Tuesday ... Louise Mensch, another reason ...

  ... to switch allegiance for team GB voters.

Not because she has quit politics, but because the Conservative Party made a pigs ear with her selection, they chose a lightweight "media star" rather than a political mind able to craft legislation.

This latest manifestation of Great Britain in political decline is to be expected when the political landscape is little more than beach volleyball between politicians and the media, the little people recognise and understand that democracy only occurs at election time, for the remaining 5 years of the life of the Parliaments (and Assembly's scattered around our country), democracy takes second place to a contest between political leaders and the media.

My advice to the Conservative Party would be to find a Mensch replacement with a certain enquiring depth, not a "bright media star", someone who might Tweet less, Corby and East Northamptonshire need a representative not a writer of chick lit fiction.

Lady Lynn de Rothschild (in today's Times), the businesswoman and lawyer, has lamented the fact that many women lose their ambition when they marry "alpha males".

Alpha Males ! .... her husband is the manager of a rock bandfor goodness sake, she is moving to New York for an exciting life Westminster is unable to compete with.

Closer to the truth of this débâcle in today's Times ...

.... speculation about Mensch’s “real” motive yesterday. Perhaps in vacating her marginal seat she was leaving a sinking ship? Perhaps she was bored by politics and wants to return to her previous career, writing novels, or to concentrate on her social networking site Menshn which is intended to be a rival to Twitter and which she set up after receiving hateful tweets about her children from a Twitter troll who was later prosecuted. Perhaps she simply wants to be with her new husband, a man who has managed Metallica and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and with whom she seems blissfully besotted.
“I have strong feelings of hero worship towards him. I was longing to brand myself with his name for a very long time. He’s a living legend, and to be his wife is the greatest honour”, she said recently. “He is absolutely stunningly gorgeous. My palms still sweat with adrenaline whenever he walks into a room”.
Whatever her reasons you have to hand it to Louise Mensch. In a week when politics was the last thing on people’s minds and the names dominating the headlines were people in tight Lycra shorts, Mensch, ever the self-publicist, lobbed a small hand grenade and did what she will always do brilliantly. Put herself in the spotlight. 

 ...

This weeks FoS award goes to ...

... a most miserable politician the Conservative Robert Halfon MP for Harlow.

Friday last ...............

.................. Shami Chakrabarti , director since September 2003 of the British civil liberties advocacy organisation Liberty,was amongst 8 people chosen to carry the Olympic flag during the opening ceremony.  Introduced to the audience with quite profound words ...

"We salute her integrity"

...  she certainly stands out as a person who represents peace, democracy and social justice.

Now Halfon thinks otherwise, he described her as a "pressure groupie Chakrabati", the paltroon couldn't even spell her name correctly.  Fortunately for the little people of the UK and the World Shami Chakrabarti has more influence than Halfon, we prefer the search for Justice to the grandstanding of a right wing non-entity politician.


So to the FoS politician, the FoS award ...

Does Wales have a Plague Party ...

... in waiting, waiting for that crisis that will send the electorate over the edge into "a plague on all your houses" state of mind.

Today's (£/$) Times has an analysis of Greece where Bill Emmott writes that he would vote for the Greek Plague Party (real name Syriza), Alexis Tsipras, the young head of Greece’s Plague Party (Syriza), says that he intends to call the Germans’ to demand better terms on the financial rescue loan and so stay in the euro.  Angela Merkel is going to agree to that, particularly as she has her own plague party snapping at her heals, in Germany it is called the Pirate Party.

The commonality between Syriza and the Pirate Party seems to be a frustration born out of austerity and disconnected politicians, the aftermath of a decade or more where everybody maxed out on their finances including governments, a frustration that doesn't see any end in sight.  In Wales we have the unusual circumstance that in the face of national austerity, we have a regional administration diametrically opposed to the Westminster administration which has been dealt the most uncomfortable hand of political cards, no opportunity for a plague in Cardiff Bay.

I'm sure that our separatist party in Wales would welcome an opportunity to wear the plague party mantel if it thought it could tip the electorate over its edge into independence mode, Alex Salmond has managed a scottish pseudo plague party that might just succeed, but in Wales the commonality is we can always combine to create an opposition to Westminster, we create temporary plague parties at the drop of a hat by combining the unconventional.

