Welsh Ramblings

Energy Sector policing

2009-11-08T17:03:00.002Z

The Welsh Affairs Select Committee has said that a dedicated new armed response unit is needed to police what they call the "strategically vital" energy sector in Pembrokeshire.

The recently opened LNG terminals and pipeline at Milford Haven, along with the nearby refineries, serve the energy needs of the whole of the UK, rather than Wales.

Aside from the point about policing, what economic value would these facilities generate if Wales was an independent country?

English-language National Theatre delivered by Plaid

2009-11-05T21:41:00.003Z

Credit to the indefatigable Syniadau for drawing attention to today's official launch of the National Theatre Wales.

An English-language National Theatre for Wales is long overdue. It was first announced in 2007 as part of the One Wales deal, and will now run as a touring theatre to different venues across the country, like Scotland's National Theatre. Another feather in the cap for Wales' creative industries.

It took Plaid Cymru's insistence to get this into the One Wales deal- it was lifted from the Plaid election manifesto into the coalition programme- and it is especially important that this has been delivered by a Plaid Minister. Rhodri Glyn Thomas deserves a huge amount of credit for this, as it shows Plaid looking out for both of our languages.

Wales at Copenhagen

2009-11-05T17:23:00.004Z

It's news to us, but Wales apparently holds the chair of the 'Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development' with Jane Davidson able to be involved on the fringes of the Copenhagen Summit. A good article at Wales Home has alerted us to this, it's quite a coup for Wales to be leading this international alliance, though i'm sure even Jane Davidson doesn't want us to be a 'Regional Government' forever! It's a shame that this isn't common knowledge. The Welsh media has failed to report this pretty important body for Wales to be leading. Fair play to Wales Home for that contribution.

Yet it should be asked, why didn't the Labour Minister demand that Wales get a full say at the Summit like her Scottish counter-part did? I don't expect that Westminster would listen, but we would still have sent out a clear message and maybe given people a bit more confidence in the Welsh Government's ability to stand up for Wales.

So sadly we won't be heard at the heart of the summit, and indeed we are only at Copenhagen at all in our hard-fought devolved capacity. This is something of a response to whose who argue that devolution will 'cut Wales off from the rest of the world'.

It's a similar situation Labour's Finance Minister Andrew Davies did not sufficiently hold the UK Government to account over the cuts to the Welsh budget, when the Scottish Government was taking a much stronger line. At first Andrew Davies and Rhodri Morgan made some promising comments in the Chamber about fighting for Wales' interests, but when the massive real terms cuts to our funding were announced they tried to spin it as a 'good budget for Wales'. Even though Labour's Welsh Ministers are very agreeable with progressives in Wales on all the main policy issues, at the coal face of things they are more likely to defend Labour's interests than Wales' interest.

For what it's worth, the Copenhagen Summit will probably recommend a climate deal based on carbon trading and shifting the burden of guilt on to the rest of the world.

Still, you can't help think that we might get somewhere if Wales was entitled to more of a say than just being there as a 'Regional Government'.

Women in the Assembly

2009-11-04T22:50:00.004Z

Daran at Wales Home made an interesting charge against fellow blogger Guerrilla Welsh Fare earlier in his piece about likely cabinets post-Rhodri. Che had written that Huw Lewis' nominating AMs are not fit for purpose in taking on ministerial roles, as it has been argued that he has been backed by the most anonymous and incapable Assembly Members. Daran's interpretation is that GWF "takes a swipe at some women politicians from working class backgrounds who might be appointed to the Huw Cabinet". Ramblings enjoys reading both Wales Home and GWF, and the Welsh blogosphere is enriched by both of them.

GWF doesn't need defending, but it goes without saying that Assembly Members are subject to any kind of performance judgement we, the people, deem necessary. There is a time for being cosy with everyone and generating consensus, but it's clear that GWF's central charge remains correct- the effectiveness of Lynn Neagle, Irene James, Joyce Watson, and possibly Ann Jones is being questioned on the basis of merit, not on the basis of gender or class.

