Safe seats
There are an awful lot of letters and Emails doing the rounds today and another is on the way. This one is to Rhodri Morgan and it's asking him to reconsider his plans to step down on his 70th birthday in September.
The author? Huw Lewis who is, as we tend to put it, "widely expected" to be a candidate when a leadership contest begins.
He's told an audience in Rhyl tonight that he doesn't think that contest should begin in the Autumn after all. With Labour in turmoil, he thinks the First Minister should stay put. He should stay in the job and put off those plans to head off every morning to his garden shed to write his book. He should stay until the Labour boat has stopped rocking and is either back on (or perhaps permanently knocked off) course.
It won't please those who are already afraid that Welsh Labour is in limbo. Huw Lewis will no doubt be accused of getting cold feet. Then again he might be praised for behaving in a statesman-like way.
You can hear his own reasoning tomorrow on Good Morning Wales.
In the meantime, I have a new friend. Tony Benn has brought a camping chair with him to College Green and sits down for a rest between tv interviews. "This is the safest Labour seat in Westminster" he told me, before asking whether I was Bulgarian by any chance. He'd been listening keenly to my piece for S4C and must have been wondering why - of all the day's developments - the Bulgarians were so fascinated by Peter Hain's appointment.
It was the black mac and heels that did it.
I'm Betsan Powys, BBC Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on 
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~43~RS~)
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Definitely the heels
... and maybe the red, white and green flag.
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Huw Lewis is not to my taste, nor his politics, but for Wales he has the rights of it, Rhodri Morgan, King Morgan to some, should remain until after the next general election. It is time to drop the old, an unnatural separatist partnership with Plaid Cymru, Nationalist and Socialist politics make strange bedfellows, and form new alliances that will reflect the aspirations of the electorate.
Time to discard the aspirations of the non-elected extremists amongst us.
Time to reign back the influence of the unelected quangos.
Time to govern not act as a regional management cabal (if we must have you).
Time to talk to people, not over the phone or using opinion poll's; and if you get out there with people, try listening even where the message is not to your liking.
Caught up with Dragon's Eye on the BBC iPlayer, Betsan, a quiet word to Peter Black and Leanne Wood on "how to look good on TV" wouldn't go amiss.
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message 2...
Stoney, you forgot on e, which I add to the list below...
.....Time to discard the aspirations of the non-elected extremists amongst us.
.....Time to reign back the influence of the unelected quangos.
.....Time to govern not act as a regional management cabal (if we must have you).
Add... Time to cancel it all anyway.(we don't need you)
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Stonemason, that is so rude. Leanne looked fine. I am however, a lost cause.
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Will somebody somewhere tell Rhodri Morgan to stop campaigning for Plaid so they get all the credit and Labour get all the blame.
As far as leadership replacements are concerned we need somebody strong enough to bring an end to the dangerous mix of nationalism and socialism that hides behind a constitutional black hole to conceal what really goes on.
That leads on to a point made in #2
Time to reign back the influence of the unelected quangos.
These unelected and unaccountable agents of social control and spenders of our money need to be taken into public ownership under the current umbrella of reform to clean up politics.
They withhold reports of financial mismanagement which when they finally emerge will create a bigger scandal than MPs expenses.
WE NEED A PURGE OF EVERYTHING THAT THAS BEEN WITHHELD FROM THE PUBLIC OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS SO WE KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON
The public interest in disclosure of information should be applied to all aspects of government for the following reasons
Depending on the circumstances, the public interest in disclosure may involve helping to ensure that:
1. There is informed public debate about significant decisions.
2. The public are able to participate effectively in decisions affecting them.
3. There is adequate scrutiny of the decision-making process.
4. Authorities are accountable for the spending of public money.
5. Authorities do their job properly.
WE NEED TO CHECK THIS CRITERIA AGAINST EVERY QUANGO
WHERE THESE PROCESSES DO NOT EXIST THEY MUST BE INTRODUCED.
