wales Police have £7m in jeopardy while Dyfed-Powys Police complete the list with nother £2m and and bringing the total of Welsh publc money at risk to £66.4m.
Plaid AM Chris Franks said today:
"When I was a councillor I met with local authority treasurers, my first question was always 'are you sure the money is invested in a safe haven rather than in accounts that paid the top interest rates'. I would hope members of local authorities in Wales would have asked similar questions."If that was meant to be a political dig towards Rhondda's Labour controlled council, as Vaughan suggests it was, then it's a stupidly misguided one. Until a week or two ago the Icelandic banks were considered totally secure and no amount of questioning his local authority treasurers would have suggested otherwise. That's why Kent Council has £50m there, why Transport for London have £40m there and why Welsh Councils have more than £36m there, £19m of which, and take note Chris, was put there by Plaid Cymru controlled councils.
Franks isn't the only one to speak nonsense on this issue. The Taxpayer's Alliance also seems to totally misunderstand how the world works. Their spokesman stated:
"People will be shocked that the councils had this money stashed away in the first place. Every year we hear that councils don’t have enough money and need to raise taxes but it seems they have had sufficient excess tax to salt tens of millions of pounds away. The fact that they have invested this money and seem to have lost it is even more shocking and is sadly yet another reminder of the poor financial management in local councils. In short, they should not have stashed this money in the first place and they simply weren’t equipped to try to be clever in the markets with it.”Council get their funding in blocks from the Assembly, what does the Taxpayer's Alliance think they should do with it through the year, stash it under the mattress?
Why Use The Stick?
Rhetoric Innes comments on Peter Black's speech and repeats the mistakes Peter did in that speech.
As I posted yesterday I think that what Peter said needed saying and I agree with most of it. But it makes it harder for me to see it as a honest, passionate plea for a Yes campaign when he peppered it with petty point-scoring.
What on earth does London's mad ID-card scheme have to do with establishing a Yes campaign, or Edwina's new Health policy. Even more bizarre, what do ASBO's and curfews have to do with it?| Nothing of course, but I guess that as a politician Peter Black is unable of resisting the urge to try and score points.
Does Peter honestly believe that the best way to get Rhodri and Ieuan to start a cross-party campaign with his Liberal Democrats by calling them "devo-doubters" and by slagging them off on affordable homes and "Y Byd". His speech should have been a call to Labour and Plaid to work together along with the Lib Dems to bring forth a Yes campaign, not just an attempt to bash them in public.
Rhetoric Innes does the exact same thing, stating that:
If you want everyone to co-operate and work together for the good of a Yes campaign, don;t start by slagging them all off in an attempt for party political gain.
As I posted yesterday I think that what Peter said needed saying and I agree with most of it. But it makes it harder for me to see it as a honest, passionate plea for a Yes campaign when he peppered it with petty point-scoring.
What on earth does London's mad ID-card scheme have to do with establishing a Yes campaign, or Edwina's new Health policy. Even more bizarre, what do ASBO's and curfews have to do with it?| Nothing of course, but I guess that as a politician Peter Black is unable of resisting the urge to try and score points.
Does Peter honestly believe that the best way to get Rhodri and Ieuan to start a cross-party campaign with his Liberal Democrats by calling them "devo-doubters" and by slagging them off on affordable homes and "Y Byd". His speech should have been a call to Labour and Plaid to work together along with the Lib Dems to bring forth a Yes campaign, not just an attempt to bash them in public.
Rhetoric Innes does the exact same thing, stating that:
If you are reading this outside of Wales. It is the Welsh Liberal democrats who are at the fore of Pro-Devolution. The Separatist Plaid Cymru do not want this compromise. Both the Welsh Conservatives and Welsh Labour do not recognise or choose not to recognise that Separatist Nationalism will increase under a Tory government with people in Wales feeling disenfranchised at being ruled by a government they largely did not vote in.Yes it gives us all a good laugh to imagine the Lib Dems being at the fore of anything, but again you have to ask whether calling Plaid "separatist" and telling the Tories that they'll be a government that nobody wants is the best way to promote a cross-party campaign.
If you want everyone to co-operate and work together for the good of a Yes campaign, don;t start by slagging them all off in an attempt for party political gain.
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Our Creators
The Daily Mail has recently printed a list of the 50 people who "wrecked Britain". Apparently these are the people that made Britain "the ugly, ignorant, beer-ridden and brawling place it is today".
Wales' very own "Prif Copyn" Richard Brunstrom makes the list (honestly) along with such awful people as Princess Diana, the man who invented the mini-roundabout and Jimmy Saville. Imagine how much happier we'd all have bee without these people...!
A few more deserving souls anmed in the list are Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Maggie Thatcher and Janet Street Porter. There is also a special mention for Wales' first First Minister:
But surely, pride of place in the list must be reserved for the truly evil, the god-awful, the child-corrupting Topsy and Tim. Apparently these cpreaches:
Wales' very own "Prif Copyn" Richard Brunstrom makes the list (honestly) along with such awful people as Princess Diana, the man who invented the mini-roundabout and Jimmy Saville. Imagine how much happier we'd all have bee without these people...!
