... when a Salmon(d) and Sturgeon greet ...

... the other leaders of devolved Britain you can be sure that the Scots have a crisis in mind, constitutional or otherwise.  My guess is "Jowles" Salmond will use the meeting to create a wish list that our Westminster Government will find hard to accommodate without being seen to favour devolution over non-devolved administration, a list too far in Salmond's walk towards separation.

Crown Estate control must be high on the list, each of the devolved administrations have a geographical relationship to this pot of taxation, particularly the separatist elements.

Corporation tax, the crackpot politicians have an idea that there should be differing rates of tax depending upon geography, look what you are missing out on Carwyn ...... corpulent Alex will whisper.

Whatever the other devolved administrations eventually call for, Carwyn needs to consider how his electorate will react to further separation within the Union, because if Salmond achieves his published aims a constitutional rift will become a reality,  as sure as the sun rises in the East the wishes of the electorate in Wales are not the wishes of the North of Hadrians Wall separatists.

There is too much to do in Wales Carwyn, little time to join Salmond fiddling on castle walls.

... could I share three ...

... views of new Conservatism, an indication of where Conservatives are travelling, the vision of a Conservative future ...

... on The Civic State

The localism agenda and "Big Society" narrative can begin to gradually break down the monolithic state into an associative society where citizens are more able to take over and run their own services and seek budgetary challenge.

... on The Moralised Market

A re-moralised market would reward responsible long-term investment and create the conditions for mass ownership and entrepreneurship and the real extension of opportunity. It would be so much better than what we have now.

 ... on The Associative Society

... is like this: good men and women take responsibility and attempt to ascertain the common good. And because they acknowledge that there is such a thing as the "common good," they can, in contrast to the liberal thesis of liberty arising from permanent conflict, make common cause with those who differ and create a free and equal society based on such a debate.

... recent writings of the political thinker and social-economic commentator Phillip Blond, he finished with ...

Contemporary transformative conservatism recognises that the common good is its true goal and is indeed the basis of the new Tory settlement.

Big football day today ...
... Swansea just scored its third goal, the Premier division beckons, apparently Reading supporters are leaving the ground.
... and the Final score, Swansea 4 - Reading 2.  Welcome to the Premier division.

... butt out Alun Ffred Jones, there's a ...

... better man in charge at the Assembly, a man of a party that wasn't rejected by the electorate as was Plaid the separatist party of Wales, if First Minister Carwyn Jones takes another month to establish the Assembly and its various committees so be it, all the better for good governance.

To read Ffred's criticism of our Assembly Government the BBC reports it here. 

As former culture minister, he might be wondering where his post has gone, has culture been relegated to the peoples of Wales where it should be rather than a personal fiefdom allocated to the nationalists, it seems so, I guess culture is going to reflect society rather than the over the shoulder reflection of a pastoral Wales that hasn't existed for many a generation, the preferred culture of yesterday's party.

... for the great unwashed the removal of this position removes a distraction that Wales politics can do without.

Our Queen fears ...

... for the break-up of the UK, if Alex "Jowles" Salmond has his perverted way there might be cause for concern, in Wales the nationalists are a spent force, so until they re-group there is time to ameliorate the fundamental reasons why the could succeed.

First things first, our Government must insert an amendment into the Scottish Bill to present a referendum on Scottish independence as soon as is practicable, say the first Thursday following May Day 2012, the Salmond distraction needs putting to bed one way or the other.

During her Silver Jubilee she said ...

I cannot forget that I was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom , Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

... the very silent majority might like to consider her words, for myself, the nationalists offer very little to the great British public, other than the wishes of their politicians to become large fishes in small ponds;  because they are unlikely ever to become anything other than the also ran fry that fail to develop into a meaningful "Salmon", they have an urgent need to succeed as soon as possible as the nationalist days are short indeed.

Do you know the Lord Peter ...

... who comments at WalesOnline, his latest can be found here where the discussions are regarding BBC cuts.

He writes ...

What’s all the fuss about? BBC Wales and S4C will have to merge .With the BBC Wales funding and now the burden of S4C set to being picked up through the licence fee, Wales will have a disproportionately large amount of money given to broadcasting.

