The SNP are desperate ...

... for a debate ...

... between Cameron and Salmond, but Cameron knows that if he put a toe into the referendum pond the SNP would probably get a swing to independence, as Cameron said, the referendum is between the Scots;  the currency and EU will sink Salmond, unless he gets Cameron on camera ..... poor fools!

Consider the [Scotish] question ...

... found at para 483, page 535 of Scotland's White Paper on Independence.

Question.

Will we have the power to reduce VAT on repair and maintenance work to dwellings in an independent Scotland?

Independence will enable the Scottish Parliament to explore a reduction in VAT on repairs and maintenance work to homes as part of wider taxation priorities.
Powers over VAT, currently exercised by the Westminster Government, will transfer to the Scottish Parliament as a result of independence. The tax system in place immediately before independence will be inherited at that time. Thereafter decisions on the tax system and all specific taxes – including tax rates, allowances and credits for VAT and other taxes – will be made by the parliament and government of an independent Scotland.

The answer from Salmon and chums is Yes-No, we can but we cannot, we might but might not ...

The White Paper is a gift to the "Better Together" campaign, do they realise it ?

Pork barrel independence with ...

... the SNP.

... higher pensions

... better childcare

... roll-back housing reforms
 
... pay less tax

... who will say no, how can you argue against the lip smacking list ?

BBC link.

Nothing tangible about currency, just the old chestnut that it will be better for the continuing UK to remain Scotland's lender of the last resort, I'm not sure if middle Britain will be carried along with this argument. I think it best let Salmond and Sturgeon burble on whilst we get next years street party ready ......... Salmon has won the argument with the little people with little more than pocket money.

There is a soft belly in the Independence argument, the isles [Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland] would like to be devolved away from Edinburgh, will Westminster be able to counter Salmond with Scotland's Viking heritage, could the Secretary of State for Scotland counter Salmond with the Isles ?

There is one aspect of today's white paper that I find nauseating,  Sturgeon said today the SNP government of Scotland hadn't introduced an improved childcare because the British Treasury would have benefited through greater tax take, when I heard her words she confirmed my feelings that politics is rarely about what will benefit the little people, its about what benefits politics.

Salmond's threat ....

.... reported in The Times

A threat by Alex Salmond yesterday that an independent Scotland could walk away from its multi-billion pound share of UK debt if Westminster refused to let it use sterling, has been rejected by one of  Britain’s leading economists.

The First Minister yesterday issued an ultimatum that a separate Scotland would refuse to accept its liabilities if London ruled out sharing the Bank of England and entering a sterling zone with Edinburgh. He insisted such a move would not be tantamount to defaulting on debt.

Salmond’s threat to walk away from national debt | The Times
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/scotland/article3771533.ece

I wonder how the electorate of the "continuing UK" would feel about Salmond's threat, might it be best to end the union with Scotland today ?

Culture, what culture?

The week past included an interesting radio show where Jason Mohammad asked the question "what is culture in Wales"

I think the question could have been set slightly different by asking the question :

What is culture ?

Wiki gives a good toe in the water idea with :

Culture is a modern concept based on a term first used in classical antiquity by the Roman orator Cicero:

"cultura animi", cultivation of the soul.

My first reaction to the question was a text to the radio show, the last to be read, it said:

Culture is today, every part of our daily life it is the rise and fall of songs, literature and language, yesterday is history.

I seem to be at odds with current thoughts ....

Cicero, I believe, would have agreed with Hoebel who described culture as having two distinct parts, the physical artefacts, material culture, and everything else, those intangibles such as language and customs.  My guess is that Jason Mohammad, and all those that spoke on the show, consider culture to be restricted to those intangibles, and in Wales it seems that the minority language, that is under threat from extinction, is considered of greater importance than all else on the cultural agenda.

Architecture, including design, choice of material and spacial impact would be considered material culture, separated from the other side of the cultural coin, the intangibles.

This simple example demonstrates the weakness of the traditional description of culture, how do we separate the material from the intangible when language develops as a response to our material world, if the intangible is inextricably linked to our material world, then our current use of culture as a reference to support political ideas is fundamentally flawed because it is partial, it is incomplete.

Going back to Cicero, are we cultivating our soul by failing to embrace the material culture that is today's culture, do we need to consign much of culture to history and embrace today and tomorrow as our true culture.

