Two faced Bryant

Chris Bryant MP's reaction to Roger Lewis' vicious attack on the Welsh:

"I can't believe Jonathan Edwards has risen to the bait," says Chris Bryant, Labour MP for Rhondda in South Wales. "Roger Lewis's piece is fatuous nonsense, but the last thing people want is a moaning version of Welsh nationalism. Wales is at its best when it is triumphantly insouciant about the criticism of others, and if we can't take a bit of scabrous attack without running to the police, it's a sad day for Wales."

Chris Bryant MP's reaction to Alun Cairns silly comment about the Italian football team:

Rhondda Labour MP Chris Bryant said: “David Cameron has had over two months to decide whether or not Alun Cairns should be sacked as the Tory candidate in the Vale of Glamorgan. “It’s very much decision time for David Cameron on this issue.
“Failing to sack Alun Cairns shows how indecisive Cameron really is when it comes to taking tough decisions.”

Sack somebody for making an ill informed joke about the Italians, but laugh off a scurrilous attack on the Welsh!

Typical Welsh Labour MP!

A Greater Advert

Peter Black AM has a bit of a thing about cats, so his latest post draws attention to Aldi's fish finger advert which features a Welsh cat, he thinks it is a great advert.

I am more interested in booze than cats, so I think that this one in the series is an even greater advert:

Petitioning the Government

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to sign an e-petition on the re-vamped HM Government e petitions website.

The petition that I signed asked for Recognition of Cornwall as a National Minority, which was a subject that I was happy to support, despite a lack of faith in on line petition sites.

The site is an interesting place to browse, not so much because of the influence it may or may not have on British politics, but because it is an interesting cross section of the sorts of things that people in these islands think are important enough to petition the government on. There were, when I last looked, over 5500 petitions that one could sign which range from the eminently sensible to the outright whacky!

Apparently the difference between the new site and the old Number 10 petitions site is that there is now a commitment that if over 100,000 people sign a petition then that issue will be debated in parliament. From my latest visit I noticed that only two petitions have actually broken the 100k benchmark:

Convicted London rioters should lose all benefits.
Any persons convicted of criminal acts during the current London riots should have all financial benefits removed. No tax payer should have to contribute to those who have destroyed property, stolen from their community and shown a disregard for the country that provides for them.

and

Full disclosure of all government documents relating to 1989 Hillsborough disaster

Full government disclosure and publication of all documents, discussions and reports relating to the 1989 Hillsborough disater. As requested by information commissioner Christopher Graham.

The petition originally backed as the one to be the first to get 100k votes was Guido Fawkes' petition for a reintroduction of Capital Punishment, that petition is floundering at the 17k mark, whilst the opposing petition to retain the ban on Capital Punishment is the third most popular petition on the site with 25k+ signatures!

This raises an important point! Guido's petition received a lot of publicity and backing from certain sections of the online and mainstream media, but with a mainly online fightback the petition is currently being beaten, but not every petition has its oppisite.

What if I think that making every person convicted of offences during the recent riots vagrants and beggars is going to increase social incohesion and is a bloody stupid idea?

How do I oppose this tabloid backed petition?

I could start my own petition, which might be one of a hundred similar petitions with only a couple of dozen votes, but without similar tabloid backing what chance would my petition have?

Surely every on line e-petition, that is supposedly going to influence government thinking should have two options - I support or I oppose this petition!

It seems wrong to me that the Daily Hate Mail, The Sun, Dale and Co, Guido etc can push petitions in a way that others can't, without a simple NO button option that enables those of us who read their propaganda and disagree with them to note our disagreement.

Undue Influence in London Mayoral Election?

