This is weird but true!
Before the days of S4C, Eric Dafydd, my cousin in law worked for the BBC and on a couple of occasions, when I was in Cardiff, I went to the BBC Club with him for a pint.
In early August 1978, I had had a few pints in the club and went to relive myself; when a member of the news team, who was standing by my side, said Sad about the Pope isn't it? I hadn't heard the news, but Pope Paul VI had died.
A couple of weeks later I was in Cardiff again. I went to the BBC Club toilet again, and the very same reporter peed next to me and said Sad about the Pope isn't it? JP I had died – Spooky!
Because Eric left the BBC on the establishment of S4C I never went to the BBC club again until I was asked to take part in a programme for the Beeb in 2005.
I was having a pee, when a member of the news team who was standing by my side said Sad about the Pope isn't it? I hadn't heard the news, but John Paul II had died!!
Valleys Mam, Welsh Agenda and Aeron Jones object to the state visit of the Pope, because of its cost to the public purse.
They have an easy way of stopping it! Put some pints in for me behind the bar of the BBC club Llandaf. If they put enough pints in to make me pee - the visit might have a major problem!
17/08/2010
04/08/2010
Reforming the Benefits System
Ian Duncan Smith has suggested that the Benefits System needs to be simplified. He has said that there are far too many benefits, that the system is complicated and that it puts too many claimants in a benefits trap where it isn't worth their while looking for jobs, because gaining a job will make them worse off!
The knee jerk reaction of the left wing is to moan that Mr Smith just wants to demonise those not in work in order to cut their benefits and save money!
I don't believe that this is so.
There is no doubt that some tabloids do demonise the out of work in a counterproductive way. The Daily Hate Mail thinks that anybody who is on Incapacity Benefit is a scrounger, a shirker and a cheat and takes every opportunity to vilify them. This makes it harder for a beneficiary of Incapacity Benefit to gain employment! Would you offer a job to a scrounger, a shirker and a cheat?
Demonization of those not in work is bad, and the Tories should encourage their supporters in the press to desist from it. Likewise the left should resist from condemning all benefit changes as an attack on the poor, because there is little doubt that the current benefits system is a complicated mess, that is a hindrance to the poor gaining meaningful employment!
With a coalition Tory government that depends on Liberal attitudes to benefits, and which may depend on the votes of sensible people from the opposition benches to offset Neanderthal views from its own benches the benefit system has never had a better chance to be dragged up to date. I hope that it is.
To save the there are no jobs to be had commentators from keyboard fatigue – I believe that the benefits system is in desperate need of reform whether the unemployment numbers go up, down or remain the same!
Making the system fair is as important as taking people out of the system, Plaid, SNP and sensible Labour MP's should seize the chance, to work with Mr Duncan Smith in order to create a benefits system that is worthy of today's circumstances!
The knee jerk reaction of the left wing is to moan that Mr Smith just wants to demonise those not in work in order to cut their benefits and save money!
I don't believe that this is so.
There is no doubt that some tabloids do demonise the out of work in a counterproductive way. The Daily Hate Mail thinks that anybody who is on Incapacity Benefit is a scrounger, a shirker and a cheat and takes every opportunity to vilify them. This makes it harder for a beneficiary of Incapacity Benefit to gain employment! Would you offer a job to a scrounger, a shirker and a cheat?
Demonization of those not in work is bad, and the Tories should encourage their supporters in the press to desist from it. Likewise the left should resist from condemning all benefit changes as an attack on the poor, because there is little doubt that the current benefits system is a complicated mess, that is a hindrance to the poor gaining meaningful employment!
With a coalition Tory government that depends on Liberal attitudes to benefits, and which may depend on the votes of sensible people from the opposition benches to offset Neanderthal views from its own benches the benefit system has never had a better chance to be dragged up to date. I hope that it is.
To save the there are no jobs to be had commentators from keyboard fatigue – I believe that the benefits system is in desperate need of reform whether the unemployment numbers go up, down or remain the same!
Making the system fair is as important as taking people out of the system, Plaid, SNP and sensible Labour MP's should seize the chance, to work with Mr Duncan Smith in order to create a benefits system that is worthy of today's circumstances!
26/07/2010
Why not delay the referendum for now and have a substantial referendum in 2012?
Last week I was invited to be part of a focus group commissioned by the Electoral Commission to garner opinions about the wording of the prospective Assembly Powers Referendum.
There were about 20 people in the group from different backgrounds. Some of us were keen supporters of the Assembly others wanted the institution abolished, but all, apart from myself, were under the illusion that the referendum was about giving the Assembly the same powers that the Scottish Parliament has now. When it was explained that they were mistaken, that the referendum was just about the way that the Assembly gained powers and that the full powers could be gained, over time, even if the referendum produced a 100% No vote, all thought that the referendum was a complete waste of time and money.
