Goodwill
Tonight, before I come back in to look the Dragon in the Eye, I'll be going to a school nativity play and looking out for one particular angel in her supermarket wings and borrowed halo. There will be good will to all mums and dads. That is when I'll know that I've left Cardiff Bay for the day, where there is very, very little goodwill to be found these days.
AMs are angry. They watched last week as Sir Roger Jones, Chairman of the Independent Review Panel into their future pay and expenses, suggested on Dragon's Eye that some of them don't offer "value for money". They listened to his assessment of their work, too bound up by constituency work, not effective enough in scrutinising the assembly government, not getting stuck in where it really matters. Six out of ten was the gist of it.
And they're crying foul - loudly. How are we to have faith in an "independent" chair asks one when it's clear he's made up his mind long before the panel has finished taking evidence, let alone report back next Spring?
Another, from another party, has been to see the Chief Executive and Clerk to the Assembly, Claire Clancy. She heads the staff of the Assembly Commission who make sure the Assembly and Assembly Members can do their jobs. In this instance her job was to face an AM who put it pretty bluntly: he has lost confidence in the independent panel and in the process.
Another, from yet another party, believes the Assembly Commission itself, chaired by the Presiding Officer and made up of the PO and four AMs, one from each party, is "politically out of control". The review, she believes, is simply a case of the Presiding Officer wanting to make a stance and create headlines where none are needed or warranted.
Not that Sir Roger Jones will mind very much. I remember first meeting him over twenty years ago. He ran a pharmaceuticals business in Tredegar that manufactured thalidomide. He was open about it, prepared to be interviewed about it and speak plainly-in Welsh at that. If the message is getting out there that he's determined to "ensure value for money for the people of Wales" and shake things up a bit, he'll feel he's doing his job.
And tomorrow - before recess but on a Friday when all is quiet in the Assembly - another tranche of AMs' expenses so far will be made public.
Last time a £2000 sofa, a £1,000 surround-sound TV and a £2 Pyrex bowl left AMs looking out of touch with the people they represent. I have no doubt that there will be more sofas, more bathroom refits, more expensive, top of the range televisions this time around along with the couple-of-quid claims to which members are perfectly entitled but that do little to enhance their reputations.
One name keeps cropping up: that of Nick Bourne's. He leads a Conservative group that is not a happy one. It is not a united one. There are rumours of an expensive I-Pod and expensive taps that in themselves amount to little more than those headlines politicians ride out. The significance this time is that the rumours are rife, almost urgent, frantic. They come at a time when his authority in the group has already been severely undermined by the dodgy birthday dossier aimed at Rhodri Morgan and - we eventually learned - signed off by Mr Bourne. Last month I was told, not by a member of the group or of his staff incidentally, that he was "hanging on by his fingernails".
Goodwill is lacking. Mr Bourne is well aware of that with the Christmas recess approaching fast. What he really needs to know is whether the will to do something about it, the will to strike alliances that would oust him, is lacking too.
I'm Betsan Powys, BBC Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~01~RS~)
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Maybe Kirsty Williams will see Nick Bourne as the moose that needs 'field dressing' and his team as the wolves that need culling to make life more sustainable for the Lib Dem huskies in Alaska, sorry, the Welsh tundra...
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So much for Christmas cheer and good will to all men!
Perhaps if our duly elected AM's could raise their collective noses from the trough of public funds for a while and started to do something useful for the communities which elected them, then they may realise that a score of 6/10 is very generous.
Now if all those people who have lost their jobs in Wales over the last few months could just "indulge" in the same trough to pay for Christmas presents for their families......
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Perhaps Sir Roger's comment on value for money was the result of listening to evidence from members of the public in North Wales last week.
Neither the Assembly nor the AM's came out of it very well.
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This language LCO could be the death nell of the Assembly.
Business men (& Women) around here are seriously concerned about the impact it will have on their operating costs, and the penalties for non compliance.
They have just seen what has happened with the enforcement of the WL Scheme on local councils, and don't like it.
The Assembly is increasingly being seen as an expensive luxury that we can do without.
Every thing it touches it wrecks.
Just a few;
The Welsh Tourist Board, The Welsh Development Agency; Both once World renowned organisations of excellence - now shadows and political footballs.
