More half-baked Plaid ideas – more women in politics, by decree.

The BBC reported this week on Plaid leader Leanne Wood’s latest idea – that legislation may be necessary to ensure more women are elected to the Assembly.

Of course she has no real idea of what form that legislation may take – in typical Plaid style it should just happen, the details can be left to someone else.

Her remarks follow on from a call from the Assembly’s Presiding Officer Rosemary Butler for more women to be elected after the percentage of female AMs fell to 44% after the last election, that s 26 out of 60.  (Quite why she has waited until now to point this out is anyone’s guess the election was after all in May 2011.)

Ms Wood said

"Within Plaid Cymru, we have a strong internal democracy which reflects how much we rely on the party membership as a grassroots body.

"The side effect of this is that measures to promote women are not always at their strongest, but must be balanced out with local party control.”

Rather a strange statement really considering that it was only this month after a special conference that Plaid changed their constitution to allow for a one member one vote system. 

Personally I think the whole idea is ridiculos.  Not the idea that there should be more women in the Assembly or at any other level of Government, nothing wrong with that.  But the idea that there needs to be any form of positive discrimination, let alone legislation, to achieve that.

The Assembly in 2006 had 31 women and 29 men, this followed a by election afer the death of Peter Law.  Prior to that it was perfectly gender balanced.  Two out of the four current Party leaders are women – who were elected by an open process on merit not because of any boost given them because they were women.  The Presiding Officer is a woman.  The Cabinet is not as balanced, but to be honest it is difficult to see who they could put in there. 

That was achieved without any engineering so why the panic?

Any form of discrimination is still discrimination.  As long as there is equality of opportunity then the best person for the job should always be the maxim. 

Taxpayers money funds Plaid research by MEP's husband

Well this article on Wales Online explains one thing – where hissing Syd as he is not so affectionately known by many - has been lately.

Syd Morgan is the husband of Jill Evans, Plaid MEP. The article states that he “was until September last year a member of the controlling “bureau” of the Centre Maurits Coppieters (CMC), a Brussels-based organisation that researches European issues from a nationalist perspective” and continues

“During his time as a CMC bureau member, the organisation funded a project undertaken by the Welsh Nationalism Foundation, a body founded by Mr Morgan and his friend Alan Sandry, the author of a book on Plaid Cymru. Mr Sandry is currently a bureau member.

The Welsh Nationalism Foundation is an unincorporated body and does not publish accounts. Potential donors are invited on the body’s website to send cheques to Mr Morgan at the home he shares with Ms Evans in Tonypandy.”
A look at the Welsh Nationalism Foundation website reveals the following statement:

“Objectives- The Welsh Nationalism Foundation is an autonomous association engaged in the research and dissemination of all aspects of civic nationalism in Wales and the rest of Europe. It is affiliated to the Centre Maurits Coppieters (CMC), a European political foundation associated with the European Free Alliance, of which Plaid Cymru is a founder member. The Foundation supports the objective of Wales becoming a member state of European Union at the earliest opportunity.”

There are links to Plaid, and to Jill Evans’ website.

It is not the first time that this subject has been raised. Martin Shipton wrote back in June 2010 about the two day conference the Foundation was holding at which a Plaid line up addressed an audience of Plaid members. The suggestion then, as now, was that public money should not be funding such openly party political ‘research’

Of course it is a bit rich of Labour of Labour to be criticising pubic money being spent for political purposes, they are certainly not whiter than white there, but in this instance they appear to have a point.

Wales Online says that Mr Morgan when asked how much European money the Fundation had received from Centre Maurits Coppieters he said he did not have the information readily at hand, and they should ask the CMC. Yet he is the Treasurer, surely he knows a ball park figure?

Something just does not gel here.

The bare faced cheek of soon to be ex Plaid leader.

Wales Online reports that IEUAN Wyn Jones has launched his strongest attack yet on former Cabinet colleague Carwyn Jones’ handling of the economy, describing him as “complacent” and “living in a parallel universe.”

Apparently Ieuan would have been “embarrassed” to present a programme for Government along the lines of the one Labour produced this week. 

Because of course everything in the garden was so much rosier when IWJ was in charge of the economy in Wales wasn’t it?  How can we forget what an excellent job he did to revitalise the Welsh economy. 

