Plaids Edwards on Tory Jones ...

... is the denial of political and economic reality !

Edwards is on record as saying the Silk Commission may be "wasting their time".

The Plaid reasoning is at wide odds with reality, the original intentions of the commission were always intended to make it accountable to the electorate, a democracy in an almost Wales Aristocracy.  Established by Cheryl Gillan, its brief was in two well defined parts :

Part I: financial accountability

To review the case for the devolution of fiscal powers to the National Assembly for Wales and to recommend a package of powers that would improve the financial accountability of the Assembly, which are consistent with the United Kingdom’s fiscal objectives and are likely to have a wide degree of support.

Part II: powers of the National Assembly for Wales

To review the powers of the National Assembly for Wales in the light of experience and to recommend modifications to the present constitutional arrangements that would enable the United Kingdom Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales to better serve the people of Wales.

If the two parts are explored for the real Westminster intentions we can conclude that it is to strengthen the relationship between Cardiff and Westminster ...

Part I:

... financial accountability of the Assembly, which are consistent with the United Kingdom’s fiscal objectives

Part II:

... United Kingdom Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales to better serve the people of Wales.

The first part subordinates the Assembly to the UK's fiscal objectives and part two establishes Parliament as the superior body in the service of the electorate.

So why the pointless babbling and chattering of the "Separatist Agenda of Wales" ?

Edwards said at the recent Conservative conference :

I think what we have to stress is we are talking about modifications. We are not talking about a wholesale rewriting of the Government of Wales Act.  What we are talking about, if you like, is tweaks to the devolution settlement to see if there are ways in which it can be made to work better.

The message is clear, Government (Westminster) has learned a lesson and intends to bind Wales to the Union not give succor to the nationalists ...

... and if you consider the messages coming from all the UK political parties, there is little difference, this leads me to believe the bluster of Carwyn Jones towards the activities of Westminster is just ...

... an illusion of dissent, in fact we are working very well together ...

WAG, delusion or deceitful or just ...

... plain incompetent, it's a question to ponder.

Devolution is very simple when the rules are followed, and although there are many aspects to devolution in Wales, there is a simple fundamental rule for Carwyn Jones and Co, devolution has distinctive bounds ...

"The Government of Wales Act is clear that the assembly cannot legislate to modify the functions of a minister of the crown without their consent, unless such a modification is consequential or incidental to other provisions in the Bill."

...in simple English, Cardiff Bay cannot legislate Westminster out of Wales, no-matter how seemingly inconsequentially, without the approval of Westminster.

So what's it all about ?

Carwyn and Co, and the company is the whole assembly, voted to pass the Bill that is said to "tidy up and streamline the way council bye-laws in Wales are made", it all happened on 3 July with no members objecting.  The link and the link.

That seems straightforward, except it cuts out of the local government loop the Secretary of State (SoS) for Wales, it has modified the functions of the Rt Hon Cheryl Gillan.  So has WAG been delusion or deceitful or just plain incompetent, there can be very little doubt that the Assembly members collectively are pupils before the headteacher whilst the SoS exists, they have an obligation by virtue of the conditions of Government of Wales Act 2006 to protect her ( it could very well be a him in the near future ) very existence. 

So did this very Welsh Assembly decide behind closed doors with its very secret civil servants to attempt the removal of the SoS from part of Civic Wales by stealth ?

I'm inclined to believe so, Carwyn and Co have tried to disfranchise the SoS of a function, this would have been the very thin end of a democratic wedge, a precedent that future legislation could build upon to divest Wales of the links to Westminster by stealth.

The rules of engagement are changing, it is a short journey from stealth to deception ... neither of which produces Justice for the little people no-matter where they exist.  If the Assembly and its administration at Cardiff Bay wish to cut the links to Westminster the question should be put to the electorate ...

Do you want independence, Yes or No.

... else the Assembly should draw in its neck and stick to the rules that the peoples of Wales have approved through their endorsement at the ballot box.

Returning to the question ...

... delusion or deceitful or just plain incompetent

I'll leave you to decide ....

Dafydd, Dafydd, Dafydd, sometimes ...

... I wonder if you have been at the sauce ...

                                                                                    ... with your outrageous uttering, to wit ...

WalesOnline today the last day of 2011, where you call for the scrapping of the position as Welsh Secretary to the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.  Now, contrary to the agenda of Plaid and pals, there are those of us who quite like the companionship of Westminster, particularly as we live in a political world (Wales) that would if left to its own devices, send us reeling into a left wing nightmare that we can read of through the immortal words of George.

