Welsh Political News

It's not name dropping or pretending that we are bosom pals, but I have been a nodding acquaintance of Peter Hain's for over 30 years, since we were both members of the Young Liberals in the 1970s. (When my sister had a poster of Donny Osmond on her bedroom wall I had a poster of Peter Hain on mine !!!! )

Political differences apart, Peter has always stuck me as a genuinely honest person. Since he was fitted up on a false charge of robbing a bank Peter has known that you don't just need to be honest in public life, but you have to be able to prove that you are honest too. Therefore, if Peter Hain says that not registering a donation to his deputy leadership campaign was a genuine oversight caused by an administrative error then I believe him 150% without any margin for doubt.

I have never met Paul Flynn MP, and I have never had any dealings with him. However, from what I have seen of him on TV, heard of him on the radio, read about him in the press and read by him on his blog, he has always struck me as a genuine sort of man who tends to put truth, conviction and his constituents before petty party political point scoring.

The downfall of the Conservative party in the late 1990's came about when those who we had always suspected of being smarmy, dirty dealing bastards were caught out. The fact that, now, the good guys like Hain are caught in the cross fire of sleaze accusations and solid blokes like Flynn feel the need to spin the truth, make me feel that Gordon Brown's premiership is in a much, much more disastrous position now than John Major's ever was.

It’s not name dropping or pretending that we are bosom pals, but I have been a nodding acquaintance of Peter Hain’s for over 30 years, since we were both members of the Young Liberals in the 1970s. (When my sister had a poster of Donny Osmond on her bedroom wall I had a poster of Peter Hain on mine !!!! )

Political differences apart, Peter has always stuck me as a genuinely honest person. Since he was fitted up on a false charge of robbing a bank Peter has known that you don’t just need to be honest in public life, but you have to be able to prove that you are honest too. Therefore, if Peter Hain says that not registering a donation to his deputy leadership campaign was a genuine oversight caused by an administrative error then I believe him 150% without any margin for doubt.

I have never met Paul Flynn MP, and I have never had any dealings with him. However, from what I have seen of him on TV, heard of him on the radio, read about him in the press and read by him on his blog, he has always struck me as a genuine sort of man who tends to put truth, conviction and his constituents before petty party political point scoring.

The downfall of the Conservative party in the late 1990’s came about when those who we had always suspected of being smarmy, dirty dealing bastards were caught out. The fact that, now, the good guys like Hain are caught in the cross fire of sleaze accusations and solid blokes like Flynn feel the need to spin the truth, make me feel that Gordon Brown’s premiership is in a much, much more disastrous position now than John Major’s ever was.

It’s not name dropping or pretending that we are bosom pals, but I have been a nodding acquaintance of Peter Hain’s for over 30 years, since we were both members of the Young Liberals in the 1970s. (When my sister had a poster of Donny Osmond on her bedroom wall I had a poster of Peter Hain on mine !!!! )

Political differences apart, Peter has always stuck me as a genuinely honest person. Since he was fitted up on a false charge of robbing a bank Peter has known that you don’t just need to be honest in public life, but you have to be able to prove that you are honest too. Therefore, if Peter Hain says that not registering a donation to his deputy leadership campaign was a genuine oversight caused by an administrative error then I believe him 150% without any margin for doubt.

I have never met Paul Flynn MP, and I have never had any dealings with him. However, from what I have seen of him on TV, heard of him on the radio, read about him in the press and read by him on his blog, he has always struck me as a genuine sort of man who tends to put truth, conviction and his constituents before petty party political point scoring.

The downfall of the Conservative party in the late 1990’s came about when those who we had always suspected of being smarmy, dirty dealing bastards were caught out. The fact that, now, the good guys like Hain are caught in the cross fire of sleaze accusations and solid blokes like Flynn feel the need to spin the truth, make me feel that Gordon Brown’s premiership is in a much, much more disastrous position now than John Major’s ever was.

I have a lot of sympathy with Conwy County Borough Council's claim that it has been given a raw deal by the Assembly in the current financial settlement.