He does have a few sensible words to say – on how Labour in the Bay cannot keep blaming everything on Westminster.  But it is a bit rich for him to condemn the Labour Government for their lack of action (even if it is true) when he himself had so much time to make a difference and failed miserable.

What are Plaid about?

I don’t always agree with everything Matt Withers writes but his column in today’s Wales on Sunday struck a couple of chords.

First his dismissal of Plaid MP Jonathan Edwards complaints regarding a Daily Mail article attacking the Welsh language.

“ “I abhor the appalling and moribund monkey language myself,” wrote Mr Lewis. And so it began.

Yes, it’s obviously untrue – only a lunatic is appalled by another language, moribund means it’s dying when it’s on the rise and there’s nothing remotely simian about it – but should Mr Edwards have contacted the authorities.“

Matt concludes that no, Mr Edwards should not have made such a fuss because it only served to add to the publicity.

The Plaid MP also referred the piece to the Police and the Press Complaints Commission.

Now whilst I agree that the comments made by the author were nonsensical and inaccurate and gave a very negative view of the language it hardly seems worth the time to kick up such a fuss.  But then that is all Plaid can do these days,

It once again begs the question of what is Plaid about?

They have had their day.  We are well down the road to devolution, and they have not been the only ones fighting for the Welsh language for a long time. They can’t make up their mind whether or not they support Independence or not, and chances are the majority of Welsh people wouldn’t anyway.

So where do they go from here? 

Plaid need to get some perspective

The Western Mail reported yesterday some of the ridiculous salaries being paid to senior civil servants and quango members, and yet again you have to wonder why people do not get as incensed about this as the do about the comparatively modest salaries paid to elected members.  Lord Rowe-Beddoe for example receives £35,000 a year for four days’ work a month as one of two deputy chairmen of the UK Statistics Authority.  This equates to a full-time equivalent salary of around £175,000 – significantly more than the Prime Minister, who earns £142,500.

There is a whole list of examples of people who are incredibly well paid including 10 members of the Olympic Delivery Authority on the list who are paid up to £2.1m between them

It is quite frankly disgusting – people on the front line of public service at all levels of Government are facing cuts, yet those at the top of the tree continue to be paid handsomely.

Plaid MP Jonathan Edwards is not happy about the situation.  However, his complaint is that there are so few Welsh people on the list

“The UK Government of whatever colour will always put the needs of London and the South-East of England first as this is where the key swing seats in a Westminster election are situated. The only possible salvation for the people of Wales is the empowerment of the Welsh Government with job creation levers so that we can get on with the job of developing our own conditions to stimulate a vibrant economic environment.”
So it is perfectly acceptable to continue paying out these inflated wages, and setting up these quangos, as long as more of them are in Wales!

Well done Jonathan.

Well said that man

I know he’s a Tory but I do quite like Boris Johnson, and it seems he surrounds himself with aides who are equally as forthright in their opinions.

As reported by the BBC Guto Harri has put Carwyn Jones firmly in his place with regard to his recent bleating about how Wales is not getting enough benefit from the Olympics with regard to hosting events and businesses cashing in.

As Guto points out devolution is supposed to put responsibility as well as power into the hands of the Welsh Government.  What did the Labour – Plaid coalition do to attract more events to Wales?  What help and advice did they give to businesses?

"Did Carwyn, did the other people around him, do enough to offer Wales as a location for different things…………did Welsh politicians make a proper pitch?"

One may well ask.  He goes on to point out

“The days of sitting in Cardiff complaining about what governments in London are doing to Wales have long gone.  Wales now has a medium to behave like an adult, not like a small child complaining.”

Quite right too. 

It seems to be the Labour response to everything – to blame the evil Westminster Government for anything and everything and to abdicate all responsibility for things that are ultimately the responsibility of their Welsh Government Ministers.

Who's making the curry?

Whilst as a Party we have not been without our own problems recently we are certainly not the only ones with problems. 

The Tories are in the midst of a leadership contest having lost their leader at the ballot box. 

Meanwhile some Plaid members obviously wish they were in that situation.  Ieuan has announced he is stepping down but has not given any indication of when that may be. Speculation over who could take over is on-going as you would expect.  Now that Helen Mary has gone who will take over making the curry for the kitchen plotting sessions that were apparently rife during their last attempted leadership coo?

Plaid have found themselves a new Chief Executive – she is Pontypridd resident Rhuanedd Richards who was described by the Western Mail as “one of the most influential people in the party while Ieuan Wyn Jones was Deputy First Minister in the Labour-Plaid coalition.”