Does Cheryl Gillan (CG) pull any levers of government West of Offa's Dyke ?  Does she exercise any real influence at No 10 ? .......... who knows, and in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter.  What matters in the real world is our government at Westminster has an office with its fingers on the pulse of "Political Cardiff", and it's very obvious this is the case with CG's recent remonstrations with Carwyn Jones.

And why should Westminster keep its fingers on the pulse of political Wales, well, as Margaret Thatcher discovered to her cost, that had she known earlier, much earlier, nationalism in Wales would have been neutered at birth not nurtured through political ineptitude throughout its infancy.  And that must be the SoS's primary task, to do to the political elite of Wales what the little people are prevented, to criticise and raise very real fears loudly and publicly, to be our lightning rod for the excesses of our regional government, this cracach that yearns for greatness ...

... and there you have it Dafydd, although you politicians might think you have everything sewn up, the others who have very few voices, have Westminster as a last resort.  We have in Wales several modern day "Le Chat Botté", those who use political trickery and deceit to gain a level of power and influence unparalleled in modern Wales ...............

................ in government and out.  Then there is Cheryl Gillan to speak out as she has ... but does she speak for us, the new year will tell.

On the home front, there is a battle yet to be engaged, it is with the nationalist who wish for the hand of the princess that is called Wales (in a marriage), they wish to become its worthless master with its head fully engaged in anything that is not Britain.




Message to friends and foe ...
Wikipedia have a fund raising effort, follow one of the links and maybe leave a donation, I have, if only half my visitors contributed £10, then there would be £100,000 for probably the best source of information freely available on the internet, be generous this new year.

Well David, what about Cheryl ...

... and her assumed posture of angry defiance !

Recently a internal vacancy came about at the place I work, there were four candidates.  One candidate told me that if the job wasn't given to him he would leave.  After a series of interviews, during which consideration was given to his attempt at coercion, he wasn't chosen and he subsequently submitted his notice to leave, Friday is his last day.

At Westminster you have a similar dilemma, our Secretary of State for Wales has publicly stated that if she is not given a free vote she will resign the whip, its the case of the High-speed rail project that will link London to Birmingham and on to Manchester and Leeds, fair enough, she was elected by the people of the Chilterns, and like "Nimbys" the world over the people of the Chilterns would prefer it if the project passed through the backyards of someone else.

But she has made an attempt to coerce the government.

Ministers are reported to have said "It is about bringing the United Kingdom together. It is about closing the North-South gap and stimulating economic growth, a 21st-century infrastructure for a 21st-century country."  Not just a speed issue, but a socio-economic project to link those parts of Britain that will stimulate regional economies, Wales included if our local politicians are correct.

The local political voices around Cardiff Bay have been crass in their opposition to Cheryl Gillan because her constituency is not in Wales, I don't think it matters personally, after all Wales is Britain and Britain is Wales, anybody from any-part can be the Secretary of State for Wales as long as they have the necessary political skills, civil servants do the rest.

But back to Cheryl (do what I ask or I will cross the floor) Gillan, I'm sorry David, but if you do not let her go now the message you will send to the electorate will be a message of weakness, that's not why you were elected, if we wanted weak we could have voted for the Miliband tribe.

It's nothing to do with the rights or wrongs of the High Speed train, that's for debate, it's all about who is in charge.

If she is not with you she is agin you, you should do as we did, let her go, you see, we marked our employee down because he was a bully in waiting, how are you going to mark Cheryl ?

One story, two pictures ...

... from BBC Wales, the dour Secretary of State for Wales ...

From Wales online, its good news week ...

The story is the Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition comes up trumps for Wales.

BBC Wales news, or Western Mail.

The nationalist carpetbaggers want BBC Wales for themselves, the news is they probably have it but nobody is saying it in public.

Peter Hain and Heledd Fychan, two sides of ...

... the same coin, and that coin is Political Wales.

I'm not a fan of Peter Hain, in fact there is little I like about him, except when he voices the opinions of the general public, the electorate, "le grand public".

And today he hit the button concerning the electoral system in Wales, in particular the recent debate about the "Alternative Vote" and "First Past The Post", I voted during the referendum for AV, but my neighbours voted for FPTP and won the contest, democracy in action, Hain believes our Assembly election method should be brought into line with the referendum outcome.