The fact that very little is known about them outside of the commentariat is an immediate indication of their lack of standing. Let's be honest with ourselves, these are ineffective, loyalist AMs simply there to prop up their chosen party's rule.

To see an example of working class women who are doing a great service to the people of Wales look no further than the likes of Lesley Griffiths for Labour, Leanne Wood for Plaid and even in the Cabinet you have Edwina Hart. You might not agree with everything those women do, but they get their names about through campaigning on issues and taking a stand, with all three of those examples not afraid to go against party line. As far as Ramblings is aware Jane Hutt also comes from a working class background, and though she has been criticised for her Ministerial performances in the past you can't take it away from her that she is well respected.

Daran insinuates in a comment on Wales Home that a sexist agenda against women politicians is evident from "a few quarters". He should explain where he has detected this agenda, being very switched on to new media he is probably referring to the blogs. Let's make it even more clear, although we have not been accused, that there is no gender basis on this blog. We have shown that there are excellent women AMs from working class backgrounds operating in Wales and this is something we celebrate. If an AM is not doing their job very well we will say so. It does not serve the cause of democracy in Wales to have elected Members falling asleep in the Chamber and mouldering away in unassailable safe seats.

The truth that Labour supporters might find difficult to swallow is that it is their party that has the highest quota of deadweight, be it male or female. This is not a good thing or something we are crowing about, it needs sorting out straight away.

Lewis confirms relocation

2009-11-03T16:38:00.005Z

Huw Lewis has launched a new campaign website to replace his old one. It's definitely worth a read. This blog has already pointed out that Huw's "Mythbusters" section is weak and actually ducks most of the charges against Huw, although despite being defensive it is a clever part of the site. Huw has toned down the "Mythbusters" section in his new lay-out, giving it less precedence.

Lewis has also used the new site to confirm that he no longer lives in Penarth, as has been widely alleged throughout the Welsh media. According to the new site, Huw now lives in Merthyr Tydfil, with no mention of a second home.

We aren't (for once) knocking Huw on this. It would be good to have a First Minister who lives outside of Cardiff and surrounds. A few people are saying that the leadership race has been a good thing for Welsh Labour internally.

But leadership race aside, the bigger picture is that after the next General Election, according to the Yougov poll, Merthyr is going to be the northernmost part of Wales with a Labour constituency representative.

Scottish Lib Dems bottle it

2009-11-02T22:28:00.004Z

The Scottish branch of the Liberal Democrats have bottled their idea of supporting their alleged "democratic" principles by announcing that they will in fact not vote alongside the SNP to allow the Scottish people a referendum to determine their future.

The Scottish Lib Dems are apparently divided on the issue with a number of principled MSPs wanting to take the position of backing a referendum and then campaigning for the 'no' vote. Although this blog disagrees with such a position, it is an entirely valid and just one, and is in keeping with the ideals that Lib Dems talk about.

However, as is so often seen with Liberal Democrats, the leadership are more intent on doing the bidding of their London-based masters. They will now vote to deny the Scottish people the right of self-determination. This is a right enshrined in international law. If the case for the Union is so strong then the Scottish people should be allowed to make their choice and put the question to bed for now.

Obviously, the case is not as strong as they would like people to think.

Disappointing Pro-Blair hype from the Western Mail

2009-11-02T10:00:00.002Z

One of the Western Mail's better columnists has a disappointing piece in his column in yesterday's Wales On Sunday, although it does now seem that Tony Blair's bid for the new Presidency role in Europe is dead in the water.

The pro-Blair hype from all quarters of the media has been lazy and weak. Ordinary people are being expected to somehow support Mr. Blair's ascendancy simply because he is "British", is a "high-profile figure" and has international clout, presumably from his support for costly illegal wars. This consensus is at odds with what ordinary people think of Blair, and it's about time this consensus was challenged.

