Category Archives: Conservatives

It’s not fair, because we weren’t there.

Posted on by Aled Wyn
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It was the usual anti-eu blabber on the radio this morning by the chair of the 1922 committee, then came a pearl of an argument for holding a referendum,

“it is right to hold a referendum on EU membership because millions of people weren’t able to vote in the last referendum on Europe”

This argument strikes me as weak. To this logic, we could argue that there should be a referendum on the monarchy, the role of Prime Minister or even Wales’ membership to the UK, after all, no one alive today were able to vote for these!

Coulson and his security clearance

Posted on by Aled Wyn
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Is it credible that the director of communications for the Prime Minister didn’t have high security clearance?  This, to me, is incredible.  It was only a few months ago it was reported that Coulsin was a part of Cameron’s inner circle (reported here, here, and here).  This one comes from conservativehome blogs, “And whilst several “outsiders” such as Michael Gove, William Hague and Andy Coulson have penetrated David Cameron’s inner circle…”    If you have someone in your “inner circle” , as it were, it is implicit that you have trust in that person, and would wish them to be party to all vital information.  For a communications director not to have security clearance would make his job impossible.

Of course Mr Cameron could have deliberately made the decision not to seek high clearance for Mr. Coulson.  Why is this though?  Did Mr. Cameron know that the vetting process would dig up information that would seriously damage the Government?  Did the Prime Minister know about the hacking scandal prior to appointing Mr. Coulson and wanted to avoid it coming to the surface?

There are many questions left unanswered, which the Prime Minister must address openly.

What a load of tosh!….oh wait that might be a good idea!

Posted on by Aled Wyn
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So Plaid Cymru were ridiculed for their plans called Build4Wales where bonds would be issued to pay for investment in Welsh infrastructure etc.  However it would seem that the UK government have agreed that this is a great idea, and offered it to Scotland.  So what about Wales?  When will Wales get its “Calman like” commission that was promised, and when will we be getting borrowing powers so we can pay our own way.

 

Incidentally, it would seem that Labour have decided that a few months after the election campaign that this is now a good idea.  As Mabon ap Gwynfor  succinctly puts it:

“Who is it that called it Pie in the sky? Lib Dems.

Who called in “ineffective”? Conservatives

Who said it was “to good to be true”? Labour”

Federalism and devolution?

Posted on by Aled Wyn
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A while ago I wrote this post a while ago, when i first received David Melding’s book.  In it he argues that for the union to survive, the UK should look to a federal future.  Mr Melding’s view is a departure from the traditional Conservative view on constitutional matters.   His argument is well thought out, and is likely to find sympathetic ears from both Labour supporters and Plaid supporters.  I’m not as sure how much support he is finding within his own party to this idea.

David Melding has recently written a blog post for the Institute of Welsh Affairs, where he argued that the UK has been one of the most successful states, however many would disagree.  Sure there has been no revolution nor dissolution, however we do have devolution, an ad hoc arrangement that has no real clear direction.

This unplanned (if you could call it that) constitutional arrangement can’t be anything other than ad hoc, after all the entire British constitution is ad hoc, and is designed to suit the needs of which ever party occupies No. 10.  What David Melding argues is that the UK needs a written constitution that outlines the roles of the UK government and the home nations’ governments.  He also suggests that Lords reform should be used to give each home country equality within the a ‘Federal Britain’ through over-representation of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

I for one support a written constitution, and an equal representation to each home country within the Lords; an arrangement that has worked well for each state in the USA.  Of course parliament’s lower chamber would be proportional to the population.

In his posting, David Melding doesn’t go into any detail about the jurisdiction of the UK parliament and the respected devolved bodies.  A federal argument is something I hope develops within the ‘unionist’ parties, only then will Wales have a clear path for devolution.

The end of the Condem coalition.

Posted on by Aled Wyn
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Shortly after the formation of the ConDem coalition last year I predicted that the government wouldn’t last more than a year. Well, it’s almost a year and the coalition still stands… for now. I might have been a bit hasty in my prediction, however the situation seems more fragile than ever.

The last year has been relatively plain sailing because it’s only now an issue that is close to the Lib Dems’ hearts. I’m not sure why commentators are acting surprised by this though, it was inevitable that the government would be split on the issue of AV.

May will not be a good month for the Lib Dems, they could very well AV slip through their fingers at the same time hundreds of their councillors in England face being turfed out of their wards – and as for the Lib Dems in Wales, well they could possibly find themselves with as little as 2 seats in the Assembly.

With all of these factors considered I feel confident in saying that the Westminster government won’t last until 2015. I would go so far as to say that the coalition won’t be in place this time next year.

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(c)The Prime Minister's office

Who will win Montgomeryshire?

Posted on by Aled Wyn
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Montgomeryshire

With electioneering in full swing right across Wales I thought it timely to discuss the way things look in the constituency I live in.  As I have already mentioned in an earlier post, I have already cast my vote via postal ballot where I voted for David Senior (Plaid Cymru).  I believe that Plaid are the only group in the Assembly that could offer an alternative to a Labour government.  The Tories have no experience in WAG, and as for the Lib Dems, well their share of seats will either remain the same or, as expected decrease.

However, in Montgomeryshire there are two plausible outcomes to this election, either Wyn Williams, the Lib Dem candidate, or Russell George, the Tory candidate will win.  As many of you will know the Tories took the seat from the Lib Dems in the 2010 Westminster election, and so are riding high off that victory.   Lib Dems have had bad press in the area over the last few years with Lembit Opik (as seen on TV – and any other two bit reality show / tabloid newspaper) and his exploits, and of course the incident between the former AM, Mick Bates and paramedics.

The situation for the Lib Dems isn’t helped by the fact that the Tory that already represents Montgomeryshire in Westmister is a popular individual.  Glyn Davies MP (and former AM) has earned great respect amongst many in the county accross the political spectrum.  Glyn has managed to raise his profile, and that of the Tories in the county with his campaign against proposed plans for windmills and electric pylons in the county which has certainly reflected well on Russell George.

It should also be noted that it is only Russell George placards that can be seen along the roads around Llanidloes and Newtown.  I know such a sentence can easily be hyperbole, but I have literally seen no poster nor placard in support of Wyn Williams up anywhere, up to this point anyway.

So I gingerly raise my head above the parapet here to say that in my opinion it will be Russell George and Montgomeryshire Tories who will be celebrating come May 6th.

Blue Co-Operative?

Posted on by Aled Wyn
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So the Tories have announced their intention of creating ‘worker co-operatives’ within the public sector.  Appart from a ploy to woo Labour supporters, what is behind this lurch to the left (if you can call it that)?

Under Tory proposals, staff of taxpayer-funded services such as primary schools, and nursing teams etc would enjoy the freedom to decide how they are run.  According to the Guardian, George Osborne has described this as:

“the biggest shift of power to workers since Margaret Thatcher introduced the right to buy council houses in the 1980s”.

All admirable, quite a thing to place the decision making, and day to day running of services in the hands of those who provide the services – Front line staff.  However what does this actually mean?  How accountable will these “co-operatives” be?  Take primary schools for example, what would this mean?  Would each individual “co-operative” be responsible for the curriculum, teacher’s pay etc?

On the issue of accountability, who gets a say over these co-operatives?  How would an individual become a member of a co-operative?

What seems to be happening here is an attempt to introduce privitisation of public services through the guise of “worker ownership”.

George Osborne said on Radio 4′s Today programme:

“This is as big a transfer of power to working people since the sale of council house homes in the 1980s”.

However what happened in the right to buy scheme?  Public housing ceased to be and came into the ownership of private citizens, who have made massive profits from it.