This is a quote from the Representation of the People Act

115 Undue influence.
(1)A person shall be guilty of a corrupt practice if he is guilty of undue influence.
(2)A person shall be guilty of undue influence—
(a)if he, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, makes use of or threatens to make use of any force, violence or restraint, or inflicts or threatens to inflict, by himself or by any other person, any temporal or spiritual injury, damage, harm or loss upon or against any person in order to induce or compel that person to vote or refrain from voting, or on account of that person having voted or refrained from voting;

The threat of a spiritual injury would include telling people that they risked eternal damnation if they vote for a certain candidate, or saying things like The people that don't vote for me will be weighed in the balance, come Judgement Day. The Archangel Gabriel will say, 'You didn't vote for Ken Livingstone in 2012. Oh dear, burn forever. Your skin flayed for all eternity'.

The comments might have been uttered in jest, but uttered they were and as we have seen recently only joking is no defence, so if I was a London supporter of Mr Johnston or any other mayoral candidate I might be very tempted to send a copy of the latest edition of Total Politics to Mr Plod at the Yard

Are Postal Votes Sexist?

Because of my former involvement in party politics I have attended a number of election counts, for all levels of election Community, County, Assembly, Westminster and Euro, but until last week I have never attended a preliminary postal vote count.

Of the 300 odd votes cast in the Glan Conwy Community Council election 68 were postal votes. Postal votes are accompanied by a signed declaration by the voter which "proves" that the votes had been validly cast. The declarations are scanned by a computer and the computer highlights those that don't "match" the details on the postal vote application.

The computer rejected a dozen or so votes (a fairly high percentage – about 1 in 5,). My opponent, the returning officer and I then had to visually verify the rejected statements. Most were caused by a failure of the scanning apparatus to distinguish between 9s 6s and 0 in the date of birth section of the declaration, all overturned. Some were cases where a voter had given a sample signature as John Jones but signed the declaration as J Jones, but because the Jones was undoubtedly visually the same, all three of us accepted the signatures as genuine.

Two postal votes were rejected, I thought that both were genuine but the returning officer and the other candidate disagreed with me. One was from a very old voter, I thought that the signature showed deterioration in handwriting fluidity due to age, the others thought that it was another person's signature; the second was from a female voter who was recently married. She had given her sample signature in her maiden name when she applied for a postal vote, but signed in her married name whilst casting this vote.

OK – it was only one vote and it didn't affect the outcome of the election, so in a sense it didn't matter, but it was still a case of a woman being disenfranchised for being a woman and it formed 1/300th of the vote, in some close call constituencies during the last Westminster election one in three hundred votes might have been decisive.

As a bloke I can get divorced tomorrow* and re-marry on Saturday and use the same signature on my postal vote, but my ex-wife reverting to her maiden name and my new wife adopting my name by marriage will both have their votes discounted! That's not fair – is it?

* Note to Mrs MOF - point used as an example not as an intention – honest!

The People have spoken – the bastards*

*A quote from Dick Tuck's concession speech following his loss in the 1966 California State Senate election; not my assessment of the people of Glan Conwy :-)

The result of the Llansanffraid Glan Conwy Community Council Bryn Rhys Ward by election was:

David Alwyn ap Huw Humphreys Independent 112 (43%)
Daniel Worsley Conservative 197 (57%)

Congratulations to Dan on his victory and a huge thank you to those who gave me their support. I was worried sick last night about how I would live it down if Dan had 4 or 5 hundred votes and I had 4 or 5. Although I am obviously disappointed at not winning I am also relived that I wasn't humiliated.

Despite having campaigned in numerous elections since 1970 this is the first time I have actually put my own head on the block, and I must say that it has, on the whole, been an enjoyable experience. I have seen nooks and crannies of the village that I didn't know existed. I have been able to put names to faces of people who I have greeted on the street for the past 20 years, without quite knowing who they are. I have been bitten by the bug and I will definitely be standing again when the whole council comes up for election again next May!

Peter Black Says that Welsh Language Campaigner is "Not right in the Head"

Before Mr Black sends his libel lawyers after me I hasten to say that

1 Peter Black has NEVER made such a claim

and

2 If he goes ahead with his support of Google Translate to translate the Cofnod (the official proceedings of the Assembly) he wouldn't have a legal leg to stand on, because Google Translate undoubtedly translates a recent comment made by him as accusing a language campaigner of being Not right in the Head (nad yw'n ddim yn iawn pen).

