Tebbit praises Clegg over low paid workers and tax

I’m not sure Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg (or David Cameron) would appreciate the vote of confidence from that well known Thatcherite and former Tory Party Chairman Norman Tebbit, who this week praised the Lib Dem leader for his stance over the tax system and specifically on stopping the poorest workers from paying so much tax.

Norman Tebbit has apparently taken up blogging at the Daily Telegraph and said ‘And I hate to say it, but only one party leader seems to have grasped that, if you construct a system where unskilled people are worse off by taking a job than by staying on welfare, they remain trapped in poverty – and that is Nick Clegg. Lord knows, Frank Field and Iain Duncan Smith spelled it out in words and figures that only a simpleton could fail to understand, but the two main parties are unwilling to bite on the bullet and commit themselves to raising the income tax threshold from £6,475 to something like £10,000 or £12,000.

It is madness to claim that people so poor that they need welfare payments are at the same time sufficiently well-off to pay income tax. The effect is that people at the bottom of the stack living on benefits who try to get back into work are hit by 20 per cent tax, 11 per cent National Insurance and benefit losses that can add up to almost 100 pence in the pound. It is all very well for the better-off to complain about the disincentive effect of losing 50 per cent of every extra pound they earn, but what about the poor devil at the bottom of the stack that loses 90 per cent?

Politics can be a strange old business sometimes.

Same old, Same old

We learnt yesterday that Bosch will close with the loss of 900 jobs, another body blow to the Welsh workforce and Welsh manufacturing, it also has wider implications for the Welsh economy, but a story that by Monday will be old news sadly and quickly forgotten like the hundreds of redundancies and factory and business closures that happen in Wales much more frequently than in other parts of the UK.

We have had the all too familiar and very predictable statements from WAG, the Opposition parties , the CBI, FSB and others issued from the comfort of secure well paid jobs, something that won’t be lost on Bosch’s 900 workers as they look for alternative employment in the current climate i’m sure.

So will things change, the solutions to a stronger and healthier Welsh economy with more job security for workers are well known, why are our politicians so reluctant/scared/incapable of making those changes as Albert Einstein said ‘You cannot solve a problem with the same kind of thinking that created it” and Wales is in desperate need of new thinking all round.

UK Treasury to review Barnett Formula

Its a significant step forward even if nothing comes of it, the UK Treasury so often dismissive of devolving financial powers or admitting Barnett Formula was unfair agreed at a meeting of the Devolved Administrations today to have a ‘hard look’ at the way Wales is funded following on from the Holtham Commission report last year set up by the Welsh Assembly Government to look at the way Wales was funded and recommended urgent action to address the shortfall that Wales is currently receiving via the Barnett Formula.

Liam Byrne the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and WAG’s Budget Minister Jane Hutt also said that work to implement Hotlham’s recommendations should start straight away, good to see at least one report not ending its life on shelf in Cathays Park.

There are of course political implications in changing the Barnett Formula for the rest of the UK, Scotland currently gets a sizeable share of the pot so would politicians in London be so brave as to reduce their share and if the current UK Labour Government puts down new proposals will the Conservatives stick to them if they win, but they are questions and battles for another day because today Wales took another small step along the devolution road.

‘Whitehall’s grasp of (Welsh) Devolution has worsened over time’

Those are the worrying words of the former Permanent Secretary of State for Wales Sir John Shortridge on the relationship between the National Assembly for Wales and the UK Government and Civil Servants and Ministers in Cardiff and London.

He was giving evidence to the Welsh Affairs Select Committee on how the relationship between Cardiff Bay and Whitehall works, he went on to said trust would be the key to good relation if there were different parties in Cardiff Bay and London

“I think civil servants are very professional and will get on with it. The strain will be on these issues of trust ...

“Certainly in the early days there will be civil servants in Whitehall thinking,

‘Can I really share this with civil servants in Cardiff?’ That will happen.
“If there is the political leadership from Conservative ministers, if that’s what they are saying ‘Yes we think it’s really important this communication continues at a high standard’, they will be more inclined to take the risks than if the ministers are saying ‘You get that wrong and you’ll be in trouble’ – then they won’t take the risks.”