It seems that our electoral boundaries will change to accommodate the smaller number of MPs suggested by the government, 30 in total, the numbers are perfect when you considfer we have double the number of AMs, a total of 60.  So there is the option to have enlarged Assembly constituencies with two representatives, all elected using FPTP, I wonder why it hasn't been thought about before.

What would be the outcome if  Hain puts his point of view and the Secretary of State Cheryl Gillan agree, first it seems a further referendum would not be necessary, so changes to our future elections could happen in time for the next Assembly election.

Will there be opposition from the current batch at the Welsh Assembly, not enough, the Labour Party will undoubtedly be winners, but only as a reflection of how electorate vote, at the last election they would have commanded two thirds of the seats without a doubt, the Conservatives are far more comfortable with FPTP, so the proposal will get support from there, particularly if Hain can get cross party support at Westminster.  The other two will complain to the people of Wales, the Liberal Democrats are a lost cause in Wales, we preferred their radical Liberal traditions of the past, Peter Black can be radical but is constantly in the shadow of his leader, Plaid Cymru and its "Separatist Agenda" will return to the dark corners where the political destitute reside, probably to fade away during the next couple of generations, so no matter how vocal its support are they will not gain an inch.

And Heledd Fychan, the other face of Wales political coin, read her here, all I wanted was to take part in the conversation about S4C and £100 million of taxpayers funding ........ there are many others who might wish to contribute to those things that are important to society.

Update ....

After discovering that the Bethan Jenkins post at WalesHome had been published the same day on the Plaid Cymru website I left a further comment ...

July 14, 2011 at 10:01 am

Browsing the Plaid Cymru website I note the article in question was published in English and Welsh 11/07/2011 …
http://www.english.plaidcymru.org/the-slate/2011/07/11/a-revolution-needed-in-s4c/ for the English version,
http://www.plaidcymru.org/llechen/2011/07/11/angen-chwyldro-yn-s4c/ for the Cymraeg version
… the very same day it was published here.
I would be very surprised if Plaid Cymru had not published the contribution by Bethan Jenkins simultaneously in English and Welsh, it is not the way Plaid Cymru operates …

... and for a blast from a very real past, Julian Ruck.

... noh theatre or M4 politics, I ...

... wonder, might the theatre be a better comparison.

At one end of the M4 we have our home grown First Minister Carwyn Jones, and at the other we have our home grown Wales Office minister David Jones with the home grown Secretary of State Cheryl Gillan.  I am running out of noh masks .............

Carwyn was to have ... 

Whilst  David would have ...

... and for Cheryl ...

... does the surreal effect of the masks enhance the dialogue as it would in Japan ?

At the Cardiff end there is a call from Carwyn to be given power over planning approval for major renewable energy ...

... 132 miles, or 212 km to the East at Westminster, Wales Office minister David Jones roars in response "this will not be devolved".

Another player slides into the pantomime, Plaid Cymru MP Jonathan Edwards ...

... we have no mask for the Plaid Cymru MP, he doesn't need one, his words are probably enough when he accused the Labour Welsh Government of manufacturing disputes with its Westminster counterpart, he said:

"A lot of the disputes to date are manufactured hot air by the Welsh Government – play-acting that they are defending the interests of Wales when in fact it has more to do with the sectarian hatred between Labour and the Tories."

And Cheryl, she said nothing, a waste of a mask in this particular Nogak, is our Secretary of State making a contribution to Wales or might she be engaged in a private Noh .....




It seems that the Plaid player has the rights of it ................ that was difficult .....

Cheryl Gillan steps up to the plate ...

... and challenges the government's "landmark" high speed rail project.  Now whether her stance is because the route cuts through her constituency of Chesham and Amersham or because she sees the futility of such a project in the face of marginal benefits and huge costs (£33 billion) during chastened times is up for debate.

On record as saying "If the project goes ahead, I would resign the whip ... " adding " ... unless the PM tells me he would allow me to vote against it", there are not a few this side of the Severn who would advocate the obscene expenditure to remove her as Secretary of State for Wales.

The Labour MP Susan Elan Jones has differing views, she has stated that "... either she (Cheryl Gillan) starts putting the interests of Wales first or she makes way for someone who can", a study by the University of Glamorgan claims the High Speed route to Birmingham would benefit the economies of North and Mid Wales.

Over to you Cheryl, I always thought there were other projects more appropriate to hard times.