Not right in the head, especially in the south Wales dialect, suggests severe brain damage He hasn't been right in the head since the pit ceiling come down on him.

Wrongheaded, however is a much more benign term that just means contrary to sound judgment

The difference between the two terms is a subtlety that only a human translator can differentiate at the moment, and Google failed to spot the difference!

If Peter and friends decide to go down the Google route to translate the Cofnod I can guarantee that myself and others will pick up these nuances of translation and use them with glee come the next Assembly Election!

Do users of the English language in the Assembly really want to risk giving those of us who can spot the nuances our field day, by insisting on a machine generated bilingual record?

Are Lib-Lab-Con parking their tank on Plaid's grass again?

There is rather pathetic post on Wales Home in which David Torrance tries to fry Scottish First minister Alex Salmond for a lack of commitment to proper independence for Scotland!

Indeed, over the past 15 years the SNP leader has gone out of his way to emphasis an almost Burkean continuity with the United Kingdom, preserving whichever features of the ,ancien regime he judges Scots voters, however patriotic, are reluctant to sacrifice.

From the election of Gwynfor in 1966 up to the devolution referenda of 1979, the Unionists (to use Mr Torrance's all inclusive phrase) built up an independence straw man: If Scotland or Wales were to become independent they would be like Albania or Cambodia, cut off from the rest of the world economically, socially, culturally and in every other respect.

The nationalist response was always that such a claim was complete and utter tosh; an independent Scotland or Wales would become individuals in the family of nations and would retain strong links with all the nations with whom they had bonds prior to independence, including England, and that some of those bonds would be strengthened through independence.

Nothing has changed in the nationalist camp. We were saying forty years ago that many countries had shared currencies, the Irish Punt and the US dollar being typical examples at that time. We were saying forty years ago that many countries allowed foreign forces to have bases in their territory for the sake of mutual protection (like Greenham common!) We were also saying forty years ago that after independence Scotland and Wales had the option of being part of the Commonwealth of Nations and retaining the Queen as our titular head, as many other independent countries do. Alex Salmond is singing from the same old hymn sheet as his predecessors sang from in the 60's and 70's!

What has changed is the Unionist attack. Salmond is now derided for only wanting Devo Max or Independence lite, rather than the full blooded Albanian isolationism that he and his party were wrongly accused of supporting in the 60's and 70's.

The funny thing is that Plaid has had a squeaky bum period of being frightened of mentioning the I word preferring to talk about full national identity, the evolution of devolution and such like; terms that are not dissimilar to the Scottish Unionists Devo Max and Independence Lite!

Another example of the British Parties parking their tanks on Plaid's grass?

On Dragons and Tongues

There is a typically Guardianista debate taking place on the Comment is Free site about intellectual clichés:

"We've all been there. You're in the middle of a heated discussion – debating the news over a pint in the pub, or firing off comments below an article on Comment is free. Suddenly, you remember that someone famous once put your argument in a much pithier way than you ever could. It might be an old canard like "Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" from the Old Testament, or trendy economist-speak such as Malcolm Gladwell's well-worn phrase "the tipping point". The point is: you didn't really read the original text, and you're not all that sure what the author was really going on about in the first place. But you quote it anyway. Everyone – commenters, commentators, yes, even editors – sometimes resorts to intellectual clichés."

As if by magic our own Wales Home came up with a perfect example "The Dragon Has Two Tongues", a debate about whether or not Wales Home should publish posts in Welsh without translating them into English, a theme picked up by John Tyler.

In the Context of the CiF debate the cliché's origins are not in a debate just about the language, but in a book by Glyn Jones and a HTV series where Prof Gwyn Alf Williams debated with Wynford Vaughan Thomas, not so much about language, but about conservatism and radicalism. Both Wynford and Glyn were fluent Welsh speakers the tongues that divided their dragon wasn't linguistic but cultural; it wasn't can speak Welsh v can't speak Welsh but right v left.