In Wales "The Mabinogion" would become a curiosity of cultural literature, does "Dylan Thomas" affect our perception of culture in the 21st century, and finally as a point for further consideration, the 2013 "Cardiff International Poetry Competition", link here .....

First Prize, Geoff Lajbrok from Cambridge
for his poem The Goose in the Suitcase

Second Prize, Rosemary Shepperd  from London
for her poem My Milkman comes from Sarajevo and has beautiful hands

Third Prize, Valerie Laws  from Northumbria
for her poem Hitting the Road with Frida Kahlo

Five equal runners-up
- Penny Ayers  from Cheltenham
- Charity Novick from Cambridge
- Pascale Petit  from London
- Judith Taylor from Aberdeen
- Anna Wigley from Cardiff

Is our culture "of Wales" or might it be "of everywhere" .......

... thinking of poverty.

David Cornock's blog had an interesting comment today,

Comment No. 45. by  paul80  "Poorer parts of the UK should receive more funding. Makes sense. The UK is a sinlge country after all."

I don't think he is right, "why should a poor part of any country receive government funds because it is poorer than other areas ? "

Two questions, both linked, spring to mind, "who would receive the funding, and, who would decide how it would be used ? "

If, for example, it can be demonstrated that an area has such poor literacy that its inhabitants are unable to attract good, well paid, employment, then government might address educational needs of the area.

If, for example, health issues can be linked to poor sanitation, then government can intervene, much like London of the 19th century.

With this in mind, should Westminster fund various regions of the UK as it does, should Scotland receive more per head than Wales, should Wales receive more per head than the East of England, per head ?

I don't think so, funding should be equal across the UK as a whole, based upon population, but a new approach to funding societies deficiencies wherever they are found.

We fiddle whilst Varteg ...

... becomes Farteg !

What point changing the "V" for "F", the answer is of course there is no "F" in the welsh language, but in Wales we have two languages, English and Welsh where above 80% of people speak only English.

The story was reported hereand here.

Myself, I think the village might change its name ....... to "Meri's Folly" or "Foggy Bottom", but seriously how a place is named should be the choice of the residents, and there should only be one name  !

... free lunch ?

Cash drain

Begining to back peddle.

I'm not wrong, but

Do our politicians ever sit down and think things through ?

When they ask us to approve Income Tax powers we might ask the question..

"are they are up to it" .... because we all know the piper has to be paid eventually, there's no such thing as a Free Lunch, unless you might be an education minister !

... taxes, what taxes ?

It's all to play for in Wales with devolved taxes.

... or is it a dastardly plan to derail political Wales ?

Trump card or will democracy ...

... have its way?

Will Donald Trump be able to subvert the wishes of Scotland's democratically elected administration, will he be able to divert the plans to generate enough electricity to power 68,000 UK households each year; or will he demonstrate to the Scottish people that it doesn't matter who has political power, it is the power that wealth brings that determines how the world spins.

Donald Trump challenge to Aberdeenshire wind farm to begin

Lang Banks says .... "It would be a great pity if Donald Trump was in any way responsible for frustrating Scotland's ambition to generate clean power and green jobs."

I say ... remember the bankers who brought about the most recent economic depression, remember the power companies that treat the little people as milch cows.

Democracy should show Trump the door to Scotland ... but I wonder, how will democracy sit with the lawyers at Scotland's supreme civil court today.

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent ...

wrote Calum when he left a comment at Gerry Hassan .

Hassan is of course talking down Westminster to talk up Holyrood. 

Everything bad that has dropped into Scotland is of course the responsibility of Westminster, whilst everything that is good is conveniently ignored, well that's the preferred option of the separatist agenda in Scotland, a similar programme of attrition is a constant state in Wales, our First Minister must cry into his cocoa at night trying to juggle his loyalty to both the Welsh Assembly and Westminster, because for sure, Westminster has been at the birthing of many good attempts to level society.  The scorn Hassan throws at Westminster is equal to the scorn thrown by those opposed to separation, and the upshot is, both campaigns are in fact negative despite attempts by the SNP to project a brave new world that would surely follow separation.

There should be no doubt that Scotland could separate, and, from day one, function as a new state; at a domestic level pensions would be paid, people would continue to work and pay taxes, oil revenue would underpin a proportion of government spending, just as it does today. 

