What next for Dafydd Elis Thomas and Plaid Cymru?

Some things in Welsh politics never change, a day that began with Labour under pressure over it's health reform plans has ended with Plaid Cymru making headlines for its internal tensions.

Former Presiding Officer and Plaid Cymru grandee Dafydd ElisThomas has had the whip withdrawn for his no show at the no confidence vote in Health Minister Lesley Griffiths earlier today, he was in Bangor University and was very blunt and forceful in his criticism of his Plaid colleagues calling them Tory lapdogs for going ahead with the vote. 

So it’s not a surprise that swift action followed, Leanne Wood needed to reinforce her authority after being so publically rebuked by Dafydd Elis Thomas as Plaid Cymru AM’s were on a three line whip.

The cynic in me says he's a professional trouble maker shit stirring and I doubt if he really would jump ship to join Labour. So why this outburst, can he really not stand Leanne Wood as his party leader or the direction the party is going or is he’s bored being a lowly opposition spokesman and craving the limelight.

On Twitter Labour and Conservative AM’s, MP’s and party members are crowing loudly and loving every minute of Plaid’s discomfort as well as egging Dafydd Elis Thomas on and BBC Wales Political Editor Betsan Powys has quoted Paddy Power at giving odds of 4/1 of Dafydd Elis Thomas joining Labour in 2012 – anyone tempted for a flutter?


But as always with Welsh politics nothing is ever as black and white as it first seems and I have a feeling this story could rumble on all summer long.

After railway electrification, action called for on Welsh Sea and Air Ports

Following Monday's announcement of the electrification of the railway line from Paddington to Swansea and Valleys lines, I came across this report from the Assembly's Business Committee published a few weeks ago calling for more help to develop Welsh sea and airports for business and passengers, the timing  couldn't be better.

The Committee made 19 recommendations below and the full report is HERE

Recommendation 1. Seek to influence the UK Government’s forthcoming aviation framework so that it both recognises the potential of Cardiff Airport in addressing UK airport capacity needs and also serves the needs of Welsh businesses and passengers.

Recommendation 2. Formulate a clear, strategic, evidence-based position for developing air transport in Wales, based on a thorough assessment of the economic impact of aviation in Wales, which sets out where air services are needed, what kind of routes can support Wales‟s sustainable economic development objectives, and how this can best be delivered.

Recommendation 3. Continue to explore the case for devolving Air Passenger Duty to Wales for 

those services that generate sustainable inward tourism and business investment opportunities.

Recommendation 4. Continue to press the managers of Cardiff Airport to invest in its development and the development of a new Master Plan, and commission an independent assessment of the airport‟s future viability to function as an international gateway for passengers and freight.

Recommendation 5. Introduce an improved, dedicated express bus service between Cardiff Airport and the city centre, and explore options for funding that service with partners and other key stakeholders, should this be supported by the independent assessment suggested in Recommendation 4.

Recommendation 6. Explore the business case for a frequent, direct train service to Cardiff Airport, should this be supported by the independent assessment suggested in Recommendation 4.

Recommendation 7. Exploit all available channels to demonstrate to the European Commission the adverse impact that current aviation State Aid guidance can have, and how Aid could be used differently to develop Cardiff Airport as a destination of choice for international business and tourist travellers.

Recommendation 8. Integrate connectivity to Welsh airports with transport and infrastructure policy for Wales as a whole, and seek to negotiate the provision of better cross-border transport links and prospective electrification of rail services such as for Swansea and the Valleys.

Recommendation 9. Continue to facilitate and commit to effective engagement with the UK Government on ports policy, including discussion on the suitability of the existing devolutionary settlement and any changes that are necessary to benefit Wales.

Recommendation 10. Publish a revised Wales Freight Strategy, which has a greater emphasis on rail freight, by the end of 2012, and negotiate the needs of rail freight in Wales for the next Network Rail Control Period.