Other potential candidates for the role are from Luxembourg and the Netherlands. On this week's Question Time the journalist John Sergeant derided Luxembourg's Prime Minister, stating the "obvious" British point of view, that surely a politician from a tiny country can't be taken seriously?

As Elfyn Llwyd said on the same programme, Blair's destination should not be a Presidential role, it should be the courts. He should be tried for war crimes.

Convention set to say 'Yes' as True Wales man gets the nod

2009-10-30T18:05:00.004Z

The rumour mill is now solidly predicting a "go for it" style message from the All Wales Convention when it gives its report on November 18th. The flaws of the Convention have been well documented, but it does seem that the Parry-Jones report will provide an accurate and comprehensive picture of how things stand. There has also been genuine public inolvement, though limited.

As John Dixon and others have noted, it won't really matter what noises the Labour leadership candidates make about the report, as all three of them are signed up to fulfil the One Wales pact and will not want to destabilise the Welsh Government. Even Huw Lewis might have a chance to bust the anti-devolutionist "myths" that he has acknowledged affecting his candidacy by championing a "Yes" campaign. Becoming the leader of Wales and leading the nation to direct law-making powers is a prospect that could see the currently unknown Merthyr backbencher become a statesman of considerable stature.

Ramblings takes issue with Gareth Hughes' charge that Carwyn Jones is lukewarm on a referendum- in Jones' latest article in the Agenda journal he clearly spells out the need not only for law-making powers but for an independent Welsh legal system. His credibility, and Plaid's support if he was First Minister, would disappear if he did a u-turn against the democratic will of the people of Wales.

Of course, the opinion of Labour's MPs in Wales is even more important. They will be looking to preserve their own careers and generous lifestyles by blocking Wales from making progress.

At the same time, the divisions within the Labour Party in Wales are very apparent. Leading "True Wales" figure Cllr David Rees, who probably doesn't even believe there should be an Assembly at all, is rumoured to have been selected as Labour candidate for the Labour-held seat Aberavon at the 2011 Assembly Election.

Update- the rumours have been confounded. It is in fact an Aberavon-based Dave Rees who has been selected, rather than the Risca-based "True Wales" nut.

What's the point and What are they for?

2009-10-27T19:58:00.004Z

Today's Yougov poll has created alot of excitement in the Welsh blogosphere and has also made the news today, with the media mainly reporting the previously inconceivable advances being made by the Tories as Labour in both its "New" and "Welsh" guises continues to collapse as a political force in this country. That Plaid is on the rise is some consolation, but the poll still does not make comfortable reading for the future, as it means Wales would be inflicted with a Tory UK government it did not generally vote for.

But there is another story buried in the poll findings that could have even more of a dramatic impact on Welsh politics.

The Liberal Democrats are on the verge of disappearing as a political entity of any credible size in Wales.

This blog has been highlighting the Lib Dems' problems and difficulties in appealing to the electorate for some time. But the damning indictment of them as a party is that their party leader in Wales, is vastly unknown according to the poll, and lacks support amongst those people that do recognise her, including Liberal Democrat voters.

There are serious problems with the Lib Dems, with their standing at UK level in disarray after constant u-turns and swivellings and a dreadful performance by Clegg as leader, with his political positions and image being indistinguishable from that of Cameron.

It does beg the question, what are they for? A perennial bloc of 6 Assembly Members, allegedly deeply divided, advocating no particularly consistent vision for Welsh policy-making except from their consistency in opposing everything Plaid or Labour does. Their paranoia and short-sightedness in aiming their attacks at Plaid Cymru unwittingly tells more voters that Plaid is involved in wielding power (something Plaid's opponents should not be doing) and lets the UK Government off the hook. They now face wipe-out in Wales at the next General Election, and could be reduced to just a single Parliamentary seat. That is a very serious position for them to be in.