A few more deserving souls anmed in the list are Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Maggie Thatcher and Janet Street Porter. There is also a special mention for Wales' first First Minister:
"A dismal little doormat called Alun Michael. To look at, he is not a striking proposition, a careworn creature with the hunched shoulders and lank hair of a natural loser."And the annoyance of all bloggers (Just kidding, love you all really!) also get a mention - Internet Anons!
But surely, pride of place in the list must be reserved for the truly evil, the god-awful, the child-corrupting Topsy and Tim. Apparently these cpreaches:
"A Britain peopled by disciples of Topsy and Tim would not last long in the world of international terrorism. If we succumb to the worldview of Topsy and Tim, we might as well give up now."I still can't believe people actually read this paper!
I Say Yes, You Say No
Peter Black made a speech in Plenary today calling for the establishment of a Yes campaign for further powers - I can't agree more.
The One Wales Agreements commits the government to a referendum before 2011 with the caveat that they can pull out if they think they'll lose it. I understand the need for the caveat, if it was clear that a referendum would end up in a 1979 drubbing then it would set back further devolution for a decade or two. But there's an increasing worry that Labour and Plaid are planning to rely on that clause just because they cannot be guaranteed of a win.
That is poppycock.
Washed-up Has-been Peter Hain is telling us that there shouldn't be a referendum before 2011 because people don't want further powers. Of course what he really means is that Labour MP's don't want further powers. When he says that the majority of Labour members and voters are against it then he should cast his mind back to last year when his party's members voted for the One Wales Agreement by about 79% to 21%. If it was only Peter Hain making that argument then it would be easy enough to ignore, nobody listens to him anymore anyway (as proven by the 79% who wanted a coalition with Plaid even though Peter had ruled it out, and that was before his disgrace and resignation). But he isn't the only one saying it. We keep hearing that we need to be sure we'll win before we announce a referendum, that we need to be sure that we'll win before we launch a Yes campaign.
That is poppycock.
The whole point, the only point, of a Yes campaign is to convince Welsh voters that further powers is a good thing and that they should vote Yes (that's why we call it a "Yes" campaign!). Unless we put forward the case for further powers, the undecided voters will not be convinced. How can we win enough support to be guaranteed a victory if we never start campaigning for a Yes vote? It simply makes no sense.
Polls and research show more people supportive of further powers than are against it. There's enough undecided to swing the vote either way. But there's no use sitting on our arses waiting for those undecided to switch to the Yes camp, the only way that will happen is if we set up a Yes camp and start using our energies to convince them it's worth voting Yes.
It's about time Rhodri and Ieuan pulled their finger out and start putting the case for further powers.
The One Wales Agreements commits the government to a referendum before 2011 with the caveat that they can pull out if they think they'll lose it. I understand the need for the caveat, if it was clear that a referendum would end up in a 1979 drubbing then it would set back further devolution for a decade or two. But there's an increasing worry that Labour and Plaid are planning to rely on that clause just because they cannot be guaranteed of a win.
That is poppycock.
Washed-up Has-been Peter Hain is telling us that there shouldn't be a referendum before 2011 because people don't want further powers. Of course what he really means is that Labour MP's don't want further powers. When he says that the majority of Labour members and voters are against it then he should cast his mind back to last year when his party's members voted for the One Wales Agreement by about 79% to 21%. If it was only Peter Hain making that argument then it would be easy enough to ignore, nobody listens to him anymore anyway (as proven by the 79% who wanted a coalition with Plaid even though Peter had ruled it out, and that was before his disgrace and resignation). But he isn't the only one saying it. We keep hearing that we need to be sure we'll win before we announce a referendum, that we need to be sure that we'll win before we launch a Yes campaign.
That is poppycock.
The whole point, the only point, of a Yes campaign is to convince Welsh voters that further powers is a good thing and that they should vote Yes (that's why we call it a "Yes" campaign!). Unless we put forward the case for further powers, the undecided voters will not be convinced. How can we win enough support to be guaranteed a victory if we never start campaigning for a Yes vote? It simply makes no sense.
Polls and research show more people supportive of further powers than are against it. There's enough undecided to swing the vote either way. But there's no use sitting on our arses waiting for those undecided to switch to the Yes camp, the only way that will happen is if we set up a Yes camp and start using our energies to convince them it's worth voting Yes.
It's about time Rhodri and Ieuan pulled their finger out and start putting the case for further powers.
Sunday, 5 October 2008
Mea Culpa
Nick Bourne, having last week denied having any role in the Clown Prince of Wales dossier now admits that he had singed off on it. Apparently, being so busy preparing for the Tories' Convention he only speed-readed the dossier and didn't notice the paragraphs which he ended up denouncing. He's apologised to Rhodri Morgan and apologised to his staff for dropping them in it.
Will it be enough to save his job? If I was a betting girl, I'd say yes.
Will it be enough to save his job? If I was a betting girl, I'd say yes.
Can Never Change His Spots
I didn't see the Politics Show today, but apparently Peter Hain appeared on the show and stated that he would argue against a referendum in Wales before 2011, even though the Welsh branch of his party had voted for one. His reasoning was that there was division in Labour about the subject and that without the support of the whole of Labour the referendum would be lost. In other words, instead of trying to convince his colleagues that a successful referendum would be good for Wales, instead of setting out to prove his colleagues wrong, Peter Hain wants to do exactly what he did in drafting the Government of Wales Act 2006 and put the unity of the Labour party before the good of Wales. I can't say I'm surprised, I just hope that Labour's Assembly group ignore the busted flush member for Neath.