The members of the group were all annoyed that they had come to the meeting with strong views on opposing or supporting enhanced devolution only to find that the discussion was about administrative tinkering rather than anything of substance.
Because of the current government's desire to equalize the size of Westminster constituencies the Government of Wales Act 2006, will have to be amended, because the said act insists that Westminster and Bay constituencies must be the same size. In amending the bill why not add an amendment to give the Assembly Schedule 7 powers without the need for a referendum, and have a referendum in a year or two's time on substantive Full Scottish Type Powers for the Assembly, which most people, from both sides of the argument, think that the part 4 referendum is about anyway?
There were about 20 people in the group from different backgrounds. Some of us were keen supporters of the Assembly others wanted the institution abolished, but all, apart from myself, were under the illusion that the referendum was about giving the Assembly the same powers that the Scottish Parliament has now. When it was explained that they were mistaken, that the referendum was just about the way that the Assembly gained powers and that the full powers could be gained, over time, even if the referendum produced a 100% No vote, all thought that the referendum was a complete waste of time and money.
The members of the group were all annoyed that they had come to the meeting with strong views on opposing or supporting enhanced devolution only to find that the discussion was about administrative tinkering rather than anything of substance.
Because of the current government's desire to equalize the size of Westminster constituencies the Government of Wales Act 2006, will have to be amended, because the said act insists that Westminster and Bay constituencies must be the same size. In amending the bill why not add an amendment to give the Assembly Schedule 7 powers without the need for a referendum, and have a referendum in a year or two's time on substantive Full Scottish Type Powers for the Assembly, which most people, from both sides of the argument, think that the part 4 referendum is about anyway?
20/07/2010
An austerity conundrum
In these days of austerity and tightening of the public belt the ConDem Westminster government tells us that there is a need to cut all sorts of costs out of public service provision in order to reduce costs and to provide better services for less money. A very laudable ideal that many will support.
But yet, when the Plaid /Labour coalition spends less per head on education, or on health or on social services than is spent per head in England the Assembly Government is accused of short changing the people of Wales and of underfunding services in Wales by Conservatives and Liberal Democrats!
I can't understand this!
If we need to cut public service costs why isn't the Westminster Government looking at the Plaid/ Labour Government in Cardiff and saying Wales has proved that you can deliver a decent education for £xxx per pupil less than is spent in England etc rather than the same parties who want to reduce spend per pupil / patient / service user in England complaining that the spend per person isn't as much in Wales as is, according to their own mantra, overspent per head in England?
But yet, when the Plaid /Labour coalition spends less per head on education, or on health or on social services than is spent per head in England the Assembly Government is accused of short changing the people of Wales and of underfunding services in Wales by Conservatives and Liberal Democrats!
I can't understand this!
If we need to cut public service costs why isn't the Westminster Government looking at the Plaid/ Labour Government in Cardiff and saying Wales has proved that you can deliver a decent education for £xxx per pupil less than is spent in England etc rather than the same parties who want to reduce spend per pupil / patient / service user in England complaining that the spend per person isn't as much in Wales as is, according to their own mantra, overspent per head in England?
13/07/2010
Its Peter, not Elin who should resign
Rather than calling on Elin Jones to resign following the decision of three English judges to quash the democratic decision of those elected to the National Assembly, Peter Black should consider his own position. How can he justify remaining a member of an institution that he has helped a group of hippies from outwith Wales to undermine?
The decision to stop the badger cull will cost the Assembly millions of pounds, will cause devastation to the Welsh farming industry and cause untold suffering to thousands of cows and badgers. Rather than celebrating so smugly and criticising Elin Jones Mr Black should hang his head in shame.
The decision to stop the badger cull will cost the Assembly millions of pounds, will cause devastation to the Welsh farming industry and cause untold suffering to thousands of cows and badgers. Rather than celebrating so smugly and criticising Elin Jones Mr Black should hang his head in shame.
08/07/2010
It's that time of year again!
The time has come, the Walrus said,
To talk of many things:
Of shoes and ships and sealing-wax
Of cabbages and kings
And why the sea is boiling hot
And whether pigs have wings.
The time has also come to dig out the passwords for those long forgotten Hotmail, Yahoo and G-Mail addresses, so you can vote for yourself many times over in the:
Having nominated yourself, you might consider this blog as a bit of a filling in one or two of your selections in order to make up the numbers!
To talk of many things:
Of shoes and ships and sealing-wax
Of cabbages and kings
And why the sea is boiling hot
And whether pigs have wings.
