Right v Left or Best for Wales?

As a part of Click on Wales' season of post about the position of Plaid Cymru, there is an interesting article by Gwion Owain about Plaid Cymru's Socialist Platform.

There is also an interesting response to the post from Glyn Beddau on the National Left Blog.

Being a one nation conservative type nationalist I don't agree entirely with either post, but I tend to favour Gwion's position.

I hate Socialism with a capital H A T E! So why wrap those Plaid policies that I agree with in a wrapping that I will chuck in the bin before opening?

I was a member of Plaid in the days that it was seen as the nonconformist chapels at prayer. When Dr Gwynfor Evans was the president of the Congregationalist Union, when the Rev Dr Tudur Jones, was vice president, when the Rev D Pennar Davies and the Rev Poet O.M.Lloyd were the backbone of the party. I was a member of the party when the young Dafydd Elis Thomas discarded the tradition of his father's generation by turning Plaid into a, so called, Socialist Party!

What's odd is that in changing Plaid from a chapel party to a lefties party Plaid's values have hardly changed at all, so why insist on calling a value socialist in order to piss me and my like off and alienate us?

Why not call policies Best for Wales and entice both right wing nationalists, like me, and my socialist friends in the national cause to support them?

Alex Salmond's Hugo Young lecture 2012

Full verion (about 40 mins):



Highlights (about 6 mins)

Vote Leanne Wood

Anybody who has ever read this blog will know that Ms Wood and I are poles apart politically.

I won't bother to go into specifics, because a simple Google search can do a better job, and a Google search will show, without doubt, that Ms Wood and I are not bedfellows – by a long, long, long way!

I'm a right winger; Leanne is very much to my antipathy –she's a horrid lefty!

I hate left wing politics in my belly, my heart and my brain, but there is a warmth in all my organs that burns warmer than left v right and that is the fire for Welsh independence

The only person who is four square on independence in the Plaid leadership poll is Leanne.

I am almost tempted to re-join the party and start a Hydro for Leanne group – in order to to embarrass her! (Note for youngsters: Hydro was the right wing group in Plaid before you or Ms Wood were even born)

Let there be no doubt, I will oppose Leanne's leftism, but at least I will have a principal to oppose if Leanne is elected party leader, rather than the wishy washy nothing that the other candidates seem to be offering.

And in real politics, Plaid has had a leader to ignore for the last 10 years.

Leanne's strength is you can love her or hate her but you cannot ignore her!

And Plaid's problem over recent years is that it has been ignored!

Just try to ignore Ms Wood at your peril!

Jobs, Schemes and Political Backbone

When I left school without the A levels that I needed to fulfil my academic dreams I was put on a job creation programme in my local library. I loved the scheme whilst it lasted!

I learned more in those six months than I had learned in a previous lifetime of school. There was something almost magical in handling so many books. Even without reading them, just stamping a book with this book is the property of Gwynedd Council and knowing on which shelf to place it gave me new information about the latitude of human knowledge, experience and insight. It was probably the most influential six months of my life!

But it was still cheap, and useless, labour!

It was a scheme that would never have allowed me to become a librarian or to get even the lowest job in a library. After six months of infatuation with the process I was kicked out because my term had ended, and some other person was inducted to the joys of librarianship in my stead with the same non chance of having a career in the library service.

Pointless really!

Given the resignations of the Apprenticeship Tsars I hope that the Westminster Government will look again at the meaning of apprenticeship and give young people the hope of gaining employment as electricians, plumbers, mechanics, librarians etc, rather than doing what Mrs Thatcher did – dangling the smell of such jobs under their noses in the knowledge that those jobs were never going to be available to them!

But I doubt it – getting kids through schemes, in order to keep them off the streets for a few months is easy politics – giving them meaningful apprenticeships that will lead to lifelong skills and employment is a real challenge that the ConDem Government is too frightened to contemplate.

The Six Nations in the North

All of the under twenty - Six Nations home Welsh Rugby international games this year and next, will be played at the new Eirias Park stadium in Colwyn Bay. I would like to urge all supporters of the oval ball in the North to try to attend one or more of these matches.

