Freedom Central » Aneurin Glyndwr

This week I have mostly been reading…

Matt O'Grady — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:42:54 +0000

This week is over, it’s not coming back. It’s dead. This article will stand as a testament as to some of what happened. When history reviews it, historians will probably be confused and slightly disappointed before moving on to some sort of more accurate record instead. Hmm, that’s not a great opener.

Ah sod it, that’ll do.

Has Adam Price MP gone to America already? His blog has been unusually silent recently… In fact silence is a Plaid theme this week. Normally Plaid bloggers love to talk about how their esteemed leader is ‘single handedly saving the world economy’, ’beating the recession in Wales’ and ’12% more amazing than steak’. But this week, the Welsh Assembly’s Finance Committee pointed out that, basically, these claims are complete bollocks. A summary of why they are bollocks is given by Dylan Jones-Evans.

It had to be fairly galling for Plaid. How many times have they had to suck up to Labour Ministers and vote the right way to ensure the collective Government took credit and everyone looks good, particularly the Minister. But this time Plaid tried too hard, the amendments Plaid attempted to submit to the report were a bit too sycophantic and baseless. So Labour turned around and basically said ‘bugger that’, and instead voted through the report despite it being critical of the government. So Plaid have spent the last 18 months supporting Labour, and when they look for support of their own, they end up with the amazing sight of Chris Franks AM sat on his own in committee voting in support of his own leader, while everyone else smirks slightly and votes against him. Well done Plaid, you got such a good deal there.

As recently resurrected Labour bile machine Aneurin Glyndwr points out, much of the committees intolerance came from the fact that these amendments were from Plaid’s spin doctors, rather than their members on the committee. While this kind of activity tends to be common place in the rest of Assembly affairs, committees have retained some form of independence, and this is of course welcome. But obviously as with many things, Plaid don’t think that they deserve the same scrutiny as other parties. Well tough, you’re in government, expect to get it.

And on the subject of Aneurin Glyndwr, it needs pointing out that the site closing down was reported by me on Sunday. A full two days before Betsan Powys of the BBC, followed by Guerrilla Welsh-Fare and Welsh Ramblings. I think Vaughan Roderick blogged on it too but err…..I can’t read Welsh. Sorry.

But yes, I am leading the way in Welsh political journalism right now. I’m going to follow it up with the scoop on how Irene James is in fact a Kangaroo sent by a covert Kangaroo black-ops unit to bring down western civilisation. Snark, the Kangaroo over-lord is slightly disappointed with her performance though and her funding may not be renewed in the next budget round.

This week will finally see the publication of Sir Emyr Jones Parry and the All Wales Convention’s recommendation of whether the government should go for a referendum or not. As Lee Walters of the Bevan Foundation points out, it’s a pretty open secret that he is going to say ‘yes’, in some form or another. Guerrilla Welsh-Fare thinks that “there may be a lot of pressure on the One Wales Government to get the process underway”, an assertion that is probably correct. The question is who will end up unhappier by the government response, Labour MPs or Plaid AMs?

The Institute of Welsh Affairs has published a summary of some of the challenges facing the next First Minister. None are particularly surprising, as these are things that the Welsh Liberal Democrats have been pointing out for months. What we need is some clarity from the Labour leadership candidates on how they will address these issues, and if you saw Dragons Eye on Thursday, you’ll know not to expect that. Politics Cymru has a review of the debate, as well as pointing out that you are sad if you watched it. Which I agree with, and am aware that makes me sad.

But thanks to Simon Dyda we do know that Neil Kinnock will be backing Huw Lewis. Although Welsh Ramblings thinks that this might be ‘a kiss of death’. Apparently, Aneurin Bevan will also be backing Huw, despite being dead 49 years. Meanwhile Carwyn Jones has received backing from several senior trade unionists according to Wales Home. I would take a guess that they are all still alive.

Next week, I will not be reading any blogs. So I won’t be writing an article. If I can find a volunteer/bribe another author/deceive someone else into writing it, expect it to be probably a bit better.

But if you point out how much better it is, I will seek vengeance.

This week I have mostly been reading…

Matt O'Grady — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:29:37 +0000

Bored? Reading blogs? Do something more interesting with your time by attempting to track down a Badger and give it refuge before Elin Jones gets it. Or read this. The choice is yours.

Actually, Badgers don’t seem to be on the blogs which is a shame. Apparently the pointless slaughter of thousands of creatures isn’t important enough to talk about. This is what is.

Glyn Davies is of the opinion that David Cameron’s promise not to veto any request for a referendum on further powers “was a very big day for Welsh politics”. Well, Mr Davies may well be right, this is both significant and very welcome. The clarity going into the election was needed. Unsurprisingly Nick Bourne welcomes the announcement as well.

