Freedom Central » Glyn Davies

Can Welsh Government Ministers be trusted to keep a secret?

Peter Black — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 09:00:38 +0000

Catching up on Welsh blogs after my half-term break I was intrigued to see this post from Glyn Davies MP, who is the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Wales.

Writing about the alleged lack of consultation with the S4C Board and Welsh Government Ministers over the role of BBC funding of the Welsh Language channel, S4C Glyn says:

Firstly, according to people ‘in the know’ like Tomos Livingstone of the Western Mail, the decision came ‘out of the blue’ , and at the last minute. I certainly didn’t know – and why should I have known? Suggests that there might not have been time for consultation before the CSR was signed off. And secondly, there would inevitably have been concern about confidentiality – since previous discussions at private meetings between the Culture Secretary and Plaid Cymru seemed to have become public within minutes.

The clear implication here is that UK Government Ministers do not trust their Welsh Government counterparts to keep controversial matters to themselves. If this is the case then it would explain a lot about the arguments over the respect agenda.

I have said before that respect is a two way process. In contrast the Welsh Government appear to think that it is about them being involved in decisions on non-devolved matters on their terms. Something that may have been possible in a cosy one party state but is not so easy when the two Governments are of different political persuasions.

The extra factor introduced by Glyn, a member of the Government for all intents and purposes, is that there is a trust issue too. If the UK Government cannot trust Labour and Plaid Cymru Ministers to keep confidences then the relationship between the two is even worse than we thought.

Is this blog post meant as a message from Cheryl Gillan to Carwyn Jones that he and his Ministers need to get their act together and start to behave like grown-ups?

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, 11 Oct 2009 20:58:18 +0000

So this week I expected to be reading lots about the budget, but surprisingly there isn’t much about the massive cut in capital funding in much every department. Apparently that isn’t newsworthy. So here is what is more worthy of discussion.

Oh, and advance warning that there probably won’t be an update next week because it is our conference and I will be too tired/hungover to do this next Sunday. I can tell you’re gutted. If anyone wants to volunteer to take my place for a week, feel free to volunteer!

As pointed out by Glyn Davies, tomorrow is likely to see Mps expenses return to the headlines. The fact that they have pretty much already announced that Gordon Brown will be asked to repay some cash will guarantee it becomes a high profile story even if no new information is revealed. Inside Out suggests that a new batch of MPs could be dragged into the media storm. I wonder who will be looking nervous tomorrow morning?

The soon to be ex MP Adam Price has posted an essay he wrote for the Western Mail, explaining why he thinks that Labour’s best chance is to stick with Plaid and not to ’hook up with some yellow tinged party of the centre’. Should Labour decide to ditch the ‘green stained party of daffodils’ then any yellow tinged party would surely be foolish to consider getting involved with Labour. Such an action would be akin to rats swimming towards a sinking ship, a ship that everyone would be best place in staying well away from. If Plaid want to remain onboard, then please feel free to, but prepare to get very wet.

I think Lee Waters of the Bevan Foundation’s blog ‘This is my Truth’ is getting a little carried away with his assertion that having a week where the Labour leader and First Minister is ‘hardly a recipe for stability’. If it was a long term arrangement, then it wouldn’t work, but for a week? I’m sure people will cope. It will be clear what Rhodri is there for, and clear that his successor will be in charge a week later. What will potentially be more controversial is the make-up of the cabinet. Presumably whoever takes charge will want to shape their team as they see fit, and with the likelihood being that there will be at least one vacancy in the cabinet at the time they won’t have much choice. During that week will Minister’s have to take decisions knowing that the new Labour leader wants to move them?

Cambria Politico are looking for films that can be compared to Plaid Cymru. I have a suggestion: Twilight. Like Twilight, Plaid lack any coherent narrative, point, value and seem to have a number of followers still complete convinced of the positives and showing a blind, unshaking faith in everything about them. Both also fill me with anger based on one point each that I feel needs to be put in capitals IEAUN WYN JONES HAS NOT SAVED THE WELSH ECONOMY and REAL VAMPIRES DO NOT SPARKLE. Ahem.