Conwy is the county with the highest percentage of pensioners in Wales. Because it has a large urban conurbation on the coast, the fact that most of the county is extremely rural isn't given due weighting and because the poor in the county live in the same council wards as the super rich (some wards contain more than 50 square miles) the poverty levels in the county are largely ignored when funds are allocated. Economic inactivity is higher than average in Conwy and wages are much lower than average. Despite its problems Conwy is to receive a measly 1.1% increase in its grant from the Assembly coffers.

There is no doubt that council taxes will have to rise substantially whilst services are cut.

The Urdd National Eisteddfod is due to be held in the county next year. Because hosting the festival is likely to give a six million pound boost to the local economy, the county had agreed to support it with £300,000. However, because of the paucity of the Assembly grant increase, the council may be forced to renege on this promise as part of its cut backs.

If the council's support is withdrawn the Festival may have to be cancelled. The 15,000 children who take part in the Eisteddfod will be denied the opportunity to display their talents and 150,000 festival visitors will be deprived of the opportunity of enjoying the event. If this happens it will be a disaster for Conwy and for Wales as a whole.

Canceling the Eisteddfod for the sake of £300,000 won't just be a cultural disaster, it will also be a political disaster. One of the biggest threats to a yes vote in the proposed next step referendum is the perceived north/south divide. Whether this divide is real or imaginary is immaterial, it is perceived to exist. All too often this perception is created by the Assembly its self.

If Conwy and north Wales is unable to host Europe's largest annual youth event because of a mere £300,000 shortfall, after the Assembly has bailed out one of Cardiff's 5 concert halls to the tune of 13 million then a referendum on further powers will not be won for a generation.

Supporters of devolution, in all parties, must realise that if they want more powers for the Assembly then the Assembly must not only be fair to all parts of Wales it must also be seen to be fair.

Whatever the formula, whatever the justification, whatever the rational; giving Conwy, Powys and Anglesey a 1% rise in support whilst councils in the south are given up to 4% rises will never be seen to be fair to the north. Allowing the Urdd Eisteddfod to be cancelled because a north Wales council is too strapped for cash to support it, due to Assembly policy, will be seen as yet another example of a Cardiff centric government that has no interest in anywhere that is north of the Beacons.

• Betsan Powys notes Peter Hain’s run in with the Electoral Commission, as does David Jones.
• Bethan Jenkins looks at further devolution.
• Nick Bourne examines the recent activity at the Senedd.
• Glyn Davies looks further into the donations scandal as does Ceredig.
• Guerrilla Welsh Fare questions what impact the performance of Labour PM’s would have on their party’s outlook.
• Ordovicius reports on further Labour leader problems with donations.
• Southpaw Grammar examines the question of political funding.

• Betsan Powys notes Peter Hain’s run in with the Electoral Commission, as does David Jones.
• Bethan Jenkins looks at further devolution.
• Nick Bourne examines the recent activity at the Senedd.
• Glyn Davies looks further into the donations scandal as does Ceredig.
• Guerrilla Welsh Fare questions what impact the performance of Labour PM’s would have on their party’s outlook.
• Ordovicius reports on further Labour leader problems with donations.
• Southpaw Grammar examines the question of political funding.

My previous blog post on Peter Hain also featured on the website Ourkingdom, where this was left as a comment-


Phil, on November 29th, 2007 at 10:35 pm Said:

They(Labour) rushed headlong into devolution a decade ago because they thought that they would have a permanent power base in Scotland and Wales when England eventually went back to the Conservatives rather than for any concerns about recognising Scotland and Wales as distinct nations with the right to self-determination. The last thing that Hain or Labour want is a Welsh Alex Salmond coming along in the future and upsetting the apple cart. They have got their fingers burnt in Scotland, so they’ll be in no hurry to do likewise in Wales. I think that you and all Welsh patriots have a fight on your hands but this English patriot wishes you all the best anyway.