If certain a sports programme or broadcasts in Welsh don't attract audiences, so what? Scrap them! It isn't rocket science.

The Boneheaded remark from shadow minister Owen Smith that “Our broadcasters must have the resources to properly reflect our distinct culture, history and heritage.” Is complete tosh.

On no they don’t, that is not what broadcasters are there for, and it is that sort of politicising everything in Wales that has ruined our education and health services as well as burdening the whole of the U.K. with the £100millon + bill for the doomed, unnecessary, and pointless S4C in the first place.

The days of the Welsh speaking TAFFIA elite having influence over the vast majority of people in Wales will have to come to an end, with the tail wagging the dog no more.

This Government is giving the whole of the U.K. a long overdue wakeup call in many respects, and BBC Wales joining the real world is just one of them.

A different point of view to our local politicians, Bethan Jenkins for example has written here about the great damaging impact it will have, unfortunately it is in Welsh, the Google translation is not particularly good, maybe she should present an English translation as she used to, or maybe not, there is sufficient Plaid propaganda in the world.

Then Mathew Rees continues ...

I mostly agree with Lord Peter. I am a Welsh speaker and worked for BBC Wales and the idleness and complacency there is SHOCKING.

If Wales wants its own TV channel, that's fine but you can't expect the rest of the UK to prop it up when virtually nobody watches the channel. It should either be an online-only thing paid for by subscription or 3-4 hours of quality programming every night similar to BBC Alba.

I am proud of Wales and to be Welsh but from what I saw, people in that building would be stacking shelves if they didn't speak Welsh, while Welsh people who don't speak the language have little hope of getting a foothold on the media career ladder.

This is a long time coming and a long time deserved, I'm sorry to say.

... at First Minister’s Questions Bethan Jenkins continued her whinging and whining, she said:

“Given the shocking news of cuts this morning from London to BBC Wales’ budget and to the programmes of BBC Wales as well as the uncertainties facing S4C, would you now ask DCMS [the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport] to devolve broadcasting to Wales so we can protect programming here in Wales.”

Can you imagine the tripe that would come from devolved broadcasting if it became the prerogative of political guidance, sorry Ms. Jenkins, you would need to convince the majority that your ideas of broadcasting could in any way be described as wanted, and of course there is the question of finance, would the number of households in Wales generate sufficient funds to satisfy the foibles of politics at the Assembly.
 

Adam Price said ...

... at his graduation ceremony ...

"..... So let’s today salute them: dissenters, the mavericks and heretics, pioneers and prime movers."

As long as the "dissenters, the mavericks and heretics, pioneers and prime movers" agree with his narrow and perverse view of our world.

... much like his local acolytes .....

Whereas in our real world we have words from Nick Bourne, former leader of the Welsh Conservatives who said ...

But for Welsh Conservatives, it has never been about the trappings of office. We’ve fought hard in opposition to represent the concerns of everyone in Wales, and in doing so, we’ve gained the trust of more and more voters in Wales. But ultimately, we can only make good on the promises we make in government. We must never lose sight of the need to appeal to the entire nation as we aspire to lead the whole nation. And that must remain our aim.

Read the whole text here.

A trivial comedy for serious people ...

... is how The Importance of Being Earnest has been described, its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make it Wilde's most enduringly popular play.  In Wales on the other hand we are fed a diet of the ridiculous from a certain Assembly Member, Bethan Jenkins, Plaid South West regional list, one who has no direct mandate from the electorate, is proposing a "federal" structure for local BBC, with money for Wales etc ....

Her problem, a simple issue, she needs, along with her separatist friends, a platform for propaganda, a platform paid for by the licence fee payers. Her words ".... believed in devolved broadcasting "because we have seen how [UK Culture Secretary] Jeremy Hunt has treated S4C with contempt"."  It's not our Culture Secretary she should be concerned with, it is taxpayers like myself who would back a call to create a pay to view S4C so the viewers become the final arbiters on its future.