The Double Century post!
The Double Century post!
Sunday Sillies
Sunday is a day of rest - no work, no night out to plan, nothing to do. That's why we get the big fat papers on Sunday and that's why Sunday's are usually the day bloggers, commentators and forum users bicker about stupid things to waste time.
Today seems to fit that bill perfectly. The News of the World prints a story saying that the One Wales Government is going to scrap free prescriptions. Straight away alarm bells should be ringing in a reader's head. Firstly, it's the News of the World. Now while that should be enough to make the reader suspicious of the truth of the story there's plenty more.
The paper's source is from Whitehall, that makes him an English Health Department source. Recent months have seen plenty of tension between Edwina in the Bay and Ben Bradshaw, the English Health Minister. If the WAG were about to scrap their free prescription policy then you can be sure that Bradshaw's department would not be the first to know. Another reason to cast doubt on it all is the reason given, namely that Doctor are prescribing over the counter medicine and that the cost of the policy has ballooned due to all those millionaires abusing it. As I've noted before, the rise in the amount of prescriptions issued since the scrapping is virtually the same as the rises that occurred every year for the past half decade.
So surely anyone with any knowledge of Welsh politics would have written this story off as Whitehall mischief making. Apparently not. Tory Health Spokesman Jonathan Morgan is quoted as saying:
Personally I'm no big fan of free prescriptions. As long as the means test limit is set high enough to cover the people who need it then people like me who earn enough not to be on the breadline should fork out for our pills. Having said that I don't see it as a disastrous policy, neither do I see it as just a gimmick. After all our Health Service is supposed to be free, something it simply would not be if we paid for our prescriptions. But even though I'm not a fan of the policy, I'm not going to jump on an obviously false story to try and make a political point of it.
Glyn Davies believes that this is a huge story unless the One Wales Government issue a categorical denial with no weasel words.
Today seems to fit that bill perfectly. The News of the World prints a story saying that the One Wales Government is going to scrap free prescriptions. Straight away alarm bells should be ringing in a reader's head. Firstly, it's the News of the World. Now while that should be enough to make the reader suspicious of the truth of the story there's plenty more.
The paper's source is from Whitehall, that makes him an English Health Department source. Recent months have seen plenty of tension between Edwina in the Bay and Ben Bradshaw, the English Health Minister. If the WAG were about to scrap their free prescription policy then you can be sure that Bradshaw's department would not be the first to know. Another reason to cast doubt on it all is the reason given, namely that Doctor are prescribing over the counter medicine and that the cost of the policy has ballooned due to all those millionaires abusing it. As I've noted before, the rise in the amount of prescriptions issued since the scrapping is virtually the same as the rises that occurred every year for the past half decade.
So surely anyone with any knowledge of Welsh politics would have written this story off as Whitehall mischief making. Apparently not. Tory Health Spokesman Jonathan Morgan is quoted as saying:
"This news destroys the Welsh Assembly Government’s remaining fragments of credibility over health policy. Ministers in Cardiff must now give clear answers as to the future of this initiative."Glyn Davies also seems desperate to believe the story while Miss Wagstaff, not a fan of free prescriptions, barely pauses to question it, and the same is true of David Jones MP.
Personally I'm no big fan of free prescriptions. As long as the means test limit is set high enough to cover the people who need it then people like me who earn enough not to be on the breadline should fork out for our pills. Having said that I don't see it as a disastrous policy, neither do I see it as just a gimmick. After all our Health Service is supposed to be free, something it simply would not be if we paid for our prescriptions. But even though I'm not a fan of the policy, I'm not going to jump on an obviously false story to try and make a political point of it.
Glyn Davies believes that this is a huge story unless the One Wales Government issue a categorical denial with no weasel words.
"The story in today's News of the World is absolute nonsense. We told the newspaper on Friday that we have no intention of 'pulling the plug' on our free prescription scheme, which is highly popular, and we're delighted that Scotland and Northern Ireland are following our lead. We're at a loss to understand where this story has come from"Categorical enough for you?
Friday, 3 October 2008
Shocking Shuffle
So the Welsh Secretary job survives once again and Murphy doesn't join HTV's 17 employees on the dole. Whether Brown even considered amalgamating the Cabinet post for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland who knows, the stories have been around since time immemorial.
The big story from the Cabinet reshuffle though is the return of Peter Mandelson. Having entered government twice, and being sacked in disgrace twice, no-one predicted a return for Mandy. So what is Gordon thinking? Surely he can't believe that bringing back Mandelson would be a hit with the voters, and with his new minister's track record surely Gordon didn't pick him as a safe pair of hands.
I can only think of one plausible explanation for bringing back Peter Mandelson to the Cabinet. Gordon Brown wants to remind us that as much as we all hate him, there's someone we hate more!
The big story from the Cabinet reshuffle though is the return of Peter Mandelson. Having entered government twice, and being sacked in disgrace twice, no-one predicted a return for Mandy. So what is Gordon thinking? Surely he can't believe that bringing back Mandelson would be a hit with the voters, and with his new minister's track record surely Gordon didn't pick him as a safe pair of hands.