Of course, Hain and Labour can see what is happening in Scotland, and are desperate for this situation not to be replicated in Wales. Nevertheless, this made me take the debate a step further, and to wonder what would happen to the development of devolution a) when there is a Welsh Labour Leadership bid and b) if the Tories win the General Election.

a) Now, Huw Lewis may not like the analogy of Welsh Labour v British Labour judging by his latest blog post, in that he is desperate to undermine the fact that any divide exists. Nevertheless, we all know that tensions do exist within the realm of the Labour party in Wales and that a leadership bid would only serve to intensify this situation.

If for example, we had a contest between a Huw Lewis and a Carwyn Jones when Rhodri Morgan steps down, then the One Wales coalition could be looking at two very stark future scenarios....

We could see a Huw Lewis stand, promising grass roots members and Labour Council Leaders to pull out of the coalition with the nasty Nationalists, ( where there would be no further dispute as to whether money would go 'to the Valleys' from the Assembly) either pushing the outcome to a Rainbow coalition or a Labour minority Government for as long as it could last. Deliver a Referendum? I think not!

Or we could see a Carwyn Jones promising to soldier on with the Labour-Plaid coalition, and trying his best to balance the devo sceptics and the devo enthusiasts through to 2011. Deliver a referendum? I think that he would have no choice but to do so, but how this would be done while keeping all of Welsh Labour vaguely content is anyone's guess.

b) If the Tories win the next General Election, then this throws a) totally out of sync. and forces us to look at devolution in a new light. Labour's somewhat arrogant nature may well be discarded of over night, and they will be encouraged to revisit their current stubbornness to co-operate with regards pushing the National question forward. A Tory Government could set Welsh Labour thinking that more powers for Wales is their only way to muster any control in the UK( especially if Scotland is firmly on its way to Independence) and will campaign positively for more powers for Wales. Welsh Labour MP's will be on opposition benches, and will not for a minute defend Tory policies on a London level.

I may not be on track with these analogies at all, but it does pose some interesting questions about the alternative routes for the devolution process in the future.

Catherine Jenkins yw'r gwestai ar y podlediad yr wythnos hon. Y Catherine Jenkins? Cliciwch ar y botwm ar y dde i gael gwybod. Hefyd o'r wythnos hon ymlaen fe fydd y podlediaid hefyd yn cynnwys rhifyn yr wythnos o "Dau...

RESEARCH and development expenditure in Wales has fallen while the UK average has increased, latest official figures show.
Wales saw a fall in real terms of 7% while in the same period UK spend went up by 5% in real terms, the Office for National Statistics data said.
The statistics on business enterprise research and development (BERD) in 2006 reveal that, while expenditure in the UK increased by 5% in real terms to £14.3bn, expenditure for Wales was £222m, which equates to a fall in real terms on the figure for 2005.
According to the Welsh Assembly Government, the level of BERD expenditure in Wales can be influenced greatly by individual projects commencing or ending in a small number of individual companies.
The Assembly Government’s statistical release said, “The BERD expenditure series for Wales is therefore quite volatile and so a longer-term perspective is of interest.
“Between 1993 and 2006, BERD expenditure in Wales increased by 43% in real terms (or by an average of 3% per year).”
Statistics for gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) show that an estimated £510m was spent on R&D in Wales for 2005.
This represented around 2.4% of total UK R&D expenditure, and around 1.2% of total Gross Value Added in Wales. Business enterprise R&D accounted for 46% of the total, with higher education accounting for 43% and government making up the remaining 11%.
The figures for 1993 to 2005 show an overall upward trend, with an annual average growth in real terms of 5%.
Dr Rob Huggins of Sheffield’s management school, who co-wrote the report Universities As Drivers of Knowledge-Based Regional Development, said that R&D investment was already too low in Wales. There is still too much relying on higher education institutions to fund that research.The report also found that in terms of how universities were going about commercialising their knowledge, activity was relatively low in Wales where R&D is at a low point anyway.
I will be interested to see what Dylan JE blogs on this one
Without investment in R and D where do we get our growth and where do we maintain our market advantage.
I hope IWJ and Leighton Andrews are as concerned as the rest of us on this one.