ONLY WHEN POLITICIANS ARE STOPPED FROM GETTING QUANGOS TO DO THEIR DIRTY WORK FOR THEM CAN THE GOVERNMENT CLAIM TO HAVE CLEANED UP POLITIICS
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peterblackam
You are correct, I ventured into the personal without tempered consideration, I apologise. I will admit to a faraway look when Betsan is on camera.
mapexx,
I bow to your amendment. What is it that we need?
Neocromwellian,
Your last paragraph is important to the issues of accountability, just as politicians are having to become transparent in their personal dealings, so should the activities of quangos; it is intolerable that such organisations can hide their activities from the electorate.
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Of course in Pre Assembly days Quangos were a way of rulling without a democratic mandate, MPs who lost their seats ended up with quango chairs and a nice salary to go with it. I would agree that oversight of some of them is not the best, but realistically I think some quangos are here to stay. Although I'd like to see more of them made executive agencies of the government rather than completely brought it and made part of a civil service department. One of the core functions of the National Assembly is oversight of Assembly Sponsored Public Bodies (as I think they are now known as), in some ways there are insufficient members of the Assembly to do this task, too few hours in committee and too few members to have a political balance on the committees. And of course you have to distinguish between the type of quango. Huge difference between a health board, the WJEC and the West Wales Shelfish committee (OK that last one I don't have the name exactly right). Some have to have an existence at arms length from government to work properly, some are key to the economy and need political direction. Some have already been absorbed by government and some should be recreated (I am thinking of the Wales Tourist Board here).
Certainly the abuse of the quango system by the Tories when last in power helped tip the balance in favour of devolution. But I think a full scale examination of what exists, why it exists, how it could be made to work better, would be useful.
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#6 The Stonemason
I totally agree
Take the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW)
1. NO informed public debate about significant decisions.
2. The public are NOT able to participate effectively in decisions affecting them.
3. There is NO adequate scrutiny of the decision-making process.
4. They are NOT are accountable for the spending of public money.
5. There is NO way of knowing if they do do their job properly.
Why? Because the politicians have taken away what powers existed in order to treat the electorate like serfs
Perhaps Peter Hain would like to undo the harm he has done.
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Whatever the history .....
"Of course in Pre Assembly days Quangos were a way of ruling without a democratic mandate,"
..... it's today and tomorrow that is the pressing issue.
"Quangos are still used to rule without a democratic mandate".
..... is part of the problem, government doing to much? Or trying to do to much!
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#6...
As you must have read in my previous messages across the blogs, a simple return to local authority mandate.
A dispensation of this third. and unnecessary, tier of governance, and the region being placed on a par with all other UK regions.
Less of the search for sovereignty for what is a very disparate region.
There is little cohesion within this region, and attempting to knit it together by use of a the language 'cosh' will only create a disturbance of what little cohesion there is.
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mapexx
For your consideration, the question I have been asking is "how do you take it away without causing a crisis?"
I believe the Nationalists would use the removal as a weapon of mass constitutional destruction.
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Hey guys, not bad going - you managed to go as far as 10 responses to a post about the Labour leadership before you gave in to your manic tic and had a go at the welsh language!
This must be a record for you.
Do you actually have any views other than a deep hatred of Welsh? If so I've not seen them.
But then again, as you all talk to yourselves anyway, no-one else has, or will.
It's a bit rich your attacking politicians for being out of touch, when all you appear to do is sit at your keyboards posting ten comments a day, usually attacking Welsh, regardless of the actuall contents of Betsan's posts.
You're a laughing stock (in whatever language language one chooses to laugh in), and you've made Betsan's blog about the last place on the internet anyone goes for political debate or indeed a view of what people really think.
Just the same crowd, the same obsessions, the same bad English and the constant drone of sidelined crank-dom, rippling out from its caves of irrelevance.
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Re: QUANGOs
I should add that Gordon Brown when chancellor said that one of the cornerstones of a successful economy was a strong university base.
This must fit anyones criteria for appropriate public interest, however, I have been reliably informed by a professor at the University of Cambridge that the only way to bring maladministration to light is by writing about it in a newspaper or journal. I could add blog to the list provided you can get it past the moderator.