Carwyn Jones, on the other hand, said he had written to Mr Hunt, saying, "We must ensure that the BBC gives the people of Wales the service that they should receive in order to ensure that they know what goes on in their own country."

The most worrying part of this local comedy being played out by Jenkins and Co is it is not based on any credible truth, a BBC spokesperson said: "We have made it clear that local, regional and national services will continue to be at the heart of what we do."

Regional lists, would Leanne Wood have ...

... been elected, as a constituency candidate rather than as her Party's preference if there had not been the regional vote and party lists' ......

 As an elected regional member for South Wales Central this AM was elected in the face of a very strong Labour preference, Labour, although having three times the vote of Wood, had no success in the regional election, this is a travesty; if the constituency were dual constituency elections, there is little doubt that based on the percentage of vote gained by Labour for each of the constituencies Labour would have a majority at the Assembly today.  If Leanne Wood had stood in either of her 3 very local constituencies she would not have a seat in our Assembly today, the same goes for the other 11 AMs from their part lists.  Glamorgan Central, East and West would be Labour with a solitary Conservative from Monmouth.

But that would not be fair, the other political parties cry out, what about the people who voted for us, the voice of unpopular politics.  There seems to be a certain confusion, have we not just rejected, by a huge majority, the idea of proportionality during UK wide general elections when the vast majority of voters said "No" to the AV proposition, including the Wales vote, could it be the electorate in Wales was passing judgement on the "list" system in Wales.

Who designed and imposed the undemocratic on our democracy ?

When AM Bethan Jenkins says ...

... "BBC Wales plays a crucial role in the cultural, political and social identity of our nation and cuts like these would seriously undermine that", I wonder what she means. Report.

... what is this crucial cultural identity,
... what is this crucial political identity,
... what is this crucial social identity.

What is this role ?

I think that without political BBC in Wales the more eccentric political groups might find life difficult, and there lies the real issue, politicians need a free platform to peddle their wares; cynical politics at work here.

Just like our Nationalist friends ...

... the wife of an Italian ex-con was knocking on the gaol doors asking to be taken back in, apparently the problem was his wife, during the week he had been free she didn't stop nagging him; for the nagging Italian wife read our UK separatist parties.

Our first nag is Miserable who cannot be satisfied without an Independent Wales.

We also have Penddu, no slippery slope but a stair to climb.

Then there is MH, the nationalist number cruncher.

At the bottom of the pile we find Mr Nutt of the Rhymney Valley and Alan Jones a Celtic traveller.

All have a negative view of Great Britain as a political unit, all are political nags, in essence a distraction Wales can do without.

I believe that Plaid Cymru has probably reached a plateau, a plateau it is quite comfortable with, a thinking persons political left wing, could it be in decline, could it be haemorrhaging its membership to new organisations being calved in the Separatist heartlands, try Jac, his views will attract the radical, notice the inflammatory use of "plantation", a reference to the 16th century movement of Scots into Ulster to the detriment of Irish Catholics, Jac sees people moving freely around Great Britain as a threat to his vision of the future, whereas the remainder see freedoms being exercised.

The answer to the separatist is not to ignore them, but to create a Wales that they cannot thrive, this disaffected group will not be won over to the majority view, but the majority can begin creating a world that disaffection is less than a distraction ..............

 ........... more an eccentricity.

Stand and deliver ...

... he might say, Carwyn Jones has promised to let us know how government action is being delivered, he intends to "ensure promises are kept".  This would be a model Westminster might emulate, Carwyn only has one problem, the media are so stupid they are unable to shift from the old adage, "no news is good news" ...

... whilst at Westminster the jowly tail, aka Alex Salmond, is getting ready to wag our government.  This political monstrosity will use his preferred tactic of "create a crisis" to elevate his ambition for an independent Scotland.  Currently he has resumed the North Sea oil revenues chestnut, he refers to "North Sea revenues - £2,700 for every man, woman and child in Scotland", a statement to cross the political divides north of the border.  No-matter what the outcome of his Westminster meetings, he will tell the Scots that "as a result of discussions the people of Scotland are still hard done by".