RESEARCH and development expenditure in Wales has fallen while the UK average has increased, latest official figures show.
Wales saw a fall in real terms of 7% while in the same period UK spend went up by 5% in real terms, the Office for National Statistics data said.
The statistics on business enterprise research and development (BERD) in 2006 reveal that, while expenditure in the UK increased by 5% in real terms to £14.3bn, expenditure for Wales was £222m, which equates to a fall in real terms on the figure for 2005.
According to the Welsh Assembly Government, the level of BERD expenditure in Wales can be influenced greatly by individual projects commencing or ending in a small number of individual companies.
The Assembly Government’s statistical release said, “The BERD expenditure series for Wales is therefore quite volatile and so a longer-term perspective is of interest.
“Between 1993 and 2006, BERD expenditure in Wales increased by 43% in real terms (or by an average of 3% per year).”
Statistics for gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) show that an estimated £510m was spent on R&D in Wales for 2005.
This represented around 2.4% of total UK R&D expenditure, and around 1.2% of total Gross Value Added in Wales. Business enterprise R&D accounted for 46% of the total, with higher education accounting for 43% and government making up the remaining 11%.
The figures for 1993 to 2005 show an overall upward trend, with an annual average growth in real terms of 5%.
Dr Rob Huggins of Sheffield’s management school, who co-wrote the report Universities As Drivers of Knowledge-Based Regional Development, said that R&D investment was already too low in Wales. There is still too much relying on higher education institutions to fund that research.The report also found that in terms of how universities were going about commercialising their knowledge, activity was relatively low in Wales where R&D is at a low point anyway.
I will be interested to see what Dylan JE blogs on this one
Without investment in R and D where do we get our growth and where do we maintain our market advantage.
I hope IWJ and Leighton Andrews are as concerned as the rest of us on this one.

RESEARCH and development expenditure in Wales has fallen while the UK average has increased, latest official figures show.
Wales saw a fall in real terms of 7% while in the same period UK spend went up by 5% in real terms, the Office for National Statistics data said.
The statistics on business enterprise research and development (BERD) in 2006 reveal that, while expenditure in the UK increased by 5% in real terms to £14.3bn, expenditure for Wales was £222m, which equates to a fall in real terms on the figure for 2005.
According to the Welsh Assembly Government, the level of BERD expenditure in Wales can be influenced greatly by individual projects commencing or ending in a small number of individual companies.
The Assembly Government’s statistical release said, “The BERD expenditure series for Wales is therefore quite volatile and so a longer-term perspective is of interest.
“Between 1993 and 2006, BERD expenditure in Wales increased by 43% in real terms (or by an average of 3% per year).”
Statistics for gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) show that an estimated £510m was spent on R&D in Wales for 2005.
This represented around 2.4% of total UK R&D expenditure, and around 1.2% of total Gross Value Added in Wales. Business enterprise R&D accounted for 46% of the total, with higher education accounting for 43% and government making up the remaining 11%.
The figures for 1993 to 2005 show an overall upward trend, with an annual average growth in real terms of 5%.
Dr Rob Huggins of Sheffield’s management school, who co-wrote the report Universities As Drivers of Knowledge-Based Regional Development, said that R&D investment was already too low in Wales. There is still too much relying on higher education institutions to fund that research.The report also found that in terms of how universities were going about commercialising their knowledge, activity was relatively low in Wales where R&D is at a low point anyway.
I will be interested to see what Dylan JE blogs on this one
Without investment in R and D where do we get our growth and where do we maintain our market advantage.
I hope IWJ and Leighton Andrews are as concerned as the rest of us on this one.