What is the Welah Assembly doing about this? The answer is nothing.
Why? Because they have banned themselves from being able to intervene so they can use the excuse they do not have jurisdiction.
So that makes public service maladminstration alright then?
Whatever happpened to the 7 Priniciples of Public Life?
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Well at least the Quangos in Wales are now appointed by a democratically elected body rather than appointed by someone who has no democratic mandate from Wales.
Anyway back to Huw Lewis, an interesting person, making all the right noises to take the votes of the "British" wing of Labour in Wales, and by making conciliatory noises to Rhodri making him acceptable to the "Welsh" wing of Labour? How much of what he is doing is part of his grand plan to win the leadership of the Labour Party in Wales?
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Lyn_Thomas you wrote.....
Well at least the Quangos in Wales are now appointed by a democratically elected body rather than appointed by someone who has no democratic mandate from Wales.
..... who exactly was that someone with "no democratic mandate"?
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Rhodri intends to retire, the new Leader should lead the party into the elections.
There is no reason why there should not be a leader preselected in waiting, while Rhodri stays in place until the dissolution - that would make sense.
The results of the Euro poll will be important - Labour has lost credibility, Brown may or may not survive.
Plaid will pick up some labour voters - the Tories will lose to UKIP.
The Anti EU vote will be critical to the balance of power.
Even though the Assembly Government is failing to achieve, unlike Westminster it is not in disarray - the deficit is structural, lack of vision, and the poor quality of AM's
The focus is not on what is best for wales - but on Welsh!!
Changing Rhodri will make no difference, there is no alternative leader with ability and charisma to take over.
As for the Quango's, the big success of the SoS model before devolution, was the achievements of the three core Quango's, The WDA, The Tourist Board, and the Arts Council.
These Quango's run by experts with strict terms of reference and full accountability actually delivered for the people of Wales.
Budgets were adhered too, accounts were published and fully transparent
It was this structure that enabled a few people to provide proper political control over complex issues, and it worked.
The current situation where we have a multiplicity of oversight committees, made up of AM's with little knowledge no experience, but considerable political baggage, does not make for efficient or democratic control.
Micro Management does not work.
These current quango's controlled and set up by the Assembly do not publish accounts, have constantly changing objectives and terms of reference as the political winds change.
Few of our current batch of AM's could earn a living outside politics None have the ability to run large successful organisations.
Yet they try to take charge of these massive complex public operations, that we in Wales totally depend on.
Is it any wonder we are in a mess.
We need to reorganise devolution.
Scrap the 2006 Wales Act - its been a disaster.
Less AM's (get rid of the list for a start).
Bring back the Core Quango's.
I'm not sure how we make the job attractive to people with real ability.
Selection is a key step.
The right people will not be in it for money, they will be there because they want to make Wales a better place for all of us.
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Was there a point in the comment at #12 .....
..... or is it an attempt by the separatists to cause conflict?
We have freedom of speech in Great Britain, not something the likes of #12 is able to destroy.
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Well Stonemason you snipped the critical bit of my comment, no democratic mandate from Wales. Redwood etc had no mandate from the people of Wales. They acted like colonial governors.
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Lyn_Thomas, your #18
At the time that John Redwood was Secretary of State for Wales, devolution was several years away, your suggestion that he acted as a colonial governor is as preposterous as the suggestion that his position was not supported by a mandate of the people. At the time of his appointment our geographical region had rejected devolution, so his appointment during 1993 was supported by the rejection of devolution during 1979 and subsequent general elections, unless you are suggesting votes from Cardiff had a lesser value to those from Bristol.
Your proposition is refuted.
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"The Apprentice" contenders always respond by "taking on board" siralan's tirades. I've read daverodway's at #12 so here goes.
Back to Huw Lewis and back to his suggestion of a future with Rhodri Morgan staying at the top for that bit longer. It is, says Huw, common sense and doesn't he have a point? Put aside the irony of the fact that Labour at Westminster are going through the dreadful throes of trying to topple/keep alive the chances of a leader who wants to stay in the job, while here in Wales a cry has gone out for a leader who is planning to go, to stay on.