But it does highlight the sad reality of the Conservative party’s attitude to Wales. Apparently we should welcome their decision not to over-rule the decision of a democratically elected government with it’s own mandate to rule. Can he promise that his Secretary of State will not start pissing around with LCOs in the way that the current one does? That would be nice.

Does anyone remember about a year ago when Labour promised to revolutionise the internet with Aneurin Glyndwr? Lets be honest, it was forgettable at best. Well, when I tried to log onto it now it tells me I need a username and password and it is now an ‘online resource for Labour members in Wales’. Well, well done on revolutionising internet campaigning Labour. While Freedom Central goes from strength to strength, your attempt at a collective blog falls flat on it’s face. Is this whole paragraph a smug gloat? Yes, and unashamedly so.

Right, the X-Factor twins have just survived again. What the fucking fuck? Sorry, normal service will be resumed. If you can call this service normal.

As the month goes on, the donkey race is continuing. In less than a month we will know who the next First Minister is going to be. But with the All Wales Convention reporting soon, a prickly subject is raising it’s head and, according to Betsan Powys it could be a deal breaker. Let’s be honest, the main reason many Plaid members were happy to get into the sack with Labour was because of the promise of a referendum. The One Wales Document, that magic scroll with which this country is run, is very clear on this. It states in no uncertain terms that they will “proceed to a successful outcome to a referendum for full law-making powers under Part IV as soon as practicable, at or before the end of the Assembly term.” No mention there of ‘as long as Labour members agree.’ Two contenders, the most likely winners, seem to now be retrospectively adding such a condition.

I don’t think it would be too over the top to say that should the new First Minister decide to back out on this commitment then they would essentially be breaking the act and I don’t think many people would be particularly shocked if Plaid did decide to walk away from the Government. John Dixon, the Chair of Plaid Cymru is less worried however, and is “confident both parties understand exactly what they agreed to”, which may be the case, but do they understand what each other believes they agreed to?

What would that mean for the future of the Assembly Government? Lord bloody knows.

Rumours seem to be abound of a March election. Something I heard yesterday and also appearing on Tory MP David Jones blog. He isn’t wrong, the thought of a February campaign isn’t one that will fill many peoples hearts with joy. Ever tried to leaflet wearing gloves? Harder than it looks. Can we drum up the activists to put on a full campaign earlier in the year, oh yes. But some of us would rather not regardless!

We know that Rhodri Morgan isn’t going to be in the Government next year, but of course there is more than just one person that makes up the Government. Wales Home’s Daran Hill is right when he suggests that Rhodri’s governments have never changed drastically. For as long as I have paid any attention to Welsh politics there have been the staple faces of Jane Hutt, Jane Davidson, Andrew Davies, Brian Gibbons, Carwyn Jones and Edwina Hart. A quick check of wikipedia suggests that they have almost all always been involved in the government, or at least for the vast majority of the time of the Assembly.

Whoever does win, they will want to put their own stamp on the make up of the Government, and surely that has to involve more than simply just re-arranging the deck chairs. For once I agree with Guerilla Welsh Fare who questions who there is who is actually good enough to come into the Cabinet. Given that there are several cabinet members stepping down, now would be a good time to bring new talent in. I struggle to think of options for doing so. Thankfully I won’t be First Minister in a months time, not unless something goes seriously wrong somewhere anyway.

Over two months ago, an erudite, clever, smart, sexy, modest and just possibly slightly delusional individual pointed out that you could bet on the race for First Minister. Back then Ladbrokes were willing to offer 5/1 on Edwina Hart, and put Huw Lewis in second favourite.

This is no longer the case, as the latest odds are as follows:

Carwyn Jones: 4/9
Edwina Hart: 9/4
Huw Lewis: 7/1

Certainly not good news for the Lewis camp, whose chances may have been overstated by Ladbrokes in the first place. But good news for anyone who followed my advice to bet on Edwina. If you got 5/1 then this two horse race could be profitable. Should she win, I will have enough for 37 pints of tasty, tasty Kalt in the new pub in the bay.

Not that I am advising gambling and spending money on beer or anything. Only a reckless idiot would do that.

This week I have mostly been reading….

Matt O'Grady — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 23:57:34 +0000

Much thanks to Jeremy ‘the bane of Bala’ Townsend for filling in for me last week. I was either drunk or busy. I forget which.

And it’s Freedom Central’s own Jeremy that I will start by writing about. In case you missed it, and given that it is now the second most read post on this blog, you probably didn’t, Jeremy wrote an extensive post on how to protect, and indeed improve, the Welsh arts sector. He argued that politicians should attempt to stay out of the arguments surrounding the arts, as they “know little about the situation.”