In the intervening 30 odd years since the programme was made, only one party has successfully taken on the lessons learned from the programme - the Conservative Party - The only party that doesn't really mind the language that you use as long as the message is right in both senses of the word. Unfortunately the Tories oppose national self determination for Wales, so I can't support them!

Plaid Cymru, a party that one would expect to unite all Welsh speakers and all who have an abiding interest in Welsh culture and history cuts us Wynford types out, because we are not Gwyn Alf's disciples who believe that the Gresford disaster and Streic y Penrhyn are the be all and end all of North Wales' history, because we are not all left wing. Plaid treats our Dragon's Tongue with opposition, opprobrium and derision.

Unless and until a national movement unites all who want Welsh independence, left and right, cultural and practical, Welsh speaking or not, one of the dragon's tongues will remain very, very wilted!

Time to disqualify the disqualifications

I have refrained from commenting on the Lib Dem two, because I feel that it would have been unfair to do so before the legal advice was available. It has now been published.

From what I understand, John Dixon has fallen on his sword and Aled Roberts will challenge any motion to dismiss him in the courts.

The thing that has caused me the most disquiet about this saga isn't about whether the rules were broken or not but whether the rules are fair!

Unlike Mr Dixon I have consulted the list of disqualified people, and unlike Mr Roberts I have looked at the list in Welsh and English. My impression is that it is a big list for a small country, and that many of the people most likely to want to represent their area in our National Assembly are the sort of people who have already served Wales well by giving their services to these sorts of bodies.

Disqualifying hundreds of citizens who have already proven their willingness to serve the nation by being members of public bodies from being AMs is bloody stupid!

Rather than sacking Mr Dixon and Mr Roberts the Assembly should change the rules.

I can understand why you can't be an AM and a member of some (but not all) of the prohibited bodies. But surely a rule that says you can stand for election as a member of a public body and if elected you resign your membership of the body before taking up your Assembly seat through the oath would enable more people who are committed to Welsh civic life to stand for election!

Barring so many contributors to Welsh civic life (in all parties) can't be democratic or good for Welsh Governance!

Here is the banned from our democratic process list:

You are not allowed to be an Assembly member if you are also a member of:

A committee established by the Pensions Regulator under section 9 of the Pensions Act 2004;
A National Park authority for a National Park in Wales;
A panel, established under Schedule 10 to the Rent Act 1977, of persons to act as chairmen and other members of rent assessment committees for an area or areas every part of which is in Wales;
A tribunal constituted under section 27 of, and Schedule 3 to the Education Act 2005;
A tribunal referred to in paragraph 10 of Schedule 26 to the Schools Standards and Framework Act 1998(4);
Adjudication Panel for Wales or Panel Dyfarnu Cymru;
Agricultural Land Tribunal;
An urban development corporation for an urban development area wholly in Wales;
Anglesey Recovery Board;
Any member of the Big Lottery Fund appointed under paragraph 1 of Schedule 4A to the National Lottery Etc. Act 1993(5) or of a committee established under paragraph 7(1)(b) of that Schedule;
Arts Council of Wales;
Board of Trustees of the National Library of Wales appointed by the Welsh Ministers;
Board of Trustees of the National Museum of Wales appointed by the Welsh Ministers;
Board of the Pension Protection Fund;
British Waterways Board;
Board of Medical Referees appointed by the Welsh Ministers);
British Broadcasting Corporation Trust;
British Transport Police Authority;
Care Council for Wales or Cyngor Gofal Cymru;
Care Quality Commission;
Central Arbitration Committee;
Channel Four Television Corporation;
Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission;
Commission for Equality and Human Rights;
Competition Appeal Tribunal;
Competition Commission;
Competition Service;
Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence;
Council of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service;
Countryside Council for Wales;
Electoral Commission or Comisiwn Etholiadol;
Environment Agency or Asiantaeth yr Amgylchedd;
First-tier tribunal;
Food & Drink Advisory Partnership;
Food Standards Agency or yr Asiantaeth Safonau Bwyd;
Food Standards Agency Advisory Committee for Wales;
Gas and Electricity Markets Authority;
General Teaching Council for Wales or Cyngor Addysgu Cyffredinol Cymru;
Health and Safety Executive;
Health Protection Agency or yr Asiantaeth Diogelu Iechyd;
Higher Education Funding Council for Wales other than a member who is also an employee of the Council;
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority;
Human Tissue Authority;
Independent Appeal Panel for Farmers;
Independent Police Complaints Commission;
Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales;
Independent Social Services Complaints Panel;
Joint Nature Conservation Committee;
Local Better Regulation Office;
Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales;
Meat Promotions Wales or Hybu Cig Cymru;
Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales;
National Employment Savings Trust Corporation;
Office of Communications;
Office of Fair Trading;
Pensions Regulator;
Postal Services Commission;
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales;
Sianel Pedwar Cymru;
Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee;
Sports Council for Wales;
Statistics Board or Bwrdd Ystadegau established by the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007;
Upper Tribunal;
Valuation Tribunal for Wales;
Welsh Industrial Development Advisory Board;
Welsh Language Board or Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg;
Welsh Levy Board or Bwrdd Ardollau Cymru.
A person appointed by the Welsh Ministers under section 3(1) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989
An auditor appointed under section 13(2) of the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004;
Ambassador or Permanent Representative to an international organization representing Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom;
Auditor General for Wales and members of his or her staff;
Certification officer and any assistant certification officer having functions under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992;
Chair of Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee;
Chair and members of the Marine Management Organisation;
Chair and members of the Welsh Committee of the Administrative Justice & Tribunals Council;
Chair and Chief Executive of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills or a Director or a Commissioner of that Commission appointed by the First Minister for Wales;
Chairman and Chief Executive of the Student Loans Company Limited;
Chairman and Chief Executive of the Technology Strategy Board;
Chairman and deputy chairman of the Civil Service Appeal Board;
Chairman and vice chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission;
Chairman and any other member of the Passengers’ Council in receipt of remuneration;
Chairman and any member, not being also an employee, of a Local Health Board for an area in Wales;
Chairman and any member, not being also an employee, of a Special Health Authority performing functions partly or wholly in respect of Wales;
Chairman and Director General of the British Council;
Chairman and non-executive director of a National Health Service Trust all or some of whose hospitals, establishments or other facilities are situated in Wales;
Chairman of the Beef Assurance Scheme Panel;
Children’s Commissioner for Wales or Comisiyndd Plant Cymru, Deputy Children’s Commissioner and members of his or her staff;
Civil Service Commissioner;
Commissioner for Older People in Wales or Comisiyndd Pobl hŷn Cymru, Deputy Commissioner and members of his or her staff;
Commissioner for Public Appointments;
Commissioner and assistant Commissioner of the Boundary Commission for England;
Commissioner and assistant Commissioner of the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland;
Commissioner and assistant Commissioner of the Boundary Commission for Scotland;
Commissioner and assistant Commissioner of the Boundary Commission for Wales;
Comptroller and Auditor General;
Director of Finance Wales Public Limited Company or any wholly owned subsidiary of Finance Wales Public Limited Company;
Director of the Pensions Advisory Service Limited;
Director of the Post Office company (within the meaning of Part 4 of the Postal Services Act 2000(12)) being a director nominated or appointed by a Minister of the Crown or by a person acting on behalf of the Crown;
Forestry Commissioners and member of their staff;
Governor or Administrator of a British overseas territory within the meaning of section 50(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981;
Health Service Commissioner;
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales or Prif Arolygydd Ei Mawrhydi dros Addysg a Hyfforddiant yng Nghymru;
High Commissioner representing Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom;
Independent Case Examiner for the Department for Work and Pensions;
Independent Groundwater Complaints Administrator appointed under section 21 of and paragraph 27 of Schedule 7 to the Cardiff Bay Barrage Act 1993;
Ombudsman for the Board of the Pension Protection Fund appointed under section 209 of the Pensions Act 2004(15) and any deputy to that Ombudsman appointed under section 210 of that Act;
Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration;
Pensions Ombudsman appointed under section 145 of the Pensions Schemes Act 1993 and any deputy to that Ombudsman appointed under section 145A of that Act;
Person holding a politically restricted post, within the meaning of Part 1 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989(17), under—
(a)a local authority in Wales, within the meaning of that Part,
(b)a National Park Authority for a National Park in Wales;
President of the Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales, or member of a panel of persons appointed to act as chairman or other member of that Tribunal;
Returning officer for a constituency or an electoral region of the National Assembly for Wales;
Social Fund Commissioner;
Trustee of the Independent Living Fund (2006).