The time has also come to dig out the passwords for those long forgotten Hotmail, Yahoo and G-Mail addresses, so you can vote for yourself many times over in the:
Having nominated yourself, you might consider this blog as a bit of a filling in one or two of your selections in order to make up the numbers!
07/07/2010
The Liberal anti Democrats
Supporting fixed term parliaments and proportional representation are supposed to be indices of supporting democracy. Great I am all for both reforms.
It seems a bit odd though that the self proclaimed great party of fairness and democracy just happens to decide that the referendum on PR should be held on the same day as the 2011 Assembly / Scottish Parliament elections, and by coincidence the fixed term of the current Westminster Parliament will fall on the same day as the 2015 Assembly / Scottish Parliament elections!
Plaid and the SNP being excluded from the "British" debate in the last Westminster elections halted their progress and helped the Lib Dems campaigns in Scotland and Wales. Am I a cynic in thinking that the coincidence of two UK issues being dealt with on the same day as the next two Devolution votes is gerrymandering to benefit the Lib Dems?
The truth is that the Lib Dems couldn't give a damn about democracy – they are only in politics for what they can get out of it!
Shame on them for betraying their rich heritage of supporting democracy for democracy's sake, and selling their soul for power and party political advantage!
I sincerely hope that my acquaintances in the Welsh Liberal Democrat Party will tell Mr Clegg that this sort of fix is not in the party's tradition of campaigning for fair, honest and democratic elections. But I won't hold my breath waiting for them to do so!
It seems a bit odd though that the self proclaimed great party of fairness and democracy just happens to decide that the referendum on PR should be held on the same day as the 2011 Assembly / Scottish Parliament elections, and by coincidence the fixed term of the current Westminster Parliament will fall on the same day as the 2015 Assembly / Scottish Parliament elections!
Plaid and the SNP being excluded from the "British" debate in the last Westminster elections halted their progress and helped the Lib Dems campaigns in Scotland and Wales. Am I a cynic in thinking that the coincidence of two UK issues being dealt with on the same day as the next two Devolution votes is gerrymandering to benefit the Lib Dems?
The truth is that the Lib Dems couldn't give a damn about democracy – they are only in politics for what they can get out of it!
Shame on them for betraying their rich heritage of supporting democracy for democracy's sake, and selling their soul for power and party political advantage!
I sincerely hope that my acquaintances in the Welsh Liberal Democrat Party will tell Mr Clegg that this sort of fix is not in the party's tradition of campaigning for fair, honest and democratic elections. But I won't hold my breath waiting for them to do so!
The National Assembly for Westminster?
Since the advent of the ConDem Westminster government six weeks, or so, ago, I have been disappointed with the attitude of Assembly Members.
I can accept that Labour and Plaid AM's are peeved that the Conservatives and Lib Dems are in Government in London and that the Welsh opposition AMs are as pleased as punch, so one expects a bit of our government V your government banter, but does the Assembly have to be so London Centric in all its proceedings? Questions to the FM and business questions for the past three weeks as well as many other debates all seem to be about what is going on in London.
The One Wales Government is NOT the unofficial opposition to the ConDem Government, the opposition parties are not in coalition in Wales and they are not the spokes persons for the Westminster government in Wales!
We pay AMs of all parties to discuss matters concerning Wales in those areas devolved to Wales, not to be a Westminster sounding board. Apart from letting Wales down with the nonstop London centric point scoring, Assembly questions and debates are becoming very, very boring.
Come on boys and girls get over the last election result; love it or loath it the result stands, please get back to doing the job in hand of managing the devolved issues to the best of your ability despite / irrespective of what is happening down the M4!
I can accept that Labour and Plaid AM's are peeved that the Conservatives and Lib Dems are in Government in London and that the Welsh opposition AMs are as pleased as punch, so one expects a bit of our government V your government banter, but does the Assembly have to be so London Centric in all its proceedings? Questions to the FM and business questions for the past three weeks as well as many other debates all seem to be about what is going on in London.
The One Wales Government is NOT the unofficial opposition to the ConDem Government, the opposition parties are not in coalition in Wales and they are not the spokes persons for the Westminster government in Wales!
We pay AMs of all parties to discuss matters concerning Wales in those areas devolved to Wales, not to be a Westminster sounding board. Apart from letting Wales down with the nonstop London centric point scoring, Assembly questions and debates are becoming very, very boring.
Come on boys and girls get over the last election result; love it or loath it the result stands, please get back to doing the job in hand of managing the devolved issues to the best of your ability despite / irrespective of what is happening down the M4!
04/07/2010
Who are the benefit scroungers who rip off Housing Benefit?
Who are the benefit scroungers who rip off Housing Benefit?
Obviously, the people to whom the multi billion pound benefit is paid!
But who it is actually paid to?