For Greece its Plague Party could begin a domino effect upon the Euro where the European underbelly jumps ship, in Germany its Pirate Party is nudging the electorate to ask the question "do we need to share our prosperity with the rest of Europe?"  If I were a banker I would be dumping the Euro, if I were a industrial leader I would be looking for opportunities elsewhere, if I were the UK government I would probably be making preparations for opposition.

In Wales UKIP is probably the party in residence to take up the "Plague Party" mantel, not Plaid Cymru, UKIP can appeal across politics left to right, and there is nothing in its constitution to cause undue concern to the electorate ........ after a crisis everything would return to normal ...

... what's normal in Wales ?

In the 12th century ...

... it seems :

5% of the population fought wars.
5% of the population sought divine mercy, probably for those at war.

90% worked to support them.

In the 21st century little has changed :

10% of people are still supported by the 90%.

... and that's the dilemma for David Cameron and his government, how does he influence society to become fair and equitable without taking away from individuals the incentive to create the future. 

Uncivil ...

... civil servants, the story by Kathryn Cooper, Robin Henry and Georgia Graham of The Sunday Times :

Civil servants use company to cut their income tax to 2%

SENIOR civil servants could be benefiting from personal income tax rates as low as 2% using controversial pay deals that cost the country tens of millions of pounds in lost revenue.  Danny Alexander, chief secretary to the Treasury, said last week his department had identified up to 2,000 officials who could be minimising tax because they are paid through companies or agencies, rather than the government payroll.

A Sunday Times investigation has found the use of these pay deals is widespread across government. In some cases companies can be used to reduce a personal tax bill to 2% a year compared with up to 50% if the individual were on the government payroll. The companies must also pay corporation tax, but the overall tax bill would still be about half that paid by a salaried employee.

Chris Savory, a consultant who was employed as an interim senior manager at the General Social Care Council (GSCC), is one of those who have benefited. He was paid a total of £222,000 by the GSCC through his company, Interim Public Finance Management, for his services from April 2010 to March 2011, on which corporation tax would have been paid. Accounts for the company show it lent him £58,636 that year.

It is common for company directors to take their pay as a loan because tax is paid at just 2% on the interest, compared with up to 42.5% if it is paid as a dividend and up to 50% if it is taken as salary. If a loan is outstanding after nine months it must be repaid or converted into a dividend — although accountants said there are ways round this. Savory confirmed he had been paid through his company and had taken a loan, but said it had been converted into a dividend in the tax year to April 2012. “I am not doing anything that isn’t perfectly legitimate within the rules,” he said.

Adam Morris, communications director at the Youth Justice Board until September 2010, was also paid through his personal service company. The board paid £62,128 to Adam Morris Communication for his services during 2010-11. The Youth Justice Board confirmed Morris had been paid “off payroll” and said it had sought assurances from his accountant that tax had been paid. In future, any civil servants on a contract of more than six months who earn more than £58,200 will have to prove they are paying income tax and National Insurance in full. However, The Sunday Times found that such agency contracts were common across government.

Stephen Park, appointed to the board of the Department for Communities and Local Government as interim finance director between March 2010 and January 2011, was paid £335,135 through an agency. Meanwhile, his own limited company, Ashley Interim Management, paid dividends of £130,000 for 2011 and £100,000 for the previous year.  The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) confirmed that at least three of its senior staff were employed through third parties in 2010-11. Jonathan Dodworth, interim finance director from May until October 2010, and David Clausen-Thue, his successor, were paid £236,183 and £160,516 respectively. A spokesman said: “These individuals were all contracted to the RPA on an interim basis while permanent staff were recruited.”

Ofwat, the water regulator, paid Rob Ashley, interim director of policy and communications between 2009 and 2011, £475,000 through an agency. He also has his own consultancy, Robert Ashley Ltd.

How are these practices condoned by the very same people who insist that those at the bottom of the food chain in Britain are pursued for economic crimes, because lets not mince words, these very uncivil servants are committing crimes against those who pay their very inflated wages.  If the current government were not spineless, these practices would be stamped out Tuesday morning.

How do you explain to the poor of Anglesey or the North East of England that they must continue to pay heavy taxes so that the scummy servants can benefit from their poverty ........ and lets not the last government led by the Labour Party get away without assigning responsibility, when did these crimes against the taxpayers begin ?