Guerilla Welsh-Fare seems to think it’s bizarre that Labour aren’t allowing proper scrutiny of their leadership candidates. While I agree with his reasoning as to why they should allow it, it isn’t exactly surprising they aren‘t. We’re talking about a party that puts so much faith in their members that their votes will only count for 1/3 of the final outcome. They do not believe in internal party democracy, which is fine, it’s their party and their choice how they run it. But if I was a Labour member, I would have to question why the hierarchy puts so little faith in my opinion? Maybe being in the Lib Dems has just distorted my view to the extent that I believe democracy should always be the default outcome. And there is a second question, if they are worried about awkward questions from their own members, are they not worried about awkward questions from the media and the other parties?

In the web side of the battle for Labour leadsership, my favourite site has to be Huw Lewis’s. Not only is he showing a sense of humour with bloopers and myths (which I very much approve of, humour has an important part in making politics bearable), he now has five pledges. The one that interests me is his pledge to build ‘more and better affordable housing’. What makes this interesting, is that it’s currently in the control of a Plaid Deputy Minister. Is he suggesting Jocelyn Davies isn’t doing a good enough job? Will he be trying to get her to change her approach to the issue? How exactly does he plan to deliver this promise? Don’t get me wrong, I agree with him, more needs to be done and if he can give credible suggestions on how he will achieve this goal then fair play to him. I hope that we will see exactly what he plans to do in this regard during the contest.

As much as I despise racism, along with everyone who reads this I hope, I don’t think Leanne Wood is right to press the police to ban the protest by the right wing Welsh Defence League. Politicians have to resist the calls to censor viewpoints that are unpopular. Just because you don’t like another organisations view, doesn’t give you any right to call for it not to be aired. What is however concerning is the risk of violence at this protest, a risk which will unfortunately be increased if another protest takes place at the same time and police resources are stretched. Wales Home carries an article this week suggesting similar views about the continued existence of no platform policies.

Right, that’s it for this week.

Actually no. No it isn’t. I need to say it again. Fuck you Stephanie Meyer. I want two hours of my life back and a refund for the cost of my cinema ticket. And an apology. I mean seriously, sparkling vampires? What the hell? How did you think that would work? You just ruined the whole genre of vampire films. Every time I even hear the word vampire I’m going to think of that film and I’m going to be angry. I won’t forgive you for that.

I carry grudges for too long.

This week I have mostly been reading…

Matt O'Grady — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:05:37 +0000

I’m ill, and still blogging. That is commitment. Someone email me a lemsip.

As the contest to succeed Rhodri Morgan as Labour leader/First Minister begins, it’s obviously going to be the main subject on the blogs. We now have three declared candidates. Edwina Hart, Huw Lewis and Carwyn Jones. Not much surprise or inspiration there really. Carwyn Jones’ campaign website went live today and a formal declaration is probable tomorrow.

But there isn’t much agreement on who the eventual winner will be. Glyn Davies has first-hand experience in working with both Edwina and Carwyn during his time in the assembly. He is of the impression that it’s between the two of them and that it could be close.

But not everyone has written off Huw Lewis’s chances. Bethan Jenkins points out that he “is keen, floated ideas in various meetings and conferences, and has an eagerness to succeed”. She may be right, and if it does become a battle of ideas then that could easily play into his hands, and Carwyn would be pretty buggered. His answer to every Assembly question is the same “well, under the Tories it would be worse” – that’s not a bloody answer! .

But, it’s not the Plaid group that matters in this one, it’s the Labour group. As Guerrilla Welsh-Fare points out, Huw doesn’t exactly have the backing of the political stars of the Labour group. Can the backing of the likes of Karen Sinclair and Irene James really swing many votes his way? Probably not. But he does have the support of Tory MP David Jones. I’m sure he is grateful. Edwina and Carwyn are both yet to declare exactly who their six are, assuming they have them all signed up by now!

But as Betsan Powys highlights, there are more than just Assembly Members involved in this. There are more Labour MPs than AMs and their votes will count the same in Labour’s strange electoral college type thingy.

And so to the odds this week:

Carwyn Jones: Evens (still)
Huw Lewis: 5/2
Edwina Hart: 7/2
Jane Hutt: 14/1

……has anyone even bothered to ask Jane Hutt if she is planning on running? Someone should email her and check or something. I guess it doesn’t matter either way.

Swansea based blogger Inside Out suggests settling the contest with pistols. The one problem with that is it would create by-elections, and we’re all too busy for that!

The Institute of Welsh Affairs point out that the ban on dual candidates could end up coming back to haunt Labour, given that both Edwina and Carywn are at serious risk of losing their seats to the Tories in 18 months time. We all know that the ban was implemented for party political reasons and to save Labour cabinet members blushes, could they really consider u-turning on this for political reasons as well?