The Lib Dems became the 5th party in Welsh politics at the last European Elections. Being pro-European is not an excuse for this performance, Plaid is a pro-European party and although this blog will NOT claim Plaid set the world alight in those elections, they certainly did not collapse.

It is a little-kept secret in UK politics that the Lib Dems are accused of being opportunists, centrists and "all things to all people", and more quietly it is claimed that they have a tendency to engage in dubious and sometimes distatesful electoral tactics. But there are some good Lib Dems amongst their MPs, and they do consistently win constituency seats all over the UK. Furthermore, because Westminster is so right-wing, it is often Lib Dem figures that do a great job in shining a light on the failures of the two bigger British political parties. For example, socialists can't deny that Vince Cable did offer a good view on the economy, even though his social democratic theory is surely at odds with the centre-right Orange Book clique of economic liberals around Nick Clegg.

Here in Wales the story is different, and there is simply no point in them. The Welsh Lib Dems don't have a Vince Cable, and the respected Mick Bates, their most dependable Member, is retiring. They are the annoying and pointless uncle at the family gathering that is Welsh politics.

The only significant treatment of the Welsh Lib Dems in recent times was a generous piece from Daran Hill, but even his most optimistic assessment could only see the Lib Dems running local councils, and potentially gaining two list seats in the future if the UK political conditions swung the right way. The direction of travel in both Welsh and UK politics is not currently pointing towards any such advances, but is instead predicting reversals.

Liberalism is a valid and proud political tradition that has just as glorious a history as the tradition that Ramblings hails from. Liberal politics changed the course of human history. Today, it is a sad fact that this once-proud tradition is now represented in Wales by an MP who writes for a soft porn publication, and an unknown centrist career politician. The Welsh Lib Dems' failure to do justice to those that have gone before them is not funny or edifiying, it is simply shameful.

The (Welsh) Thick of it

2009-10-22T15:49:00.002+01:00

With the new series of the always excellent "The Thick of It" starting on Saturday I thought I'd have a look at some of the old clips and stumbled across this...

Fed up of hearing about them

2009-10-21T16:36:00.004+01:00

Although it's a big week for the debate about fascism, probably the biggest since the Euro elections, isn't it true that the BBC and the media in general are overdoing it a bit with their incessant coverage of the British National Party?

It can be appreciated that the Nazis are so dangerous that their activities must be put under the media glare. But isn't a slot on Question Time enough? Must we have constant BBC blogs, articles and radio phone ins about them? After all, the Green Party got more votes than the BNP did on a UK level, have got more councillors than the BNP and have had MEPs for longer. Where is the increased coverage for Greens?

Whenever the BNP do rear their heads they should be opposed. That's why it's right that there won't be empty seats on Question Time. We should also remember that in Wales they do not have the same electoral mandate that they do in England, having not ever won a contested seat here, European or otherwise.

Free Public Transport in Cardiff

2009-10-20T10:47:00.003+01:00

The idea that public transport should be free is one that sections of the left have woken up to in the past few years, although it is a reality in many places on the European mainland.

The most notable advocates for free public transport in the British Isles have been the Scottish Socialist Party, though their idea looks unachievable unless Scotland could raise all of its own resources.

In Wales, it would also be impossible to deliver free public transport within a fixed Assembly budget. However, it is good to see that Plaid Cymru is now delivering free buses in the centre of Cardiff, as part of Plaid's policy to make Cardiff a sustainable city. It is notable that it has taken Plaid coming into government both nationally and locally for this to happen.

Scotland ends Tory 'right to buy' legislation

2009-10-19T10:07:00.004+01:00

Both of the national governments in Scotland and Wales support affordable housing and are opposed to the extension of the 'Right to Buy' law which, although good for individuals, has decimated the stock of affordable and social housing in both nations and contributed to a housing crisis.

Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made an eye-catching announcement at the SNP Conference that they will abolish this law for all new tenants in social housing, first introduced under Thatcher's rule. This means that up to 18,000 homes in Scotland will remain available for the poorest in society, rather than disappearing into the property market. The Labour opposition will probably support this, having been wrong-footed.