Well done The Sunday Times ...........

Woody, she's currently Plaid ...

... in Wales, she is heading up a campaign to promote cycling in Wales, a laudable aim, people get fit, the atmosphere seems to be cleaner, she has a slot at the Plaid Cymru website that promotes her sitting astride a bicycle with a shiny brown leather like seat.

Scroll down the Plaid link a few centimetres, then this parody of a political party shows its shallow unimaginative approach to politics, Woody and Co. are promoting ...

... Barclays Cycle Hire (BCH) is a public bicycle sharing scheme that was launched on 30 July 2010 in London, England. The scheme's bicycles are popularly known as Boris bikes, after Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London who introduced them.

... yes, Plaid are promoting the Conservatives in London.

In anticipation of Plaid poltroons removing their political gaff, I made an image for "Wood's posterior", sorry that should read "Wood's posterity" ...

Well done Woody, I knew it wouldn't take long before your gaffs floated to the surface of our political pond, much like that pond scum that covers crystal clear water during a drought ....

So for the voters of Wales, you can get good policies directly from the Conservatives ..... or regurgitation from Plaid !

Divergence, can we live ...

... with it, particularly when our neighbours are getting better results for the same tax dollars !

Today in the Sunday Times reporter James Charles writes of a £1 billion boost for housebuilding that seeps across Offa's Dyke ...

DAVID CAMERON is to use £ 1 billion of taxpayers’ money to guarantee thousands of risky mortgages in an effort to kick- start a housing market recovery and boost the construction of new homes. Under a government scheme to be launched tomorrow, banks will be encouraged to offer mortgages to borrowers with only a 5% deposit, provided they use the money to buy new-build flats and houses worth up to £500,000.

The housing minister, Grant Shapps, has said that up to 100,000 first-time buyers and home movers will be helped by the Newbuy scheme over the next three years.

However, loans on new homes are notoriously risky, and banks hate lending more than 75% of the value — so the government has had to underwrite the risk to persuade them to take part.  It means up to £1 billion of taxpayers’ money will be used to protect banks against losses if buyers default on their loans.  The scheme is a calculated bet that increasing demand for homes will provide a quick economic boost.

This is Westminster working for Wales.

Then we have Osborne bringing down corporation tax to 20%

GEORGE OSBORNE is to signal more cuts in corporation tax in the budget, setting out a plan to reduce it to 20%, significantly lower than other large western economies. Treasury sources say the chancellor is determined to give priority to business in his speech on March 21, despite political pressure to use it to announce populist tax changes

Osborne has already cut corporation tax. It was 28% when he took power, is now 25%, and will shrink to 23% over this parliament. He is expected to set a new target of 20% for later years.  America has a basic rate of 35%, and France 33.3%. In Germany it is 15% but additional social taxes mean an effective rate of more than 30%. Ireland, which lures multinationals with low taxes, takes 12.5%.

Other business-friendly measures from Osborne will include details of infrastructure and credit-easing plans outlined in the autumn statement. Treasury officials have been working on the credit-easing plan — a government guarantee that will both make available and cut the cost of loans to small and medium-sized firms — and have reached agreements with most of the banks. The scheme is said to be ready to proceed from budget day.

This is Westminster working for Wales.

Now what about business confidence ?

GKN is in advanced talks for an ambitious £800m deal to buy Sweden’s biggest aerospace company.  The FTSE 100 engineering group is set to swoop on Volvo’s aircraft business, which makes engines and components for the world’s largest aerospace and defence manufacturers.  If GKN clinches the deal, it would represent one of the biggest acquisitions by a British manufacturing company since the banking crisis.