So now the Botanic Gardens are back with a begging bowl. The Millennium Centre had its re filled a few weeks ago.
I know we as a country need iconic buildings and tourist attractions, but we also have to be sensible about the way we go about this. Did I say sensible, good word to introduce may be, and stop the emotional and cultural blackmail.
Is this continual problem just about basic good housekeeping.
Do not start any project that isn't sustainable in its own right without contained amounts of public investment.
These big projects are businesses ,so judge them in that way. If the assembly works out what it can afford to spend on these projects in total, and then puts that amount into the plan in advance , that would help look at the feasibility.Tax payers are not lenders of last resort.Where are the private sector sponsors, are these also sourced in advance.The other big gap is the marketing of these projects - in all the ones I have seen the marketing has been initially not robust, not researched widely enough , targeted or strategic enough.Marketing is not advertising and it does need experts.They may cost initially but they will save money and also help make the needed income in the long run.

So now the Botanic Gardens are back with a begging bowl. The Millennium Centre had its re filled a few weeks ago.
I know we as a country need iconic buildings and tourist attractions, but we also have to be sensible about the way we go about this. Did I say sensible, good word to introduce may be, and stop the emotional and cultural blackmail.
Is this continual problem just about basic good housekeeping.
Do not start any project that isn’t sustainable in its own right without contained amounts of public investment.
These big projects are businesses ,so judge them in that way. If the assembly works out what it can afford to spend on these projects in total, and then puts that amount into the plan in advance , that would help look at the feasibility.Tax payers are not lenders of last resort.Where are the private sector sponsors, are these also sourced in advance.The other big gap is the marketing of these projects - in all the ones I have seen the marketing has been initially not robust, not researched widely enough , targeted or strategic enough.Marketing is not advertising and it does need experts.They may cost initially but they will save money and also help make the needed income in the long run.

So now the Botanic Gardens are back with a begging bowl. The Millennium Centre had its re filled a few weeks ago.
I know we as a country need iconic buildings and tourist attractions, but we also have to be sensible about the way we go about this. Did I say sensible, good word to introduce may be, and stop the emotional and cultural blackmail.
Is this continual problem just about basic good housekeeping.
Do not start any project that isn’t sustainable in its own right without contained amounts of public investment.
These big projects are businesses ,so judge them in that way. If the assembly works out what it can afford to spend on these projects in total, and then puts that amount into the plan in advance , that would help look at the feasibility.Tax payers are not lenders of last resort.Where are the private sector sponsors, are these also sourced in advance.The other big gap is the marketing of these projects - in all the ones I have seen the marketing has been initially not robust, not researched widely enough , targeted or strategic enough.Marketing is not advertising and it does need experts.They may cost initially but they will save money and also help make the needed income in the long run.

So now the Botanic Gardens are back with a begging bowl. The Millennium Centre had its re filled a few weeks ago.
I know we as a country need iconic buildings and tourist attractions, but we also have to be sensible about the way we go about this. Did I say sensible, good word to introduce may be, and stop the emotional and cultural blackmail.
Is this continual problem just about basic good housekeeping.
Do not start any project that isn’t sustainable in its own right without contained amounts of public investment.
These big projects are businesses ,so judge them in that way. If the assembly works out what it can afford to spend on these projects in total, and then puts that amount into the plan in advance , that would help look at the feasibility.Tax payers are not lenders of last resort.Where are the private sector sponsors, are these also sourced in advance.The other big gap is the marketing of these projects - in all the ones I have seen the marketing has been initially not robust, not researched widely enough , targeted or strategic enough.Marketing is not advertising and it does need experts.They may cost initially but they will save money and also help make the needed income in the long run.

:: Peter Hain says Parliament cannot be treated as an obstacle to devolution. But Carwyn Jones says MPs cannot ask questions about Assembly measures. So it's up to Lord Elis-Thomas to explain that Parliament cannot be treated as an obstacle to devolution and MPs cannot ask questions about Assembly measures.

:: David Cameron has been meeting George Bush to re-establish the close ties between their Conservative and Republican parties. Interesting then that on his facebook page, Tory AM Jonathan Morgan declares his support for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Perhaps this is because he thinks the eventual Republican nominee will find Senator Obama easier to beat than Hilary Clinton.

Mae 'na ambell i broblem dechnegol ar y blog ar hyn o bryd. Dw i'n gweithio i'w datrys.