In Wales we have a slightly less strident approach, with the Welsh Government's Housing Minister Jocelyn Davies (a Plaid Cymru AM) having launched the neccesary legislative bid to suspend the Right to Buy in areas of pressure on social housing (surely the whole of Wales?). Yet because of our limited devolution settlement MPs at Westminster have the say on this and are already delaying the bid. Tory MPs have indicated they won't support giving Wales the final decision on something which was originally their law, placing party politics as more important than constitutional rights.

Affordable housing in Wales has been in decline for decades now and its about time things were turned around.

The upcoming referendum is extremely important. Even though it won't change much and we will still be short of what Scotland has, we will be able to legislate on issues like housing without having our laws blocked and delayed by yesterday's men at Westminster.

Newport counter-demo still going ahead

2009-10-18T13:01:00.004+01:00

Anti-racists have won another victory as the demoralised Welsh Defence League have called off the Newport demonstration that this blog warned about. But, in anticipation of some protestors still turning up, we have been told that the counter-demonstration (a 'Day of Celebration' celebrating Newport's multi-culturalism) will still go ahead.

The scale of their demoralisation is revealed by this report from a particularly articulate EDL activist who went down to the failed Swansea rally:

"(it)Was a joke. Descended into nothing more than a NF rally. No organisation from [our] side it ended up with the UAF actually protesting in the area we were given. When we mobbed up to go and tell them to f**k off the police helds us all for the duration of are alloted protest time. There was more white power there along with idiots who just thought we were bnp/nf than there were E/WDL. Racist comments sieg heil salutes and the burning of an anti swastika flag ensued."

After being humiliated in Swansea, the WDL made the following statement on their internet group:

"Newport demo is now OFF spoken to the police and they expect a lot of violence from local blacks, who it seems are convinced we are the klan or whatever, as we dont want to be responsible for a riot, by people we would expect to support what we are doing, we are cancelling until we are able to get message out there that we are not a racist group. "

Update- to clarify, people will still be attending the counter-demonstration as planned, in case the demo cancellation was a ploy to get the opposition not to turn up.

Racist "Welsh" Defence League outnumbered in Swansea

2009-10-18T12:48:00.004+01:00

The so-called Welsh Defence League were pleasingly outnumbered by anti-racist demonstrators in Swansea yesterday, according to reports.

Let us be clear- these football hooligan connected organisations are not specifically fascist formations, but do have fascists and Nazis (including BNP activists) in key positions, and are effectively a front for the far-right.

Credit to the myriad of organisations and political parties that supported the counter-demonstration, including Assembly Members Leanne Wood, Bethan Jenkins and Huw Lewis.

Evidently, the WDL's brand of extremism was not welcome in Swansea. Their planned rally in Newport next week may well be called off as the demoralised racists realise that the anti-racist cause has more support than their own.

Wales is a nation that luckily does not have a problem with religious extremism of any kind. The extremist problem here seems to stem from 60 knuckleheads who were under the delusion that their ideas would be welcome here.

Swansea did us proud.

Edit- More information from journalists who attended tells of "anti-Islamic extremism" demonstrators openly daring to give Nazi salutes in our communities. Shame on the Welsh Defence League.

Lib Dem u-turn on free prescriptions

2009-10-17T14:37:00.003+01:00

Reports come from the Welsh Lib Dem Conference that Peter Black has had a motion passed reversing the party's opposition to free prescriptions. They were of course wrong all along to oppose a policy which delivers measurable social and health benefits, and that rings true with the founding principles of the NHS.

Matt Withers puts it rather accurately:

The motion pointed out: "The Liberal Democrats were right to oppose the introduction of free prescriptions at the time...the situation has now moved on". Which could be interpreted as "it actually turned out to be rather popular with the electorate".