.... The move to snap up the Volvo division is a sign of the confidence running through Britain’s manufacturing sector. It could also mark the start of a deal spree in the industrial sector, likely to be led by American giants such as GE, Dover and Honeywell, that have built up huge war chests during the economic slowdown.  GKN employs 40,000 people in more than 30 countries. It is a supplier of aircraft components to both Airbus and Boeing and makes parts for most of the big carmakers.  The company raced into pole position for the Volvo business after MTU Aero Engines, Germany’s leading engine maker, dropped out of the auction. Other bidders included the buyout groups Carlyle and Nordic Capital.
Volvo put its aero engine business up f or sale in November. The division makes the RM12 engine for Saab’s Gripen fighter jets, used by the Swedish military, as well as supplying engine components to the three main jet engine manufacturers — Rolls-royce, GE and Pratt & Whitney.  GKN’S aerospace division is its biggest after Automotive, the car parts unit. It recorded sales of £1.5 billion in 2011.  The group l ast month reported a 15% increase in fullyear pre-tax profits to £417m, on sales up 13% to £6.1 billion. On Friday GKN’S shares closed at 212.5p, valuing the company at £3.3 billion.

And the Welsh Assembly First Minister, he should be remembering that GKN was spawned in 1759 when the Dowlais ironworks opened, he should be asking the question "... how many new jobs will GKN bring to Wales", it would be high value employment ............, the problem is we haven't been growing skills, instead we wasted a decade or more building an impoverished people (nation building) rather than fitting them for the future !

For how much longer can we continue to place our trust in those without vision ...........

More good news from Westminster ..........

A GROUP of City financiers has announced plans for a chain of more than 2,000 schools, 10% of the state system, with profits shared among staff in the style of the John Lewis retail chain.  Clarendon Academies, which would be the largest school group in the country, has been given approval by the education department to work with schools and is in talks with three of them.

The schools would be expected to generate a surplus, with half going to teachers in the form of benefits such as additional pension contributions, and help with housing costs. The rest would go to a central charity to fund building projects at the schools. Investors, who include unnamed wealthy individuals, would receive a fixed return on money lent to the venture.Clarendon plans to combine the traditional academic curriculum of independent schools with the centralised administration of former local education authorities (LEA), with efficiencies generating a surplus from government funding. The best state sector anti-truancy policies could, for example, be combined with a private-school approach to sport.

Clarendon has been set up by Nigel Brassard, an investment banker, and Edwin Richards, a private equity investor, and its educational programme devised by Martin Stephen, former high master of St Paul’s, the £18,825-a-year boys’ school in London, and Philip Limbert, executive head of Invicta, a girls’ grammar school in Maidstone, Kent, and Valley Park, a nearby comprehensive.Stephen said: “We are trying to broker a compromise between the ethic of the independent schools, which is very traditional, and the clout of the old LEA.”  Running state schools for profit is controversial and opposed by the Liberal Democrats. A contract won by the Swedish company IES to run a free school in Suffolk is one of the few examples.

... unfortunately the schools will not be crossing the Dyke, apparently there is a red and green line drawn in the political sands of Wales.

... and more good news for tenants of Social Housing ...

A massive £75,000 discount is proposed ............. another red and green line in the sand, England only I'm afraid.

Sunday came early, and Wales is waking ...

... to the realisation that the Westminster coalition are right.

We might not like the personal effect that jobs lost have, those who work in the private sector are well used to the uncertainty of industrial life, now the public sector are feeling the effects of cutting our cloth to meet the countries real needs as jobs disappear, they were never real jobs, they were the political largess of previous administrations.

The police, fire service, ambulance, nursing, those that keep our homes clear of refuse and streets clean of the detritus the less than caring strew as they go about their business, these and others are people who make up this army and feel the true costs of the needed financial adjustments of government.  There are the retired whose savings have shrunk in real terms because interest rates have dropped so low, the annuities that halved almost overnight, the rising costs of living in an unfeeling world.

There are there are those that place the blame entirely on the shoulders of modern day witches (bankers) and their familiars, the witches black cat of old was replaced by a sales pitch that promised never ending credit with a payback date so far in the future that it was irrelevant.  And this credit was used in the pursuit of unbridled spending, unfortunately we were buying goods and services from the Far East; goods of dubious value.

There are those who seem to escape the effects of the economic rebalancing act, in the front of this army of corpulence are the politicians in opposition, followed by the politicians of devolved administrations, the lawyers, the leading civil servants et al, they have a common denominator, they cause the spending of our taxes, they play with the ultimate "big boy toy" that is humanity.

Yesterday at Walesonline there was an article that poured journalistic and political scorn on the current economic rebalancing of the British economy for example, Shadow Wales Minister and Llanelli MP Nia Griffith said ...