Despite what the Daily Hate Mail says, the benefit is not paid to unwaged people who live in rented accommodation, it is actually paid to the owners of the rented properties, some of whom are very rich individuals and most of whom make a killing from their property portfolios.
It is still possible to buy a 3 bedroom house in my area for £150K, a 25 year mortgage on such a property would be approximately £800 pcm. If we forget the 13th month for the sake of simplicity, that's £200 per week. Even with Cameron's cap on housing benefit a landlord can still scrounge a 100% profit out of a buy to let housing benefit house bought today, a good investment.
As time goes by house prices rise and rents rise too. Mortgage costs fluctuate but not by a huge amount. So if I had bought a house for £60k 12 years ago my mortgage repayments would now be about £250 pcm, £65 a week and I could be scrounging a 400% state profit from my investment, without taking into account the increased value of the initial investment. If my investment term was coming to its end I would probably be paying a mortgage of about £10 a week – and still be getting £400 per week rent – nice work if you can get it!
Many of the homes that are being rented for these giddy profits are former council houses, many of the people for whom the rents are being paid are the people who would have been housed by councils in days gone by - if the council housing stock hadn't been sold off.
Council House / Housing Association rents in this area are about £70 a week.
It is not rampant socialism or un-conservative to suggest that if the state is paying for housing the poorest in our communities that the state should get the best bang for its bucks. Paying Rachman type landlords to become multi millionaires from state benefits is not good stewardship of the public purse.
The £11 billion paid in housing benefit each year would build a hell of a lot of social housing. Using it to provide social housing would be the best economic answer to this part of the benefit overspend.
Obviously, the people to whom the multi billion pound benefit is paid!
But who it is actually paid to?
Despite what the Daily Hate Mail says, the benefit is not paid to unwaged people who live in rented accommodation, it is actually paid to the owners of the rented properties, some of whom are very rich individuals and most of whom make a killing from their property portfolios.
It is still possible to buy a 3 bedroom house in my area for £150K, a 25 year mortgage on such a property would be approximately £800 pcm. If we forget the 13th month for the sake of simplicity, that's £200 per week. Even with Cameron's cap on housing benefit a landlord can still scrounge a 100% profit out of a buy to let housing benefit house bought today, a good investment.
As time goes by house prices rise and rents rise too. Mortgage costs fluctuate but not by a huge amount. So if I had bought a house for £60k 12 years ago my mortgage repayments would now be about £250 pcm, £65 a week and I could be scrounging a 400% state profit from my investment, without taking into account the increased value of the initial investment. If my investment term was coming to its end I would probably be paying a mortgage of about £10 a week – and still be getting £400 per week rent – nice work if you can get it!
Many of the homes that are being rented for these giddy profits are former council houses, many of the people for whom the rents are being paid are the people who would have been housed by councils in days gone by - if the council housing stock hadn't been sold off.
Council House / Housing Association rents in this area are about £70 a week.
It is not rampant socialism or un-conservative to suggest that if the state is paying for housing the poorest in our communities that the state should get the best bang for its bucks. Paying Rachman type landlords to become multi millionaires from state benefits is not good stewardship of the public purse.
The £11 billion paid in housing benefit each year would build a hell of a lot of social housing. Using it to provide social housing would be the best economic answer to this part of the benefit overspend.
01/07/2010
Wales' first 3/19 School
I was disappointed to read on Cllr. Alun Williams', blog that Ceredigion County Council has decided to proceed with its plan to establish a school for all children and young people in the Llandysul area. The school will provide education for all "children" aged between three and nineteen years old.
I feel that there is something intrinsically sickening in proposing such an institution!
As a parent I would not have wanted my children, when they were small, to be educated in such a school. The idea of sending a small child aged three to a school where pupils were swearing every other word, discussing their pretend sex lives and their sexual desires, chewing gum and smoking disgusts me.
As my progeny are now amongst those who swear every other word, discuss their pretend sex lives and sexual desires and chew gum (but do not, as far as I know, smoke!) I want them to feel that they are at the boundary of adulthood, that they are young men rather than little children sharing the same school as three year old toddlers.
When I moved from the Little School to the Big School, and when my children moved from Primary School to Secondary School it was a milestone on the road to maturity. It was a big step in life, a much bigger step than just moving from year 6 to year 7 or moving from junior campus to senior campus. It was a Right of Passage.
I really worry that depriving the children of rural Wales of such a milestone on the way maturity may create serious social harm in the long term. There is a real danger that young people will not "grow up" and learn to accept the new duties and responsibilities that maturity brings.