I can only think of one plausible explanation for bringing back Peter Mandelson to the Cabinet. Gordon Brown wants to remind us that as much as we all hate him, there's someone we hate more!
Thursday, 2 October 2008
At The Opticians
Senedd Whip seems to believe we all got a bit hot under the collar with Lord Coe's "Fuck 'Em" moment (or "alleged" moment!) because that he's a Tory.
Sorry Mr Whippy, it has a bit more to do with the fact that we're told he told us to Fuck off!
As I said on the previous post, the story disappeared quite quickly. Here's a copy of the printed version (courtesy of Dougthedug)
Coe hasn't commented on the story because he's in the opticians (honestly!) but the London Olympics committee says that it doesn't sound like him and that they've asked for a retraction. Skip past the expletive though and the general gist is just the same. Sky News, being a tad more restrained than theLondonPaper, tells us that Lord Coe spoke "bluntly" on the subject and when asked what about the objections of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish FA (along with WAG, FAW, FA of Northern Ireland and the Fans Federations of all four home nations) he said that they would be "over-ruled".
So whether he said "Fuck 'Em" or not, and (as a present for Senedd Whip) be him a Tory, Labourite, Lib Dem, Celtic Nationalist or Monster Raving loony Party member, I still think he's a prat!
Sorry Mr Whippy, it has a bit more to do with the fact that we're told he told us to Fuck off!
As I said on the previous post, the story disappeared quite quickly. Here's a copy of the printed version (courtesy of Dougthedug)
Coe hasn't commented on the story because he's in the opticians (honestly!) but the London Olympics committee says that it doesn't sound like him and that they've asked for a retraction. Skip past the expletive though and the general gist is just the same. Sky News, being a tad more restrained than theLondonPaper, tells us that Lord Coe spoke "bluntly" on the subject and when asked what about the objections of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish FA (along with WAG, FAW, FA of Northern Ireland and the Fans Federations of all four home nations) he said that they would be "over-ruled".So whether he said "Fuck 'Em" or not, and (as a present for Senedd Whip) be him a Tory, Labourite, Lib Dem, Celtic Nationalist or Monster Raving loony Party member, I still think he's a prat!
The Bourne Supremacy?
Nick Bourne appears to be in some trouble. First is the rumours that the long (long) awaited Richards Report into the Tories' position on further devolution which Cameron is refusing to read at this moment will advocate supporting a No campaign. Bourne has been banging the drum of further devolution for some time. If his party goes against him on the matter what will he do. Will he try and lead his AM's to breaking the party line and campaigning for his desired Yes vote? Or will he do what Glyn Davies seems to be doing already and backtrack so that he can bow-tow to his London leader?
Secondly the fallout from the "Rhodri Files" could be very damaging for Nick. Vaughan seems to believe it is will be very bad indeed for the Welsh Tory leader. Having seen the negative reaction to the dossier ridiculing Rhodri Morgan, Nick Bourne now claims that he had nothing to do with it and has apparently apologised to Rhodri in private. Tory insiders claim that Nick actually signed off on it while Glyn Davies sticks the knife in a bit further by stating that Bourne is acting like a captain walking off the field when the game gets hard.
So Mike's gone, Rhodri says he's going, Nick is in trouble - Ieuan should better make sure there's not a whiff of curry powder in the air!
Secondly the fallout from the "Rhodri Files" could be very damaging for Nick. Vaughan seems to believe it is will be very bad indeed for the Welsh Tory leader. Having seen the negative reaction to the dossier ridiculing Rhodri Morgan, Nick Bourne now claims that he had nothing to do with it and has apparently apologised to Rhodri in private. Tory insiders claim that Nick actually signed off on it while Glyn Davies sticks the knife in a bit further by stating that Bourne is acting like a captain walking off the field when the game gets hard.
So Mike's gone, Rhodri says he's going, Nick is in trouble - Ieuan should better make sure there's not a whiff of curry powder in the air!
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
The Lord Doth Speak
TEAM GB will have a football team for the 2012 Games, Seb Coe has confirmed, whatever opposition is put up by the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish.
The creation of the team has been opposed by the Football Associations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who are concerned it may compromise their individual status within Fifa.
But he said the BOA, which selects teams for the Games, has decided to press ahead with a football squad despite the opposition.
When asked last night about the opposition from the Welsh and Scots, Coe replied bluntly: “F*** em!”
The feeling's mutual mate. Prat.
Hat Tip: Gareth Young
Update: Interesting update to this story, the above story was printed in The London Paper, it is no longer available online. The Metro then wrote a story headed "Seb Coe denies 'f*** 'em' Olympic row" and now that story has also been taken down!
Monday, 29 September 2008
What Did I Just Say?
Cheryl Gillian, Tory Shadow Minister for Wales
“People deserve honesty from Plaid Cymru. They deserve to know where the party stands. They should trust the people of Wales by making it crystal clear where they stand on the question of Welsh independence."