"...the cuts were "sucking the lifeblood out of the Welsh economy" and warned that reductions in tax credits, changes in public sector pay and pensions and the hike in VAT could have "catastrophic" consequences for businesses.

The reality however is somewhat different, people left comments with the story, those who support Nia Griffith scored a negative -57 whilst others recognised the reality of poor government scored a positive +77.

Someone who writes as "dogsbody" submitted ...

... you would think we in Wales were taking all the brunt. All the economy is doing is rebalancing the waste of the last 17 years. Too much public sector soaking up resources and not enough done for real job creation.

So when the political pundits speak of "socialist Wales", they are not quite right are they !
So when the political pundits speak of "nationalist Wales", they are not quite right are they "

Wales is still that non-conformist liberal land that doesn't have a voice ........

........ for the record Plaid doesn't offer that voice, although Dafydd Elis-Thomas wearing different clothes might come close, the others without exception are FoS.

... Theresa May, facist, not wanted ...

... on our democratic journey when she prevents Maryam Rajavi from exercising an invitation to speak to members of our parliament.

Theresa May and the pathetic civil service running her office is preventing an eminent and well respected dissident from the tyrannical Iran regime from speaking on the subject of "women and their mistreatment in Iran", her crime is "to call for a democratic and secular government committed to the rule of law and respect for human rights".

There is distinctly unpleasant smell emanating from the Home Office, it is the smell that accompanies lies, half-truths and appeasement, the government of the 1930's did much the same with Nazi Germany and 60 million people died as a result (including 6 million Jews).


In a parady of democracy Theresa May said she had taken into account the views of the Foreign Office and other departments ...

"I have concluded that maintaining Mrs Rajavi’s exclusion is justified as I do not consider her presence in the UK to be conducive to the public good.  The government makes no apologies for refusing people access to the UK if we believe they might seek to undermine our society."

Well, I have thought about our "freedoms of thought and expression" and about "appeasement of tyrannies" ...

...It seems our government and their civil servants prefer the company of "international bullies" to the more civilised company found amongst the British people and those Members of Parliament who try to represent their views and feelings.

... don't listen to them Carwyn, they have little ...

... to offer Wales, I refer to the Liberal Democrats and Plaid, both parties are more interested in popular opinion rather than what Wales needs, you on the other hand have allies amongst the more conservative voters with a social conscience from all sections of society.

So why might you listen to any advice I might have, simple, my advice is no advice, just keep your eye on the ball and deliver your promises, although your department that deals with businesses is a more than a little weak, at times it seems very odd to the electorate, certain experiences seems to be missing ... and there is more to Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies, he has said some aspects of the programme (that's your current programme under discussion) were of concern, as was the track record of some ministers.  I read that as support.

Now no advice doesn't mean I have nothing to say, I might suggest you look at Felixstowe for vision, it opens a new deepwater terminal today that will increase trade through the port by 50%, could you find a little time to understand how flexible Standard Chartered runs its business so that it is able to add 1000 people to its payroll during this last year, and let us not forget individuals such as Major-General John Page who had an abiding concern for those less fortunate or less forceful than himself, he died this month age 88.

It's all to be found on-line with The Times.

Oh, and lets not forget, you have enough time to fix things before the next election .....

He doesn't get it does he, Andrew R T Davies ...

... that is, ARTY to his chums, PARTY to the hunting set and just plain CUCKOO to the rest of us ....

Why the call for ...

...  investment in infrastructure and wealth transfer during difficult economic times, when there are real solutions for very real problems available with the aid of good analysis.


Could it be because the alternatives are just a little too problematic to politics of all flavours, politicians would be required to do things that would be under the counter transactions, transactions that go by unnoticed by the general population;  an alternative to the spend, spend, spend regimes advocated by the Left, and the Left leaning politicians and economists unable to quantify the value of a pleasant place to do business.


It  requires a deal more thought, than the regurgitated "Political philosophy" so many politicians study ,  maybe a more fundamental philosophy, possibly on the lines of "Zen and the art of Governance".  Some might remember Robert Pirsig and his book "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance", a 1970's philosophical examination of what I would term "Quality", I don't think the term I use is particularly important, it is his realisation that the world was developing into a multi faceted science that could offer a multitude of explanations   when in fact there exists a single hypothesis... 

