It’s a fact that most of the public aren’t interested in Welsh politics or take much notice of what goes on in Cardiff Bay and Wales isn’t alone the same is true across the rest of the UK, so the weekly First or Prime Ministers Questions is a rare opportunity for politics and politicians to connect with voters.
Westminster and Edinburgh have a natural advantage in that there are considerably more broadcast and print journalists covering UK and Scottish politics which means that larger numbers of people are likely to hear about what’s going on in the respective Parliaments especially for the weekly show piece events.
But the latest service from BBC Scotland in relation to Scottish FMQ’s, a rolling update on BBC pages of what is being asked and the First Minister’s responses to the questions as well as additional information, is a template that BBC Wales could easily follow.
It would have a few advantages in helping update and inform those interested in FMQ’s but not able to access TV coverage, it would raise the profile of what is going on in the Assembly Chamber every Tuesday afternoon especially since the new legislative powers were acquired back in May and the Welsh Government laid out its Programme for Government last week and keep the First Minister on his toes.
Admittedly Scottish politics is more dynamic and has wider significance to the UK than Welsh politics at the moment but MSP’s still ask Alex Salmond about education, health, economic development, policing and rural and environmental matters as AM’s as Carwyn Jones so why not think about it.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Challenging the narrative
h/t David Cornock
Hywel Williams take on Welsh leaders and the Gleision mining tragedy doesn’t pull its punches and on the day after the Welsh Government outlined it’s Programme for Government his final paragraphs have a real resonance on the consequences of those failures by the Welsh political class over the years.
'The limp sentiment that 'a sense of community still survives' is really just a reflection of the fact that no one knows what to do with large areas of industrial Wales. Those tightly terraced villages came into existence to serve just one purpose- the housing needs of those who worked in the pits. Now that coal has gone nothing really has taken its place. Development agencies and light engineering plants come- and then go- talking of little apart from grants given and subsidies taken. This is a reflection of the larger picture in Wales- a country where a ruinous two-thirds of the national income is accounted for by government expenditure.
Having chosen to be governed locally by just one party for most of the twentieth century Wales has limped into the twenty-first century burdened by a public and official class which is bereft of ideas and ambition. Talk about the wonder that is 'community' is both banal and hypocritical. Those who indulge themselves in this way are comfortably placed public sector professionals who invoke the ghosts of the valleys of the past in order to avoid thinking about how to solve the catastrophe of the valleys of today. Communities - real and living ones-evolve in order to serve an outside purpose. Take that meaning away and all you end up with is a community centre, that infallible sign to a dead end.'
It's harsh but true because nothing will change, Labour will still be the largest party at the next Assembly elections in 2016, they will have the most Welsh MP’s even after the boundary changes and most pundits expect Labour to do very well in the local council elections next year. Carwyn’s new found talk of delivery is no more than spin his government couldn’t deliver a letter never mind decent jobs, a good education, an efficient health service or a better transport network for Wales and yet voters will continue to back Labour and the party will happily keep exploiting that fact.
Hywel Williams take on Welsh leaders and the Gleision mining tragedy doesn’t pull its punches and on the day after the Welsh Government outlined it’s Programme for Government his final paragraphs have a real resonance on the consequences of those failures by the Welsh political class over the years.
'The limp sentiment that 'a sense of community still survives' is really just a reflection of the fact that no one knows what to do with large areas of industrial Wales. Those tightly terraced villages came into existence to serve just one purpose- the housing needs of those who worked in the pits. Now that coal has gone nothing really has taken its place. Development agencies and light engineering plants come- and then go- talking of little apart from grants given and subsidies taken. This is a reflection of the larger picture in Wales- a country where a ruinous two-thirds of the national income is accounted for by government expenditure.
Having chosen to be governed locally by just one party for most of the twentieth century Wales has limped into the twenty-first century burdened by a public and official class which is bereft of ideas and ambition. Talk about the wonder that is 'community' is both banal and hypocritical. Those who indulge themselves in this way are comfortably placed public sector professionals who invoke the ghosts of the valleys of the past in order to avoid thinking about how to solve the catastrophe of the valleys of today. Communities - real and living ones-evolve in order to serve an outside purpose. Take that meaning away and all you end up with is a community centre, that infallible sign to a dead end.'
It's harsh but true because nothing will change, Labour will still be the largest party at the next Assembly elections in 2016, they will have the most Welsh MP’s even after the boundary changes and most pundits expect Labour to do very well in the local council elections next year. Carwyn’s new found talk of delivery is no more than spin his government couldn’t deliver a letter never mind decent jobs, a good education, an efficient health service or a better transport network for Wales and yet voters will continue to back Labour and the party will happily keep exploiting that fact.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Latest from the Arab Spring : Votes for Saudi Women
It’s easy to be cynical about yesterday’s announcement from Saudi Arabia’s ageing ruler about granting women the vote, being allowed to stand as candidates in local elections and being selected to serve in the ruling Shura Council in four years, but in a deeply conservative country run by religious autocrats this is a significant step although more still needed to be done.
So why now, reports have said there has been significant lobbying by women in Saudi Arabia on a range of issues for change in recent months and despite the culture Saudi women aren’t as uneducated, downtrodden or sidelined as in other Islamic Middle Eastern countries – but the real reason is the Arab Spring, it is still alive and worrying the despots who after decades of brutal uncompromising rule are rattled enough to start conceding even a tiny amount in the hope it placates their populations and stop their regimes crumbling.
But there is still work to be done to better the lives of women in Saudi Arabia because they still need permission from a male relative to drive cars, travel alone and have medical operations and who’s to say the changes will be implemented, but it’s a start and if you need any more reason to understand the changes it is still less than 100 years since all women in the UK got the right to vote.
So why now, reports have said there has been significant lobbying by women in Saudi Arabia on a range of issues for change in recent months and despite the culture Saudi women aren’t as uneducated, downtrodden or sidelined as in other Islamic Middle Eastern countries – but the real reason is the Arab Spring, it is still alive and worrying the despots who after decades of brutal uncompromising rule are rattled enough to start conceding even a tiny amount in the hope it placates their populations and stop their regimes crumbling.
But there is still work to be done to better the lives of women in Saudi Arabia because they still need permission from a male relative to drive cars, travel alone and have medical operations and who’s to say the changes will be implemented, but it’s a start and if you need any more reason to understand the changes it is still less than 100 years since all women in the UK got the right to vote.
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