Tory policy on further devolution
Ummm........dunno
Tories "dossier" on Rhodri Morgan
“unique dress sense and hairstyle...erratic and unusual behaviour...undermined the role of First Minister and embarrassed the National Assembly and Wales”
Tory Mayor of London
Tory Chair of Assembly’s Finance Committee, 25th September
I would have a strong and equal relationship with Westminster and the other devolved governments and I would demand our fair share, I would lobby for more powers to keep money in Wales for Wales. I would like to levy a small charge on some of the companies that use us as a gateway and I would re-invest that money in developing business"
Tory Chair of Assembly’s Finance Committee, 27th September
Misquoted, never asked for tax powers - "What I am suggesting is that we need to think smarter and work harder to make money being invested in Wales work better for Wales"
The Welsh Conservative Party - so consistently inconsistent!
Friday, 26 September 2008
Media Mess
So ITV Wales is, for all extent and purposes, no longer. The industry regulator, Ofcom, has announced that Welsh news coverage on the third channel will be reduced from 320 minutes a week to 240. Even worse is that non-news will fall from 240 minutes to just 90.
What this means in practical terms is that the evening Wales Today will be the only Welsh news on the channel, with the mid morning and weekend lunchtime programmes dropped. As for non-news ITV Wales' current flagship programmes like Wales This Week, Sharp End, Soccer Sunday, Fishlock's Wild Tracks and The Ferret will find themselves fighting for scraps.
ITV Wales' head of Drama was scathing in judging the proposals:
The barrenness of the media coverage was reflected by the recent poll which showed that over 30% of Welsh people interested in politics got their fix from the internet. Credit where it's due, the BBC Wales news website churn out plenty of stories, but, being the BBC, they are lifeless and simply contain quotes from government and opposition politics. The same pattern is employed by the Western Mail and her sister paper. What this means is that there is no-one left to actually investigate Welsh politics, to dig deep into her secrets and complexities. If Peter Hain had just been the Welsh Secretary and not the Secretary for Works and Pensions, would he have escaped disgrace? Because I can guarantee you that neither BBC Wales, ITV Wales nor the Western Mail would have any ability or interest to expose him.
With the possible end of Wales this Week and the Sharp End, and a further cut in Welsh news, what we are left with in this country are a few reporters. What we need is investigative reporters, but don't hold your breath.
What this means in practical terms is that the evening Wales Today will be the only Welsh news on the channel, with the mid morning and weekend lunchtime programmes dropped. As for non-news ITV Wales' current flagship programmes like Wales This Week, Sharp End, Soccer Sunday, Fishlock's Wild Tracks and The Ferret will find themselves fighting for scraps.
ITV Wales' head of Drama was scathing in judging the proposals:
“This is the kind of vested interests and cultural arrogance we have seen over the years where they have deliberately undermined our attempts to represent Wales on the UK network."It's already clear that coverage of devolved politics in Wales is abysmal. With the UK written media practically ignoring the Assembly all together and the Western Mail's circulation flatlining under 40,000 and seemingly concerned only in copying and pasting Adam Price's blog posts the only place the Welsh public learn about devolved politics is through their TV set. With the BBC being attacked for ignoring devolved politics and ITV now cutting their coverage to the bones things look quite bleak.
The barrenness of the media coverage was reflected by the recent poll which showed that over 30% of Welsh people interested in politics got their fix from the internet. Credit where it's due, the BBC Wales news website churn out plenty of stories, but, being the BBC, they are lifeless and simply contain quotes from government and opposition politics. The same pattern is employed by the Western Mail and her sister paper. What this means is that there is no-one left to actually investigate Welsh politics, to dig deep into her secrets and complexities. If Peter Hain had just been the Welsh Secretary and not the Secretary for Works and Pensions, would he have escaped disgrace? Because I can guarantee you that neither BBC Wales, ITV Wales nor the Western Mail would have any ability or interest to expose him.
With the possible end of Wales this Week and the Sharp End, and a further cut in Welsh news, what we are left with in this country are a few reporters. What we need is investigative reporters, but don't hold your breath.
Thursday, 25 September 2008
True To Their Word
Apparently we now have a wannabe official No campaign. (Such campaigns are not official until the Electoral Commission specifies them as "the chosen one", that won't happen until we actually have a referendum called).
It seems that someone had a quiet word in David Davies' ear about his suggestion of going with the slogan "Wales for the Union" so the name is now "True Wales". While the idea behind the name is that:
As a flashback to 1997 True Wales is led by a Tory and an unknown Labour Councillor (what happened, was even Llew Smith refusing to work with you David?). Apparently the group consists of Labour, Tories and Independents, although no names yet apart from those two - I wonder if there will be anyone else we've heard of (apart from the other Welsh Tory MP's, who we can safely assume will follow David anywhere).
So what kind of debate can we expect from True Wales? The fact that they're already talking of representing those who wish to stay in UK gives you a hint of what their tactic will be. The same theme can be seen in these two recent statements from True Wales' leading men:
Will the formation of True Wales mean a Yes campaign is set up soon? There will be lot of pressure on Labour and Plaid to form one but don't hold your breath, I have a feeling the One Wales Government has decided to wait until after the All Wales Convention before they make any such move. While that may or may not be a good idea, those in favour of a Yes vote should better start banging their drums a little louder, even if the first signs from the No campaign seem a bit weak. After all, it's important that they remember that the 1997 No campaign that so very nearly derailed devolution was also lead by an unknown Labour Councillor from the Valleys.