This is the Lib Dems' second welcome u-turn in as many weeks, but it would be alot easier if they got things right the first time.

Smoke signals

2009-10-16T22:36:00.005+01:00

Ramblings has picked up on an interesting theme about the Labour leadership race in Wales.

Our comrade Che Gravara has pointed out how Edwina Hart has made clever-handed remarks about the alleged ethnic composition of Welsh-medium schools, she really has said those things and they need to be contrasted with her official record which is of voting in favour of Welsh medium education. She has also based her campaign on "Clear Red Water" when this philosophy will be irrelevant if Labour is out of power at Westminster. It goes without saying she is not stupid and has done these things deliberately.

Carwyn Jones on the other hand, has deliberately selected an anti-Welsh Assembly Member Leighton Andrews as his Campaign Manager, so that he does not seem too "nationalist" or dare it be said, too Welsh. On that basis, the Counsel General launched his campaign with a wierd and unprovoked attack on the idea of Welsh independence, hardly the issue on the streets of Bridgend at present (and more's the pity).

Thirdly, Huw Lewis has tried to invent himself as some kind of champion of decentralist socialism with ideas that Plaid ideologue DJ Davies would be proud of. Shrugging aside criticism that he is a soft left Blairite and hates most things to do with Wales, Huw has sought to present himself as the radical choice, the only candidate challenging the traditional "Old Labour" statist model with a decentralised, co-operative alternative. Seeing as Huw Lewis represents Merthyr, one of the key strongholds of top-down Old Labour-style centralism, this is significant and brave.

The theme is that all of the contenders are running their campaigns in accordance with what they think is best for the Labour Party, not what is best for our country. Paul Murphy and Don Touhig are involved in the same game as their support for Edwina Hart is apparently (and conceivably, given their track record) based on their premise that she will "ruin" devolution or bring it into disrepute by being too left-wing and too pro-Wales.

The contest is becoming extremely partyist as each candidate attempts to detoxify themselves to make themselves palatable to a moribund Labour Party. It's bad enough that this makes the contest irrelevant to the vast majority of people in Wales. In theory there is nothing wrong with this as it's a party contest after all, but when in practice it means attacking the reputation of Welsh-medium education it is unacceptable.

The race for First Minister is at risk of shaming and exposing Welsh Labour rather than renewing it.

Severn Barrage looking unlikely

2009-10-16T17:41:00.003+01:00

A piece of very good news is that the proposed 'Severn Barrage', a mammoth project designed to exploit Wales' tidal range to serve the growing energy needs of England, may well be shelved so that newer and cleaner technologies can be tested. The Barrage is such a cumbersome waste of time that it would be quicker, and cheaper to test the alternative technologies like the tidal fence once proposed by Friends of the Earth and now being taken up by Rolls Royce, who say they can build one.

The Severn Barrage does have its backers though. Rhodri Morgan compared it favourably to China's Three Gorges Dam- one of the grossest human rights violations in the world, and the right-wing Vale Labour MP John Smith also supports the Barrage on the basis that "it will create more energy than any of the other projects". How this man is still in a job remains unknown.

It is encouraging to see that Plaid Cymru's South Wales Central AMs are opposed to the Barrage, although they don't oppose the alternatives on the table. Only a fool would want to leave the estuary and its remarkable tidal range as it is. Some kind of project is needed, but the Lavernock-Weston Barrage is simply out of the question for anyone who wants sustainability. As Adam Price pointed out, it's another Tryweryn but this time the water will be salty.

The UK Government's report on the Barrage didn't even acknowledge the existence of Wales. They do not have the interests of our communities or our energy needs at heart.

Tory corex boards and True Wales

2009-10-16T14:42:00.003+01:00

Word reaches Ramblings from a trusted Plaid source that the True Wales pressure group were out in force campaigning in Newport this week. We're at a loss to understand how law-making powers for the Assembly will lead to independence- or how independence could ever happen without the support of a majority of people in Wales, but more interesting than their leaflets was their homemade banner- 'True Wales' written in marker pen on the back of a Conservative Party placard.