Internationally there is no certainty, no guarantee the early entry to the EU would happen, no automatic invitation to join NATO, in fact it is only politicians that wish to belong to such clubs, for sure, they are political clubs for political animals, the reality is it wouldn't matter, not on day one, not for many years, so discourse on international matters are blue smoke and mirrors, to what end only the SNP and the separatist agenda understands.

So if everything functions domestically, what will change for the little people, the people with little influence except maybe on polling day ?

Alex Salmond speaks of taking decisions for Scotland in Scotland by people who only consider Scottish issues (international and domestic), a clever tack for a stumbling campaign, but will the outcomes be any different.

Nothing will change, real decisions will be taken by people beyond the reach of Holyrood; do the cogs of Holyrood know exactly who the decision makers effecting Scotland are? When Scotland votes next year, many people will hope for a "yes" result, myself included, because a "no" vote will be nothing but a postponement for a future separation.

In the grand scheme of things ...

Two individuals may both believe that many of those around them are poor and deserve help, but this knowledge may lead only one of them to decide to actually help the poor (Kierkegaard). 

 ... in the world today politics has created the "deserving poor" and the "undeserving poor", next September nothing will change, except a yes vote will empower Scottish politicians to decide who are deserving poor (or otherwise) in Scotland.

How deeply unfit politicians are – as a class of people – to have ...

... any role in press regulation.

Grant Shapps, Iain Duncan Smith and David Cameron line up against the very foundations of modern democracy.

Grant Shapps' appalling threat to the BBC this weekend shows what happens when barren intellects find themselves with some degree of control over a free media. He effectively threatened to take away its rights to the licence fee unless it provide more favourable coverage of the go vernment's policy programme.

Iain Duncan Smith, whose bullying tactics include demands for control over the words the BBC uses in news reports.

David Cameron, who has hitherto been commendably restrained and pensive in this debate, threatened to force the Guardian to stop publishing stories about the gross violations of privacy committed by our security services.  (politics.co.uk)

In Wales Andrew RT Davies (Conservative) said the BBC has a "near monopoly" on reporting devolution and should be scrutinised by Welsh politicians.

Plaid AM for South Wales West, has said "I think we need to have more control over our media here in Wales adding she believed in devolved broadcasting."

... so the feelings of Westminster Conservatives are reflected by Conservatism in Wales and Plaid Cymru, what about Carwyn Jones ...

... he has said "

"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"

So whether its the press or broadcasting, our politicians are not comfortable without control of information that might be political or information that might be critical of political activities, Carwyn is as usual ambiguous, or at least fence sitting, I wonder if he has (or his familiars) ever contacted BBC Wales to hide criticism; a bit of a quiet man is Carwyn, my guess is he is uncomfortable with democracy as Grant Shapps, Iain Duncan Smith and David Cameron.

Dissent needs a platform much like the Institute of Welsh Affairs.

Could Cameron be right ...

... when he described "the bubble [politics] in Cardiff as being completely obsessed with assembly powers but voters had other priorities such as the recovery of the economy and the health service".

Well Carwyn and chums are going to prove Cameron wrong, in the Assembly today ...

the Active Travel Bill will proceed to the next stage.

... at a price of £12 million, is it what we have asked for, is it good value ?

Information: 

This year the Aneurin Bevan Health Board has a drug budget shortfall of £10 million, and there are another 6 health boards in Wales, our politicians prioritise cycle track maps over medicines.

But its democracy, we did vote for maps over medicines didn't we ......... with devolution !

.

Wee Eck, "Mr Hypothetical", ...

... is living up to his reputation, skilfully creating a political void that only Cameron can fill, unable to answer questions that the electorate are asking about a future Scotland Salmond and political clan chiefs are leading the Scots towards, he does what he does, he creates a blue smoke and mirror crises, he sends a challenge to shift the question from "Scottish Independence" to "Westminster is not our government ! ".

Salmond has said Mr Cameron's government was "central to the entire referendum debate from the perspective of the No campaign", and voters had the right to know the details of the prime minister's alternative constitutional arrangements to independence.

Wrong on the first count,  "Westminster is central to the entire referendum debate from the perspective of the YES campaign", without a stick to beat Great Britain Salmond cannot win.  He needs to try harder and inject a degree of honesty into his campaign.

Wrong on the second count,an alternative constitutional arrangements to independence would only be designed with the approval of all the devolved administrations and Westminster (Commons and Lords), the future of the UK is not for Salmond to decide.

A simple question that Salmond should answer is ...