Obviously, this meant a politician had to pile into the argument. Adam Price MP stated that the arms length model outlined in Jeremy’s piece would be “unaccountable and so prone to elitism” before continuing his arguments a few days later arguing that as a party we have now “possibly overtaken the Welsh Conservatives as the most anglicised party in Wales”.

While Jeremy and Adam Price did manage to keep the argument at a reasonably intellectual level (meaning most of it went over my head) Guerrilla Welsh-Fare decided to ignore the point all together and have a nice little rant based upon very little actual substance. He also found a way to attack Peter Black while he was at it. Obviously I wouldn’t expect much else.

Angry Oli Townsend of Cardiff Student Lib Dems also weighed into the argument, sticking up for his big brother (awww), arguing that the term ‘anglo-centric’ distracts from the real political arguments underway.

The other big story of the week, which may be in part due to the summer recess, is those comments by Daniel Hannan MEP. What irks me about this story, is that every party, including our own, has those who are not on message or make stupid comments. Every party is a broad church with members on the left and the right. The Tories are not exempt from this. Yes, Daniel Hannan’s comments were stupid and he should be ashamed. But for people to attempt to represent them as the real view of the Conservative’s (such as Labour site Aneurin Glyndwr) is nothing more than just attempting to mis-represent another party’s position. Many have done it to our party. I remember a Plaid freshers fair leaflet that quoted one backbench MSP on local income tax, and claimed that this meant our entire party didn’t agree with it, which was obviously bollocks. Such claims just dilute real political debate and piss-off the public. We know that a Tory victory would be bad for the NHS, but we don’t need to use Hannan’s comments to make these claims. He will damage the Tories enough, other parties don’t need to then spin that past the truth.

I could write a lot more about the NHS stuff as there is a lot on the blogs this week. But all seem to agree that the NHS is good and FOX News and/or Daniel Hannan are crazy. I’d rather spend more time talking about Wales specific stuff than what is happening in America.

Away from politics, Glyn Davies gives us his thoughts on the upcoming football season. My own predictions are Man United to take the crown, with Burnley, Portsmouth and Wolves relegated. Wolves will be bottom. Promoted will be Newcastle followed by West Brom, although as an Albion fan I hope to be wrong.

I don’t think it is a shock to anyone that Plaid and the Lib Dem’s don’t always see eye to eye, at least according to Daran Hill of Wales Home. Nor is it a shock that the two parties actually have much in common, on a range of policies which you would think would make us natural allies. Personally, I do not see Plaid as the enemy, or at least on nothing more than a ‘can we take votes in this ward’ level. My personal preference would be for a Plaid-led government over a Labour or Tory led one. If it was possible to have a Plaid/Lib Dem coalition in 2007, I firmly believe it could have been a fantastic and progressive government for Wales (second only to a majority Lib Dem one), however this was not a possibility, nor is it likely to be one in the immediate future.

From what I have seen of the way that decisions are taken on what our Assembly Members will be doing in plenary each week, or how press releases will be spun, there is no stated tactic of attacking Plaid. It just so happens that many of the areas where the government is failing the most, like the economy and housing, are the areas where the Plaid Ministers are in charge. Until their departments improve, expect the attacks to continue. But if they do, then do not be surprised when the Welsh Lib Dems move on to other topics and attacking other parties.

I don’t know how Plaid view us, although according to Simon Dyda, it is with a mixture of ‘pity and amusement’. Feel free to underestimate us if you want. It’ll make taking votes from you easier.

Linking to Adam Price MP for the third time in one article, he gives ten effects of a Tory Westminster Government on Wales. While I would agree with the majority of his points, number three amuses me. Apparently a Tory win would mean a delay or possible rejection of a demand for a referendum on further powers, on the grounds of not wanting to split the Conservative Party. This is of course completely different to the Labour party, who are categorically not delaying a referendum to stop a split between the Assembly group and the Westminster group.

Not many subjects covered this week, but tough. There was also a post by the BMA which mentions alcohol pricing, but I’d rather talk about that in an individual post, if I get a chance tomorrow.

Enjoy your week. Or don’t. Up to you really.

Plaid Cymru’s smear campaign

Peter Black — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:42:00 +0000

Whilst all the focus has been on Damian McBride and in Wales, Aneurin Glyndwr, there has been another smear campaign going on for some time which so far has slipped below the political radar.

The existence of unofficial Plaid Cymru blogs, Welsh Ramblings and Guerrilla Welsh Fare has been evident for some time. These sites are highly partisan, personal, and partial in the way that they interpret news, take statements and facts out-of-context and in the selection of the issues they wish to blog about. You will not read anything on these sites for example about Plaid Cymru’s u-turn on top-up fees but that is fair enough. They exist to sell the nationalist cause not to undermine it.