I'm glad that Plaid Cymru in Ceredigion has objected to such an abhorrent adjustment in the provision of education in the Llandysul area. I am disappointed that their objections have failed to persuade their fellow councillors to abandon it. But I hope that they will send the evidence which formed the basis of their opposition to their friends in Gwynedd, where Plaid is proposing a similar abhorrent shake up of schools in the Dolgellau and Harlech areas.
I feel that there is something intrinsically sickening in proposing such an institution!
As a parent I would not have wanted my children, when they were small, to be educated in such a school. The idea of sending a small child aged three to a school where pupils were swearing every other word, discussing their pretend sex lives and their sexual desires, chewing gum and smoking disgusts me.
As my progeny are now amongst those who swear every other word, discuss their pretend sex lives and sexual desires and chew gum (but do not, as far as I know, smoke!) I want them to feel that they are at the boundary of adulthood, that they are young men rather than little children sharing the same school as three year old toddlers.
When I moved from the Little School to the Big School, and when my children moved from Primary School to Secondary School it was a milestone on the road to maturity. It was a big step in life, a much bigger step than just moving from year 6 to year 7 or moving from junior campus to senior campus. It was a Right of Passage.
I really worry that depriving the children of rural Wales of such a milestone on the way maturity may create serious social harm in the long term. There is a real danger that young people will not "grow up" and learn to accept the new duties and responsibilities that maturity brings.
I'm glad that Plaid Cymru in Ceredigion has objected to such an abhorrent adjustment in the provision of education in the Llandysul area. I am disappointed that their objections have failed to persuade their fellow councillors to abandon it. But I hope that they will send the evidence which formed the basis of their opposition to their friends in Gwynedd, where Plaid is proposing a similar abhorrent shake up of schools in the Dolgellau and Harlech areas.
27/06/2010
Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves!
Yesterday morning I received a letter from the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency. The letter was sent by first class recorded delivery in a J6 bubble pack padded envelope, the package contained a copy of a letter that I had sent them and an acknowledgement that they would include my letter into the Statement of Case that the letter referred to!
The client that I am representing also received a recorded delivery copy of the same letter in the same packaging.
Eighteen quid for what could have been provided for by two 41p plain first class stamps!
Even the 82p would have been a waste of money because the Agency has no choice but to include the letter into the Statement of Case, and me and my client already knew that!
Eighteen quid might be chickenfeed in the sum of the overal national budget, but how many Bubble Packed Recorded Delivery Acknowledgement Slips does it take to build a new hospital?
When I budget for my kids birthdays or for Christmas I find that the things that make one go over budget aren't the big items like the PS3 or the new bike, but the pound-for-this-fifty pee-for-that little incidentals!
The Government should start to look after the billions of pennies wasted in this way, if it wants to save billions of pounds from the overall state budget!
The client that I am representing also received a recorded delivery copy of the same letter in the same packaging.
Eighteen quid for what could have been provided for by two 41p plain first class stamps!
Even the 82p would have been a waste of money because the Agency has no choice but to include the letter into the Statement of Case, and me and my client already knew that!
Eighteen quid might be chickenfeed in the sum of the overal national budget, but how many Bubble Packed Recorded Delivery Acknowledgement Slips does it take to build a new hospital?
When I budget for my kids birthdays or for Christmas I find that the things that make one go over budget aren't the big items like the PS3 or the new bike, but the pound-for-this-fifty pee-for-that little incidentals!
The Government should start to look after the billions of pennies wasted in this way, if it wants to save billions of pounds from the overall state budget!
21/06/2010
Why is VAT a regressive tax?
I admit that I am not very good at sums and that I am easily confused by economic arguments. So I hope that somebody will be able to explain a comment made by Roger Williams on Sunday's Politics Show and by David Milliband on today's Daily Politics - that raising VAT is a regressive tax because it falls most heavily on the poorest in society.
If a poor person spends £20,000 a year and a rich person spends £200,000 I would have thought that the richer person would pay at least 10 times as much in purchase taxes than the poorer person. Because VAT is a purchase tax that is only charged on luxury goods, with essential goods being exempt, I would also have thought that it stands to reason that the richer person would spend a greater percentage of his money on luxuries whilst the poorer person would spend a large proportion of his money on tax exempt essentials. If this is the case then the richer person will pay even more in tax. This doesn't appear regressive or disproportionate to me; it appears to be fair and proportionate. So how do Mr Williams and Mr Milliband come to the opposite conclusion to me?
If a poor person spends £20,000 a year and a rich person spends £200,000 I would have thought that the richer person would pay at least 10 times as much in purchase taxes than the poorer person. Because VAT is a purchase tax that is only charged on luxury goods, with essential goods being exempt, I would also have thought that it stands to reason that the richer person would spend a greater percentage of his money on luxuries whilst the poorer person would spend a large proportion of his money on tax exempt essentials. If this is the case then the richer person will pay even more in tax. This doesn't appear regressive or disproportionate to me; it appears to be fair and proportionate. So how do Mr Williams and Mr Milliband come to the opposite conclusion to me?
