Freedom Central » Nick Bourne

For Wales read England

Peter Black — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 09:00:50 +0000

Anybody who spends any time at the Hay Literary Festival will appreciate the confusion faced by visitors who think that they are in fact still in England. That is not because the town itself exudes Englishness, it has a distinct Welsh identity in my view, but because for more than a week we are surrounded by the English intelligentsia, none of whom appear to have a clue about devolution or Welshness.

That is reflected in all the coverage, even by the now politically-correct BBC, even though the festival organisers themselves do make an attempt to deal with the issue in the range and diversity of the events they put on. Not surprisingly one of the worse offenders is the Guardian itself, who recently published an article by Homa Khaleeli that suggested that the festival was being taken over by politicians, as if this invasion was unusual and game-changing.

This article has been taken to task in today’s paper by the Director of the Open University in Wales and former Welsh Liberal Democrat Party President, Rob Humphreys. He writes:

Homa Khaleeli’s piece of politician-watching at the Hay festival (Invasion of the politicians!, G2, 1 June), with its listing of some welcome visitors, was woefully (and typically for the Guardian) London-centric. Prominent elected representatives of Wales – where Hay-on-Wye is situated – are frequent attendees and speakers. This year the list of speakers and panellists includes the Welsh environment minister, Jane Davidson, the Welsh heritage minister, Alun Ffred Jones (members, respectively, of Labour and Plaid Cymru – the two parts of the governing coalition), and Kirsty Williams, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

A better-informed glance around the festival site on the first weekend would also have revealed Nick Bourne, the Welsh Conservative group leader in the Welsh assembly, the local MP, Roger Williams, and prominent Labour AM Andrew Davies, to name but three. The former first minister of Wales, Rhodri Morgan, and the presiding officer of the assembly, Dafydd Elis Thomas, have been distinguished speakers in previous years at Hay. The director of the festival, Peter Florence, has brilliantly described Hay as a “free port” of ideas. It is, nonetheless, in and of Wales. Thus politicians of Wales do not have to “invade” the festival – for better or worse they play their natural part in sharing, transmitting and receiving ideas within Wales and, significantly, across a wider international stage.

Of course it is not just journalists who get it wrong. Last week I sat through an enthralling interview in which Rosie Boycott talked to the historian Niall Ferguson. Mr. Ferguson spoke authoratively and passionately about the ‘national curriculum’ and its treatment of history as if it applied to the whole of the UK, rather than just England. He spoke, and the interviewer did not correct him, as if he were in the heart of England and that all of us, Welsh, Scots and Irish included were blighted by the decisions of previous English Education Ministers in the same way.

Then, as if to rub it in Rosie Boycott pointed out that the new Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, was in the audience and invited him to contribute. He spoke as if he were responsible for the education of all of us and never once acknowledged the fact that he is not, in fact, the Minister responsible for the National Curriculum in the area in which he sat, but just England. Nor did he show any awareness of the devolution settlement. It is at times like these that one regrets rushing off to another event leaving no time to correct matters.

To be fair to the BBC, they have fully educated most of their correspondents and news readers as to the subtleties and nuances of the devolution settlement. I think it would be useful if the same course could be laid on for journalists on London-based newspapers and also for those presenting at Hay on relevant matters.

Tory electoral reform would see their Welsh leader without seat

Peter Black — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:23:55 +0000

News reaches me that an English Conservative MP has laid an amendment to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill that would move Welsh devolution backwards and render the voting system unfair.

Under new Conservative plans, proposed by Daniel Kawcynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, they would abolish the regional lists, which would also mean that the Welsh Conservatives would lose half of their Assembly Members, including their leader, Nick Bourne.

As Kirsty Williams says the Tories obviously don’t have a clue about what goes on in Wales and they clearly don’t understand the fairer system of voting we have of making Welsh people’s vote count in Wales, flawed as the d’hondt system is.

Under their own plans, the Conservatives would lose half of their Assembly Members and their leader in the National Assembly. Kirsty comments that “Given that Nick Bourne has never won a constituency assembly seat, I am very doubtful that the Welsh leader was consulted on this issue. This shows that the Welsh Conservatives take their orders straight from London without question.”

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.

Over to you Mr. Hain

Peter Black — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:08:04 +0000

If reports prove to be true then today could well see one of those significant events in the history of the process known as devolution. The BBC are reporting that on his visit to North Wales, the Conservative Leader, David Cameron will indicate that he would not block a request for a referendum on further law making powers for the assembly if he was prime minister.

There is no indication of course as to which side the Conservatives will take in a referendum campaign but I suspect that speculation that the AMs will line up behind a ‘yes’ campaign and the MPs will be in the ‘no’ camp is pretty close to the mark.

Of course that is not the obvious question that emerges from this clear signal by the Tory leader. It is ‘what will Labour do?’