I’m not really a fan of the latest campaign by the BMA to remove sunbeds from all Welsh Leisure Centres. I suppose my issue with this is on two levels. In moderation, there is nothing particularly harmful about them. If someone wants to pay the council to help them get a tan before they go on holiday then there isn’t anything wrong with that, although I think it‘s a fairly odd concept of getting a tan before you go on holiday! But there are many providers of tanning facilities, it’s not like removing them from council properties is going to stop people from using them. There is a second issue, as highlighted by Peter Black on this site, that the revenue raised by these facilities reduces the amount of subsidy they require from the council.

According to Politics Cymru, Vaughan Roderick has blogged on the possible general election results. Given my knowledge of Welsh I will have to take their word for it. The results stem from the Politics Home survey of marginal constituencies. It doesn’t make exactly comfortable reading for the Lib Dems, with a prediction of us losing Ceredigion and not making any gains. But given this week also included the first poll in 27 years that put us ahead of Labour, you have to wonder how credible any poll is that thinks that we won’t take Swansea West and Newport East in these circumstances? But then again, I would say that wouldn’t I?

I don’t agree with Sweet and Tender Hooligan that Plaid and the SNP should participate in the potential debate between party leaders in advance of the general election. There is a simple reason for this. It is a debate between potential Prime Ministers. If a Party is not standing enough candidates to actually even hypothetically win the election, then how can they claim they should be part of a Prime Minister’s debate? Welsh and Scottish debates should take place, but during Welsh and Scottish general elections when their candidates could potentially become the next First Minister, not during an election they are not even trying to win.

Right, I’m going to go sit on my sofa and feel sorry for myself. And get snot everywhere. Yeah, that was what you wanted to picture right now.

When the going gets toff….

Dwylo Cerrig — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:53:25 +0000

With More 4 soon to broadcast “When Boris Met Dave” (subtitled “The Bullingdon Years” by the Guardian), shouldn’t they boys and girls at Dragon’s Eye, CF99 or Sharp End look at a Welsh revisioning and dig for the stories behind our cuddly Welsh Conservative cousins?

We could have “When Mr Bourne goes to Wash(ington)”, the story of one man’s shower in Croatia, “RTD2”, A Star Wars spin off based in a farm far, far away – near Cowbridge, or “Johnny English (well I’m proud to be Welsh now actually)” the story of one Kairdiff boy’s secret service mission to ban MP3 players on expenses, or should that be AM3 players?

Much of the fire directed at the Tories on a UK level puts the heat on the blues brothers’ background in exclusive fee-paying schools and exploits at Cambridge. How can life-experiences of privilege, private schooling and public affairs really allow Dave and the gang to relate to the mother who gets the 17 from Ely into Canton to work and do her shopping? It’s a fair question but the current UK Lib Dem high-command and inner circle wouldn’t be immune from such an accusation either, or Labour leadership in the past. More recent Labour fightback tactics plays the celebrity card, “the media loves Cameron and is giving him his day in the sun”, trying to convince the voters not to be taken for granted. Must be based on that winning McCain playbook….

But let’s look closer to home – are the Welsh Tories getting too easy a ride? Beneath the displays of camaraderie and Cymraeg, does there still beat a right heart that pumps out those Thatcherite, unionist, and uncaring blood cells to the extremities?

If there is one Welsh equivalent of the media love-in with Cameron, it’s the deification of the ex-Mid and West Wales AM and three time losing candidate in Montgomeryshire, Glyn Davies, in the blogosphere and across some sections of the media. This onetime fierce opponent of devolution, of a proper parliamentary building for Wales, a quangocrat to his fingertips, is the “Welsh” conservative of choice amongst the ever sane and rational nationalist bloggers.

His nemesis Nick Bourne may have publicly recanted on some positions years down the track, but Glyn claims to have never really believed in some core Tory policies of a certain vintage. Take two examples: immediately on the night of the referendum, Glyn claims to have been Glyndwr reincarnated and to want a proper parliament despite leading the no campaign in Montgomeryshire and he’s against the minimum wage but if we kept the poorly paid at a low enough level it’d be ok with him. Obviously, when he decided to knuckle down and try and win his beloved Montgomeryshire in 2007 instead of carping and complaining about the changes to election rules, he took it to the man and stood up for his people. Oh, sorry must be some mistake. I hope all those toys on Welshpool high-street have been cleared up since being thrown out of the sky-blue pram in 2006.