He has the political upper hand, he is able to prevent the implementation of the "Scotland Bill", if his administration interferes with this Bill he will create a British constitutional crisis, Westminster must respond by letting them go ...

... Cameron might like to use the following ... "nice knowing you, I wish you the best for the future", then begin cutting the constitutional strings that bind Scotland to us.  Begin by bringing all defence south of Hadrian's Wall as soon as possible, next week possibly, there is no point being in a partnership with Nationalists or the peoples that support them.

Turn a blind eye ...

... seems to be the buzzword at Betsan's blog, the storm in a teacup at the assembly.

In my personal experience, if you turn a blind eye, it becomes impossible thereafter to apply the principle. 

Our police are inclined to turn a blind eye, though only where they are diverted to something deemed more urgent or serious, a resources issue, at the Assembly there is plenty of time, resources in abundance, hot air by the dirigible full.  It could or should use this episode to demonstrate the pursuit of Wales political excellence.

I wonder what might have changed in the world if we hadn't turned an international blind eye, would the Syrian dictator be murdering the people of Syria, would Gaddafi have bombed the people of Libya, would Apartheid have lasted so long in South Africa.

Closer to home, Alex Salmond has raised his corpulent head above the political parapet, this man of the Scots people has decreed today that post independence our nuclear submarines will no longer be welcome, though with his jowly arrogance he suggests that Faslane as a base would be retained in partnership with our British government.

There are 10,000 jobs related to our nuclear submarine base in Scotland, it is time to bite the bullet and transfer the base out of the reach of Salmond, I'm sure the Devonport skill-base would welcome the opportunity to look after our nuclear fleet.  Salmond feeds the fire of independence, it is time that plans are put in place to begin the disengagement as soon as possible, if Whitehall are under the impression that the Scottish question is going away, they are wide of the mark, bring the submarines south as soon as possible, and bring the jobs not the jobbers.

Contrition not wanted on ...

... this particular political journey.

For those who do not follow Wales political events, a recent event highlights the need for politicians to be cleaner than clean.  It is a rule that to stand for election the the Welsh Assembly, certain occupations debar a person, the list is quite clear, the political party's are very aware so there should be no excuse.  The first was a member of the Care Council for Wales, which regulates social care workers, the second was a member of the Valuation Tribunal for Wales, which deals with appeals about business rates and council tax.  You can understand immediately the reason for debarment, a conflict of interest.

Unfortunately two Liberal Democrat candidates employed by these two separate organisations failed to resign from post prior to the election, was this to allow the persons to return to post if they failed in their election bid, who knows other than the candidates.  As it stands both are in breach of the constitution so are unable to take their place at the Assembly, there is no problem, using the list system there are two other candidates waiting in the wings.

Liberal Democrat Assembly member Peter Black has said ...

Lib Dem AM Peter Black told BBC Wales AM/PM programme: "I think it's appropriate that there is a period of contrition because clearly this has put everyone through a difficult period and the members concerned obviously have responsibility to ensure that they are eligible to stand when they stand and so I think we need to sort those issues out first.

"It is a bit embarrassing and it is a bit of a distraction. It's very important that we sort this out.

"We have two very high calibre assembly members who need to be able to take their seats - I need to work with the other parties to persuade them to support that."

Such a statement brings into doubt the thought process of Peter, I have found him to be a good AM in the past, his outpourings certainly bring his thought process into doubt, is he as good as I thought?

So Peter thinks contrition and distraction are appropriate expressions, sorry Peter you are way off the mark on this one, the Liberal Democrats need to tighten the selection procedure and the only words appropriate are "expulsion" and "replacement".

We need good scrutiny at the Assembly, and for that we need good people to do the work ......

Congratualations seem to ...

... be the order of the day to two lovely people down under ...

... good news, keep well both of you.

Look into my eyes, look ...

...  into my eyes, the eyes, the eyes, not around the eyes, don't look around my eyes, look into my eyes; the words of illusionist Kenny Craig from the BBC series Little Britain.