Peter Hain has already said he would be opposed to a referendum before the 2011 Assembly elections for the entirely pragmatic reason that he does not think it can be won. But if a request should land on his desk with the full support of the vast majority of the 60 Assembly Members (possibly all of us) would he resist that call for an earlier plebiscite?

There are also questions for Rhodri Morgan and Ieuan Wyn Jones as to how they intend to proceed now. So far they have internalised all discussion on the timing of a referendum to the One Wales Government. They know that they can count on the support of the Welsh Liberal Democrats when they decide to go to the people. They think also that they will most probably have the Welsh Assembly Tory group on their side.

But they cannot indefinitely keep us out of the loop, nor can they count on us backing their judgement on timing and other issues if we have not been consulted on these decisions and given a voice in a meaningful cross-party ‘yes’ campaign. The longer they treat this as a two-party affair then the greater the risk that they will fracture support for a ‘yes’ vote with the effect that other parties will go off and do their own thing and open up opportunities for the ‘No’ campaigners to drive a wedge between us.

That is not to say that pro-devolutionists in the opposition parties will switch sides, far from it. However, more in frustration than anything else we will take our own initiatives, challenge the judgement of Minister’s on timing and question them at every turn on their own commitment to this process, when they would rather be concentrating on other things. That is the nature of politics and it is what happens when you do not make an effort to take your allies with you on cross-party issues purely for party political reasons.

There is now less than two weeks to the publication of the report of the All-Wales Convention. We all think that we know what it will say and the only question once it is in the public domain will not be should we have a referendum, but when? We cannot afford to have parties go off on their own on this issue but if we are not all brought into the tent now then that is what will happen.

Irrespective of what David Cameron says or what Peter Hain thinks the most important thing that Rhodri Morgan and Ieuan Wyn Jones can do now is to recognise that that decision is no longer the sole preserve of their respective parties. They need to call Kirsty Williams and Nick Bourne and any other relevant parties in, well in advance of the publication of the Convention report to both brief them and to seek agreement on how we take forward its conclusions.

If they do not do so then the impact of the report will be lost and valuable campaigning time dissipated as the parties advance their own views on how we should proceed and seek to pin the Government down on its own views. This is an historic moment, Labour and Plaid would do well not to throw it away by taking a partisan approach to it.

Tories on wrong end of public opinion on expenses

Peter Black — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:46:04 +0000

This morning’s Western Mail reports that Nick Bourne’s Welsh Conservatives are going to oppose plans to set up an independent body to fix AMs’ salaries and allowances.

This is despite the fact that it formed part of the recommendations made by the panel chaired by Sir Roger Jones that reported in July and which Mr. Bourne signed up to.

They argue that the panel will cost money and could open the door to regional pay agreements for public sector workers. What nonsense. The Tories’ preferred solution is to use the Senior Salaries Review Board instead. That also costs money and because it would report on Wales separately could also be said to be creating a regional pay structure.

The issue here is the recommendation by Sir Roger Jones’ panel that that the link between the system of financial support in Wales and at Westminster should be severed. The panel felt that the system of financial support should take account of the unique perspective of the work of members in Wales. To achieve this, the panel recommended that an Independent Remuneration Panel be set up in Wales.

With the SSRB, Assembly Members would still be involved in setting their own pay and allowances, there would be no account taken of how we operate in Wales and our pay and allowances would be tied into the discredited system at Westminster. Is that what the Tories really want?

With the proposed remuneration panel all powers to set pay and allowances would be taken off Assembly Members, a solution which seems more in keeping with the public mood.

As ITV commentator Gareth Hughes says on his blog, the Tories by opposing this move will be putting themselves on the wrong side of public opinion. He asks why why the Welsh Tories seem to be out of step with their own Westminster front bench. After all, as Gareth points out Cameron and his team have consistently called for transparency on the question of pay and provisions. Quite!

N.B. One cannot help noticing the headline in yesterday’s Telegraph that predicts that MPs are to be offered a pay rise to make up for a loss of income from expenses claims.

Under the Tories’ plans that pay rise would also filter through to AMs because the link between Cardiff Bay and Westminster would be retained. That is despite the fact that we are not having to radically restructure our allowances regime in the same way as Westminster because the abuses inherent in their system are not present here and never have been.

Just thought I would mention that.

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 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 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:43:05 +0000

Sorry this post is late (as if anyone noticed). I got distracted by stuff. A lousy excuse, but that’s all you’re getting.

The All Wales Convention has made an appearance on a few blogs this week following the final meeting this week. Alwyn Ap Huw believes that the recommendation will be a powerful ‘not yet’, which I doubt is the result most in the welsh political world are looking for. More info on the final meeting can be found on Betsan Powys’ blog.