Attending an international match in Cardiff given the cost of transport, ticket and accommodation is way beyond many of us! For only Five Quid we can support Wales on Eirias Park in Six Nations Internationals!

OK – it's just the under 20's –but many of those from Wales and the opposing teams will be the stars of rugby's future and you can boast I was there when the heir to Barry John played his very first game for Wales - etc

More importantly, a good show of support may keep these games in Colwyn Bay beyond 2013, and may also prove to some of the southern-centric members of the WRU, that supporting and developing Rugby in the North will be beneficial for all of Welsh Rugby.

Tickets are available from Conwy Council, Venue Cymru and most Tesco stores in the north of Wales

What is the Labour and Tory Vision for an Independent Scotland?

In trying to follow the Scottish Independence referendum debate, there is one strain of argument that confuses me. It is the argument where Unionists (usually) ask questions about the policies that an Independent Scottish Government would follow, which are sometimes answered, quite authoritively, by Nationalists.

Questions like:

What sort of currency would an independent Scotland have?

What would Scotland's defence policies be? If England went to War would Scotland Support England? How many Aeroplanes would the Scots Air Force have?

How would Scotland deal with welfare and benefits? Would taxes be higher, lower, or similar?

What sort of economic policies would an Independent Scotland follow? What would Scotland's international relations be like?

They are all fair questions, I suppose. They may be questions that an "undecided" might want an answer to. They might be questions that a truly independent commentator (if such a creature exists) might be able to guess at by looking at the historic polity of Scotland.

But are they questions for the YES side alone?

I think not.

If Scotland votes Yes the answers to these questions will not just be in the hands of the Yes voters. Those who vote No and those who don't vote will also live in an independent Scotland and their opinions will still count in an independent Scotland.

The idea that the SNP should be forced to answer these policy questions whilst the unionists snigger is bad for the possible future of Scottish politics.

If Scotland votes Yes the first elected independent parliament may not be formed by the SNP. Voters may think that, having achieved its goal, the SNP is defunct. There may be a Labour Government, possibly even a Conservative Government in the newly Independent Holyrood Parliament.

In order to get the fullest possible picture of what an independent Scotland might look like those who oppose Scottish Independence should surely tell us how they would run an independent Scotland should the referendum vote go against them!

Glan Conwy May 2012 Elections

I have been receiving odd e-mails, comments etc, that suggest that I might be standing election for a New Nationalist Party, as an Independent Nationalist a Plaid Candidate or even as a Conservative Party Candidate for the Llansanffraid ward of Conwy County Council next May!

NONE of these rumours are true! I will vote for and give my wholehearted support to the re-election of Graham (Gas) Rees, regardless of whoever else is standing, on the County ballot!

I will be putting my name forward as a candidate for the Community Council as a truly independent candidate, and that means as independent of The Gas Man as much as independent of the established parties!

I will be standing in my own name on my own ticket - but I hope that I can count on your support!

Leanne Wood - a cultural nationalist!

It is no secret that my ideas of centre right Welsh Nationalism are directly opposed to Leanne Wood's Socialism and Republicanism.

As I have repeated ad-nausium on this blog socialism is dependent on the state, the state on which Wales now depends is the British state; until we throw off the shackles of state control Wales can never be free!

Republicanism is a British obsession. An independent Wales will have no royal family! Republicanism is not a Welsh Nationalist issue!

Leanne and I are not in tune re socialism and republicanism, but there is an issue where Leanne and I are in four square agreement and that is on the issue of the Welsh Language and Welsh Culture.

Despite the Western Mails bollocks comment: The fact that she is not a Welsh speaker would be an enormous advantage in dispelling the still widely held view that Plaid is essentially a party for Welsh speakers. I can guarantee that Leanne can and does speak Welsh - I have never conversed with her in English!

And I can assure all cultural nationalists that Leanne's love and support of our culture is genuine and heartfelt.

This is not an endorsement – just a statement of fact!