Breakfast Time in The Bay

The Electoral Commission will be launching its statutory report on the referendum on the law-making powers of the National Assembly for Wales at 8:00am on Wednesday 13 July 2011 in Conference Room 24 in Tŷ Hywel, the National Assembly for Wales.

The event, which is sponsored by the Deputy Presiding Officer, David Melding AM, will be an opportunity for the Chief Counting Officer, Jenny Watson, to outline the Commission’s main findings about what they learnt in the process of running the referendum.

Breakfast will be provided!

As one of those registered to campaign in the referendum I have been invited to the do! Great! Thanks for the invitation!

I would love to meet the Electoral Commissioners to discuss how successful (or not) the Commission was in running the referendum. It is clear from my blogs and my campaign during the referendum that I was unhappy with the way that the referendum was run, so an opportunity to voice those concerns with the Commissioners would be very welcome.

However the practical problems of getting to Cardiff from Llandudno for a breakfast meeting at eight o'clock in the morning, with all respect, is so absurd as to make such a meeting part of the problem.

Discussing the way in which the referendum was run over bacon eggs and lava bread first thing in the morning at a venue that it is impossible for all but the few "within the bubble" to attend shows just how out of touch with needs of ordinary campaigners for Welsh Democracy the Electoral Commission is!

The time and place is worse than just Cardiff Centric, having looked at the timetables, even if I decided to go down to Cardiff the day before and spend the night with my sister in St Mellons, a few miles away from the Bay, it would still be difficult for me to get to Tŷ Hywel for 8am by public transport.

If the Electoral Commission is really interested in engaging with all stakeholders in the referendum process I call on it to cancel this totally ridiculous breakfast meeting and to arrange a meeting at a sensible time in a sensible place that would give access to the many rather than the select few!

Using Welsh by Blogging

The latest addition to my Blog List is Everyday Welsh. I will let the blogger explain what the blog is for:

Right, to begin, I would like firstly to explain (briefly) my intentions for this blog.

This blog should NOT be used as your PRIMARY source for learning Welsh.

I assume, that any visitors here have already delved somewhat into the beautiful language and know at least some basics. My goal is to IMMERSE you in modern/essential Welsh culture, current Welsh culture! Therefore, I have decided to aid all of your learning by teaching aspects of the language through Videos/Music etc. Short, engaging clips that you SHOULD watch OVER & OVER... and with my help you WILL come to UNDERSTAND their meanings.

I set the idea out, knowing that this EXPOSURE to Welsh IS very beneficial. Studies have been conducted PROVING that exposure to the target language (i.e. Welsh in this case) improves language acquisition, or, the rate it will take you to grasp the language. Although incomprehensible initially, YOU WILL start to know the media clips on this site WELL. You therefore will have a REPOSITORY or a WELL of available vocab etc. you can SQUEEZE into your conversations!!

One point I would like to stress.... ENJOY the clips! Have fun! Don't worry if you don't understand at first... YOU WILL BE ABLE TO. Good, so... relaxed?

I wish all the best to "Everyday Welsh". It is an interesting addition to Welsh learning facilities and I hope that it succeeds in its mission.