There are many examples of Glyn’s resilience, his effectiveness as a communicator and ability to be Bourne-again on so many issues. But being loved by the blogs isn’t the same as winning Montgomeryshire for the Tories for only the second time in 130 years. What do the Tories, and Glyn, really stand for?

What about the minimum wage, breaking bread with fascists, homophobes and sexists in Europe, the underlying cultural war against the NHS, tax cuts for millionaires, no commitment on a referendum or proper powers for Wales, the erosion of civil liberties?

I wouldn’t be so sure that Montgomeryshire has fallen for Dave, George and Glyn’s charms and policies just yet.

This week I have mostly been reading…

Matt O'Grady — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:21:54 +0000

Good news everyone! ‘This week I have mostly been reading’ is back. Is it bigger and better than ever? No. It is pretty much the same, so if you want to close the window now, don’t worry, I won’t judge you. Or at least anymore than I have already judged you. Which is quite a lot. Loser.

Well, wasn’t summer shite? The weather was crap and little of interest happened within the world. Guess what? Autumn won’t be much better, and winter is very much the same, except with Christmas, which will be over-rated, Dad will burn dinner and the TV will be disappointing. But at least we are guaranteed one interesting thing happening, the Welsh Labour Leadership Donkey Race. As Betsan Powys notes, we don’t actually know when, where how or any other details, just that it will happen.

Oddest post of the week is going to Glyn Davies, who has managed to locate the whereabouts of a tumour he had removed a few years ago. Eww. Please bear in mind I have awarded him weird post of the week before reading any other blogs. I am confident that he will not be beaten. Although he does make a good point about the relationship between the Welsh NHS and the private sector.

One thing that did happen during the summer was the shock resignation of Adam Price MP, who after a brief stint in America (which I am certain Obama won’t even notice Miss Jenkins) will be attempting to head to the Bay. In this post he declares that neither him nor constituency colleague Rhodri Glyn Thomas will be backing any particular successor. In the post Mr Price also attacks the Liberal Democrats for being honest about their tuition fees stance, while ignoring the fact that his party just outright lied about them.

Cambria Politico believes that the most likely successor is Adam Price’s former advisor, Jonathan Edwards, described as a ‘staunch nationalist’ with a ‘broad knowledge of economics and considerable experience in public affairs’. I’m sure that is just what he people of Camarthen East are looking for….

Bethan Jenkins AM thinks we should close tax loopholes for the rich in order to help poorer, younger people, particularly with tuition fees. Given that Plaid no longer support the scrapping of tuition fees, and we aim to (even if we recognise that it is difficult), maybe she should reconsider her political priorities herself?

Why on earth am I a) watching and b) getting angry about the bloody X-Factor? Christ I need a life!

The Cynical Dragon believes that the Welsh Liberal Democrats need more hugs. Maybe if more people hugged me I wouldn’t be so bitter. That’s a lie, I probably would be. His review of a Tory leaflet may be short, but is well worth reading.

I (unsurprisingly) won’t agree with David Jones MP that Nick Clegg’s speech was a blown chance. I do agree that it’s obvious he wants to be Prime Minister and that it isn’t as shocking as everyone makes out that he actually said it, but aside from that, I guess Mr Jones wasn’t really listening. It isn’t easy for members, who like me, joined the party on promises to raise taxes and spend on the public, to suddenly hear that we want to cut taxes and look at tough spending choices. But what does make it easier is to have a leader who can inspire confidence that these are the right policies for the circumstances our country finds itself in. No-one I have spoken to came out of the hall lacking any confidence that our party is heading in the right direction and that we are the only party being honest with the public about what we would do in government.

But aside from that, Nick Clegg is the only leader talking about the situation young people find themselves in, and the future that awaits them. Labour gave us a minimum wage, great, but if you are young you get less. Labour gave us tuition fees. Labour gave us ASBOs. Labour put our young people on the DNA database. Labour screwed young people over again and again. After paying my tuition fees I got to work scrubbing McDonalds toilets for £4 an hour, and am now trapped in debt and can’t get a loan on a lower APR than my credit cards because Labour fucked the economy up. But the good news is, I can spend a lifetime not just paying back my own student loan, but the billions given to the banks to not lend me the money I need.

Sorry, that turned into a rant. But no Mr Jones, Clegg’s speech hit the right notes. Lets see if Gordon and Dave can manage the same.

