From LabourHome : Welsh Labour hates Plaid and Lib Dems

If you wondered why the Welsh Labour Party is losing its way maybe this post on LabourHome over changes to Bute Park in Cardiff will show you why. It reinforces the belief by many that Labour members have no faith in campaigning on the party’s achievements and are only capable of launching negative attacks on thier opponents, first at thier WAG coalition partners Plaid Cymru and also the Lib Dems asking for gossip on the Lib Dems to be e-mailed or posted on the site, the post is below in italics.

Welsh Nationalists (Plaid) and Liberal anti- Democrats form unholy alliance to wreck Capital City Parkland - written by john frost

Strange but true. Those vile Machiavellian menaces of Welsh Politics the Lib Dem- Plaid Cymru coalition on Cardiff City Council have schemed away using gutter tactics to drive a bulldozer and wholly unnecessary roadbridge through one of the Capital’s greenest gems- Bute Park. (the nasty spirit of Wales’ most famous political failure- Lloyd George sadly lives on in Cardiff today) Bequeathed to the City on lease in perpetua by the Bute dynasty, the non existent green credentials of these shysters has been truly exposed for the hypocrisy it is. Led by Liberal anti-democrat Party leader Rodney Berman- gutter tactics ensured the rape of this prime quality green space will take place to give easier access for money spinning out door events.
There was high drama in the City Council Chamber with Green Protesters forcibly ejected from the gallery and both Labour and Conservative Members seen to be near to tears in despair. Read all about it at Wales on Line 26 June 09

Should shatter any illusions you may have about Lib -Lab pacts. They are the work of the devil.

Have some “interesting” Liberal Democrat News- please post it- or e.mail to john.frost1839@tiscali.co.uk

Political Programme Round Up

A interesting piece on Dragon’s Eye last night about public service cuts, I will say it but being so reliant on the public sector for services and employment in Wales has its draw back particularly in the face of smaller budget settlement that all parties agree we will face in the next Assembly term.

Adrian Masters hardly the most forensic of interviewers managed to tie Huw Lewis in knots following the report on public services, Huw came across as totally out of touch and how ironic that he will probably have the ‘man of the people’ tag as the main theme of his leadership campaign. Does his daydreaming still appeal to voters?

It’s hardly a surprise that the figures calculated by Plaid Cymru of around £2.2 billion on cuts over 3 years and supported by the Welsh Local Government Association were dismissed and will continue to be dismissed by the Labour Party as inaccurate, while as the same time failing to put and figures of their own forward, how much longer can WAG do the Emperor’s new clothes routine over public spending?

If Labour dismissed the figures then you can bet your life they will be used by the Conservatives to beat the Welsh Assembly Government around the head (maybe in FMQ’s), so why aren’t the Conservative’s calculating their own figures if they are soon keen on proving WAG budget flaws is it too much effort, they are they are the Official Opposition after all.

Just a thought is this one of the instances with today’s figures from Plaid Cymru when a Wales only focus to policy works in their favour and if so can the other parties learn the lessons?

Over on Sharp End’s its exclusive that Peter Rodgers the former Tory AM dismissed from the party will stand in Ynys Mon in the upcoming General Election will go down like a lead balloon with the Conservatives who are on Tour in North East Wales, but who benefits from the split Plaid Cymru or can Labour hold on if the vote is split enough?

Finally is Leanne Wood replacing Helen Mary Jones as Plaid Cymru’s BBC Question Time Welsh Nationalist representative?

Education, Education, Education

Its seems as though the message may finally be getting through to our politicians, business leaders and academics about the need for closer working links in order to expand higher education opportunities and create and expand welsh businesses, products, markets as well as jobs creation following Monday’s publication of Professor Merfyn Jones review groups second report looking at the purpose and aspirations of the higher education sector in Wales.

Its main recommendations were:-

create the environment to challenge and support individuals to achieve the highest levels of intellectual and personal fulfilment, no matter where they come from

foster research and exploration which adds to the sum total of human knowledge, irrespective of whether the intellectual discovery has a direct or immediate application

develop the knowledge, high level skills and understanding of individuals in order to drive an adaptable, sustainable and innovative economy

exploit knowledge and expertise in order to drive sustainable economic growth and wealth creation

help nurture a democratic, civilised and inclusive society recognising diverse cultural identities and celebrating cultural creativity.

play a lead role in ensuring that Wales is recognised as a valued contributor to the global community.

Education Minster Jane Hutt resposne to the report was the creation of a federal college to provide more learning in Welsh and updated AM’s on the progress of a University of the Head of the Valleys to combat the reports unsurprising findings that the South Wales Valleys had the lowest skills levels in Wales.

There are big challenges facing Higher Education such as how you fill the funding gap in the sector while widening access to all those who want to study, i’m not convinced any party has the answers yet, but maybe the realisation that business and academia need one another starting to dawn on them and our politicians if Wales is to really compete in the future will focus minds in Cardiff Bay.

Welsh Trade in the USA and Whiskey

It’s good to see that the one of the biggest trade missions according to WAG (that’s around 80 companies) is accompanying Wales’s centre piece contribution to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC this week.

I’m sure there will be plenty of detractors saying we shouldn’t have spent the money on this but on schools and hospitals, however if the welsh economy is to grow and become more sustainable then Wales needs more home grown medium size and multinational businesses and what better way than overseas trade to help kick start that and the recovery from the current recession, let’s hope the trade mission does what it says on the tin.

One other bit of welsh business news is Penderyn Whiskey is now the top selling whiskey in the Wetherspoons pub chain across the UK selling more that its three Scottish competitors following its introduction UK wide in April this year, not bad for a independent distillery that only produces one casket a day according to its website.

John Bercow is the new Speaker

It seems that some sanity did prevail in the House of Commons and that the Party Whips don’t appear to have won the day in today’s election of new Speaker John Bercow the Conservative MP for Buckingham. Maybe Gordon Brown got the message about the possibility of Speaker Beckett and called off the dogs, her election would have been another train wreck for sure.

Let’s hope as the PM said that the renewal of Parliament can finally begin after what seems like months of turmoil so we can start believing in our MP’s again who are there to serve us as constituents after all.

This far and no further

It seems it’s not just the welsh conservative MP’s, AM’s and the Shadow Secretary of State for Wales Cheryl Gillan in a spin over plans for more powers to the devolved the Welsh Assembly, there could be a revolt in Scotland among the Conservative Group in the Scottish Parliament over the Calman Report findings.

The Scottish Tory Party leader Annabel Goldie and Shadow Scottish Secretary of State David Mundell strongly welcomed last week’s Calman Report recommendations (I can’t imagine Cheryl Gillan being as gracious about a similar welsh report) but the other 16 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) group are reported to be less than impressed with the findings.

A report in the Daily Telegraph stated ‘However, the latter duo's enthusiastic backing for the Calman plans is provoking considerable unrest among the 16 Tory MSPs and a significant number are expected to voice their opposition at a crunch meeting of the Tory parliamentary party next Tuesday'.

So its worth reminding ourselves that Scotland is further along the devolution road than Wales and that Tory MSP have been happy to support legislative powers since 1999and especially since the SNP took over in 2007 as a minority administration, the Tories can strike deals to get Conservative policy implemented, but why stop at finance, it seems that the this far and no further is still the name of the Conservatives game when it comes to Devolution and David Cameron despite the talk he has his work cut out to convince both the Scots and us Welsh that a Conservative Government won’t stall plans for more powers or interfere in the running of the devolved administrations.