It seems that someone had a quiet word in David Davies' ear about his suggestion of going with the slogan "Wales for the Union" so the name is now "True Wales". While the idea behind the name is that:
"members felt that those who support Wales' presence in the United Kingdom have been for too long unfairly categorised as "anti-Welsh". True Wales aims to represent the true feelings of the huge majority of people in Wales who wish to remain in the United Kingdom"Hmm....representing the huge majority of people in Wales who wish to remain in the UK? Funny, I thought that we were talking about a referendum on further powers, something that apparently more of "people in Wales" (not "Welsh people" note) support than oppose.
As a flashback to 1997 True Wales is led by a Tory and an unknown Labour Councillor (what happened, was even Llew Smith refusing to work with you David?). Apparently the group consists of Labour, Tories and Independents, although no names yet apart from those two - I wonder if there will be anyone else we've heard of (apart from the other Welsh Tory MP's, who we can safely assume will follow David anywhere).
So what kind of debate can we expect from True Wales? The fact that they're already talking of representing those who wish to stay in UK gives you a hint of what their tactic will be. The same theme can be seen in these two recent statements from True Wales' leading men:
"...the devastating impact separation from Britain would have on Wales."
"Granting full lawmaking powers to the Assembly would be a huge step along the rocky road to full independence for Wales, which is what many people in the Yes camp actually want. Make no mistake – independence would drag Wales down to Soviet-style poverty"So expect True Wales to try and turn the referendum into one on independence instead of debating what the referendum actually is for, a devolved Parliament, weaker than that of Scotland. It also seems that they'll colour this theme with sweeping statements like above, telling us that there is no way on God's earth Wales could survive a Yes vote and independence without becoing a third world ghetto.
Will the formation of True Wales mean a Yes campaign is set up soon? There will be lot of pressure on Labour and Plaid to form one but don't hold your breath, I have a feeling the One Wales Government has decided to wait until after the All Wales Convention before they make any such move. While that may or may not be a good idea, those in favour of a Yes vote should better start banging their drums a little louder, even if the first signs from the No campaign seem a bit weak. After all, it's important that they remember that the 1997 No campaign that so very nearly derailed devolution was also lead by an unknown Labour Councillor from the Valleys.
Time for Fisitcuffs
Between Jenny Randerson sending out three announcements in a day and this video appearing on YouTube I guess it's fair to say that at least someone in the Welsh Lib Dem is up for a fight. Well, there's a first for everything!
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
Wow, Thanks Big G!
So here's those brand spanking new promises made in Brown's big comeback speech, the things that will benefit all of us who have young kids or are old, poor or sick and make us all love Labour again...
1. Free drugs for cancer patients
2. Free universal check ups for over 40's
3. Free broadband vouchers for low-income families
4. Free nursery for 2 year olds
Anyone see the link?
Here's a hint. When Gordon said this:
The Times thought they'd spotted the link, but still managed to mess it up...
1. Free drugs for cancer patients
2. Free universal check ups for over 40's
3. Free broadband vouchers for low-income families
4. Free nursery for 2 year olds
Anyone see the link?
Here's a hint. When Gordon said this:
"In April a Labour Britain will become the first country in the whole world to offer free universal check ups for everyone over 40."he was very much lying.
The Times thought they'd spotted the link, but still managed to mess it up...
"Free universal check-ups for the over-40s? Extension of nursery places? No prescription charges for cancer patients? A commissioner for victims of crime? More children connected to the internet? All England and Wales only, I'm afraid."I despair sometimes!
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
Money Money Money
So Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire Tory Westminster candidate Simon Hart has received £40k from a hedge fund to beat Labour MP Nick Ainger in the next election. Apparently Mr Hart is an avid Countryside Alliance member and huntsman and the good old folk at Christofferson, Robb and Co are buddies of his.
While the hedge fund's HQ is in New York there's nothing dodgy about the gift as it comes from their London office, which is registered as an UK company. But you have to say it's an interesting gift. The ban on Fox Hunting had a majority of over 200 in the Commons - Simon Hart won't change that by any measurable extent.
While the Western Mail's article on the story, mainly a copy of a blog post by Plaid Cymru candidate John Dixon, puts great emphasis on the New York link I see that as a side issue. Both John Dixon and Nick Ainger seem to have realised that the best way to attack this gift is to emphasise that it came from a City hedge fund - the people most of us seem to blame for the current economic turmoil.
With Simon Hart already odds on to win Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire for the Tories, could his generous friends be more a bother than their worth?
While the hedge fund's HQ is in New York there's nothing dodgy about the gift as it comes from their London office, which is registered as an UK company. But you have to say it's an interesting gift. The ban on Fox Hunting had a majority of over 200 in the Commons - Simon Hart won't change that by any measurable extent.
While the Western Mail's article on the story, mainly a copy of a blog post by Plaid Cymru candidate John Dixon, puts great emphasis on the New York link I see that as a side issue. Both John Dixon and Nick Ainger seem to have realised that the best way to attack this gift is to emphasise that it came from a City hedge fund - the people most of us seem to blame for the current economic turmoil.
With Simon Hart already odds on to win Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire for the Tories, could his generous friends be more a bother than their worth?