16/06/2010
Plaid & SNP to be excluded from Welsh & Scottish Affairs Committees?
During the Business of the House debate in the Commons yesterday Elfyn Llwyd raised the following point of order:
However his point was ruled out of order by Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans.
Mr Llwyd attempted to raise the same issue during the progress of the debate, but was again ruled out of order by Nigel Evans.
Given that Plaid is a party of Government in the Assembly and that the Committee has a huge responsibility for scrutinising Assembly eLCOs, it would be strange and undemocratic if Plaid was excluded from the Welsh Affairs Committee. Because the matter was ruled out of order by Mr Evans, I don't know what the background to Elfyn's complaint is. Can anybody shed any light on what is happening?
UPDATE:
Whilst I was posting this Adam Higget posted the background to the issue on a site which his brother objects to me linking to.
Elfyn Llwyd (Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Plaid Cymru)
On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. We are in a position today where we are discussing motions that will effectively exclude Plaid Cymru Members from being a member of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee and Scottish National party Members from being on the Scottish Affairs Select Committee. Additionally, there will be no room for those parties' Back-Bench Members to sit on the Back-Bench business committee. What kind of motions are these? What is the point behind them? I urge the Minister to take them away and think them through, as these motions will not stand the test of time, and the people in Wales and Scotland will be furious when they find out.
However his point was ruled out of order by Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans.
Mr Llwyd attempted to raise the same issue during the progress of the debate, but was again ruled out of order by Nigel Evans.
Given that Plaid is a party of Government in the Assembly and that the Committee has a huge responsibility for scrutinising Assembly eLCOs, it would be strange and undemocratic if Plaid was excluded from the Welsh Affairs Committee. Because the matter was ruled out of order by Mr Evans, I don't know what the background to Elfyn's complaint is. Can anybody shed any light on what is happening?
UPDATE:
Whilst I was posting this Adam Higget posted the background to the issue on a site which his brother objects to me linking to.
Three Wrongs Don't Make a Right!
Whataboutery is a word coined by Cardinal Cahal Daly to describe what he thought was the commonest form of moral evasion in Ireland today.
Whataboutaery is a way of justifying one atrocity by comparing it to another worse atrocity (in the perception of the claimant), committed by the other side.
Typically the publication of the Saville Enquiry Today has produced swathes of whataboutary reactions; this one by General Sir Michael Rose in the Mail is just one sordid example. This one from Lord Tebbit is another. The comments that follow the articles are an even worse example of whataboutary, with those who welcome the enquiry's report branded as traitors to Britain and apologists for the IRA and those who oppose it are branded as supporters of state sponsored terrorism by the loyalist paramilitaries and the British Government!
I think that PM David Cameron has been bold and brave in accepting the enquiry's conclusion and apologising on behalf of the British Government for what was an unjustified and unjustifiable action.
What both wings of the IRA and what the INLA did during the troubles was also unjustified and unjustifiable.
What the UVF and other loyalist paramilitary groups did during the troubles was unjustified and unjustifiable.
Whatabout some of those organizations' leaders and supporters following Cameron's lead in accepting that what they did was unjustified and unjustifiable rather than continuing with the moral evasion of whataboutism as their reaction to the enquiry?
Accepting that there was wrong on all three sides is the only way of bringing peace and reconciliation to the north of Ireland. Cameron has given a lead for the British Government's side, have the other two sides got the whatabout it takes to follow that lead?
Others on this subject:
Blog Menai; Iain Dale; Matt Wardman; RandomPottins; Ceder Lounge and many others
Whataboutaery is a way of justifying one atrocity by comparing it to another worse atrocity (in the perception of the claimant), committed by the other side.
You ate my favourite biscuit,etc, etc.
So! What about you pinching my cream cake last week?
How dare you mention that! What about you using MY last teabag the week before
Typically the publication of the Saville Enquiry Today has produced swathes of whataboutary reactions; this one by General Sir Michael Rose in the Mail is just one sordid example. This one from Lord Tebbit is another. The comments that follow the articles are an even worse example of whataboutary, with those who welcome the enquiry's report branded as traitors to Britain and apologists for the IRA and those who oppose it are branded as supporters of state sponsored terrorism by the loyalist paramilitaries and the British Government!
I think that PM David Cameron has been bold and brave in accepting the enquiry's conclusion and apologising on behalf of the British Government for what was an unjustified and unjustifiable action.
What both wings of the IRA and what the INLA did during the troubles was also unjustified and unjustifiable.