His evidence was backed up by former First Minister Rhodri Morgan who also gave evidence to the Committee saying “The key thing is whether a relationship is warm or cold.

“It’s a matter of attitude rather than the formalities of the machinery,” he added.

He admitted that when opposition arose in Whitehall to the Assembly Government’s plans, it had been difficult to detect the source, saying: “Was the problem rogue behaviour by middle-ranking civil servants who had a bit of a thing against devolution because they thought it was a threat to the English regions or something like that, or had they had ministerial instruction to be pretty obstreperous of Welsh initiatives or Welsh wishes?”

After reading this a couple of things come to mind, firstly none of this will come as a surprise to those who take an interest in the National Assembly for Wales and Welsh politics, Wales continues to be an afterthought but that’s not all Whitehall fault, secondly if the former Permanent Secretary and former First Minister believed this why didn’t they do something to change the situation while they were both in post and lastly if this is the state of things when the same party is in power, what is it going to be like if the Conservatives win the Election, and Labour and Plaid Cymru have to deal with them, it’s not a new concern but will have wider consequences.

Assembly Referendum vote date set

It was quite a low key announcement judging by the evening news but one that will have a big impact on us all, Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones announced today that on February 9th 2010 Assembly Members will formally vote to start the process of holding a referendum on further law making powers for the National Assembly for Wales – a key plank of the One Wales agreement

They need a majority of two thirds of AM’s to vote yes for the vote to pass (there is a possibility is could be unanimous) and it then it passes to the Secretary of State to put before the UK Parliament to approve before the referendum can then be held, possible as early as the autumn, Ieuan Wyn Jones, Nick Bourne and Kirsty Williams seemed agreed on that.

As for Labour they may have had a change of leader in Cardiff Bay, but Labour Party unity is still the number one priority as Carwyn seeks to keep those opposed to more powers on board, he certainly is hedging his bets despite believing in more powers, it will be interesting to see if he is own man or will he climb down like Rhodri Morgan in the face of outright hostility from MP’s.

And finally given Welsh Secretary Peter Hain and his Shadow Cheryl Gillan’s opposition to the vote and more powers it will be interesting to see their reactions are in the coming days because the success or failure of the bill ultimately rests in their hands.

ProAct article is a start, they need to keep it up

Following on from my post on the weekend about the need for more scrutiny from the Welsh media over Welsh public finances instead of using organisation like the Taxpayers Alliance to do it for them, it was encouraging to see the article on the Welsh Assembly Government’s ProAct scheme, one of the schemes set up in the wake of the recession to keep people in jobs by paying employers for train staff rather than lay them off and add to the unemployment figures in the Western Mail but both they and BBC and ITV Wales need to be doing this more regularly.

It’s no surprise that WAG disagree with the figures or findings, but there are anomalies as Valleys Mam and Dylan Jones Evans have pointed out and questions that need to be raised with the First Minister Carwyn Jones Economic Development Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones in the coming week. WAG cannot afford to be wasting the limited resources they have on schemes that are doing little to help Welsh workers in the current recession.

The media picked this up, let’s see if the Opposition are gonna run with it.

The week ahead in Cardiff Bay

Tomorrow our Assembly Members return to work after the Christmas and New Year break, it’s been 4 weeks since the Assembly last sat and a lot has happened while they have been away, it may be uncomfortable truth for many AM’s but long periods always from the Assembly don’t help to persuade a disinterested public they are doing a worthwhile job and need more powers, the AM’s will argue they have been busy in their constituencies but they have been invisible to the general public for the last few weeks, even our new First Minister, yes he’s been to see the Gordon Brown and wrote a New Year message, but is he involved in sorting out more grit for the roads or lobbying for more cold weather payments for the elderly?

Anyway i digress Carwyn Jones will face his first, First Ministers Questions on Tuesday afternoon, it will be interesting to see how he gets on and whether his style will be any different from Rhodri Morgan, he may even answer some questions. It will also be interesting to see what approach and questions the Opposition Politicians (Conservatives and Lib Dems) raise at FMQ's, will they be in election mode like their Westminster colleagues or will they raise issues of concern for the Welsh public?