Recommendation 11. Commission feasibility studies into the development of short sea shipping and port-centric logistics at Welsh ports to identify potential opportunities as well as obstacles to development.

Recommendation 12. Champion the interests of Welsh ports and ferry operators in relation to debates on port border checks and EU sulphur emissions limits.

Recommendation 13. Press the UK Government to examine the business case for electrification of relief lines on the Great Western Main Line to ensure rail freight containers can travel easily to and from Welsh ports. Gauge clearance should also be advocated for all current and future rail infrastructure proposals for the same reason.

Recommendation 14. Press the Department for Transport to submit Welsh rail projects eligible for funding under the Connecting Europe Facility so that Wales can benefit fully from resources available to develop the Trans-European Transport Network.

Recommendation 15. Clarify its intentions for Enterprise Zones that include Welsh ports or airports so that Wales can fully benefit from this initiative.

Recommendation 16. Reflect the strategic importance of ports in the renewable energy supply chain in Welsh energy policies and seek optimum benefits for Wales from UK renewable energy opportunities.

Recommendation 17. Encourage port operators to improve the tourist experience at their facilities and consult potential stakeholders on how best to fund berthing facilities that will attract cruise liners.

Recommendation 18. Support Cruise Wales to devise and implement, in conjunction with Visit Wales, a strategic marketing plan to promote Wales‟s tourist offer and selected Welsh port destinations to international cruise operators.

Recommendation 19. Ensure the sustainable development of Welsh ports and airports is addressed through Local Development Plans, and encourage local authorities to collaborate with each other where the impacts of those developments have wider regional implications.

‘Blaming Thatcherism and Blairism wont develop serious politics’

Scottish commentator Gerry Hassan continues to challenge the orthodox views of Scottish politics in his weekly writing and i would recommend his articles if you've not read them, however much of what he says also applies to Wales and the UK as his latest column for the Scotsman where he challenges the root of the UK’s economic and political crisis.

From a Welsh perspective his latest article is particularly relevant as 99% of Welsh politics continues to revolve around what happened in Wales during Thatcherism and the 1980’s, as if history started then.   

Gerry writes ‘Blaming Thatcherism and New Labour for our disappointments and defeats is a displacement activity. Believing the 1980s were the source of all that went wrong with Britain is the equivalent to the Norman Tebbit view of Britain, which saw our moral standards and behaviour weaken due to ‘the funk’ and ‘fudge’ of the 1960s. That was an equally preposterous view rightly ridiculed.

Thatcherism and New Labour did not emerge from nowhere. Their seeds took root in the nature of British culture, individualism, the nature of the state and political economy.

Why did Thatcherism find it so easy to find a coherence and political voice in the 1970s and overturn the post-war consensus? Why did New Labour find it so painless to thrash the last remains of British social democracy and govern from the viewpoint of the dominant class?  The answer cannot be found just in the last 30 years, but in the 300 years since the beginning of the industrial revolution.

One-dimensional history, blaming all our sins on Thatcherism and Blairism might make some feel good and catch a soundbite, but it won’t develop a serious politics which can get us out of this mess and address the long-term problems and challenges of the British economy and society.

British capitalism has developed in a dynamic, dysfunctional direction which is increasingly about serving the needs of the short-term, self-interested, self-rewarding global class of buccaneers, asset strippers and vulgarians.

It has been a revolution from above which has remade much of our society, our relationships and aspirations. But it has also at critical points won popular support in the 1980s or under Blair, and we have to recognise this.

Only then and by confronting the deep roots of this current crisis and its apologists can we hope to begin to articulate a different kind of society: one based on long-term interests, proper banking and investment, and support for industry. Such change will require what is in effect a very different kind of British capitalism and the breakup of the current broken political system which has shown itself the equivalent of the ‘rotten boroughs’ of pre-democratic times.'

The full article is HERE and I believe if Welsh politics is to develop beyond the blame game and name calling so ably portrayed by our politicians this week, we need our own Gerry Hassan ready to challenge the orthodox views and political elites in Wales.