What the UVF and other loyalist paramilitary groups did during the troubles was unjustified and unjustifiable.
Whatabout some of those organizations' leaders and supporters following Cameron's lead in accepting that what they did was unjustified and unjustifiable rather than continuing with the moral evasion of whataboutism as their reaction to the enquiry?
Accepting that there was wrong on all three sides is the only way of bringing peace and reconciliation to the north of Ireland. Cameron has given a lead for the British Government's side, have the other two sides got the whatabout it takes to follow that lead?
Others on this subject:
Blog Menai; Iain Dale; Matt Wardman; RandomPottins; Ceder Lounge and many others
12/06/2010
ABE - I've Changed my Mind!
Despite having said that I was going to support A B E on the Wales Home site, I have changed my mind.
Apart from Welsh politics my other delight is family history, which can be an expensive business when one has to pay for access to family history sites such as Find My Past.
Find my Past has pay to view family history records that include all the England and Wales Census records from 1841 to 1911, an index of Birth Marriage and Death indices from 1837 t0 2006 and many more records.
During the World Cup Find my Past has a bargain for those who do not want to watch the footy:
If you're not football mad, there is something else to do during the World Cup – make it your goal to research your family history.
You can view all the records on findmypast for free during every England World Cup match – all you need to do is register.
How it works:
30 minutes before kick-off we'll stop charging for 3 hours, which should give you plenty of time to explore what we have to offer
England will play on / at
12/06 19:30 BST
18/06 19:30 BST
23/06 15:00 BST
South Africa is currently in Winter and working on GMT so add an hour for international world clocks based on GMT.
Of course if England succeeds to progress beyond the first stage there will be even more free time available on Find My Past, another four games / 12 hours if they go through to the final or the 3rd place play offs!
So come on Eng-earl-and!!!
Apart from Welsh politics my other delight is family history, which can be an expensive business when one has to pay for access to family history sites such as Find My Past.
Find my Past has pay to view family history records that include all the England and Wales Census records from 1841 to 1911, an index of Birth Marriage and Death indices from 1837 t0 2006 and many more records.
During the World Cup Find my Past has a bargain for those who do not want to watch the footy:
If you're not football mad, there is something else to do during the World Cup – make it your goal to research your family history.
You can view all the records on findmypast for free during every England World Cup match – all you need to do is register.
How it works:
30 minutes before kick-off we'll stop charging for 3 hours, which should give you plenty of time to explore what we have to offer
England will play on / at
12/06 19:30 BST
18/06 19:30 BST
23/06 15:00 BST
South Africa is currently in Winter and working on GMT so add an hour for international world clocks based on GMT.
Of course if England succeeds to progress beyond the first stage there will be even more free time available on Find My Past, another four games / 12 hours if they go through to the final or the 3rd place play offs!
So come on Eng-earl-and!!!
11/06/2010
Badger culling
TB is a nasty disease; it causes coughing blood, overheating of the body, chronic fatigue and severe weight loss. The bacterium that causes tuberculosis is one that duplicates slowly compared to other bacterial diseases organisms, which means that the disease is one that kills slowly and painfully over a long period.
As someone who is very fond of badgers I would not wish any Brock to suffer such a long and painful death, that is why I do not understand the opposition by some who claim to be supporters of badgers to the Assembly Government's policy of culling badgers and cattle suffering from the infection.
The cull will not only ensure that the national cattle herd is free from this awful disease, but will also ensure that the national badger set is free from it too!
Opposing the cull is not going to save the herd or the set, it will just lead to cattle and badgers dying a long and painful death from a horrible disease, and potentially spreading the disease amongst the human population.
The opposition to efforts to remove the infection from the heard and the set by culling badgers and infected cows is beyond my grasp, and I fail to understand how such resistance can be promoted as support for animal welfare!
As someone who is very fond of badgers I would not wish any Brock to suffer such a long and painful death, that is why I do not understand the opposition by some who claim to be supporters of badgers to the Assembly Government's policy of culling badgers and cattle suffering from the infection.
The cull will not only ensure that the national cattle herd is free from this awful disease, but will also ensure that the national badger set is free from it too!
Opposing the cull is not going to save the herd or the set, it will just lead to cattle and badgers dying a long and painful death from a horrible disease, and potentially spreading the disease amongst the human population.
The opposition to efforts to remove the infection from the heard and the set by culling badgers and infected cows is beyond my grasp, and I fail to understand how such resistance can be promoted as support for animal welfare!
10/06/2010
Sesiwn Fach Dolgellau - 17+18/7/10
A message from the Sesiwn Fawr Appeal Committee
On the 17 and 18 of July, Sesiwn Fach will be held in Dolgellau.
