Time to talk
Tuesday, June 05, 2007

It's 'don't turn up' Tuesday.

First of all, Plaid AMs Leanne Wood and Bethan Jenkins will give the Queen's official opening of the assembly a miss, then Rhodri Morgan will be the only party leader absent from a Week in Week Out special examining what the hell is going on at the top of Welsh government.

Fresh from gaining Wales' first super-ministry, Carwyn Jones will deputise. A sign of things to come, perhaps? Nevertheless, the first minister's absence does rather undermine the point of the programme.

We want answers, and only Rhodri Morgan truly knows what cocked up went on over the past few weeks. It'll certainly be interesting to see how upfront the leaders of the other parties are willing to be about a timetable for a possible rainbow coalition coup.

What are the bottom line issues? And even then, can the government do anything to save its back?

The reality is, surely, that the opposition parties can keep upping the anti. If Labour put all their eggs in one basket, the rainbow partners can just crack them in their face. Labour may offer concessions over hospital reconfiguration, for example, but if they don't go as far as Ieuan Wyn Jones and his buddies demand, then they could have the rug pulled from beneath them at any time.

Personally, I can't see consensus politics going beyond agreeing that this afternoon's champagne is indeed a very good vintage.

Which brings me back to those dungaree-clad social workers, as some of you have so crassly described them in the comments to what was an otherwise quite interesting debate.

And that is surely the point. We had a debate.

Whether or not you agree with Bethan and Leanne, it is vital that we have the argument about the role of the monarchy from time to time. Unfortunately, there is almost no space for the type of views held by these two politicians in the mainstream media, despite the fact that they are shared by a sizable proportion of the population.

Do we elect our leaders or does the Queen appoint them? Are we subjects or citizens? Who decides whether or not we go to war? And is the Queen really the best person to open our assembly?

These are all questions of fundamental importance. They deserve to be discussed. Regrettably, opportunities to do so are all too rare.

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posted by Blamerbell @ 12:43 am, ,


Plaid leader puts women in their place
Thursday, March 08, 2007

Shocking news from the BBC's sound and frequent blogger, David Cornock.

Plaid's Adam Price MP has been eulogising about his party's leader in the assembly. Sorry, did I say 'eulogising'? I meant to say 'indelibly tarnishing the image of'.

Because the best he could do to describe the man whose responsibility it is to be the face of Plaid in these testing pre-election months was to say:

"He's a good country solicitor, that is the way he comes across."

Well, if the local Rotary Club can spare him to take part in the policy writing process I shall look forward to reading about planning disputes and divorce proceedings in the Plaid manifesto before long.

Most surprising, however, was what came next:

"He's punctual, he's a good negotiator, a good man and woman manager, he gets the job done. That is what a lot of people are looking for in a first minister."

Yes, a decent bloke and someone who knows how to deal with the missus. I suppose it depends on how you read the stress:) But with women like Leanne Wood and Helen Mary Jones sitting stubbornly in the Senedd, and the almost unbendable Bethan Jenkins soon to join them, he'll need all the woman managing skills he can muster.

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posted by Blamerbell @ 8:34 am, ,


Peter Black v Bethan Jenkins
Wednesday, January 10, 2007

King of the Welsh political blogosphere takes on the young rogue who, I know from experience, wouldn't accept a royal title even in this fictional context.

Peter Black is a Lib Dem regional member for South Wales West. After the next Assembly election, he and Bethan Jenkins will be colleagues of sorts, as she tops Plaid's regional list in the same area.

Up until now, they've been treading on each other's toes in the local press, and possibly on the streets of Swansea too. Today, they're battling it out in the blogosphere.

Bethan says Peter's exploiting student issues just because we're approaching an election. Peter asks if Plaid can pay for its tuition fee promises and proceeds to spam the comments with Lib Dem hyperlinks.

There are those in all parties who are extremely sceptical about political blogs. But, as long as the debate sticks firmly with policy I believe it's healthy that this sort of discussion is happening online, especially one relating to youth issues.

The danger is that arguments between politcians degenerate into the cattiness that characterises so many other blogs. It would not reflect very well on an already beleaguered political class.

In the meantime, why not use the internet as a battelground for the student vote? Students are, after all, more likely to read a blog than tune in to political TV.

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posted by Blamerbell @ 4:38 pm, ,


Bethan is a blogger
Monday, January 08, 2007

Plaid Cymru have woken up, smelt the coffee, put the coffee down because they thought it would reveal too much to the opposition and it wasn't a great way of communicating with voters anyway, had second thoughts, smelt the coffee again and started blogging.

What that meandering metaphor is getting at is that blogging might just be a useful campaign tool for an aspiring young politician. Plaid Cymru election candidate Bethan Jenkins has started one over on bethanjenkins.blogspot.com and it looks set to be a lively addition to the Welsh blogosphere.

On sex and deliberately avoiding to write 'Britain' or the 'UK':
Part of the problem is that in many areas of Wales, Scotland, England, Ireland, there is nothing better to do than drink, take drugs and have sex.

On Welsh Assembly blogging:
I don't sit easy with complimenting Peter Black or Leighton Andrews, but on this occasion I will prove to be the exception I never thought I could be! I think that the fact that they blog as Politicians is positive and is a novel way of reaching out to people who perhaps don't read the papers or watch the news that often. To us politicians, that seems far fetched...but true!

On speaking for Leighton Andrews:
Leighton Andrews's comments in the Western Mail are a direct challenge to Rhodri Morgan's leadership. Where once their Tory/ Plaid line held water with the media and constituents alike, this strategy is now dead in the water. He knows this, and is telling Rhodri Morgan that he must act now or risk losing votes in May.

On mixed metaphors:
Get your socks on and blog more often! One blog every blue moon is a waste...

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posted by Blamerbell @ 5:03 pm, ,