In defence of Vincent Bailey

If the internet existed when I was in my late teens and early twenties and I had had a web presence on it, my profile would undoubtedly have declared that I was an Adonis, a Lothario and a more successful serial shager than either Casanova or Nick Clegg; I'm sure that it would have declared that I was brave and cool and had done all sorts of things that were seen as "manly" and against the rules including drug taking and violence.

The truth is that I was 22 before I had my first fumblingly disappointing sexual conquest, I have never taken an illegal drug in my life and if anybody had threatened me with violence I would have run home to my Mam as my primary way of confronting the threat; as would the vast majority of the lads in my peer group. If I had been truthful I would have been drummed out of my peer group by friends who were as virginal, clean living and frightened as I was – but afraid to admit it. Young lads lie about sex and their social equivalent of drugs and rock'n roll; always have done and always will do!

When I was a young lad those lies were unimportant, unrecorded and are now only remembered by those of a similar age who know that we all lied together for the same reason. Because my teenage fantasies and bravado were never written down, they can't come back to haunt me now, should I decide to stand for election or decide to give support to a candidate for election.

Vincent Bailey, isn't a bad person who has no place in Welsh politics. When he was doing what I did at his age he was caught up in a new technological system without realising its consequences for his future, something I didn't need to worry about!

I suspect that every possible future politician, political aid or political supporter under 35 could find themselves in the same boat as Vincent. Any young person who shows an interest in his or her country's politics may be threatened and dissuaded from becoming politically active because a silly tweet or a profile or a blog comment might come back to haunt him or her forever! That is bad, very bad, for democracy!

The villain in this story is not Mr Bailey, but the person who decided to trawl through Mr Bailey's internet history in order to embarrass him and in order to embarrass Andrew RT Davies' campaign to lead the Welsh Conservative Party!

Dirty Dave, should be ashamed of himself as should his cronies at Trinity Mirror / Western Mail for regurgitating his dirt digging in the ancient history of a political opponents' puerile web presence!

And if Andrew wants to show some leadership skills he should stand four square with the now (hopefully) mature Mr Bailey, rather than throwing him out as a sacrifice to Dave's dirty tricks!

Fantastic Poll for Plaid

Politicall Betting has a poll that makes fantastic reading for Plaid Cymru. It is an UK wide poll by Comres for the Independent and gives the parties the following vote share:

CON 37:
LAB 37:
LD 11:
BNP 9%:
SNP 5%:
GRN 4%:

PC 4%:

UKIP 4%:
OTHERS 13%.

As Wales makes up just 5% of the UK vote, for Plaid to have 4% of the UK vote it would have to poll about 80% in Wales itself. Should we get the champagne out or just put this down to yet further proof that polls are rubbish?

Primark, the Beeb and Me

Way back in 2008 I made a post about a Panorama programme regarding Primark. Since the programme was broadcast the Beeb has had a spanked bottom for not telling the whole truth in the programme!

Primark have asked me to note the fact that they have been vindicated, to publish a link to their rebuttal and their Youtube on this blog!

As I supported Primark rather than Panorama in my post I am happy to abide with their request!



I hope that all those trendy left blogs that criticised Primark for enabling working class people to get clothes at an affordable price and who fell for the Beeb's propaganda will also show the rebuttal link and video, by way of apology.

This should make me laugh (apparently)

People who send me e-mails, expecting me to plug their blogs, addressed to Al, rather than to Dear Mr ap Huw Humphreys piss me off rather than make me laugh! So I was not amused by this request:

Hi Al
This should cheer you up you miserable old fart, a news blog but it's meant to make you laugh:
http://welshnewsnot.wordpress.com/

When did you Last Vote Plaid Because of its Support for the Queen?

When did you Last Vote Plaid Because of its Support for the Queen?

A silly question asked by a rather drunken friend in response to a boorish Tory in my local tonight!

But a pertinent point!

Absent without leave

I liked this post from Andrew so much, I have decided to pinch it and repost it here:

Thursday, 9 June 2011
Attendance for Welsh Assembly as of Jan 2011

Ieuan Wyn Jones, Plaid Cymru – 78%.