... "exactly how would your Scotland be a better place to live than the United Kingdom?"

He could carry Scotland with him with the right answer, but has he the courage ...

L.Wood ... such a gift

 ... what a Postal Prat

... Welsh not British produced the original, I'm sure opponents of Plaid can carry on the theme at the next election.

Such a gift, Leanne "one's foot in one's mouth" Wood.

The GR8 DB8, wk2, and toy throwing ...

... is on the cards north of the border.


Alex Salmond, Wee Eck to the faithful, wants to debate the forthcoming referendum with the PM, naturally the PM has deferred to Alistair Darling  the leader of the Better Together cross-party group that are campaigning for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom in the Scottish independence referendum in 2014.

Wee Eck is, naturally, a tad put-out that Cameron doesn't fall into line and give the Scots separatists an advantage; and an advantage it would be, no illusion, no smoke and mirrors, for Cameron to debate with the separatist leader would give him an extra 10 points in the opinion polls.

The SNP propaganda machine has littered the referendum path with promises that need not be kept, promises that in all probability would be nigh impossible to honour, these promises are like much candy scattered on a path to the infamous gingerbread house, but whereas the bread scattered by Hansel and Gretel disappeared, was eaten by birds, the separatist candy is recorded for posterity.  In the short term the promises are probably impossible to dispute except with extensive rebuttal, unfortunately in the 21st century the average elector doesn't have the time for university styled debate, they need sound-bite rebuttals.

So Cameron has declined the invitation, Alistair Darling should do likewise, stick with a political machine that is guaranteed to deliver your message, not become subsumed by the rhetoric of Wee Eck, because like it or not he will shout positives, and the Better Together group cannot prove a negative, and in live debate everything said by the Better Together group will be called negative.

The Better Together cross-party group need to produce positives for the future within the union, sound-bites that call time on Salmond's separatist quest, Salmand's wish to go down in history as a father of the Scots, a modern day Bruce, for certain not a modern day William Wallace’, because he was betrayed by his own ...

It only remains to be seen whether Wee Eck stamps his foot so hard it becomes embedded in the floor - temper, temper ...........
.

Plaid at Caerphilly ...

... seem to have buried their heads in the sands when in charge of our borough, WalesOnLine report here, a mistake of £21.80 I can understand, a mistake of £218.00 I could forgive, even a mistake of £2180 might be human error ...

... but £218,000 is stretching things just a little, and when Plaid Cymru Colin Mann (currently of the opposition Plaid group) was deputy leader and cabinet member with responsibility for finance said:

“None of my colleagues has any recollection of being involved in the car allowance decision. I’ve tried to find out when this was done, but so far haven’t been told properly what went on."

...so what were our local politicians actually doing with our money, were their hands on the tiller or were their separatist heads in the clouds, and although Colin Mann was responsible for finance, who was actually in charge ....

... or was it Dickens "The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come" were Plaid ever to gain governance of Wales.
.

Where angels fear to tread, a battleground ...

... David Cameron knows not to enter, he knows better than to take up the gauntlet thrown down by Salmond, to travel north of the border to debate the forthcoming referendum would be to run a gauntlet created during the Thatcher years, irrelevant in the 21st century, but having a bitter taste that has crossed generations.  Why would Cameron gift an opportunity to Salmond, rightly he judges the debate should be between equals, and scottish equals at that.

Of course, Cameron is no angel ... but neither is Salmond, both are deft at dealing a very dodgy hand of cards.

BBC report.
.

Thank the Lord for Leanne ...

... Wood, with such articulate leadership ...

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-24295595


... Plaid needs hell to freeze before taking office, again, thank the Lord.

Edwina Hart has a grand plan that ...

... is just what's needed for Wales, details here, John Osmond can see a few problems with execution, particularly funding and an alliance with the UK Government.

The issue around funding is nonsense, if the city region is organised as a local authority it will have statutory borrowing powers, there is no reason to delay in the quest for Cardiff Bay borrowing powers.

I'm not certain an alliance between Westminster and Cardiff is necessary, unless the plan is for Cardiff Bay politics to become involved, if that is the plan the problem is not forming alliances, it is with professional politics interfering in matters they are rarely qualified for.

If Edwina Hart were a great politician she would construct a robust yet flexible framework (much like the British constitution) and let loose her creation to the people who will put fabric on her scaffolding.