Guess which two British parties are present in the 'True Wales' Group? It's an unholy alliance of "Monmouth is English" types and Touhigite Labour Councillors. Truly bizarre.

Will a credible 'No' campaign even take place? It is doubtful.

Barnett is Bust

2009-10-15T18:08:00.004+01:00

Ramblings approves of Edwina Hart's leadership manifesto which she apparently launched today.

According to the Wales Home website, the key pledges are:

Public service reform, ‘Voice not Choice’ - how to deliver publicly funded services the ‘Welsh Way’, with the voice of the Citizen at its heart;
The setting up of special public service improvement bodies to develop leadership, innovation and the interchange of ideas and workers between the various public services in Wales;
Reforming the way the Welsh Assembly is funded by Westminster so that the Welsh block grant is based on need;
Supporting further powers for the Assembly following a successful referendum campaign;
Tackling child poverty and youth unemployment through improved strategies;
Establishing a Citizens’ Bank to make sure that access to finance is available to individuals, groups and enterprises;
Reviving Welsh Labour from top to bottom.

It remains to be seen why all of these Labour contenders are dancing to Plaid's tune. Whoever wins it would appear that the push for more democracy for Wales is on the right track.

Dear Cheryl Gillan

2009-10-14T14:29:00.001+01:00

Please can you stop calling our country "the Principality".

Sincerely,

Ramblings.

Huw Lewis is more Plaid than Carwyn is

2009-10-13T17:11:00.005+01:00

Labour leadership contender and Ramblings favourite Huw Lewis is compensating for lack of Assembly support for his bid by focusing on the "battle of ideas". If outsiders are welcome, Ramblings is happy to indulge.

To his credit, Huw Lewis is basing his political vision for Wales on a sound, leftist position- a "social partnership" between Government and economic actors, and support for co-operatives, credit unions, and mutuals. A more decentralist approach than the Old Labour top-down centralist style.

In total fairness to Huw, these are sound political ideas that are in many ways at the core of Welsh life, although the idea of a social partnership is relatively new territory in Wales. But the mystery is that Plaid Cymru is surely already pioneering these two aspects of policy. Ieuan already forged the social partnership (even describing it in the exact same terms Huw Lewis uses, earlier this year), the kind of arrangement that is arguably the foundation for the entire economic policy of countries like Norway and Sweden.

Indeed, our blog was the first to highlight Ieuan Wyn Jones' achievement with the All Wales Economic Summits in bringing together the Welsh Government, business, and trade unions in what we described as a "Swedish socialist-style contract between business and the unions". Plaid in government- with the backing of the Welsh Labour party (though not Labour in London) it could be said, has paved the way for a different way of handling economic policy, and Ieuan's work this week is building on that. This blog is reluctant to be seen as a major supporter of the Plaid leader, he has disappointed us over nuclear power and staying quiet on St. Athan, but to be frank on the bread and butter issues he is playing a blinder.

Ramblings is extremely concerned (though honoured) at the fact Huw Lewis is trying to play catch up with Plaid on this. On the co-operatives, Huw has been trumpeting his credentials as the standard-bearer for the Co-Operative Party and wider movement. Well, Huw might not know but Plaid's leadership have a history of involvement in housing co-operatives such as Dafydd Iwan at Tai Gwynedd and Cynog Dafis in Ceredigion. The party also has its own Credit Union, a proud and historic part of the party's social arsenal.

It is a good thing that Plaid's philosophy is now being taken seriously by Labour Assembly Members, even ones who have been accused of tribalism such as Huw Lewis. It's a bit like Huw's idol and leader of the Labour Left Jon Cruddas MP citing Plaid intellectual Raymond Williams' ideas as the future for the Labour party.

So we've already got Huw signed up to the 'decentralist socialism' part of the Plaid Constitution. Could we get him on self-determination next? Is it a case of 'Vote Huw get Plaid?'