She revealed her vision for the future of the party in a Western Mail article , announcing that ‘Plaid Cymru must put forward a vision for the economic renewal of Wales.’

Now what was the portfolio held by Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones during Plaid’s time in the coalition Welsh Government again?  Oh yes of course – he was the Minister for Economic Development. Pity they didn’t have that vision four years ago then perhaps he may actually have achieved something.

The deepest cuts

Wales faces deepest NHS cuts

The BBC carries a report today by a health think tank which says that Wales faces deeper cuts in its NHS budget than any other part of the UK.

Now I am no statistician and figure quite frankly leave me cold, so I am not going to go into long winded comparisons of figures and percentages.  But it is the case that Wales spends more per head than England on the health service anyway but with outcomes for patients that are not as good.

It is why, unlike the Tories, we did not make rash promise to ring fence the health budget in our Assembly manifesto. The question is not of how much money is thrown at the service but of how wisely it is spent.

Under Labour and Plaid it certainly has not yielded the results that we would have hoped for.  Patients are waiting far too long for treatment and operations.  My own father is currently in absolute agony waiting for a hip replacement and has been years getting even as far as having a proper diagnosis and being put on a waiting list.

The health service in Wales is a disgrace.  No disrespect to the hard working and dedicated front line staff, but the management and political direction has not served us well.

Still the majority of the people of Wales are obviously happy with it - they put Labour back in charge after all.

RCT letting down Welsh medium education

Welsh medium education poor relation in RCT

RCT Council has never been particularly interested in Welsh medium education, no matter who is in charge here.  Strange given that the first Welsh medium secondary school in South Wales was in Pontypridd - Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen

The demand is outstripping the availability and parents across the county are being told they will have to make alternative arrangements for their children.  Why?  Thus is nothing new, this has been coming to a head for years and successive Labour and Plaid administrations have done nothing about it.

RCT came into being in 1996 and Labour Councillors generally speaking were very suspicious of those who wanted to see more Welsh medium schools – after all they were sure to be Plaid voters weren’t they?  Wouldn’t want them muddying the gene pool spreading their propaganda.

When Plaid Cymru took control in 1999 there was an expectation amongst parents of children attending and planning to attend Welsh medium schools that things would improve.  They could hardly get worse. YG Rhydfelen was falling down and the only chance for a replacement seemed to be PFI.  YG Cymmer was equally neglected, and there simply were not enough places available to meet the expected demand.

Plaid however did very little.  They did carry on with the PFI bid and build a new schools at Garth Olwg.  This campus encompassed not only the secondary school but provided a new primary school.  But it is too small, just a couple of years after it opened it is already full to bursting.

A new school was promised at Miskin to help meet the demand. Yet instead the Council decided to close YGG Llantrisant and make the new school a replacement for that.  The result?  It too is full already.

Welsh medium education always seems to come a poor second.  Far less money is spent per pupil there than in English medium schools.  Nobody seems to have the foresight or the willingness to look ahead and plan properly.   But then the same can be said with regard to a lot of things in RCT.

When is a u-turn not a u-turn?

Why is it that whenever the government actually listen to the outcome of a consultation opposition members start screaming ‘u-turn’ - such is the case in relation to the announcement that the plans to close coastguard stations will be reviewed?  Plaid are jumping up and down as they like to do shouting that they have ‘bowed to pressure.’Maybe it is because they cannot understand the concept.  Plaid and consultation have never been comfortable bed fellows in my view.  Several years ago for instance when they ran RCT Council they held a so called ‘consultation’ on what type of council structure there should be – Cabinet / cross party Executive, etc.

They had already made up their minds that they wanted a single party Cabinet structure, but the public thought otherwise.  So Plaid (with the aid of the then Chief Executive) decided that the public, simply ‘did not understand the question.’

Labour of course have a completely different approach, they know they are right in all things and so either don’t bother to ask at all, or don’t listen when they do.  Such was the case with regard to the name change of Rhydfelen School.  Hundreds of pupils, staff, governors, past pupils all said they wanted to keep the name, but the ten members of the Labour Cabinet thought otherwise.

It must be very difficult for them then to come to terms with the concept of real consultation where people’s opinions are taken into consideration.

Perhaps Leighton could give them a bit of a lecture on the value of learning.