Hopefully within the next week we will know a little more about the Donkey Race and exactly who the runners and riders are. We all know who we are expecting, but it will be interesting to see this confirmed. Given that it’s his birthday this Tuesday, it may be then we get our answer.

The latest updates on the odds from Ladbrokes are:

Carwyn Jones: Evens
Huw Lewis: 11/4
Edwina Hart: 4/1
Jane Hutt: 14/1

Which disagrees slightly from the odds given by Betsan Powys’ expert.

I’ve already said where my money is, and still think that even at these odds Edwina represents the best value, especially given the verdict of Betsans’ expert!

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.

This fortnight I have mostly been reading….

Matt O'Grady — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:10:12 +0000

Apologies for no update last week. My excuse is that I was both tired and busy. Never a good combination for getting things done that I can get away with putting off. Which also explains why I had a lot of laundry to do this weekend. This has to be one of the most exciting opening paragraphs ever written. I’m guessing you probably don’t wanna hear about my sock shortage, so on to blogs.

Alan Ap Huw is one of few blogs that looks at the effects of the sacking of Sian Caiach as Plaid PPC for Ogmore. While he maybe getting a little too over excited about the prospect of this being the start of a break-up of Plaid in the South West, I do find myself agreeing that there is a strange silence from many in the Welsh blogosphere on the issue (aside from on here of course!). It seems there are many bloggers who will take any slight difference of opinion on a matter as meaning an entire party is split (such as Guerrilla Welsh-Fare’s Che Grav-ara), but when there is a genuine, sizeable and increasing split in Plaid it barely warrants a mention.

Maybe it’s because I struggle to see how Plaid can defend their actions that I find it strange that there is a silence. I am proud to belong to a party where if you disagree with the leader you’re more likely to get put on stage and given a chance to talk to members, who will then probably clap you regardless for at least having the balls to say it, than to get kicked out. So to see another party that the Lib Dems are sometimes compared to, and with whom we do share a sizeable amount of agreement on policy, act in this way just confuses me. If anyone in Plaid agrees with this and thinks that a party should be able to actually debate issues and that their leaders should listen to their members, I suggest they click here.

S4C2 will no longer be showing the Assembly proceedings live. According to the Bevan Foundation this may not be mourned in the pubs in Wales, but is ‘a retrograde step’. With ITV cutting back on their news coverage of Wales, and the promised welsh language newspaper apparently dead in the water, you have to wonder how anyone is going to hear about what is happening in the Senedd?

This is also the first blog summary since “that” report. So I should probably look at some of the blog responses to it. The Cynical Dragon lists the main recommendations. Tom Bodden points out that the report will actually save very little money, although this was never really its aim. It would be interesting to compare how much the report cost compared to expected savings though, and will this really restore confidence in Assembly Members? Will AMs continue to get the same level of public distain thanks to their Westminster colleagues? Could as much have been achieved by just allowing the public stoning of an AM found to have abused the system by more than £9.70? “Nick Ramsey’s bought another bed, I’m gonna need some granite for this.” I’m sure S4C2 would at least cover that.

Has enough pressure come off Nick Bourne that he can actually start to lead his party again? Apparently so. He has proposed that the top position on regional lists should be reserved for female or ethnic minority candidates. It is something that the Welsh Lib Democrats have debated for years, but always resisted. In the Assembly at least we have no problem with balance. With a female leader, a female Chief Exec and a female president, maybe we should consider other options! Will these proposals lead to more female Tory AMs, without a doubt. But in a truly modern and representative party these steps are not needed, and as such are an admission of defeat in themselves.

After writing that sentence, I read Glyn Davies comments on it. He agrees with me.

It was certainly interesting to read Carwyn Jones’ views on assisted suicide. The post had clearly been carefully constructed to not be seen to be making the case for the whole scale legalisation of euthanasia. He poses difficult questions about where the line should be drawn, citing the case of the couple who recently took their own lives in Switzerland, where one of the two was not terminally ill or in considerable pain. I find myself agreeing with much of what he says, although maybe he stops short of my own opinion. Remember though, we are talking about someone who is one of the favourites to be the next First Minister of Wales. Will this be an issue that he will actively take up with his Westminster colleagues if he were to be successful?