Kinnock Sacked

2009-10-12T22:18:00.003+01:00

Unelected Labour party member Glenys Kinnock has been removed from her post as Minister for Europe, and moved to deal with Asia and Africa. The spectre of unelected politicians wielding such influence is not healthy for democracy, and New Labour has fallen guilty of this whether it's farcical Lordships for Alan Sugar, elevating questionable neocons like Digby Jones and David Freud or bringing in Peter Mandelson, it isn't really democracy. Governments need advisors from the "real world" but a Second Chamber of a legislature should surely be manned by elected accountable politicians.

Kinnock's replacement is former Tory Chris Bryant, but luckily he knows alot about Europe, as under decades of rule by his two parties the area he represents has become and steadily remained one of the poorest areas in the whole of the European Union. When Jill Evans MEP pointed out that Wales' EU funding status should not be celebrated, Bryant launched an opportunistic attack on her claiming that she did not support European funding. He will almost certainly continue to be an unthinking Government loyalist in his new role, having no impact whatsoever.

Royal Mint threatened by Labour again

2009-10-12T13:20:00.003+01:00

Gordon Brown has today threatened that a number of state assets, worth about £16bn, will be sold off by the state to the private sector, in order to pay towards the bailout of the banks. Lord Mandelson said that the sell-offs are "an alternative to the savage cuts planned by the Conservatives". Quite how £16bn will be enough to avoid cuts isn't clear, but it does underline the grim reality that politics in the UK system is a choice between different styles of managing the system, rather than challenging assumptions about the economy and the state.

The threatened sell-off of UK institutions like Ordnance Survey, small airports and crossings means that the idea of privatisation at the Royal Mint at Llantrisant- followed by inevitable 'modernisation' and job cuts- is back on.

Plaid Cymru rushed to oppose the privatisation of the Mint earlier this year, and were supported by Labour AM Jane Davidson, but not by Labour MP Kim Howells who refused to condemn the government and instead criticised the fact that nobody had told him!

Susbequently, New Labour has not fully privatised the Mint but has "vested" it in an outside company, as a pathway towards privatisation in the future.

The Mint turns over a profit for the taxpayer and is poised to take on more workers as part of the Olympics, in what must be the only tangible economic gain for a Welsh community from the London games.

It is shocking but not surprising that an allegedly 'Labour' government would handle our public assets so carelessly and with such Tory-style ruthlessness. There really isn't a cigarette paper's difference anymore between the British parties.

Tory contradiction on quangos

2009-10-12T12:12:00.005+01:00

Isn't it audacious of the London-based cabal that leads the Tories to be talking vaguely of axing quangos? It's a position that contrasts with the oft-repeated call of the Tories in Wales to "bring back the WDA". It isn't clear whether bringing back the WDA would be the solution to all of Wales' woes, but the contradiction in Tory policy does shed light on the game that Cameron is forced to play to win at British politics.

Conservatives believe that most if not all of public spending is bad, which is why European Conservative parties generally opposed setting up the post-war welfare systems across Europe and also is why they want to privatise what's left of them today. In this day and age Tory ideology means that they can demand that we make cuts to pay for a problem their donors caused, and sadly alot of the "soft left" have been caught up in that game. The left will never beat the Tories at their own game, they know exactly where to cut public services and have few ties to the working classes that depend on those services. We need instead to defend public spending, as much of the private sector would in fact collapse if its assistance from the taxpayer was withdrawn.

On the subject of the WDA, it's interesting today to read about Ieuan Wyn Jones signalling a change in Welsh economic policy, away from handouts to multi-nationals and hopefully towards promoting innovation and indigenous companies. This is definitely a change we need. The age of the huge international companies being able to take our workers for granted by moving factories all over the place is surely coming to an end. Promoting green and social enterprises could be the way forward instead. Ieuan continues to defy this blog by playing a blinder.