A mixture of gigs, jamming sessions around the town's pubs - what better?!
The purpose of the festival will be to get Sesiwn Fawr back on it's feet by 2011!
The line-ups are being organized and hopefully finalised within the up and coming week.
We ask you to pass the message forewards to your friends and help bring Sesiwn Fawr's rythm and beat to the streets of Dolgellau once again!
Thank you
SFD Appeal Committee
On the 17 and 18 of July, Sesiwn Fach will be held in Dolgellau.
A mixture of gigs, jamming sessions around the town's pubs - what better?!
The purpose of the festival will be to get Sesiwn Fawr back on it's feet by 2011!
The line-ups are being organized and hopefully finalised within the up and coming week.
We ask you to pass the message forewards to your friends and help bring Sesiwn Fawr's rythm and beat to the streets of Dolgellau once again!
Thank you
SFD Appeal Committee
Who is the money owed to?
This is a serious question asked for the sake of an answer, rather than to make a political point.
Apparently the UK owes £890 billion pounds. Who does it owe the money to? Is it to some of the banks that it borrowed money in order to bail them out?
Apparently the UK owes £890 billion pounds. Who does it owe the money to? Is it to some of the banks that it borrowed money in order to bail them out?
09/06/2010
The Black Cat's first Parliamentary Purr
Congratulations to Guto Bebb MP on delivering his maiden speech to the House of Commons yesterday.
A transcription of his pearls of wisdom can be found here:
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debate/?id=2010-06-08a.227.0
The tradition of the House is that maiden speeches are not controversial; I was pleased to hear Guto note the importance of the Welsh Language in this constituency and the value of teaching local and Welsh history in our schools.
A transcription of his pearls of wisdom can be found here:
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debate/?id=2010-06-08a.227.0
The tradition of the House is that maiden speeches are not controversial; I was pleased to hear Guto note the importance of the Welsh Language in this constituency and the value of teaching local and Welsh history in our schools.
07/06/2010
Gwynt y Môr - no thanks!
After my sojourn in foreign climes I hear on my return that the Gwynt y Môr project to place 160 offshore wind turbines in the sea off Llandudno has been approved and that the work will begin next year.
The news has been welcome by Ieuan Wyn Jones and Cheryl Gillan, and by a number of Welsh bloggers. I'm sorry to break the all welcoming consensus. I think that the project is bad news for Wales.
I have nothing against wind farms, I accept the environmental benefits that projects such as Gwynt y Môr can deliver, but I am also aware of the negative effects of such a project. The noise, the visual impact and the affect on the local environment caused by taking energy out of the wind before it reaches land could be detrimental to the people who live on the coast and to the tourist industry that is the mainstay of the local economy. Incidentally I find the Plaid Blogger, Welsh Ramblings, response to such concerns that people who live in the coast are going to have to get over it is as insensitive as telling people in the Varteg that they should get over the fact that an open cast coal mine might blight their community.
Of course the argument is made that all disadvantages that the project will cause will be outweighed by the advantages that it brings. A point that I agree with in general, but as was the case with water extraction and coal extraction, Wales will bear the brunt of the disadvantages whilst the advantages are enjoyed by those outwith Wales. The economic benefit to Wales from this project will be a poxy 1% of its total value, whilst Wales will suffer 100% of the project's down side.
Rather than welcoming the development Plaid, a so called national party, should be shouting from the rooftops about yet another example of Wales' natural resources being ripped off for the benefit of others!
The news has been welcome by Ieuan Wyn Jones and Cheryl Gillan, and by a number of Welsh bloggers. I'm sorry to break the all welcoming consensus. I think that the project is bad news for Wales.
I have nothing against wind farms, I accept the environmental benefits that projects such as Gwynt y Môr can deliver, but I am also aware of the negative effects of such a project. The noise, the visual impact and the affect on the local environment caused by taking energy out of the wind before it reaches land could be detrimental to the people who live on the coast and to the tourist industry that is the mainstay of the local economy. Incidentally I find the Plaid Blogger, Welsh Ramblings, response to such concerns that people who live in the coast are going to have to get over it is as insensitive as telling people in the Varteg that they should get over the fact that an open cast coal mine might blight their community.
Of course the argument is made that all disadvantages that the project will cause will be outweighed by the advantages that it brings. A point that I agree with in general, but as was the case with water extraction and coal extraction, Wales will bear the brunt of the disadvantages whilst the advantages are enjoyed by those outwith Wales. The economic benefit to Wales from this project will be a poxy 1% of its total value, whilst Wales will suffer 100% of the project's down side.
Rather than welcoming the development Plaid, a so called national party, should be shouting from the rooftops about yet another example of Wales' natural resources being ripped off for the benefit of others!
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