Now you see him ...
When Assembly Members came together in the chamber this afternoon to discuss the Enterprise and Learning Committee's report on the way the government has so far handled the economic downturn, they expected to see the man in charge of the economy standing up and standing his corner.
He is Ieuan Wyn Jones, the Deputy First Minister, a man who "comes across like a good country solicitor" according to fellow Plaid member Adam Price , a man who came across like the Scarlet Pimpernel this afternoon, according to his fellow Assembly Members.
They seek him here, they seek him there ... or more appropriate after this afternoon's events perhaps, now you see him, now you don't.
The Deputy First Minister was in the chamber earlier, answering questions and facing flak. There's growing cross party pressure on him over the alleged delays in the scheme to dual the A465 Heads of the Valleys road. At economy questions today, he faced the wrath of Huw Lewis, whose increasingly vociferous campaign on the issue is reaching new levels of anger. He was joined by Mike German from the Lib Dems, and William Graham from the Tories - both reflecting deep unease that there are still no confirmed start dates for several key stretches of the road.
And as the rhetoric gets stronger, the positions become more entrenched. Mr Jones' opponents claim that precious capital resources are being sucked into improving north-south routes - at the expense of east-west, particularly the A465, the dualling of which is seen as vital to the economic regeneration of the Heads of the Valleys area. It's claimed what amounts to a Plaid Cymru nation building exercise is holding up much needed help for one of Wales's most deprived areas.
Not so, says Mr Jones. I've told you and I'll tell you again. I inherited the reprioritisation programme from my (Labour) predecessor in the job, who in turn made his decisions on the basis of expert advice on the complex issue of programming trunk road improvements. All I'm doing is sticking to a time table set by a Labour Minister.
The conflict derives from the four yearly cycle of announcing priorities for trunk roads - which means when it "crosses" ministers - 2004 report under Andrew Davies, then 2008 report under Ieuan Wyn Jones. There's no obvious way of divining who made which decision and when.
But having faced down the barrage of criticism in the chamber, Mr Jones then decided to hit the road himself.
He was gone.
Who stood up on behalf of the government to respond to a heated debate on the way they've handled the recession? John Griffiths, a deputy Minister in the Education department.
Where was Mr Jones, AMs demanded to know? The Minister for the Economy had "urgent ministerial business" to attend to, ventured Mr Griffiths. In fact his own appearance showed that there was joined up working between their respective departments.
They didn't buy it. The urbane and rarely ruffled Conservative Economy spokesman David Melding raised his voice. That in itself deserved raised eyebrows. This was "truly pathetic" he said. Was this "what passes for leadership in the Welsh Assembly Government?" The Lib Dems, with Jenny Randerson leading the charge, went for "a discourtesy" to his fellow AMs.
Even the - Plaid - chair of the committee, Gareth Jones couldn't help adding that he'd been "a little surprised" by the Deputy First Minister's absence.
So where was he?
He had "a long standing engagement dating back months to attend a conference this afternoon on the economic crisis organised by the Welsh Governance Centre." And anyway given the Enterprise and Learning Committee's report covered the work of the education department as well as the department for the economy, it was entirely appropriate that the Deputy Minister for Skills should respond to the debate.
We seek him ... and find him in the Hilton Hotel, where his speech, according to some anyway, was shifted from a quarter past four to four o'clock. Maybe.
What's significant here? That Mr Jones is gaining a reputation amongst an increasing number of AMs for not responding quickly enough to their queries, not taking them and their job of scrutinising what he does seriously enough; that it's hard to avoid the feeling he's being targetted by those who suggest that being DFM and holding such a crucial portfolio must be very hard work indeed. You know what they mean - perhaps a bit too hard these days.
Mr Jones may argue, as a good country solicitor might, that the facts suggest otherwise.
He's answered questions on the government's handling of the economy many times before .The ProAct and ReAct schemes - yes, those again - have generally gone down well. His department is working overtime to respond to what is a global crisis.
But perceptions and reputations are equally important and a good country solicitor ought to know that too.
I'm Betsan Powys, BBC Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on 
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~35~RS~)
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It sits well with Flash Bang Wallop by Tommy Steele in the musical comedy Half a Sixpence, is our erstwhile Ieuan Wyn Jones mimicking Arthur Kipps who unexpectedly inherits a fortune, and climbs the social ladder before losing everything and realizing that you just can't buy happiness, you can only fool the people for a short time too.
Another example of poor governance, enough said.
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Ieuan Wyn Jones...is that the best that Plaid can do?
Doesn't come across like a "good country solicitor" here does he...