Why Independence as a "Long Term Aim" is wrong

When Simon Thomas was an MP he suggested that Plaid should aim for an independent Wales by 2050, because I am already well into my sixth decade, voting for a party that promises independence by 2050, would be an altruistic act for me, the chances of my living until 2050 are minimal. In an article on Wales Home Adam Price suggests 2036 as the date that the party should advocate for its long term policy, when I may be a sprightly 77 years old.

Plaid Cymru has seen generations of activists shuffle off this mortal coil knowing that they would never live in an independent Wales, why should I expect better? Shouldn't I too campaign for independence as a long term aim that will benefit my children and my grandchildren after I am gone?

Possibly, but probably not!

I am a realist, I know that Independence has hovered around the 10% +3 -3 margine of error in opinion polls for the last 30 years, so there isn't a great appetite for Independence in Wales at the moment. One of the reasons for this stagnation is that nobody has made the case for independence. And therein lays the problem of kicking independence into the long grass. If we see independence as a long term issue that can be ignored for another 20 30, 50 years, Wales will never be independent!

For either Adam or Simon to be right, for independence to be achieved in 2036 or 2050 we must campaign for Independence Today. Ignoring the issue as something for the long term just puts off making the case for independence until 2036 or 2050 or 2075 or 2974 or 3465 or for eternity!

If there is a case for Welsh independence it should be made today by all who believe in the cause. Postponing the argument as something for the long term is both duplicitous and dishonest!

If you want to live in an Independent Wales move to Scotland!

Apparently nobody understands the concept of an Independent Wales, or so says Plaid Cymru AM Rhodri Glyn Thomas!

Despite being an elected member of Plaid, Rhodri's advice to those of us who support Welsh independence is F*** off to Scotland. When I was a member of Plaid in the 1970's and 1980's that was the sort of sh*t I use to hear from Labour and Conservative dinosaurs whilst canvassing , go and live in Ireland if you hate Britain so much!

This blog has criticised Plaid Cymru's lack of faith in the national cause over the years, but even I hadn't thought that the Party had sunk to such depths that its elected representatives despise nationalists so much that they feel that they should be exiled to Scotland!

What Rhodri is quoted as saying in the Western Mail is clearly incompatible with any description of Welsh Nationalism. I hope that Rhodri comes forward with a press release that condemns the Western Mail for misquoting him and makes a four square case for the national cause!

If he doesn't I would have to ask any nationalist who supports Plaid Why are you in the same party as Rhodri Glyn? Either he should be kicked out or you should move out and help create a true new Welsh Nationalist Party.

Constitutional change isn't esoteric - as the ConDems know!

Whatever the result of the Scottish Independence referendum it will affect Wales for better or worse. Whether it is for better or for worse will depend on how Welsh politicians prepare for the result and that preparation should be made now by nationalists and unionists alike.

Waiting for the referendum result and playing it by ear after the fact will be bad for Wales.

I agree with Jonathan Edwards MP that the Welsh Government should be preparing for Scottish independence and putting forward a coherent vision for the Welsh nation’s constitutional future if Scottish independence happens.

Whatever one's views on Scottish Independence, it is something that could happen within the next few years. Even if Welsh Labour and Welsh Liberal Democrats were willing to bet the national debt on Scotland remaining within the Union, common sense says that Wales should prepare for the effect that Scottish independence would have on Wales if it comes to pass. Not doing so is true fantasy politics.

Peter Black, in condemning Jonathan Edwards for raising the need for the National Assembly to consider the possibility of a YES vote says:

I do know that the most urgent issues facing the Welsh Government today are the economy, an under-performing education system and the health service. Why would any sane minister take his or her eye off those problems to worry about esoteric constitutional issues?"

The ConDem government is only a year and a half old. Since its inception we have had a referendum on the powers of the National Assembly, a referendum on UK voting reform, an act that guarantees a referendum on changes to Britain's relationship with the EU, a Fixed Term Parliament, an act that reduces the number of Welsh MPs by a quarter, proposals for the election of Police Commissioners and withdrawing police control from local authorities, the establishment of the Silk Commission, and Britain being on the cusp of getting kicked out of the EU – that's a hell of a lot of constitutional change from a government who's supporters believe that constitutional matters are esoteric!