Pirsig was greatly troubled by the theory that there is always more than one workable hypothesis to explain a given phenomenon, and that the number of hypotheses appeared unlimited. He could not find any way around this, and to him it seemed that the whole scientific endeavour was essentially problematic.  (from a Guardian report)

I remember quite early in the book (Zen .... ) where Pirsig related the tale of the "motorbike that kept cutting out", after repeated visits the a workshop without a successful remedy, the motorbike was taken home where he stripped down the engine to discover the cause of the problem, a simple few pence pin in the oil delivery system.  The moral of the tale is, I think, to determine the actual problem before attempting a fix; how often are political remedies created for problems that exist only in the minds of politicians.


So how does "Zen" and "Governance" sit with "Political Wales" circa 2011/12/13/14/15 ?


Firstly, the opposition in Wales is desperate to create problems to fix, there are the Nationalists that are asking for Policing and Broadcasting to be devolved to Wales, the Liberal Democrats have suggested that children aged 16 are competent to become members of the electorate, and the Conservative leader is advocating a return to the slaughter of animals as recreational sport.  The common thread is each of the political groups are seeking advantage, Nationalist see further divergence from the UK, Liberal Democrats see the promised land ahead with teenager support, and Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies seems to be favouring political self destruction, the odd one out maybe.


So what about Carwyn Jones in government today, or soon to be back from holiday, we have today two calls, the "redistribution of wealth" and "Keynesian investment" in Wales, both could be the business of government, but should they be the business of our Assembly Government and how might Carwyn consider the issues.


John Dixon, former National Chair of Plaid Cymru, makes a call to redistribute the wealth within Wales, the essence of his paper is in a single paragraph where he writes ...

What Wales needs is an economic policy which doesn’t simply concentrate economic success in the most populous part of the country, but spreads it around.  From a private sector perspective, that would require a more interventionist approach than simply allowing and encouraging businesses to set up where they wish (as long as it’s in Wales), which has effectively been the approach of successive Welsh Governments since 1999.

... the only questions that Carwyn's government needs to answer is the starter for ten "why do businesses prefer to establish themselves in the South East of Wales", and the bonus question "can these conditions be replicated throughout Wales". 

 Adam Higgitt asks a supplementary question in his last paragraph where he replies to John Dixon, "can the government create a policy that the whole population is able to support", an essential question with our "me culture".  

For the answers to the three questions Carwyn needs to find a few honest men and women, and the certainty that doing what is good for Wales outweighs what is good for his politics, personally I think someone like Carwyn Jones could make political mileage from doing the "right thing for Wales" so shouldn't be shy in coming forward with the good news.



The second call on Carwyn is for "Keynesian investment", I hope there is someone in government who will remind him that without a link to the first question such government activity is indulgence when such indulgence is not affordable, indulgence by government should probably never be affordable.  Going back to John Dixon, it's not intervention to coerce business into preferred areas, it is providing a level playing field, the rest is up the business ... and of course geography.


Going back to "So how does "Zen" and "Governance" sit with "Political Wales" circa 2011/12/13/14/15 ?"  There is plenty of time Carwyn, get it right and you will be forgiven a multitude of sins, and looking at the time line, there's plenty of time thanks to Westminster.

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 ?

The BBC headline is "New Tory ...

... leader to set up cabinet".

I might have been a little more impressed if Andrew RT Davies had said ...
 
"I intend to 'up-set' the cabinet",

... because there is scope.

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.

... Cameron and the coalition have got it wrong,...

... very wrong, the logic behind this particular cuts programme, the Social Security "Benefits Cap Plan", our "society safety net", is political bullying of the most vulnerable.

If you read the Benefits Cap Plan fully you will, at the very end, encounter the slide show entitled "Impact of housing benefit changes", slides 1 and 2 are the overview, our attitude towards people becomes clear thereafter ...

• slide 3 ... restrict housing benefit for working-age tenants who are occupying a larger social rented property than required, such as a couple in a three-bedroom house.
• slide 4 ...  This means LHA tenants will have, in theory, access to the bottom 30% of the market instead of the bottom 50%.
• slide 8 ... Single people under the age of 25 receiving local housing allowance are restricted to the rate for a single room in a shared house, rather than for a one-bedroom property. The restriction to this lower rate will be extended to those up to the age of 35.