That aside, isn't there a perfectly reasonable argument that says for now, Rhodri Morgan could - and given the current state of support for Labour - should relieve the pressure on the party and squeeze the last ounce of loyalty from the core Labour vote in Wales? "Labour has died as a machine, if not as a party" said one Welsh politics watcher to me yesterday. If he's right, should the man with his hands on the levers stay, even if the job of overhauling the machine can't wait a day longer?
Is that common sense to you, or a nonsense?
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Guido Fawkes has put a nice slant on why Hain has been sent back to Wales.
http://order-order.com/2009/06/05/barrels-being-scraped/
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message 20...
Nonsense I am pleased to say.
The pendulum swings, and at the moment it is doing neither left or right, all that is happening is the pendulum is hovering, just like a buzzard high up, soaring, whilst waitng for that elusive meal to come into view.
The updraft is not good enough, the downdraft is overpowering, but the buzzard stays afloat.
Brown maybe on hooks, but the Labour party is neither finished, or about to be.
Brown is NOT the Labour party, no more then Cameron is the Tory party.
Nor is Morgan R. the Labour party in Wales, he has been team captain for a while, and the team is at the bottom of the league, ...today.
The pendulum will resume it's swing, and the Labour team will climb to the top of the premier division again.
Maybe with a new leader, but not if it has any sense, at such a critical time.
In Wales?...that is a different matter altogether.
The whole mess needs to be rationalised, and quickly.
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Betsan #20
a perfectly reasonable argument that says for now, Rhodri Morgan .... should relieve the pressure on the party and squeeze the last ounce of loyalty from the core Labour vote in Wales?
"Labour has died as a machine, if not as a party" .... should the man with his hands on the levers stay, even if the job of overhauling the machine can't wait a day longer?
Is that common sense to you, or a nonsense?
We can shelter from the storm in Westminster, but must be part of the rebuilding that will follow.
Rhodri is an anchor that hopefully will not drag. He will at least give some stability.
The time for restructuring the devolution experiment is when the skies clear.
The British people are considering their relationship with socialism and Labour. The flaws are now exposed.
The Welsh electorate, who perhaps more than any other, are emotionally and traditionally loyal to Labour, are now questioning that blind loyalty and need to re-evaluate.
We need to steady the ship before making changes.
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"Labour has died as a machine, if not as a party" said one Welsh politics watcher to me yesterday; thus spake Betsan Powys.
I was born on the 5th of July 1948, almost but not a first NHS baby, a product of an idea first developed by the miners of the Rhondda, the idea that everyone should have access to the fundamentals of life without the worry of having the means, my socialist father would have said to this politics watcher, .....
"Socialism" is, I think, more than a party, more than a political machine, it is about people aspiring to a better way of life, it is a philosophy.
I would wish Rhodri well in his retirement, come on down his successor, time to move on, there's lots to do ..... and whoever you might be start talking to Westminster sooner rather than later, the people deserve it.
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Stonemason, the consequences of the 1979 vote was to place Wales in the situation where the person in charge of running the devolved administration in Wales could and would be appointed by a party that had not received a mandate from the Welsh people. I would argue that by imposing people who did not represent a Welsh constituency on the people of Wales does constitute an colonial situation. The role of the Secretary of State for Wales was, in addition to running the devolved administration, to represent Wales in the Cabinet. Certainly under Redwood you had someone who had nothing in common with the people of Wales, to the extent that he removed the Welsh Dragon from Welsh Office headed notepaper, and acted as the cabinets representative in Wales. A clear reversal.
Adding a line at the end saying argument refuted is just a tad childish, as if it ends the argument. It doesn't.
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Betsan, if I was in Labour I might also be urging Rhodri to stay on for a bit.... given the turmoil in the party and with politics generally, a bit more of the same, continuity in otherwords, would probably be welcomed. I wonder if Rhodri might not yet stay on until the next Assembly election? Or at least stay untill almost the last minute and then allow the election of a successor to take the Labour party into the next Assembly election.