As Aaron Hill's wrote in the "The Nettle's Lesson":

'Tender-handed stroke a nettle, And it stings you for your pains; Grasp it like a man of mettle, And it soft as silk remains.'

Remember the Local Government Act, all the powers needed rest there, add a lady's positive ambitions for Wales and what is there to loose ?
.

The GR8 DB8, wk1, and it ...

... is being used by Scottish Nationalists to dignify the sordid process of separation.

When Alex Salmond second in command Nicola Sturgeon spoke to the Scots, reported here, she said "you'll retire earlier with the SNP than you will remaining with Britain !"

The SNP closed the door on honest debate and confirmed to the electorate, that the candy behind this particular game is "humbug".

A few facts ...

The SNP government-commissioned Fiscal Commission also recently concluded that Scotland will soon have more pensioners per head of working age people than the UK. It reported: “It is projected that without action, Scotland’s dependency ratio will increase more rapidly compared with the UK – reflecting the particularly sharp increase in Scotland’s pension age population.”

The Department for Work and Pensions said “Pensions spending per head is already higher in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, and in future, Scotland will have a higher proportion of elderly people. But by pooling our resources, we won’t need to rely on volatile and declining North Sea revenues to pay the pensions of Scotland’s elderly.”

The truth ...

10% of the population of Britain, that includes Scotland, have 60% of the countries wealth.

90% of the population of Britain, that includes Scotland, are unlikely to ever earn much above the median income of £20,000.

The likelihood of these figures changing through separation is zero.

Blue smoke and mirrors, so who gains through this sleight of hand ?
.

It's almost time ...

... to hand over for good.  The last six months have been busy, to busy to write, busy preparing to hand over the warehouse to J.J., next Friday I cross my particular Rubicon into retirement, a life no longer governed by the clock, the timetable, the rota .... instead there will be ... time !

My early upbringing taught me not to waste time, use every second of it, and starting early my first shot is across the bows of Caerphilly CBC.

The story .... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-23801990 ...

... not the involvement of Pickles, but the table at the end of the report entitled "Councils which allow blogging and filming of public meetings"

Caerphilly does not allow democracy into Public meetings, there can be little justice where dissent can be silenced, so to begin a tiny skirmish I sent an email to the leader of the council Harry Andrews, to-wit :

 I read with interest, BBC web, that Caerphilly CBC do not allow blogging or filming of public meetings.

What plans and timescale do CCBC have to extend democracy in the borough by following the example set by both Monmouthshire and Anglesey ?

Kind regards

John.

 It's quite possible that CCBC have plans to democratise our local authority, a grand scheme, but somehow I doubt it, politicians prefer not to share power and influence with the electorate.
.
 

How will Carwyn cope with this cranky kid ?

Kirsty Williams has her proverbials in a twist over the use of £17m spent on staff pay-outs, which include the ubiquitous confidentiality clauses, there is a little issue the Lib Dem leader might like to consider ...

Tina Donnelly, director of the Royal College of Nursing in Wales, said she believed the spending on compromise agreements was the result of previous government policies to reorganise the health service in Wales and the costs incurred when shedding staff,  "constant reorganisation, every two to three years, does have a price.

How our politicians forget the true costs of their constant meddling ..........

The other cranky kids are without ideas hanging about the street lights in Cardiff Bay, elections soon ...
.

Plaid seems to be ...

... in disarray, Rhun ap Iorwerth the Plaid candidate for Anglesey walks in one direction, whilst Plaid grass-root support walks a well trodden path in the opposite direction, of course the grass-root support might be less influential than it would have people believe.

In a nutshell Rhun ap Iorwerth spoke to BBC's Vaughan Roderick, and during the interview he was the unrepentant supporter of the new Nuclear Wylfa B power plant, his is the pragmatic politicians approach to electioneering, tell it to the electorate exactly as they wish to hear it, in this case they yearn for jobs and prosperity.

Now the grass-roots in the morphed shape of MH, read his diatribe here, calls Rhun ap Iorwerth calls him dishonest, a liability, a cookoo in Plaids nest....

 ... the people of Anglesey see MH and chums as head in the sand buffoons.

The peoples of Anglesey prefer prosperity, being able to buy meat occasionally, as opposed to the poverty of narrow nationalist visions.

.

Morgan out, Price in, musical ...

... chairs at Plaid.

BBC report, my prediction....

Welsh language put aside by Crown ...