... the disturbing element for me is the term "claimants affected", in each slide there is a determination to penalise a percentage of our neighbours by differing amounts, in a time of real need the rug is effectively pulled from under the feet of those in most need.

The stupidity of the approach taken by bureaucrats, and bureaucrats it is, who will determine the extent of hardship felt by our friends across the garden fence, will themselves rarely feel the pinch of poverty, protected as they are from the vagaries of economic life.

There is only way to treat our neighbours in time of need, and that is in exactly the way you would have them treat you, and the only civilised way to fund this fairness is through full employment, this in a world where accountants, bean counters, switch work between countries.

The call should be, "if you want to sell it here, then make it here", then the claimant count would reduce to the manageable percentages, or thereabouts, society are able to help without resorting to imposed hardship.

And the work-shy, that's another story ...

... you couldn't make it up ...

... if you tried.
................................ Was David Davies all [tongue] tied up ...

................................when he met Edwina Hart at breakfast ...

................................ or was Edwina having a "bad hair" day ...

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Either way, it is disconcerting that our elected representatives are unable to talk about issues that effect the people of Wales, no-matter where they might sit in government.

Both Davies and Hart need to grow up, the old saying was "shape up or ship out", the electorate have put their faith in both of you ....................

................... to be able to share breakfast [and ideas] for the better governance of Wales.

... 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 .....

Carl Sargeant, and politicians like him are ...

... the reason democracy needs a system of recall, the ballot box is to far away in terms of time.

Our home grown democratic dictatorship demonstrates why we need to insist that politicians such as Plaid Cymru's, that was difficult to write, Leanne Wood, even more difficult to write, are given the tools to demand public opinion when government is judged to have gone beyond the political pale.

Is it time to present the petition ....

We call upon the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government to petition the UK government to modify the Government of Wales Act 2006 to include the following Legislative Recall and Referendum option.

Where a Bill has been passed by the Welsh Assembly, one-third of the members of the Welsh Assembly may, within five weekdays from the final passing of the Bill, request of the Plenary Chair that the Bill be submitted to a referendum. Such request shall be made in writing and signed by the members making the request.


At the referendum votes shall be cast for or against the Bill. For the Bill to be rejected, a majority of the electors who vote, and not less than thirty per cent of all persons who are entitled to vote, shall have voted against the Bill.


Finance Bills, Salaries and Pensions Bills, Taxation (Direct and Indirect) Bills, UK and European Union government Bills, as well as Bills for the purpose of discharging existing treaty obligations shall not be submitted to decision by referendum.

Would the likes of Peter Black, Leanne Wood or a Conservative radical be able to use such a tool to democratise our democracy I wonder.

We will not ...

... create legislation for the sake of it; the words of Wales First Minister, the words that the electorate have been waiting for, wise words in fact.

Carwyn in fact is sending a message to the other political groups at the Assembly that there needs to be a real need for laws before considering new legislation, and of course, there needs to be the support of the electorate.

The Conservatives' assembly leader, Paul Davies, said: "It is disappointing that after weeks of dithering, ministers have yet to bring forward a coherent programme for government.

Disappointing words from a politician who is little more than a caretaker Conservative, better if he had asked if there was anything the Conservatives in Cardiff Bay could do to help.

Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones said he was disappointed by the content of the first minister's statement and that it seemed likely AMs would not debate the government's programme before the summer recess.

What's there to debate, you lost the election big time, you will either support or oppose legislation, if a new law needs modification because of a flaw missed by the legislators then speak up, that's what you are paid for, that's what the electorate expect.  The content belongs to the election winners, not the also ran.

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams said: "I am not clear why the government is being as coy as they are with regards their legislative programme for the forthcoming five years. ... I guess we are where we are and the government will keep us waiting a little bit longer before we have some meat on the bones with regard to how we will use the new powers that the people have bestowed upon us and it's somewhat disappointing that our initial response to those powers is the statement we have before us this afternoon."

Just because you can doesn't mean there is a need for new laws, be patient and give to legislation the qualities the electorate expect from your liberal tradition.

... and to the BBC a small reminder, you are not a democratically elected body, try reporting the news rather than making it.