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Lyn_Thomas, your first proposition was refuted through the use of logic, you now make further argument.....
There has never been a colony west of Offa's Dyke, never a colonial situation, except in the minds of those who would destroy the Union. Alice in Wonderland, or maybe through the looking glass, either way fiction of the separatist.
To imply that Redwood or any other acted against the best interests of people is ludicrous.
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Stonemason your argument wasn't a logic I understood, maybe we should agree to respect that eachother has different views on the relationship between the Secretary of State for Wales. Of course Wales has never been a formal colony, just colonial attitudes of some who have ruled us. Tell me if Redwood was acting in the best interests of people in Wales, why did his party never get a majority of the seats in Wales, surely we should recognise when we are being ruled by such beneficial outside politicians? Also tell me why for the first few weeks that Hague was in post he had standing ovations when he entered the room, just because he wasn't Redwood, somewhat shows how popular Redwood was in Wales.
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Lyn_Thomas, three points .....
I have not encountered "colonial attitudes" during all my years.
... party never get a majority of the seats in Wales?
Probably the same reason as any other party, it will not be because of a single person.
... I still like William Hague, an astute politician and good orator.
Try wiki, look at the good things Redwood did as Secretary of State for Wales, there are two sides to every coin, you might try reading his daily blog.
Reading your post, it is as if the man got up in the morning and thought "who shall I stamp on today". It's just not true.
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Well your appreciation of Redwood is not shared by many in Wales.
Anyway this is not what this particular discussion is about - Huw Lewis and his views on Rhodri staying on for a while. A good move to help steady the Labour boat or not?
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What nationalists can't seem to grasp, is that English speaking Brits dislike Rhodri Morgan with the same intensity as they dislike John Redwood.
Because of devolution, Llafurs vote share where the NO vote was high is in meltdown in east Wales.
Hasn't anyone linked Labours council elections disaster in England to the East Lothian question? There's been a constant stream of letters in the British press, complaining about Scots running English affairs, and they having no say in many Scottish affairs.
I'm sure our nationalists will find clever words of justification, but they don't really wash, this whole devolution nonsense is encouraging sectarianism.
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As I wrote at #24,
"I would wish Rhodri well in his retirement, come on down his successor, time to move on, there's lots to do ..... and whoever you might be start talking to Westminster sooner rather than later, the people deserve it."
There are many good people in Wales, but today we need a bucketful of vision and strong honest leadership!
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Well Jack, your .....
"encouraging sectarianism" scares the hell out of me, I remember NI during the 70's.
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For the record Stoney, I love the right to free speech. I am also a fan of the right to be relevant, and thus to write comments that are relevant to posts. I've read your blog, which is is really just cybernautic monomanic hatred of Welsh and Plaid, and I'm not impressed.
I wouldn't for a moment want to stop you speaking - and you have of course no evidence to support that. Disagreeing with you and objecting to your use of this blog as your hobbyhorse racecourse is hardly an attempt at silencing you. I would simply like people who post on this blog to stay relevant, to stop using it as a kind of national gallery of prejudice, and above all to stop it becoming what it seems to become in your hands, namely the welsh internet's game reserve of obsessives and cranks.
Betsan's blog posts are usually intelligent and provoke debate. Try addressing them on their terms, and not using them as pretexts to parade your hates.
If you're not interested in the welsh leadership debate, stay offline. Let those of us who might want to say something about the subject in hand do so.
Simple, no?
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I have also been following Betsan's interesting political blogs and read the comments. No matter what she writes about, the regular moaners here always turn it into a Welsh bashing session. I can't speak Welsh, only English but then i'm also proud to be Welsh.
Please, stick to politics and less of the anti-Welsh views.
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Ignoring the usual anti-Welsh nonsence from many of the comments above and sticking to the issue, if Huw Lewis makes any comments on the leadership issue, then of course it is to do with his campaign and not his Party or Wales. Cut him a little slack though, as he is an ambitious politician.