So Influential We Forgot His Name
The Telegraph's list of Top 100 lefties has a new entry at 83 this year:
83. (NEW) IEUEAN WYN JONES
Leader, Plaid Cymru
It may be mere opportunism or the example of what the SNP has achieved but Plaid Cymru’s leader has turned on his coalition partners to good effect this year. His attacks on Labour for having lost its way ring true in a Wales that has benefited from devolution and Labour governments but often not as much as the Scots seem to have done. There have been as many false dawns for Welsh nationalism as there have been general elections since the Second World War, but maybe this time with Labour in meltdown and Jones in charge their time has finally come?
Ieuean? Still, I'm sure Ieuan will be happy enough to be higher than Neil Kinnock, Ken Livingstone and Martin McGuinness in a pointless list, even if he was below a Liberal-Left Blogger!
Friday, 19 September 2008
British Bull
Vaughan Roderick points us in the direction of a paper by the Minister of State Liam Byrne on Britishness. Apparently:
One of the days suggested as a potential bank Holiday to celebrate our Britishness was St George's Day! As to how we should celebrate it, Liam Byrne has his opinions again. Not too much idolising of the Union Jack (thank god for that!), by promoting posters of iconic figures like Churchill, by incorporating ex-Empire countries (oh yes, I'm sure they'd love that!), another Queen's speech (isn't one per year enough?!). Finally there is a suggestion that celebrities with the right values should take part in the national celebrations. Who are these celebrities? Liam suggests David Beckham and Kate Moss. Ah yes, a cocaine addict and a multi-multi-multi millionaire who moved to Spain and America - the perfect values for Britishness!
The document is also a masterstroke of ignoring the elephant in the room. In a 96 page document about Britishness today the word "devolution" isn't mentioned once!
"Britishness is quite simply one of the most important associations that we have; it is a code, shaped by our history and reinforced by our everyday experience, which defines so much of the way we look at the world"Really?
One of the days suggested as a potential bank Holiday to celebrate our Britishness was St George's Day! As to how we should celebrate it, Liam Byrne has his opinions again. Not too much idolising of the Union Jack (thank god for that!), by promoting posters of iconic figures like Churchill, by incorporating ex-Empire countries (oh yes, I'm sure they'd love that!), another Queen's speech (isn't one per year enough?!). Finally there is a suggestion that celebrities with the right values should take part in the national celebrations. Who are these celebrities? Liam suggests David Beckham and Kate Moss. Ah yes, a cocaine addict and a multi-multi-multi millionaire who moved to Spain and America - the perfect values for Britishness!
The document is also a masterstroke of ignoring the elephant in the room. In a 96 page document about Britishness today the word "devolution" isn't mentioned once!
Huw Lewis Leadership Tactics Part 2
After his recent decision to learn Welsh, Huw Lewis has now swung his leadership campaign into Phase 2. He is quoted as saying: “
There won’t be any turning back of the clock. The coalition government is here to stay until 2011 – nobody should be saying or doing anything that might undermine that.”What has changed the mind of the man who lost his place in Government because of his opposition to the Labour-Plaid pact? Well he'll probably need the support of one or two of those 62% of members who voted for the One Wales and the 96% of Trade Union affiliates who also voted yes!
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Paralympic Gold
Pontypridd's Dave Roberts notched up his 11th Paralympic Gold by winning the 50m freestyle today, equalling Tanni Grey-Thompson's record haul. Another Welsh paralympian, 13 year old Eleanor Simmonds from Swansea, took 2 gold medals and a World Record in the pool to add to the Welsh haul today. Impressive stuff.
Saturday, 13 September 2008
Scotish Labour's Saviour?
Scottish Labour have chosen their new leader, the Chosen One is Iain Gray. Never heard of him? Me neither! The big question of course is how will he deal with Alex Salmond and will he be able to convince Scottish voters to vote Labour in the next general Election and, more importantly, to vote No if the SNP get their referendum. In both cases he'll have to outmaneuver the SNP and out-wit the media-savy Salmond. Can he do it? Here's Gray's most high profile TV spot to date, I'll let you make your own minds up.
Reality Bites
Wales Office Minister and Labour MP Huw Iranca-Davies gets the award for most bizarre attack of the day after he said this:
"I hope that after the heady nationalistic froth of Plaid Cymru’s conference, Ieuan Wyn will get back to reality. His comments this week have laid bare the soul of Plaid Cymru, and most people in Wales will not like what they have seen, as the nationalists lick their lips over the possibility of a Conservative government in Wales"This is what Ieuan Wyn Jones said to anger Huw so much:
"The smart money is on probably the Tories winning the next general election, which I think would be bad news for Wales"So what part of that is devoid of reality? Does Huw believe that the Tories are not odds-on to win the next election, or is he saying that Ieuan Wyn is deluded to think that the Tories winning would be "bad news for Wales"? Answers on a postcard.
Brown Bullied
As the new political season swings into action nothing seems to have changed down at number 10. Yesterday Brown was forced to sack one of his whips, Siobhain McDonagh, after she called for a leadership election. McDonagh would usually be seen as a Brown ally and not one of the "usual suspects" of rebel MP's. Today another government loyalist, Joan Ryan MP, makes the same call.