Scottish Illusionist Alex Salmond is preparing the way for separation through illusionary events, he intends to create an official holiday around Saint Andrews day, the Scots Patron Saint, putting Scottish history at the centre of its schools curriculum, and the promotion of the ancient Scots and Gaelic languages, as if it isn't hard enough to understand a Glasgow accent currently.  It is all smoke and mirrors in an attempt to bolster Scotland's national identity in the run-up to the 2014 sporting events when Jowls Salmond intends to petition the Scots people for independence, it's not a problem Alex, you are asking the wrong people, you should petition the British people as a whole for Scots separation, your wish will be our command.

Whilst back at the green green grass of home, Wales, the separation ball has been kicked into the long grass of Plaid Cymru Alun Ffred Jones' Arfon (partition-in-waiting) ......

..... the long goodbye .....

Leanne Wood, ...

... not many will mess with her ...

... politically that is ......... as Ieuan Wyn Jones might discover if he doesn't go quickly ...

Post election Plaid cake ...

... where the bride and groom realise ...

... they cannot be everything to everybody, and the voting public realise the game is not about nationalist vision, but the honest management of our taxes and an improved constitution.

When they look at Britain, the people of ...

North Africa, the Middle East and other less than than democratic countries must feel the jackboot of tyranny like nothing we can imagine.

In the United Kingdom last week we were offered a different way to elect our democratic representatives, the vast majority declined ...... whilst in Syria the scum Assad and company sent armoured troops to suppress a wish for democracy.

In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland we went to the polls to determine our preferred political shape, the democratic process gave exactly what was asked for, In Wales we preferred Socialism underpinned with Conservative and Liberal Democratic values, Nationalist elements are being slowly rejected democratically ..... whilst in Libya Gaddafi punished the people by dropping cluster bombs on men women and children who wish for freedom.

In England there were local elections to select by secret ballot ...... whilst in Morocco King Mohammed has yet to fulfil his promise of democratic reform and to end government corruption.

In Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Persia there are no people, only a subjugated mass of humanity ...... it is time the people of these countries threw off the yoke of serfdom and embraced democracy.

Here in Wales and the United Kingdom, there were no secret police on the streets last week, no aircraft dropping bombs to influence the voters, corruption is dealt with by the law (imperfect possibly), and we have freedom of religious expression ......... and we still complain, aren't we lucky we can complain, complain in the knowledge that there will not be a knock on the door during the night, a knock that is followed by a dissenting brother being dragged into the night never being seen again .......

Betsan Powys writes ...

... Tuesday will be a day of intense negotiations after which we should have a much better picture of exactly what strategy Labour intend to follow.

I believe the negotiations ended as the polling booths closed at 10 p.m. Thursday, 5 May 2011.  If our local group of politicians feel unable to govern remember Salmon in his last administration, he was able to govern as a minority government in Scotland.

One thing is certain, Labour voters turned out in support of Carwyn Jones and his team and now expect them to deliver on their promises, there was no promise to form a coalition with any party, particularly a party intent on division; remember the effect on voters following the Plaid coalition, they didn't understand the dynamics of the agreement, Morgan did, but Morgan had his own agenda

So a message, stop umbilicus gazing and get governing, throw down the gauntlet to the other disparate groups sitting in the Assembly, tell them to get over their defeat and stand up for the electorate.

Salmond will ask for Independence ...

... but might English people say go now.

I cannot find an instance of a region being forced to form a new state, only instances of people being expelled, for example following WWII many German pockets of population were repatriated back to Germany, but this was not quite the same.

Apparently above 65% of the England population support Scottish independence, a large figure indeed, the UK government doesn't need to create a spoiling action to counter the Salmond effect, it just needs to galvanise the public into demanding justice of expenditure.

In Wales the situation is much different, less than 5% of the population are calling for independence, an irrelevance politically speaking, socially it is doubtful whether the separatists could galvanise even this small percentage into splitting from the UK.

But North of the border is different, I could join the England 65% to support the expulsion of Scotland, whilst I believe devolution has good aspects, the legislative devolution that we have in Wales is a complete disaster for the United Kingdom because it encourages the disaffected towards separatism.