How about the NHS, - take the row over Neurosurgery - The Doctors know we can't sustain to centers of excellence, simply because the Welsh NHS is too small - as part of a United Kingdom NHS it wouldn't matter, we could have the centre in Swansea, and use centres in Bristol & Liverpool.
As the recession bites, this expensive tier of government, its thousands of employee's and hangers on, who deliver nothing to the well being of Wales, just hot air, failed projects, and reams of paper with everything in duplicate, can easily be discarded.
Think of the Millions that could be handed over to local councils and the impact that would have on our Council Tax's.
Incidental the common language of Wales is English - every one can speak it - only 25% of the population can speak Welsh.
The Welsh Language Acts, existing & proposed, will not help the Welsh Language they will bring it and the Assembly into disrepute
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West Wales - things were so much better in the old days when we had Tory appointed English MPs running the governance of Wales single handed.
Those were the days of full employment, top class public services, social harmony... not!
Get real. The Assembly is a major advance in Welsh governance. Unless you subscribe to the old prejudices about us being too small, too stupid and too Welsh to be capable of doing anything apart from playing rugby and getting drunk.
But I don't think we think like that any more, do we?
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#5 plaidman
"The Assembly is a major advance in Welsh governance. Unless you subscribe to the old prejudices about us being too small, too stupid and too Welsh to be capable of doing anything apart from playing rugby and getting drunk."
You think you've got problems. We are bigger than you, although you would not get that impression from the BBC weather map, but Scotland too is told day in and day out, week in and week out, that we are way too wee, too stupid and too Scottish to be capable of doing anything apart from playing football and getting drunk . . . and even our football is suspect.
Our culture, with which they are not familiar, is risible, they tell us, our education system is now inferior to the English one (if you can believe that to be even possible), our financial-services sector is no good because it has suffered from the credit crunch in much the same sort of way as have the financial-services sectors of other economies, our economy is no good and always will be, our oil reserves are not ours and would be of no benefit to us even if they were ours although they are invaluable to the UK, our legal system deserves to be bypassed and any objection to any of these witless notions only goes to show how wickedly nationalistic we are and confirms our unfitness to govern ourselves.
The Irish were on the receiving end of much the same sort of thing until the Irish Free State was created. We are still told by British unionists, in fact, that the Irish are not up to much and are indeed up some sort of gum tree because of the recession, which in point of fact seems likely in reality to affect the UK more adversely than any other state in the EU, where the prosperous Irish are currently being said to be such "a great nation" that all are seeking to curry favour with them.
Oh, I was foregetting. The constantly recurring principal theme to which we are exposed is that we are a drain on the resources of England, which, on closer examination, turn out to consist of quite a few of the resources that would be ours if we were independent. In spite of being no good at all and contributing nothing much worth mentioning, we are also told that, although much of England is said to be indifferent on the subject of Scottish independence, we must not go independent. Vilified for being allegedly dependent and berated for seeking to be less dependent by arguing for fiscal autonomy, not to mention flayed within an inch of our lives in the case of those of us who want to be independent, it seems as if we just can't win in the UK. Well, nobody can, of course, except the largest participant in the union, to whom let us sing praises and before whom let us all bow down in helpless admiration, because our lords and masters get so tetchy if we don't, as the Germans are finding at the moment, having declined to subscribe to the curious notion that the UK government is saving the planet by going into massive debt from a position of horrendously fundamental weakness: too weak, too stupid and too British to save themselves from themselves, far less save the planet.
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#6 U-Boat_thingy
I agree with every word.
What is worse, there are people in Wales, one or two naive contributors here, who really believe the propaganda that has poured for decades out of the unionist camp. They can't even see as far as across the Irish Sea, where the results of putting two fingers up to the British state, are plainly visible - a strong and vibrant economy - a much higher GDP per capita.
When the UK finally joins the Euro, because it will be forced to by McBroon's failure to regulate the economy, we'll all pay the price, as our wages and savings will be grossly devalued. The Irish had more sense and joined it at the right time. Wales' economy, is in a much more parlous state than the UK's, as the unionist parties don't give a damn about us. All the matters to them is London and 'middle England'.
Criticism of the Assembly is justified. Its a sham parliament. The 2006 Government of Wales Act is a version of Poynings' Law (1494) by which the English Crown controlled the Irish parliament. We are insulted by the existence of such a pathetic institution, foisted on us by a Labour party which has nothing but contempt for the people of Wales, after the century of support its had from us. What is even worse, their Welsh MPs acted out of pure self-interest because they didn't want to lose their seats with the advent of a Welsh Parliament.