What is regrettable is the way that they reduce politics to the intensely personal, choosing to denigrate an individual’s character rather than deal with the issues. That does not mean that all their posts fall into this category. Some are fair comment and make useful political points but the overriding theme is one of smearing their opponents through misrepresentation, straightforward lies and offensive and often sexist comment.

This tone is carried on elsewhere in the blogosphere through anonymous comments on other people’s blogs that have clearly come from the Plaid Cymru camp. Often these comments reflect the posts on the Plaid Cymru attack blogs. This is all very well and good. If Plaid want to take politics into the gutter that is a matter for them.

There is of course a place for criticism and even antagonistic comment in politics but it should concentrate on issues not personalities, the political actions of individuals not their character. Smeargate surely signals the end of anonymous attack blogs and internet trolls, at least in mainstream politics, so why do Plaid continue to allow their members to use these two sites to promote this stream of invective?

The party may argue that they have no control over the actions of individual members and that maybe the case. It has not stopped them expelling members who disagree with the leadership of course but that is a matter for them too. Indeed if these were just individual members having their say then I would accept that Ieuan Wyn Jones might be powerless to do anything about it. It would still reflect badly on his party but that is his problem.

However, it is now becoming apparent that these two blogs are not being run by ordinary party members at all. In fact, I am told that they are being run by Plaid Cymru ‘staffers’ and by at least one Assembly Member Support Staff. If that is the case then the Party can do something about the content of these blogs.

Do not get me wrong, I have no problem with staff members blogging in work time. That is a matter between them and their employer. They are after all employed to support their bosses within a political environment and it would be pretty dumb to argue that they cannot be political or make public comment on politics. What I do object to is the way that they are bringing politics into disrepute. Do their employers support and condone that?

Perhaps we should ask them? Maybe the Chief Executive of Plaid Cymru and the various Assembly Members and MPs for that party can confirm whether or not any of their staff blog and if so whether they do so anonymously, under a pseudonym or in their own name. I am not interested in the past just the present simply because we have now entered a new era and it is time to move forward in the way we intend to go on.

I will start the ball rolling by saying that to the best of my knowledge only two members of my staff blog. One of them does so on this site in his own name, the other contributes occasionally to the Morriston Liberal Democrat blog under the pseudonym, Morriston Focus, but as she is a prominent member of the Morriston Focus Team, her address is on the site and she confines herself to dealing with local issues I do not think that is a problem.

I will also acknowledge that I am one of the people who contributes to this site as admin, which I do for administrative reasons. In particular I will use this pseudonym to post contributions by other politicians so as not to confuse the authorship of the piece.

It is now over to Plaid Cymru politicians to make their own declarations.

Sniping within the coalition

Freedom Central — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 07:37:00 +0000

Welsh Labour’s attack-blog, Aneurin Glyndwr entered new territory yesterday when it directly criticised the performance in government of the Deputy First Minister.

In this instance the author was unhappy at the way that Plaid Cymru are handling the economy portfolio and the contradictory message being sent out by the Government as a consequence:

But the big story that the BBC are continuing to ignore is the chaos that is Plaid’s policy on economic development. We are in the middle of a financial crisis; just about the one thing that politicians of almost every other party can agree on is the need to bring new jobs into Wales.

With unemployment rising, and everyone else tightening their belts, it is simply a disgrace that senior Plaid politicians are allowed to get away with continually campaigning against LNG jobs in Milford Haven, and the new Defence Training Academy in St Athan.

Plaid Deputy President and MEP Jill Evans has a well-paid job in Brussels (for now) so these new jobs might not mean much to her, but they are so important to our communities. Her behaviour is deeply irresponsible.

We at Aneurin Glyndwr certainly have our differences with Ieuan Wyn Jones, but ultimately we believe him to be an honourable man who wants the best for his country. Now the time has come for him to show leadership, as Deputy First Minister of Wales, he should publicly denounce Jill Evans and other senior party figures, before they put more Welsh jobs at risk.

Let us not forget that this website is run by senior Labour Party figures – former Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain; Eluned Morgan MEP; and Alun Davies AM. It carries the endorsements of the current Secetary of State, Paul Murphy and the First Minister, Rhodri Morgan. In the circumstances it would be difficult to argue that this personal attack on Ieuan Wyn Jones’ inability to control his own party and deliver on his portfolio is not an official one.

It is now apparent that Plaid Cymru’s insistence on acting as an opposition within government is beginning to try the patience of senior Labour Ministers and is creating strong tensions within the coalition.

Ieuan Wyn Jones’ authority in his own party has already been weakened by these attacks from senior Plaid Cymru members on his actions as a Minister, now the Nationalists’ indiscipline is threatening to unpick the threads tying together the One Wales Administration.