Read for yourself..
http://www.newswales.co.uk/index.php?F=1&id=3048§ion=Politics
Glenys Kinnock and David Dimblebey, with embarrassing ease, wipe the floor with him
After that he should have packed in politics and gone back to his "good country practice"....But what happened instead...Plaid Cymru, being short on talent, appointed him leader.
Amazing.
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Er... Labour party agreed the policy before IWJ came in. IWJ said so and riffiths admitted it. What more do they want? Is Huw Lewis a member of the 'no roads for north and mid-Wales' gang? No Roads for Gogs! Perhaps he fears North and MId--walians might actually use a decent road and come down south, thereby ending the dreadful parochial hegemony of the South Wales Labour Party.
I dunno where anyone else has been for the last 12 years, but I've been in Wales, and as far as I can tell Labour have been in power for all that time, preceded by the tories. I think, frankly, that if the roads aren't good enough now, it's surely the business of the two parties that have held unwavering sway over this country and its infrastructure rather than a minister who's inherited an existing policy, even if he is from Plaid and therefore detested beyond all rational thought by our chums Noah (he of the 'English speakers are more sophisticated' school of thought) and Stoney.
Poor Plaid - taking the flak for the ineptitude and tribalism of their powerful opponents, who seem to be supported by the internet's quickest (off the mark, rather than intellectually) pointyheads, Stoney and Noah.
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There is no doubt that Ieuan Wyn Jones, the Deputy First Minister, is taking flak for what has gone on before his time in office to his own advantage!
Mr Jones.I've told you and I'll tell you again. I inherited the reprioritisation programme from my (Labour) predecessor in the job, who in turn made his decisions on the basis of expert advice. This expert advice is being kept secret to make sure we the people do not know what is going on.
He is using all that was wrong with the past to justifying the continued government by stealth and secrecy in order to lead us down a 'road' of fear uncertainty and doubt that people will inherit and then ask how did we end up here?
There are positive signs that some people are trying to bring about a change in the way we are governed, instead of a change of government.
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Sounds like some Tory & Lib Dem nonentities are trying to drag the Assembly down to the farcical behaviour of Westminster. I'm not even sure that there's even a story here, other than the good news that someone is actually trying to improve the links between north & south.
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This is the point, north south links are awful. Yes the Heads of the Valleys road does need improving but how much more will the Labour Party take of Huw Lewis campaigning for the leadership against his own party's policy? In an ideal world we would have all the money that we need to invest in the links that we need - however we have small amount of money, money that will grow less. The North South improvements are tiny and well over due. The Heads of The Valleys road is awful but still better than many of the sections of road to be improved. If the National Assembly had proper fiscal powers then bonds could be sold to raise money to pay for such infrastructure improvements - Heads of The Valleys, good North South Link, reopening of the Aberystwyth to Carmarthen rail line, relinking Radyr to Coryton train lines, Extending high quality roads from Pont Abraham to Fishguard and Pembroke Dock etc. However the money isn't there and there is no sign that Westminster will allow it. So given the small budget cuts are made. You inherit a spending program from your predecessor, you run with it until you can change priorities. Perhaps Huw Lewis would be better employed directing his fire at the devolution settlement that strangles our ability to fund properly what needs doing.
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Great commentary Betsan - great to hear a little bit more about what's going down in the Bay.
As with most political issues, what seems to be driving this debate is either a) self-interest b) vote-mongering or c) tragic attempts to cause uproar when what's really needed is serious debate.
I would say that the real question here is whether the system of trunk road prioritisation is currently working and, if not, should we (as a nation) change it? If only the AMs could work for the benefit of the nation rather than continually points-scoring.
That aside, I think that IWJ has actually done a fairly solid job as both DFM and Minister for Transport/Economy. However, I think even the most die-hard Plaid supporter would agree that, despite being very capable, he's not a winning personality.
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The A465 plans have not changed from when the previous Transport Minister set them. The current plans for improving the North South links are chicken feed compared to the cost of completing the A465 dualling and ant food when compared to any proposals for an M4 relief road (which by the way will never happen because it cannot be afforded).
The proposals for the N-S improvements are of course part of the One Wales Agreement but as Huw Lewis never supported it, what do you expect?
To pretend that the dualling of the A465 will solve the poverty problems of the Valleys is misleading to say the least. It has to be a staged process and cannot be done in a manner that deprives the rest of Wales. The disgraceful and embarrassing N-S links are a legacy of previous London Governments and are issues that both Labour and opposition parties are keen to raise at other times.
We are not talking here of spending billions on dualling from N-S, but millions on removing hair-pin bends and single lanes along our main national routes. At long last, a Minister has come along to try to do something about it and it clearly annoys Huw Lewis and the other parties, that he happens to be Plaid.