... Body.

"Welsh language services are to be scrapped at a state-owned savings organisation because they cost around £900 per Welsh-speaking customer."

How can you justify an uneconomic service in times of great austerity, it's not possible when the poor are being forced to give up their bedrooms to save the taxpayers money !

... difficult to explain away !

Countdown - 64 (working) days to ...

... I day !

... and in Scotland the separatist agenda continues too play to the gallery, play to the crowd, perform to get the approval of the audience.

Give separation a chance and we will abolish ....

• rules on under-occupancy
• take housing benefit out of Universal Credit

... nothing that describes a brave new Scottish world, just Deputy SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon  highlighting unpopular measures that might or might-not be changed by a future SNP government if the peoples of Scotland vote for independence next year !

With less than 13 working weeks before retirement I was reminded by a brother that I need to plan to fill my time in the future ....

walking the dog
fly fishing (once again)
baking ( bought "100 cakes and Bakes" by  Mary Berry for the Kindle this week ).
having a beer in the evening
not working until midnight

... and try to be a help sometimes.

Today I am taking into work a few Devonshire Splits (recipe) ...

It's a real pain being a diabetic, making but not eating ..............

Why Salmond and Cameron ...

... must never meet in a debate about Scotland and the intentions of the separatist agenda ...

BBC story here

... it's is simple, Cameron is not a Scot, my advice David ...

... stay south of the border and keep your mouth firmly shut, the Scots must defend their Scotland isolated from the vagaries of Westminster, you might like to send a memo advising MP's of all parties that this is a fight amongst 21st century Scottish clans, not a 21st century Bannockburn in which Salmond is in a battle with the rest of the United Kingdom.

A final word David, you do not have a Scottish accent, remember this very small detail.......

,

To have and to hold in Wales, ...

... but not as much as in Scotland or Ireland:

Westminster plans to spend an extra £531 million in Scotland this year, boosting that department’s Expenditure Limit by nearly 2%. It plans to spend an extra £327 m in Northern Ireland, boosting the Limit by 3%. It plans another £107m in Wales, a rise of 0.7%.

Two questions ....

...why is Wales receiving a disproportionate increase compared with Scotland, proportionately the amount should be £189 million (per head of populatin ?

more importantly ....

... why the extra spending at all when so many have tightened their belt in the extreme ?

... I wonder how Jack would read this ?
 

Language dilemma for ...

... Meri Huws the Welsh Language Commissioner.

Westminster has decreed that EU doctors coming to work in the UK from April will have their language and communication skills tested by nominated senior doctors.

In Wales we have the Office of Language Commissioner who may do anything she (currently female) considers appropriate to:

• Promote the use of Welsh
• Facilitate the use of Welsh
• Work towards ensuring that the Welsh language will be treated as equally as English.

This includes promoting opportunities to use Welsh and encourage best practice in the use of Welsh by people dealing with other persons, or providing services to other persons; a recent Investigation report published into the implementation of Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board’s Welsh Language Scheme (NHS in Wales).

The difficulty I envisage is satisfying the commissioner and the public in need of the NHS in Wales, as all our doctors are registered with The General Medical Council (charity registered in England
GMC0002 and Wales (1089278) and Scotland (SC037750)) and as there is no requirement for language skills other than English ...

... what is the point of our Welsh Language Commissioner.

The Western Mail asks ...

... the very simple question

How far does the Welsh Government want to take devolution?

... a more searching, much more relevant question would be

How far do the peoples of Wales wish devolution to be taken?

... an adjunct question would be

Does devolution need to be developed further, for whose benefit ?

Devolution, like Pandora's box, is opened never to be closed, unlike Pandora's box of mythology the contents are not evils, but mediocrity, the task at hand is to demand that politicians and their parties introduce "quality" into the workings of governance.

Only when the Welsh Assembly can be described as a Quality Institution should the Western Mail question be answered.

No, but, yeah, but, no, but...

... sums up politics in Wales, where the Health Ministers' plan for ground-breaking organ transplant legislation in fact changes little !

Not for the faint hearted, confused in the extreme ...



...It becomes apparent that ...

... nothing is in fact going to change.

• Government takes control of the deceased
• then hands back to the family final consent
•  ... and friends of the deceased
• no matter what decision the deceased had made
• any uncertainty will halt the process.