I hope you Scots get your independence, and soon. It will show us in Wales what a big mistake it is to be part of a failed union in which we are a perpetually impoverished tiny minority. When the Tories are elected Wales will return to the undisguised status of a colony with English governor-generals, like Redwood, sent down from London by an Eton-educated Tory toff to take charge.
Can you believe that a Commons committee, the unelected House of Lords, and a Secretary of State, all have a veto on each and every pathetic little legislative request the Assembly makes? It doesn't even have the power to decide on number plate logos. Its a joke, and Plaid Cymru, the so-called 'Party of Wales' is stupidly playing along with it.
The Labour Party will never support a Yes vote in a referendum. Its not in their interest to do so. They need as many MPs from Wales as they can get to maintain power in Westminster, without them they're doomed never to govern again. So get real, Ieuan, you're wasting your time.
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Betsan...
I am going off topic for a second: But, I hope that you enjoy your time at the play for your family member....
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Betsan:
Re: EXPENSES
It doesn't surprise me either, that there will be excesses in the; expense accounts of the Members of the Welsh Assembly!
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U-Boat_thingy and brynt,
You hit the nail on the head! I've posted about the scare tactics that 'ultra-unionists' use when denegrating the prospect of an independent Wales.
Journalist Sian Jobbins wrote in the Cambrian in January '08 that the 'ultra-unionist' rhetoric of some in Wales is only surpassed by ultra-unionist rhetoric in N. Ireland.
Much of the 'language' they use is simular to the language abusors use to sow fear in their partener... fear that they can not be independent on their own and that they are better off with them then without. Isnt it funny that the abusor always makes a point to say how much he is contributing to his victum by taking care of them, and that they should just shut up and put up.
And the whole LCO process is so patronizing, like some adult trying to control the allowance of their child.
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-Drachenfyre- , your .....
'language abusors use to sow fear in their partener'
I assume you intended 'abusers' and 'partner', this of course is the language of Nationalists who are unable to achieve their aims.
The less than 10% of separatists (minority) accuse the remainder, dare I write majority, of using abusive language to defend the preferred Union.
LCO process is not patronizing, it is protective, a protection from the 'Fortress Wales' mentality of Plaid Cymru and chums.
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Constitutional structures should not be built for party advantage. The fact is the LCO structure is an extension of the former Government of Wales Act that was built on a bit by bit devolution of power, unlike the much more clean cut Scotland Act. This devolved everything other than that which was not specifically reserved. A much cleaner and easier method.
The LCO procedure was first mentioned in the Richard Commission report as a stop gap measure, a transitional provision until the proper framework was in place for full legislative scrutiny * and full legislative devolution - which was expected to be automatically in place within one Assembly term.
However for part reasons that wasn't actually done. Sections of the Labour party were dead against any further devolution. So to satisfy them the recommendations of an all party/independent commission were put aside and the temporary LCO measure given a new permanency, a step never intended. The current structure is very reminiscent of
Poynings' Law (something I pointed out some time ago). Yes all Welsh legislation needs to be properly scrutinised, and the process seems to be working in that some have been sent back by committees of the Assembly as not up to the mark. That suggests a level of maturity within the institution.
As for Stonemason's complaints/assertions on LCOs - well once they are granted then Parliament ceases to have a veto on any Measure produced as a result. And unless you think every LCO should produce only one Measure and are happy to run counter to the intent of the process then I think you have to accept that the Assembly is the final judge of its laws.
* that included increasing the size of the National Assembly to 80 members to properly constitute scrutiny committees independent of the executive and to have the proper legal expertise within the civil service to draft and advise on legalise within laws.
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Bad law can always be removed.
The Assembly is not the final judge, rather the Assembly and its members will be judged by the electorate.
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#11 TheStonemason
Its called the Stockholm syndrome, look it up.
At anyrate, why not give wide latitude in home rule, allow Wales to have full control over education, police, justice, tax raising powers.
Why do the Welsh in Wales... whatever their position on independence... need to have big-brother-is-watching -you oversight on such minor basic administrative functions?