Whatever decision Rhodri makes, I hope that he takes into account his health. He has recently had a heart scare and needs to reflect on the future. Personally, I believe that he has done his bit and deserves a break.
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It seems that #34 and #35 have much to say, but not about Safe seats, to attack the commentators is fallacious, it contributes nothing to a debate. If you read this particular posting by Betsan, it only becomes / goes off topic when you poke a very long and divisive nose into the proceedings,
The condition of the Welsh separatist politics has become rightfully precarious because of debate found with people such as Betsan Powys, the winners of the next general election are going to be the people who see strength in unity, not those that would destroy our country.
You raised two off topic points, the Welsh language and Plaid, it is well known I am indifferent to the language except where you might wish to use it as a cudgel to bully the people of the United Kingdom, Plaid is different, it is chameleon in nature, it can be anything to anyone who is prepared to listen, Nationalism is a very ugly political system where an elite subjugates the remainder.
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I will only discuss the issue at hand and will not get dragged into any irrelevant discussions led by the usual suspects....so Welsh Labour Leadership:
While UK Labour is split between the Brownites and Blairites, Welsh Labour is split along different lines - between Welsh Labour and Unionist Labour - Huw Lewis seems to have positioned himself clearly as the potential leader of the Unionist wing but there is not an obvious successor to Rhodri on the Welsh wing - Carwyn Jones maybe the probable choice but he is not setting anyones pulses racing....Is anyone else out there??
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UNSEATING THE SAFE SEATS
Rhodri Morgan has a case to answer with regard to my comments that would never get past the moderator. Therefore we are forced to expose issues in around about way in order to shine the light of transparency.
I make no apology for being off message, devolution is a constitutional merry go round where the Assebly says it has no jurisdiction and Westminster says its been devolved.
Asking the question should Rhodri go is like asking should Speaker Martin resign for very similar reasons, and the answer is definately YES.
That leads to the question is his successor going to take the lid off the same abuses of power or is he going to go the same way.
When you address these issues you discover that there is definately a colonial attitude, however, with every colony there is is also the Uncle Tom factor. Those who align themselves with their masters for their own personal gain.
This is reinforced when no Minister, Assembly Member or MP wants to get involved for fear of rocking the boat. Pleas for help are simply ignored, worse still you then hear politicians praising the very peopole you have just complained about.
Add to that a bit of defensive nationalism and any form of cultural imposition including language and the end result is that you get people at each others throats.
Unfortunately this situation is being exploited when it should be exposed, when that happens there is no such thing as a safe seat.
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Jack I don't see the evidence to back your assertion that with English speaking Welsh people Rhodri Morgan is as popular as Redwood was. The reason that he is being urged to stay is precisely because he is popular across all sections of the population in Wales. Now as has been said Huw Lewis is clearly a contender, while the other supposed contenders remain fairly silent. Is it a smart move on his part to be so public?
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Topic-at-hand
Huw Lewis is posturing, and that is all. Perhaps he doubts his own ability to be a unifying leader, and that plays somewhat into it too.
Popular Morgan may or may not retire from politics before the General Election, but that is a mute point really. Its about what Morgan represents; the stable (compared to Westminister) Labour-Plaid coalition government.
Lewis recognizes this fact and is massaging Morgan supporters who he had earlier alienated when he had broke from the coalition deal so publicly. It will cost Lewis nothing at this time to pander to Morgans supporters because sooner or later Morgan will retire. Lewis is obviously younger then Morgan, so he can wait until after a General Election. In the mean time, Lewis overtures to Morgan supporters hailing Morgan as the only one that could get Welsh Labour through a general election, or at least minimize their loses, will score him some points.
If Morgan takes the bait, then Morgan will leave a far stronger Welsh Labour party for Lewis to make his play for. If Morgan retires early and Labour suffers significant loses (which Labour will do weather or not Morgan remains), Lewis can say that he told you so.
Its a win-win for Lewis.