 We arrive at the 30 minute point and the committee introduces the concept of "Trumping" into law, could this be a first for WAG, we have a law that seems to be designed to confuse, by the 43rd minute trumping becomes an established expression .....




Although this legislation manages "no change", having said that, if a convicted prisoner is moved to Cardiff Prison from Bristol (44 minutes into the recording), he becomes eligible for the virtual organ transplant programme, will the Secretary of State for Wales seek a judicial review to give prisoners a green exemption card, or will WAG use this perfectly useless legislation as a first step on the road to the separation of England and Wales criminal justice ?

Leighton Andrews ...

... at the helm of education influences our future ...

................... we have a bespoke grading in Wales.

True Wales - on the button ...

... with today's press release.

TRUE WALES PRESS STATEMENT

19^th February 2013

True Wales is appalled that politicians, who claimed that the 2011 referendum was a 'minor tidying up exercise', are now calling for the devolution of policing and criminal justice.  It is notable, however, that they want full budget transfers, courtesy of the UK taxpayer, to fund their separatist plan.

These individuals explicitly denied that a Yes vote would lead to tax powers, a separate legal jurisdiction and the devolution of policing and criminal justice.  As True Wales accurately predicted, the people of Wales are never to be allowed a proper debate on the extent of the devolution journey.

It seems evident from their submission to the Silk Commission Part II that Ministers in Cardiff Bay are keen to cut, one by one, every tie that binds us to the United Kingdom. 

... all predicted by True Wales,

... all denied by politicians,

... all denied by separatists,

... so, who do we trust ?

.

Carwyn will ask Noddy (David Cameron) ...

... for permission to police Wales with ...

... no discernible idea as to how the peoples of Wales will benefit from another devolved power.

... further separation that cuts the ties Wales has with the UK by another notch.

And the reason Plaid ...

... decided to ditch their traditional support in favour of courting the Lefty vote of Wales ...

... the two colour map of Wales !

... the Grey of no overall control (dominated by dissent, disagreement and cultural dreams), and the unambiguous red of the Labour Party.

Plaid thinkers and policy makers believe the only way to power is via the valleys of the South, fortunately for political Wales Amazon is subverting nationalism, other casualties of this subversion include the high street and out of town shopping !

Is this an example of economics controlling politics ?

A new constitution for Plaid is a ...

... little too late to save its bacon, as I wrote at the BBC blog of David Cornock:

One of the reasons nationalism in Wales is a lost cause rests with the internationalism of culture, when the e-reader recently came of age with the "Fire" version, culture as epitomised by the Plaid movement was lost to the film-makers of Hollywood and Far East programmers ...

What is expected by political pundits is a lurch to the left in an attempt to garner the traditional Labour faithful disenchanted by a decade, or more, of the party settling into the centre of political life;  unfortunately for the 5% who yearn for separation, the majority prefer the comfort of belonging to a larger family that is Britain.

For our political leaders, take 10 ...

... mindful minutes.

Adam Price, ...

... one-time politician, separatist, adviser [to Leanne Wood] who likes to talk a great deal, had much to say this Christmas.

... but when the blue smoke is driven away by the breath of sanity, and the Plaid mirrors covered with a cloth of reality, there is very little substance remaining.

It is where he is reported as saying :

"As a nation we lack self-confidence because of the weakness of our economic position."

... it begins to unravel, much like a woollen thread caught on a briar.

... the only lack of self-confidence is with our lack-lustre politicians.

... he continued :

"Nations that lack self-confidence do not tend to back independence."

... over optimism here, with only a few percentage of the population interested in separation he could have written :

"People who realise separatism only changes the face of government, do not tend to back independence."

Not content with boring the pants off readers who might stumble on his particular politics he goes further, presumably to send people to sleep :

Wales is the only one of them [ the regions of Catalonia, the Basque Country, Scotland and Flanders ] where independence isn’t realistically on the current agenda, for a combination of historical, economic and demographic reasons.

I'm afraid Mr Price needs a reality check, its not a combination of reasons we choose not to join the separatist movement, its straightforward, we feel more at home with Britain than a

 "Price-Wise Wales" !

He proposes a sick ...

...joke to be played on Britain's poor people, a proposal by Ian Duncan Smith,

who tells the little people to be satisfied with their poverty !

... he proposes to reduce the redistribution of income from the better off to those living in poverty.



 ... he is another who can be referred to as "all process, no products"...

... unless of course "poverty" is considered a "product" !