Can not pro-Unionists feel confident in a Federalized United Kingdom? Allowing full domestic policies and stratigies for Wales be developed in Wales?
If so many people are pro-Union... then Wales would continuely elect a pro-union National Assembly each and every time... whatever the powers of the assembly might be.
It makes no sense that the Welsh can not govern themselves IN Wales and must defer to London.
The LCO proceedure is the worst kind of Imperialistic red tape designed to discourage Self-Respect and Self-Determination.
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-Drachenfyre-, your #14
I have never been abducted, neither do I feel victimised, by the state that is, as you imply above.
It could be that a "pro-Union National Assembly" is on its way with Carwyn Jones. He is fully committed to remaining part of the United Kingdom, a Unionist, I could vote for his party, were he its leader, to defeat the separatists.
To describe .....
'The LCO procedure is the worst kind of Imperialistic red tape designed to discourage Self-Respect and Self-Determination.'
..... is rhetoric from the Cuban revolution, unintelligible nonsense. The LCO, imperfect probably, is the protection of the majority from the activities of 'Bedlam'.
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Message 15...
"...is the protection of the majority from the activities of Bedlam"
Not working then, is it?
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mapexx, #16
It would depend on which Bedlam ... there are several. Two spring to mind ...
EconBedlam, this is a New World economic Bedlam predicted for a long time.
IndeBedlam, this is the particular version I was referring to, independence.
But you are right, it's not working very well at the moment, I wonder what Spike Milligan would have made of it ?
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# 17...
I reckon he already commented, there must be at least one Goon Show that corresponds to the Bay fiasco.
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Message 14...
It is always perceived by the minute minority who are not necessarily Cymraeg fluent, that Wales is a nation, a state, a recognisable country with the parameters of such a legitimate entity.
It is NOT, it is a region of the UK, or Gt Britain, an appendage to the main body, with no defined internationally recognised borders, other than the wet ones to north, south, and west.
Yes at one time a few tribes, or clans, sort of ruled the roost, with a relatively common language, but who never unified the region, beyond a few alliances, that were easily broken, as leaderships fell in and out of alliance.
It has never been a separate state, or nation unto itself, it has always had incoming migrants, be they English, Irish, Scots, Italians, Poles, or folk form the middle and far east.
The number of what may be roughly called 'native' were themselves immigrants, bringing a already watered down language with them, that was even more watered down by the inclusion of Roman Latin, then by the adapting, and adopting, of all languages subsequent to the Roman occupation of Britain.
But that is all in the past, and what matters is now, and that yet to come.
So, as we are no more of a nation or state than the North West, North East, South West etc, why should we need to have our own, invariably conflicting law, police force to enforce it, and judiciary to wield it?
What says the Geordie's, or Brummies, or Mancu/Scousers, have less rights than those who seem to think Wales under Cymric terms is a different kettle of fish.
As I have stated many times, we have no 'culture' as such, no matter what the loudhailers of Plaid, and it's supporters perpetually spout about, I see nothing in the streets that shouts culture, in a Welsh context, to me.
The you say a 'Federalised United Kingdom', can you not see that is exactly what we had, until the inception, and emplacement of that dratted Assembly/WAG?
Which has destroyed any semblance of Federalisation.
We are NOT the US of A, where most 'states' are larger than Wales, both in area and population, we were NOT created as a federation of loosely almost anarchic areas, we had a perfectly good 'county' system, developed over many centuries, until it was messed about with, more times than necessary. To almost destruction.
If anything, I would prefer to see a return to that system, and much of the re structuring perpetrated over the last thirty years, done away with.
For our country, the UK, or Gt Britain, I think we had it right with the counties, they took care of the larger areas between towns and cities. There was plenty of scope for political concordat, but that was not good enough for the control freak mentality that has come to the fore in the last few decades, on both sides of the political spectrum I must emphasise.
,
Oh! no, lets re arrange things, to make things better
( meaning... lets get more control of the place and people for our own political ends).
Better I don't think so, ask anyone who has seen their local taxes rise beyond their ability to pay ..almost.
That being the operative word... almost. They never quite take it to the full extent, just leave us dangling over the financial edge, in most cases, but a few do drop over.
So if you don't mind, lets have a lot less, in fact no more, of this call for a New Wales, one that will take us into realms unwanted, and more to the point, unnecessary further political destabilisation..
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