Both Adam Price and Peter Black seem to think tomorrow will be an interesting occasion, when News International go in front of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee in Westminister. Among them will be Tory Spin Chief Andy Coulson. I suspect that when I come to writing this article next week we’ll know a bit more about what happened, and of course the big question – will Mr Coulson be able to flatly deny in front of the committee that he had nothing to do with it?

An amusing piece of gossip on Valleys Mam is that apparently Jonathan Morgan left plenary early to go watch the new Harry Potter film. In his defense, I would have done the same.

There are two issues I’m not gonna talk about. I’m not gonna mention the IBW expenses, because enough has already been said on Freedom Central about it.

I’m not gonna mention the National Transport Plan either, because I think the issue is so dull it may cause mild cases of swine flu. (Now might be a good time to mention that this piece is my personal opinion, and not the opinion of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Freedom Central or pretty much anyone else with an IQ over 17.)

I hope this has helped inform you of what is going on in Wales at the moment. It probably didn’t though. Go read some posts by real bloggers instead.

This week I have mostly been reading…..

Matt O'Grady — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:10:29 +0000

A fairly quiet week this week compared to the fallout from the Euro elections last week, but still plenty to write about!

Tom Bodden of the Daily Post has highlighted Ann Jones’ campaign on the use of tips to make up the minimum wage by several restaurants that have premises in Cardiff Bay. Apparently the chain Tragus, which includes Café Rouge, Strada and Bella Italia uses tips paid on credit cards to subsidise staff pay. As a result of this I have already encouraged some Lib Dem staff not to visit these places, an argument that has been made far easier by the opening of a very good Chinese all you can eat.

Ieuan Wyn Jones has been getting increasing criticism this week. Clive Betts points out that much of this is coming from our party, including the attack this week from Kirsty due to the fact that his department has lost the highest number of electronic items, including laptops and blackberrys. We still don’t know how much information has been lost, which could potentially be far more serious than the cost of physically replacing the laptops. Anything held by this department could potentially contain commercially sensitive information, including Ieaun’s solitare score.

After a week of being knocked out of the news by the results of the Euro elections last week, expenses reappears as an issue, with the Cynical Dragon providing a handy ‘list of bastards’ who’ve been accused of some of the stranger claims. David Cornock also takes a look at the expenses of two Welsh members with equally dodgy claims, David Davies’ payment of £2000 to his Dad is one, but as Alwyn Ap Huw points out, if Huw Irranca Davies realised he could claim for Whiskey, why did he only bother once?

Glyn Davies thinks that it’s important that the Conservative party keeps it’s promises. One problem, they’ve promised they’ll change and not be the nasty evil right wing Tory bastards that they’ve always been, but as Glyn highlights, they want to help the rich keep their wealth and let people kill furry things. It does seem to me that these promises may be slightly contradictory.

Tomorrow will see the decision taken on the new Speaker. Paul Flynn MP and Peter Black both report that the Labour whips are running a campaign for Margaret Beckett. Betting site Betfair now list her as favourite at just over 2-1. Should she win, I suspect this will cause quite a flurry on the opposition benches. It’s the kind of action that could see the end to hundreds of years of non-partisan tradition from the speaker.

Guerrilla Welsh-Fare continues his commitment to the line that the Lib Dems are split. Despite a lack of any sort of evidence or reasoning, he seems to think that we must be because…..well, I think that’s as far as his argument goes. This weeks reasoning is that Peter Black has announced that he may seek to change party policy on prescription charges, which is different to what Jenny Randerson did when she held the health portfolio. I hear rumours that next week he will base a similar post on the fact that Mick and Eleanor don’t like the same sort of sandwiches.

I couldn’t possibly think of a reason why Carwyn Jones has spent time travelling the country talking to members. It’s almost like there is some sort of contest coming up that he hopes to win. I guess we still don’t know if there will be a contest or a coronation for Labour, but over the summer things will start to seriously heat up.

The three Dewi’s of Politics Cymru have posted another video pod cast. I have to say it is pretty well done and far more watchable than some of the Welsh programmes produced by the BBC or ITV. However, they start slagging off West Brom within the first two minutes, so I’ve decided I hate them regardless. Anyway, aside from that, they discuss the Housing LCO and Scotland.

Sweet and Tender Hooligan picks up on the facebook and twitter campaign to piss off the Daily Mail. In an online poll on their website, 90% of respondents claimed they wanted to see Gypsies go to the front of the queue in the health service. The response of this from the Daily Mail was to remove the poll from the site. Not that they’re facists are anything….