Whatever Morgan decides to do, he will be remembered as a Welsh statesman.
re: post 20 Betsan Powys
Yes, there is something to it that many Welsh Labour members view the absence of Morgan.... and possible leadership by Lewis... as rocking the boat when they face the electorate. Perhaps Lewis too doesn't think he can lead Welsh Labour under those pressures. Like Goldilocks, Lewis wants it just right when he makes his play.
Off-topic
I agree 100 percent with post 12 by daverodway and Lyn_Thomas observations and post 35 by Bob7291. I really I like Betsan Powys blog (/wave at Betsan!) but the anti-Welsh (both the anti-language and anti Welsh nationality) by some commentators here is a real turn off and I am sure many others do not return to the blog because of it.
The times that I do return it seems as if they are mostly talking to themselves anyway.
Its not as though regular contributers dont know their opponents viewpoints, its that they have to rehash the same points over and over when it has nothing at all to do with Powys topic at all.
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"Tony Benn.. ..listening keenly to my piece for S4C and must have been wondering why - of all the day's developments - the Bulgarians were so fascinated by Peter Hain's appointment."
I didn't watch Ms Powys' piece (her word, not mine). I can't for the sake of me think what is 'so fascinating' about Hain's re-appointment. Its more of a disappointment and a missed opportunity. Hain's chameleon-like abilities are geared towards his own advancement rather than for the benefit of Wales. After all, he only came here to get a safe-seat. To overlook 100k is more than carelessness.
Blair and Brown have had a lot of cracked rubber balls bouncing in and out of the Cabinet over the last decade.
Looks like Glenys Kinnock gets her peerage and post as a result of Brown's inability to understand or interact with the fair sex - he's obviously never heard of, 'a woman scorned...'. Glenys' promotion brought the not so 'Welsh' windbag out in support of Mr Bean, probably in the hope that Glenys' job is not shortlived. Both unelected Kinnocks can now work jointly on their Lords' expenses - as if they need the money.
Labour is in meltdown. Rhodri's been in office for ten years, he's also getting on in years. A new face is needed. What we don't need is someone staying on for the sake of a Labour party in deep trouble. We need a person who put Wales first in that job, not their own party or themselves. That's exactly the cause of Labour's problem. Its got a leader and Prime Minister who appears to care only for holding on to his own job - at any price. Its got self-serving MPs, many of whom have milked the system for all its worth.
Huw Lewis is therefore certainly not the person we want as First Minister.
(Footnote: Bryn_Teilo = brynt41. I shall be contributing under my new nick from now on as its more appropriate).
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The sole indication of a European electoral campaign by the Labour Party, in our village, was a single leaflet through the door saying virtually nothing about Europe, and concentrating on raising fears that there would be a return to the darkest days of Thatcherism if the Conservatives 'won'.
Even setting aside the fact that the authors of this pitiful publication had a very low opinion of electors' ability to differentiate between the effects of a Westminster/Assembly election and a European election, it's evident that they remember (or understand) nothing about history. Raising the bogey of a return to old Labour disasters was precisely the propaganda tactic the Conservatives depended on in the 1990s, and which failed them completely in 1997.
The other problem at Welsh Labour headquarters, however, is the lack of money in the coffers to run any campaign of real substance. By the summer of 2007 they were having to make staff redundant. By the spring of 2008 they were unable to pay suppliers' bills on time, and were constantly having to move money between less-indebted budget-heads and more-indebted budget-heads in order to make payments at all.
In short, the Welsh Labour Party is bankrupt for all practical purposes, and has been so for well over a year. How keeping Rhodri Morgan on in his post would remedy that situation is a question Huw Lewis doesn't appear to have addressed yet.
As to the motives for his latest intervention, I'd like to offer the following hypothesis (which doesn't in any way exclude some of the ones given above):
It may be that, finding himself still trailing Carwyn Jones and Edwina Hart in opinion-polls, he has decided he needs to buy time in which to broaden the base of his support beyond South-east Wales. The fact that he announced his letter at a meeting in Rhyl may not be without significance: I do not recall a single notice in the press of his having visited a North Wales community when he was Minister with responsibility for communities. If Rhodri Morgan were to stay on, that would give Mr Lewis more time to make his face and views better known among the party faithful in the north.
