Walking the walk
It's simple says what I must call a senior Conservative source: it is about how many of us are prepared to be bold. It's about how many are prepared now to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
The answer, I suspect at the moment, is not quite enough. A majority of Conservative AMs might be angry with Mr Bourne and have lost faith in him as leader to one extent or another but if one or two are "prepared to smile" while "storing dissent", have concluded that it would be wise to listen to senior voices in Westminster calling on them to "close this down" before any more damage is done, then Mr Bourne can continue to put off any talk of an urgent group meeting before Christmas. He can listen to political speeches on his iPod over Christmas, hone his Welsh and think about how to win as many seats as possible if there's a General Election around the corner.
Last night Jonathan Morgan AM sent an Email to his colleagues and their office staff. You won't be surprised to know that it's been leaked, nor will you be surprised to know that he is unhappy that "many members were asking William for a meeting before Christmas but that this is being refused".
He's referring, of course, to Chief Whip William Graham.
His Email tells the leader that "I believe it imperative to assess the damage created by the allowances story since Friday, and I would suggest as follows:
1. We need to examine how we can tighten up our own procedures as a group to show that we are serious about spending public money properly. Regardless of Sir Roger's review perhaps we can take a lead;
2. The group needs to look at and understand how the Leader's allowance and what it is supposed to cover;
3. The strategy for reclaiming the position as a party which has challenged Labour's waste.
This last item is critical and requires some thought".
It appears from the Email too, incidentally, that Jonathan Morgan had not talked to Nick Bourne over the weekend, despite the leader's claim to have talked to every member of his group.
But Nick Bourne has made his position entirely clear now. He's going nowhere and intends to lead the party into the 2011 elections. He knows he can't go on forever but now is not the time to go. He's happy to talk through the expenses issue with the group in the New Year but has no plans to "do a Mike German" as some insist he must now do. In other words he's not planning to give an assurance that he'll be off with plaudits and pats on the back for all he has done for the party - perhaps after the European elections.
Quite right too says Clwyd West's Darren Millar AM. He's "agnostic" about the need for a group meeting but is anything but about the outcome. That, he says, "has to be clear backing for Nick". He's like to see Nick carrying on in the job for some time yet and has absolutely no plans to form an alliance with Jonathan Morgan, an alliance that puts him in the deputy's position.
No deal then by the sounds of it.
Which means those "who are prepared to be bold" must work out a cunning plan if they're to oust Mr Bourne and get the "dynamic way forward" they're seeking.
As they've put it themselves, they must put up or shut up.
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I'm Betsan Powys, BBC Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~15~RS~)
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Darren Millar is a far more serious option as leader. I only hope that what you're saying shows that any talk of a deal with JM is dead in the water.
It's time the group in that place represented the true Conservative opinion. Neither NB or JM could ever do that.
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I bet there are a lot of AMs blowing a sigh of relief and rubbing thier hands with glee over Nick Bournes difficulties, brought to the fore with the expenses issue. Especialy the ones who were in the forefront last time.
Though you would have thought they had enough inteligence to have been prepared for all this and spent the expenses more wisely.
It might have been beneficial to him to have thought about it all first. It could have saved him a lot of trouble.
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I certainly agree with Nick Bourne's assessment that he's 'going nowhere'. Whichever way you take it, that's a sad state for this opposition party leader to be in.
But leadership questions apart, the conservatives aren't alone in wanting to curtail the debate on expenses, it's a poisonous subject for too many AM's of all flavours. In a saner time, this topic would be much more of a scandal than it is, despite the fact that we now rate politicians lower even than bankers.
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The answer is simple. As a mobile phone company used to say. The future's bright, the future's orange. No, I'm not suggesting that Peter Hain take over..
No, clearly the way forward is to allow Kirsty Williams to run a combined Lib Dem / Tory alliance.
Don't laugh - the Westminster version of this is already almost a reality.
http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2008/12/where-liberals-and-conservatives.html
The 6 and 12 seats held by the Lib and Tory factions at present look pitiful. Doubling the Lib total to 12, a 100% increase, looks well nigh impossible.
It is not. The Libs % of the national opinion polls often vary between 15% and 25% with changes in the weather. Getting another 6 seats is in fact the same as that 10% difference, as there are only 60 seats in the Assembly.
The Tories may not want to give the 'whip-hand' to a political 'opponent', but they know that without an appealing, driven and intelligent marketing whiz at the helm, they are doomed to perpetual opposition in Wales.
Laugh all you like now - but he who laughs last, laughs longest.. I suggest you get the 'Kirsty 4 First Minister' prices off Karl the bookie, and then start printing up the flyers and leaflets soon after...
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Nick Bourne is, allegedly an experienced poltician. He knew full well that the buying of a two hundred pound iPod on his expenses would one day be in the public domain.
So why did he do it?
Same thing with this tasty little snippet...........http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6VaP1HB7Vew
Bourne and Brown, both having been in politics for many years, do something really stupid, yet totally unnecessary!
Just as Bourne knew his purchase would come back and haunt him, so Brown's little snack has come back to cause him much ridicule.
So, we must come to the conclusion that they both knew damn well the idiocy of what they were doing, yet both thought...WHAT THE HELL, I'LL DO IT ANYWAY. It really is the only conclusion we can come to.
The sanity of both of them must be in doubt.
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I saw a well known AM buying a flat screen, full size, flat pack cinema in Argos (Canton) on NAfW expenses . I said, "What on earth do need that for?"
He/She said, " to show the masses my immense devo achievements in the years 1999 to 2008, before I retire to Spain with my extended family and vast pension (sur la Med coast)....Cos...
I have transformed their (miserable and tacky) petty lives...with the colour of my existance!"
(Other grasping AMs are available).
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#6 BLUESNIK (Marxist Cynic ) wrote:
"I saw a well known AM buying a flat screen, full size, flat pack cinema in Argos (Canton) on NAfW expenses."
Don't they have them delivered, at extra charge?
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Message 5....
A question...
...What do politicians and criminals,... (Yes, yes, I know they are NOT the same, are they?)...
...have in common?
They both like to think they'll never get rumbled.
... they therefore both make the same mistake...Yes?
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Hope Mr Bourne has a nice Christmas! He might experience what some of the country's workers will feel over Christmas - uncertainty about their job!
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Indeed -osian- though the Tories might also think back on how they were viewed under their former Welsh leader..... for all his faults Nick Bourne has made the Tories seem far less the nasty party and has made them electable in Welsh terms (and this is coming from a non tory).
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Message 10....
...far less nasty... Oh! Aye, but still one of Thatchers offspring, politically speaking, and still as untrustworthy for it.
As for electable...We shall have to wait and see, not for what his party come up with, but what the electorate have in store for the whole damned mess in the Bay of Pigs.
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Sorry, who is Nick Bourne??
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@ 12:
Nick Bourne....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Bourne
~Dennis Junior~
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Betsan:
Thanks for the excellent Nick Bourne update and his issues....
~Dennis Junior~
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