So I would support the call for Scotland, shape up or ship out, you have become just a little too high maintenance, much like the daughter with aspirations beyond my wallet, it's time for you to look for another treasury Scotland, you've taken to much to often of my taxes.

If you have a need to be expressive ...

.... I found the following on the Sky blog Boulton & co ...

……...…../´¯/)………..... (\¯`\
…………/….//……….. …\\….\
………../….//………… ….\\….\
…../´¯/…./´¯\………../¯ `\….\¯`\
.././…/…./…./.|_……_| .\….\….\…\.\..
(.(….(….(…./.)..)..(..(. \….)….)….).)
.\…………….\/…/….\. ..\/……………./
..\…………….. /……..\……………..…/
….\…………..(………. ..)……………./

... so if you have a need, copy and paste away ......

Why we need Wales politicians, not ...

Welsh politicians.  Simply because Wales is all the peoples that live in Wales, Welsh is perceived as linguistic by the peoples of Wales.

This coming week the Labour Party with exactly half the elected Assembly members have a mandate to govern through the Welsh Assembly Government, it should be the Wales Assembly Government, without entering into a coalition agreement with another party.  Besides there being no mandate from the electorate, good politics will out political spoilers, the message from the electorate is surely get on with it, sort out our priorities of Health and Education before you do anything else, after all,  it's not rocket science.

A humble message to the people of Syria, Libya and Egypt, democracy is worth the struggle, don't stop now (Persia might also like to look towards democracy but sort out your lines of communications), both leaders of Libya and Syria are now international criminals, don't hand them over to The Hague, prosecute them at home, that's how you achieve real justice, called revenge by some.

A not so humble message to the USA, the Yemen need time to remove the tyranny in their country, your drones will not help, get out, get out now and give democracy a chance, sometimes you can be short-sighted, so .....

It's good news week in Wales ...

... Plaid has taken a thumping and the message from Caerphilly is thanks, but no thanks;  Plaid Cymru believed that Davies would add an apparent huge personal following to the last election count, wrong, the last election count was an anomaly, it was a vote for Davies in a tantrum having thrown his political toys out of the Caerphilly Labour bath water.  This man's last word on his defeat are "It's very sad, it undermines the whole point of devolution", what a fool he is, nobody wanted him ...


 ... and Jeff Cuthbert, well we voted for him to keep Plaid out, it wasn't necessary, but it's always best to be be safe than sorry, and although I wouldn't cross the road to congratulate our winner, he has been a good representative for the electorate during the last Assembly session.  A last word on Ron "turncoat - moment of madness" Davies, it's time for the man to get a job that doesn't involve putting his hands in the taxpayers pockets, retire Davies, retire today.

I tried to leave a comment at Wales Home, the account has been suspended ... I wrote ..

... waking to the news that Caerphilly rejected Plaid's Ron Davies was a little like waking Christmas morning, well done Jeff Cuthbert, thank you Santa ...

... and more good news from Carmarthen West & Pembrokeshire South, today it really is good news week  ...



Plaid have lost an Assembly mouth of quite large proportions, no doubt Evans will remain on the political scene through the patronage of Plaid, John Dixon's job is available after all ...

... and "all hail the electorate in Llanelli, Helen Mary "hush I know what's best for you" Jones has been given a political kicking by Labour, and it seems, a large proportion who feel she "didn'tput Llanelli first",



Unfortunately it seems Bethan "I have a vision with my green tinted glasses" Jenkins will take her perverse nationalist views back to the Assembly as will Leanne "left of Lenin" Wood,  well we cannot have everything, but second or third division politicians being elected for Plaid is perversely good news for Wales as they are not taken seriously outside the Assembly walls.

To AV and AV Not, ...

... not quite Hemingway's To Have and Have Not, but the question is equally important to those who watch the politics of Britain.

What exactly is AV to the politics of our United Kingdom, in simple words, what difference would it make if the electorate vote in its favour ?

The answer is simple, politics would become weakened, not to the extent it cannot function, but weakened to the point that politics of the day must become inclusive to a greater extent.  Politics will need to include the views of strangers, opposition views.

Weak politics will strengthen democracy, AV is the first step ......