Why have the ConDems perused this wholesale constitutional change?

Because they know that constitutional change isn't esoteric – The constitution is the bedrock on which economic, social and ethical issues stand.

Peter Black's opposition to constitutional change for Wales, other than the wholesale changes imposed by the ConDems, is, in reality, an opposition to Wales having a better economic, social and ethical future based on a an alternative constitution to that offered by the corrupt UKanian State that he supports.

The Unacceptable Face of Capitalism

Standards & Poor's is a company, nothing more nothing less; but it has just threatened 15 Euro Zone countries with downgrading their creditworthiness and those sovereign countries are expected to react to this single company's musings by changing economic policies that will affect over half a billion citizens.

When a single company can dictate economic policy to 15 countries and half a billion people, we don't have democracy; we have a tyranny that is worse than that used by any Self-serving Monarch or Evil dictator in the past history of mankind.

The Euro Zone should tell Standards & Poor's to ****** (expletives deleted), make its sort of trading illegal, ban it and stop it from blackmailing democratically elected governments in future.

The answer to the current economic crisis is not to bow to the markets that created and are exacerbating the crisis. The answer is to regulate the markets so that companies like Standards and Poors can no longer profit out of the economic misery that they wish to impose on billions of people for the sake of a fast buck for their few shareholders.

Tory Brain on Strike?

Perhaps I am a bit thick, but I have difficulty in understanding the argument that the Tories are making ad nausium against today's strike.

Apparently the unions are irresponsible for conducting a strike while negotiations are ongoing!

Isn't the time that negotiations are omgoing the best time to protest and express strength of feeling?

Wouldn't strike action, protest, complaint etc be rather redundant after negotiations ended, after coming to agreement or after a decision is made?

Mebyon Kernow Conference

Mebyon Kernow held their Annual Conference in Bodmin last weekend here are a selection of contributions;

First MK's leader Cllr Dick Cole:



And a contribution from Plaid Cymru's Jonathan Edwards MP



and a speech from the SNP's Kenneth Gibson MSP

Wear Your Poppy With Shame!

It is probably an age thing!

I can understand the Welsh Political Twins antipathy towards the Poppy Symbol, but they are a lot younger than me. I was born 14 years after the end of WWII. The Cenotaphs in Dolgellau, Barmouth, Cilfynydd, Ludlow, Trawsfynydd and Minsterly don't just have names on them they have the names of real people who my parents and grandparents really grieved for, and for whom I still feel a duty of rememberance.

Y Prifardd Hedd Wyn, the Welsh language icon of War loss was my paternal grandfather's cousin. Wilfred Owen, probably the best English language War Poet, was my maternal grandmother's cousin. The words of these two relatives are still used and abused in remembrance.

Armistice Day / Remembrance Sunday is an emotional day for me. My family tree is full of names of fantastic people who I would have known had they not been butchered and damned in the two world wars. So I wear a poppy in respect and remembrance of them!

But think about it! What is poppy money for?

A Charity that supports disabled ex-service personnel!

Why do those who have served King and Country need to depend on charity for support?

Shouldn't the government that recruited them, conscripted them and deployed them pick up the tab for disabled service personnel?

The fact that I have to put a couple of quid into a charity box to buy a poppy, in order to ensure that disabled soldiers are looked after is a shameful reflection on the UK's policy of care for its war heroes!

The Poppy isn't a Symbol of Pride, it is a Symbol of Shame! Shame that a charity is doing what the government should have a moral duty to do!

e-Petition: Recall LDP’s

An e-petition to the Assembly Worthy of Support:

We call upon the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh government to recall all Local Development Plans across Wales and to scrap the use of population projections issued by the Statistical Directorate that are used to inflate housing numbers in local development plans.