With the new speaker now elected, and thankfully not being Margaret Beckett, Tom Bodden of the Daily Post wonders if the Assembly should be looking into similar recommendations for Assembly Members who break the rules as are being looked into in Westminster. The Assembly has always been a step ahead on expenses, revealing a large amount of data that showed just how ridiculous some of the claims Members were able to make. But there have never been reforms to tighten the system following that ipod claim. Could the Assembly be left a step behind by Parliamentary reforms?

Two different issues appear about the BNP this week. Nick Bourne thinks (correctly so) that Nick Griffin’s comment that “there is no such thing as a black Welshman” is offensive. Peter Black goes down a different route, looking at the lobbying by teaching unions to have BNP supporting teachers removed. The whole idea that someone should be fired from their jobs for their political beliefs is one that fills me with a sort of cold fear. Everyone, including idiots and bigots, is entitled to their view. The only time it should be questioned is if someone’s views interfere directly with their work. Banning a BNP teacher for picking on an Asian child would be fine, as would banning a Labour supporting teacher who picked on a rich kid or a Lib Dem supporting teacher for picking on a child who doesn’t believe in a written constitution. But no teacher should be banned without evidence that their politics has interfered with their job.

The following blogs have Michael Jackson related posts:

They all take a different view on the situation. Nothing I have to say on this subject will be helpful and will probably just offend.

It’s not just MP’s expenses that are making the news this week. Bethan Jenkins spoke on Sunday at a discussion held in the Senedd about the Royal Family. Apparently Prince Charles alone costs the taxpayer £3million, and despite his personal income increasing, the amount of tax he has paid has fallen 10%. Where’s the bloody Taxpayers Alliance now? Why aren’t the public baying for blue blood in the same way they want to punish politicians? Maybe it’s just me, although I do tend to see blood as the answer for most things.

Am I the only one given nightmares by the thought of Carwyn Jones and Brian Gibbons singing at the Labour Christmas party? I hope it was ‘Fairytale in New York’.

Politics Cymru is making excellent use of video. Along with their podcast thingy there is now a weekly feature on what is happening in the press conferences. Having attended a few of our press briefings, it’s always strange to see what the journalists are picking up on. Often stories can be made or quashed, and it’s nice to hear what the other parties are using theirs for.

Most unexpected post of the week has to be on Sweet and Tender Hooligans blog, which seems to be possibly the only blog in existence about Welsh politics and music. I reckon it will forever remain the only webpage in history that contains mentions of both Killswitch Engage and David Melding. I’m not gonna try and compete with him on the music front (or really the political one), but I will post a link to the excellent Killswitch song “Rose of Sharyn”.

AMs expenses – first impressions

Freedom Central — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:07:07 +0000

The searchable database of Assembly Member allowances has now gone on-line here. Without doubt journalists and campaigners are scouring it to get themselves a good story so we thought we might start them off with a quickie.

It has been noted that the Conservative Leader Nick Bourne paid Haecceitas Ltd £2,438.79 in twoinstallments on 8 May 2008 and 7 April 2009 respectively for a website. Does anybody know where this website is?

The only site that we are aware of is this free blogspot account whilst Google does not throw up any new sites either.

Presumably there is a big launch planned and, given the time it has taken to develop and its cost, the site will be very good.

Update: The BBC have identified that Plaid Cymru AMs Chris Franks and Leanne Wood claimed £400 each towards the cost of the party’s stand at the National Eisteddfod in Cardiff. The rationale is apparently so that they could hold surgeries there. Their constituents would have had to pay £12 each to see their AMs with their problems.

On vetos

Peter Black — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:27:00 +0000

As we commemorate the tenth anniversay of the first elections to the Welsh Assembly talk has already turned to the future. This morning’s Western Mail has highlighted an article in tomorrow’s paper in which they say the Presiding Officer will call for a referendum to be held on utilising all the powers in the 2006 Government ofWales Act on the same day as the 2011 Assembly elections.

To do so in my opinion would be a great mistake. Not only is such a proposal likely to incur the wrath of the Electoral Commission but it would result in a fractured and ineffective campaign that could well see the proposition defeated.

It would be an impossible situation to see the leaders of the four major parties sharing a platform one minute to call for a yes vote only for the next event to see them ripping bits out of each other as part of an Assembly election campaign. The chances of a cross-party campaign would be zero and the very compelling case for a ‘yes’ vote would not be made.

Politics Cymru draw attention to another post by BBC Welsh Affairs Editor, Vaughan Roderick in which he poses the question to a future Tory Government as to whether they will cooperate with a request for a referendum and says that it will be a test of Nick Bourne’s leadership of the Assembly Tory group as to whether he can get into the Conservative manifesto a specific and definite promise from Cameron that the Secretary of State would not reject demands for a referendum:

‘According to one forthright Conservative failure to do so would be disastrous and would allow the other parties to paint the Tories as an anti-Wales party: “if Nick Bourne loses the battle or refuses to fight it, then all the work he has done over the last decade will have been undone.”

Time for answers from the Tories I think.