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The Labour Party at Cardiff Bay might like to elect a successor to RM who will be able to work with the Llandaff girl.
Her keen interest in keeping chickens should help in her dealings with HRH Elis-Thomas, and his chums of course.
So come on down Huw Lewis .....
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OFF TOPIC
ANYTHING THAT AFFECTS PEOPLES LIVES and CONNECTING WITH THE ELECTORATE
While people are having a moan, what really infuriates me about this or any blog is that those of a political persuasion continue to bicker amongst themselves with petty personal sniping while at the same time dismissing the real concerns of ordinary people.
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Welcome to Wales Bulgarian Betsan!!
Great story, just shows why we need self-determination. If members of the Westminster Parliament are so ignorant to the languages spoken on this island they can hardly have our best interests at heart.
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Very interested to see a post that links "Huw Lewis" to the notion of "safe seats". Something that has been overlooked by political commentators is how abysmal Huw Lewis did in his own seat in the 2007 Assembly elections.
Labour's vote in the Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency dropped to an all-time, record low in 2007; even lower than when they lost to seat to Independent (former Labour) candidate S.O. Davies.
There was a 15.8% swing away from Labour in Huw's seat that benefited the Liberal Democrats, although how much of that loss was due to a strong field of Independent candidates remains unknown.
Labour also performed poorly in the recent local elections, only securing 4 seats at the ballot box (4 were gifted to them at close of nominations) which resulted in them losing majority share in the council for the first time in 30 years.
Combine all this with local indignation at the news Huw has been 'double-dipping' into the expense allowance for his 2nd home in Penarth, at a cost of £26k per year to the Taxpayer and suddenly result is not quite so rosy for the would-be leadership contender.
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37. At 07:10am on 07 Jun 2009, TheStonemason wrote:
It seems that #34 and #35 have much to say, but not about Safe seats, to attack the commentators is fallacious, it contributes nothing to a debate.
Quite true stonemason, I have not added to the debate here, only pointed out what I and others visiting Betsan's blog can see. That you took time to attack my comments just proves my point.
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Peter Hain is already making excuses for tonight's results via the BEEB. All the rumours are based on randon counting of ballot papers being verified upside down. In other words, the stats are at best very rough. We will all have to wait until at least 10pm to start getting the picture.
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Perhaps I'm being too cynical, but I honestly think that Huw Lewis doesn't feel that he's in a position to win the national leadership of his party here in Wales at the moment - his, and his wife's second home situation didn't help very much. I think he just wants the election delayed for as long as possible just in case his own political circumstances improve.
Tonight should be very, very interesting.
By the way, Stonemason, in no. 37 you said:
"Nationalism is a very ugly political system where an elite subjugates the remainder."
- I really don't think you should speak of the millionaire Old-Etonian thugs running your party in such derogatory terms.
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FiDafydd, you bushwhacked me there old fruit .....
..... there are interesting times ahead, starting tonight, indicators only, but interesting.
..... DC has been repeating himself re. a European Treaty referendum, and talking up transferring powers and responsibilities down from government, might this be the beginning of the answer to the English Problem.
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#51 TheStonemason
As it should be - David Cameron adressing the problems of a lack of represenation that the regions of England within the EU have. Who are we and why should we in Wales voice opinions on the rights of our neighbours to seek a better self-determination for themselves. The English Problem should be sorted out by nobody but the English themselves, live and let live....
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52 Cilmyn.I think the English are already beginning to sort things out with the virtual destruction of labour except in old industrial areas and inner city wards which resemble the "third world" rather than a northern european city. These areas are still being held but with the emergence of two BNP successes it clearly shows the tensions being created for white working classes by thus multi cultural entity. In the leafy suburbs/shires the english have thrown off labour (both old and new) and this looks like a "Sea Change" as stated by Jim Callaghan. I think there is also the scottish factor here where the english know what happened to their money being stuffed up to Scotland and that scottish son of the manse continually going on about his "upbringing" quite frankly they've had enough and so have I.
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