We call for all LDPs at whatever stage of development to be halted immediately in order to bring the level of housing growth in line with genuine local needs.We the undersigned view all LDPs guided by the Welsh Government s population projections as ill thought out, fundamentally flawed and detrimental to the communities of Wales.This type of planning is not sustainable, is not needed and is not wanted by the people of Wales. In order to halt the damage that is already being done and to prevent further irreversible damage and devastation to our communities, environment and identity across Wales, we appeal to the Welsh Government to intervene immediately.

Silk - Clichés or Answers?

It was with a certain amount of despair that I heard on the BBC that the Silk Commission:

will hold its first meeting at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Friday

What a bloody depressing cliché. They may as well have launched the Commission down The Big Pit or on a mountain farm where the farmer had been arrested for shagging his sheep – if the Millennium Stadium is their starting point, we may as well accept that the ending point will be a report full of platitudes and bereft of substance.

If the Commission had any intention of delivering a visionary way forward for Welsh governance and finance they might, at least, have launched their consultation in the memorial hall of a deprived community or in the canteen of a thriving company. Either would have shown some appreciation of the needs of Wales.

Launching in the spiritual home of the 80 minute patriot bodes ill for the value of the Silk Commission!

Good Food Guide

Apparently if we in Wales ate an English diet our health will improve dramatically. As I'm feeling a bit peckish now, what would you suggest as a quick snack? A Brummy sandwich, Scouser on toast or a tasty morsel of East Anglian with a nice chianti.

Dr Hannibal Lecter – Welsh food pioneer

Left, Right or Welsh Nationalist?

I am a Welsh nationalist. I believe that Wales should be an Independent Country. I use to be a member and a branch officer of Plaid Cymru, I have been an electoral agent for the party and I have made speeches in many of the party conferences!

I have not stopped being a supporter of Plaid Cymru, I just stopped paying my membership fees after Dafydd Wigley's statement that plaid had never ever supported Independence for Wales, some 15 years ago!

I support independence!

It's interesting to see Plaid Members calling out Plaid reps on the independence question now!

The one thing that stops me joining Plaid is a quote that appears often on Syniadau's blog when he calls others to order:

2.2 To ensure................, decentralist socialism.

Decentralised socialism is an oxymoron. You can do what you want in your neighbourhood as long as it is Socialist – that isn't decentralisation! It's as stupid as saying that Wales can be independent as long as it remains British!

I was a member of Plaid when this Socialist crap came to a head, in the days of the Hydro Group. The silly thing was that on individual motions there was never a "Hydro" v "Socialist" split, both groups either supported each other, or both split amongst themselves!

I think that there is something quite pathetic in the fact that Plaid's rules exclude me from membership of the party for agreeing on social policy from a right wing Christian position with Welsh Ramblings ultra left atheist position on many areas of public policy. Surely it's the policy that counts - not the background doctrine!!!!

Isn't it funny?

Those who supported Mr Obama in his campaign for the White House a few years ago were using the power of the internet for progressive politics!

The Qaddafi regime was overthrown by the use of modern communications that overrode official propaganda.

Mobile phone videos are destroying the credibility of Syrian State TV propaganda.

The internet is working to create political change, for the better, in every part of the world apart from Scotland where the undemocratic nature of the internet is in play according to Bashar al-Assad Scots Labour leader, Iain Grey:

Pro-independence bloggers the so-called “cybernats” go online in an attempt to trash the reputations of those whom they think do not support the SNP’s cause. Gray warned Labour candidates that cybernats and bloggers would question their sexuality and drag their families into the “vitriol”.
I say to the candidates. Don’t kid yourself. You will be attacked. You will be smeared. You will be lied about. You will be threatened,” Gray said. The cybernats and the bedsit bloggers will call you traitor, quisling, lapdog and worse. They will question your appearance, your integrity and your sexuality. They will drag your family and your faith into the lies and the vitriol. It will be worse if you are a woman.
This is the poison some have brought into our politics and it is vile.

I sympathise with Mr Grey, the Labour Party has a divine right to govern Scotland! Using any new technology to dispute that right is like feeding Satan!

It shouldn't be allowed.