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Huw Lewis of Penarth (where the road links are pretty good) and his wife, also of Penarth (despite each of them representing and having homes in constituencies less than an hour from Cardiff Bay) thinks that a North-South road is 'political', whereas a road between Cardiff and his constituency isn't.
No Roads for Gogs! Is that Huw Lewis's new platform?
And wasn't he a minister in the government whose decisions he's now attacking? Indeed, come to that, wasn't he a minister for social justice in the very government whose social justice policies he's been attacking now that he's out of cabinet?
No wonder Ieuan Wyn Jones left - being abused by self-seeking amnesiac hypocrites isn't my idea of political debates either.
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Call me simplistic, but if Welsh Labour was either capable of or interested in solving the poverty issues of South Wales, where they have all their constituencies, don't you think they'd actually have done it - or improved things even a little - in the 12 years they've been in power in Westminster and the 11 they've run the show in Cardiff Bay?
Just a question...
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Just to clarify things, Labour set back the date to start the next element of dualling the A465 in 2005, but kept it quiet. This could well have been budget constraints but the reason why IWJ is not making a song and dance about it is because a current coalition Minister (Andrew Davies) made the decision. He is showing loyalty and not making an issue of it.
Then we have Huw Lewis and Alun Davies, both of whom are aware of this and of the One Wales policy. However, they see a chance to put the boot into IWJ due to his loyalty to a Labour coalition colleague.
To make things even more bizarre, Huw Lewis is jumping up and down for his constituency on this one, yet the stretch of road in question will actually have little affect on the economic prospects on Merthyr as it is to the west and not east of his home town. Unless he wants to circum-navigate the earth to get to the English market, what is he talking about?
Frankly, the only coverage this story should be getting is the pathetic attempt by Lewis and Davies to attack IWJ, when it was in fact their own party that delayed the road scheme.
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Good Morning Daverodway,
First of all may I compliment you on your wholehearted defence of little Ieuan. It must be clear to all that you are extremely fond of him. It is also patently obvious to some that our pocket-battleship assistant leader favours better roads in the northern wastelands(smelling salts for Dave) than along the Heads of the Valleys deathtrap.
Our Ieuan must now realise that any delay in the 'dualing' of the Heads of the Valleys road will undoubtedly result in yet more accidents and deaths, especially during wintertime.
He must also surely realise that there are many nasty sods like me who will not fail to point out the reasons WHY such a delay has occurred. This pointing out being particularly vocal after each and every bad/fatal accident happens on the unimproved A465.
I appreciate that our Dave will be horrified at this suggestion, and will no doubt diligently seek out further quotes of mine, along the lines of "the English are more sophisticated" which Dave, to my delight and amusement you regularly churn out.
It really is obvious just what our diminutive little friend was up to, and I have a sneaky suspicion that the "Friends of Ieuan" have also had their loyalty somewhat stretched over this. But there again maybe they don't live down here in the sohisticated south.
By the way Dave, your message (4) Where you call me a 'Pointyhead'...stunning stuff!!! Your wit has reached new levels. The likes of Frankie Boyle, Sean Lock, Michael McIntyre, and Rodd Gilbert all tell me how much they anticipate your every contribution on here.
Keep it up Dave !
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Re 12
I think Noa rather fancies himself as a comedian - well, we all have our own private disappointments.
Just a question though. Does Noa not mind accidents and deaths happenning elsewhere? Or only the sophisticated Heads of the Valleys type?
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FiDafydd.(message 13)
Are you incapable of correctly spelling the names of those to which you reply? Or is it as I suspect, that you see your deliberate misspelling as some sort of witty riposte? Either way your sad little ploy leaves you with little credit.
The A465 has claimed many lives during it's existence. Whoever decided it should be a single lane road clearly had no idea of the madness their decision would cause.Quite apart from the safety aspect, the 'dualling' of this road will open up Neath,Port Talbot, Swansea, Llanelli, as well as all the holiday destinations to the West. It will draw the traffic to and from the Midlands/Hereford/Shropshire/Worcester. Thus cutting out the need to use the already overloaded M4.
Of course all loss of life on our roads is a tragedy. So surely it makes sense to sort out the worst roads in this respect.
Although by now I am well used to your dull humourless approach. Being an optimist I live in hope that one day you might come out with something that might at least bring a semblence of a smile to some on here. I really believe that somewhere deep in the FiDafydd psyche, there is a droll stand-up comedian with perfect timing,waiting to jump out and send a Glee Club audience into hysterics !
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Re 14
There, I've been told by a master of comedy!
All I'm saying is that there are many roads in Wales that need work done on them, and many of those are death-traps also. So fair's fair.
It's Noa in my Bible! And what is the point of that 'h'?
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