There needs to be 70 MP's calling for a leadership contest before Labour are duty bound to hold one. The way these calls have been staggered over the two days (with probably more to come over the next few days) it's likely that the contest calling MP's know they haven;t got the numbers yet but are hoping that one-by-one they're setting the ball rolling before Labour's conference.
Will Brown be Labour leader come the next election? I just don't know. Common sense tells me that Labour MP's must know that keeping Brown is like Turkeys voting for Christmas, but something is telling me that a leadership contest just won't happen, not now anyway.
Hat tip to Glyn Davies who commented on Siobhain McDonagh's calls yesterday by saying:
Note: An anon corrects my spelling of Joan and a third Labour MP, George Howarth, calls for a leadership election.
There needs to be 70 MP's calling for a leadership contest before Labour are duty bound to hold one. The way these calls have been staggered over the two days (with probably more to come over the next few days) it's likely that the contest calling MP's know they haven;t got the numbers yet but are hoping that one-by-one they're setting the ball rolling before Labour's conference.
Will Brown be Labour leader come the next election? I just don't know. Common sense tells me that Labour MP's must know that keeping Brown is like Turkeys voting for Christmas, but something is telling me that a leadership contest just won't happen, not now anyway.
Hat tip to Glyn Davies who commented on Siobhain McDonagh's calls yesterday by saying:
To this observer, it does not look like an isolated act. She's a whip, and they know a bit about tearoom chatter. I expect another grenade to be lobbed into the Brown Bunker tomorrow from behind another unexpected bush.Well called Glyn!
Note: An anon corrects my spelling of Joan and a third Labour MP, George Howarth, calls for a leadership election.
Thursday, 11 September 2008
Bye Betty Bach
Conwy MP Betty "Bach" Williams will retire at the next General Election, which answers one question which has been hanging around for a while. Due to boundary changes some of her previous seat had moved to the new Arfon constituency with the rest in the new Aberconwy constituency. Although both these new seats are nominally Labour, Betty had a big problem in that both are vulnerable come the next election.
Aberconwy, won by Plaid in the Assembly elections, will almost certainly be lost to the Tories and Guto Bebb. Betty would be facing a big struggle to "defend" that seat. She would have a much better chance in the Arfon seat as she is from that area and would get a strong personal vote. Unfortunately for her Martin Eaglestone seems to have a lock on every election that covers Caernarfon, even though he's lost more than anyone dare count! She was therefore left to defend, and probably lose, Aberconwy or to retire. At the age of 64 it's no shock that she chose the latter.
Aberconwy, won by Plaid in the Assembly elections, will almost certainly be lost to the Tories and Guto Bebb. Betty would be facing a big struggle to "defend" that seat. She would have a much better chance in the Arfon seat as she is from that area and would get a strong personal vote. Unfortunately for her Martin Eaglestone seems to have a lock on every election that covers Caernarfon, even though he's lost more than anyone dare count! She was therefore left to defend, and probably lose, Aberconwy or to retire. At the age of 64 it's no shock that she chose the latter.
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Panic Room
Here's a video that's just appeared on YouTube. Using the same footage that every "let's dub Hitler" uses (there's another one for Shane Williams leaving the Ospreys). It's totally incorrect in so many ways (for some reason doesn't mention the school re-organisation plan which turned so many in Gwynedd against Plaid Cymru and weirdly enough calls Llais Gwynedd by their defunct name of Llais y Bobol) and libelous in so many more (repeats the totally untrue rumours spreaded by Llais Gwynedd supporters that Dafydd Iwan and friends were getting free flats and backhanders from those building the Victoria Dock complex) and is a perfect example of the gutter politics I just lambasted in the last post but it's still very well put together and gave me a giggle or two! Enjoy!
Note: I found this video through Peter Black's blog. Peter posted the video and commented "This is hysterical. Those of a nervous disposition should not watch it, especially those who maybe offended by bad language". That post has now disappeared, not really a surprise considering the string of libelous comments in the video!
Note: I found this video through Peter Black's blog. Peter posted the video and commented "This is hysterical. Those of a nervous disposition should not watch it, especially those who maybe offended by bad language". That post has now disappeared, not really a surprise considering the string of libelous comments in the video!
Gutter Politics
I thought that petty politics was rife in Wales, but clearly it's a thousand times worse in the USA! Democratic candidate Barack Obama said in a speech yesterday that McCain's adoption of Obama's "Change" motto was just "putting lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig" when you remember that the Republicans have been running Washington for 8 years.
McCain's campaign have now launched an ad, picked up by the American media of course, accusing Obama of sexism and of calling Republican vice President candidate Palin a pig! And if that wasn't an absurd enough claim on it's own, it's made even more foolish after the Democrats responded by flagging up a YouTube clip of McCain 9 months ago calling Hillary Clinton's health plan "putting lipstick on a pig"!
With intellectual debates like this you'd think America was choosing a class clown not a President.
McCain's campaign have now launched an ad, picked up by the American media of course, accusing Obama of sexism and of calling Republican vice President candidate Palin a pig! And if that wasn't an absurd enough claim on it's own, it's made even more foolish after the Democrats responded by flagging up a YouTube clip of McCain 9 months ago calling Hillary Clinton's health plan "putting lipstick on a pig"!
With intellectual debates like this you'd think America was choosing a class clown not a President.
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