Jane Davidson, Labour – 77%.

Sandy Mewies, Labour – 74%.

Christine Chapman, Labour – 73%.

Carl Sargeant, Labour – 69%.

Carwyn Jones, Labour – 67%

Irene James, Labour – 58%.

Lynne Neagle, Labour – 39% (long illness).

Even Lynne, with her long term illness probably has a better attendance record than most MPs.

This is what the House of Commons looks like most of the time during important debates.

And then the division bell rings and 650 votes are casts, despite the fact that 630 MP's couldn't be arsed to listen to the arguments for or against.

Disrespectful Behaviour by Assembly Members

A number of National Assembly Members behaved in a disgustingly disrespectful way during the Queen of England's visit to the Senedd yesterday.

The vast majority of the members of the Assembly were elected having stood for election as Socialists, Nationalists or Liberal Democrats. Socialists are supposed to believe that everyone is equal, there is no nobility and peasant, that no person is better than another because of accident of birth. Nationalists are supposed to believe that Wales is a nation that sovereignty comes from the people of Wales rather than from the monarch of another country. Democrats are supposed to believe that the head of state should be elected by the people rather than given to us "By the Grace of God" and heredity. By standing for election on such tickets it is totally unreasonable to argue that, having won, elected members should then throw their principals away by cow-towing to a monarchy that their principals suggest that they oppose. But 38 out of 45 of them chose to do so yesterday!

The behaviour of 38 of the Assembly Members who decided to attend the Royal Opening of The Senedd yesterday was extremely disrespectful. It showed a lack of respect to the voters who elected them as Socialists, Democrats and Nationalists, it showed a lack of respect to the principles of Socialism, Nationalism and Democracy, but even worse it showed a distinct lack of self-respect, as the members lowered themselves into doing something that their election tags suggested that they did not wish to do, for the sake of systemic propriety!

Thank goodness for the few who showed a bit of respect for their constituents, their principles and themselves!

The Green Monster

There is an interesting post on the Better Nation Blog that looks at how likely people are to vote Green. To paraphrase and over simplify the post, it claims that more than 50% of us see the Greens as a cuddly nice party who we might vote for in the right circumstances. This confirms my own non-empirical experience of how people across the political spectrum view the Green Party. Pleidwyr, Labourites, Lib Dems and Tories all see the Greens as a party they COULD vote for and a party that they don't fundamentally oppose.

The Greens are seen as a generally progressive, slightly left of centre party, a party with a heart of gold even if some of their policies seem a tad too idealistic, but this impression is wrong. The Greens are not a left of centre moderately progressive party; they are an extremely regressive anti-Welsh party.

Thirty years ago only the rich Jet-setters could afford to board an aeroplane to visit overseas countries at great expense; that wasn't an environmental problem! The problem is caused by us hoi-polloi being able to easy-jet to Spain, or wherever in our thousands.

Forty years ago only the gentry could afford a motor car, no problem. The problem is caused by those of us living in council houses having cars!

Sixty years ago the rich could have a range of good food in all seasons. The poor had to survive on salted meat and vegetables that had grown stringy in frost covered ground (if they were lucky); the environmental problems are caused by the lower classes expecting fresh meat and fresh veg from the supermarket in all seasons.

Wales has poorer road links, poorer air links, and fewer factories than other parts of the UK, because of that Wales has a GDP that is 26% lower than the UK average, but any attempt to build new roads, improve our air service or to re-industrialise our post industrial areas are met with howls of protest from the Green lobby!

And what are we offered by the Greens in exchange for giving up all the advantages that a 21st century economy could give us?- Yr Hen Ffordd Gymreig o Fyw (The Old Welsh way of Country Life)? No chance!

What we get is New Age Colonialist English Hippies who oppose anything to do with Welsh culture.

The Green Party is an anti-working class, anti-business, anti-Welsh abomination, that deserves no support from anyone in Wales.