The Anti-Devolution camp beware, more people want full law making powers.

A poll by the Insitute of Welsh Politics, University of Wales, Aberystwyth has shown an increased support for full-law making powers and a Welsh Parliament, since the narrow yes victory 10 years ago. 43% polled now want a full law making parliament, and this goes to over 50% for the under 35s, Labour especally must take heed of this, as the younger generation yarn for full law making powers.

Labour must return to the party of Welsh devolution, and not allow Plaid, the Lib Dems and even the Tories to push Labour out of that territory and into being seen as an Anti-Welsh Party, Welsh Labour needs to act back in the interests of the Welsh people and not the Labour MPs and Labour's majority in Westminister, otherwise Welsh Labour could suffer a real kicking at the next Assembly elections, not to mention loosing seats at Westminister and council elections, as the young seek more powers for Wales.

However to have a victory for a full law making parliament, the yes camp will need to motivate and organise the young to come out to vote, and vote yes. What could be a killer blow to the yes vote is apathy, like it nearly was in 1997, not only do do the yes camp need to win the arguement, but they also must get yes voters out to the polls.

The poll is encouraging, but it also shows that there is still some work to be done, and that some work does need to be done to convince the people who are unsure of which way they will vote.

People shouldn't fear that this will lead to independence, because if that comes, then that will be a different referendum, and that should not be hi-jacked by those who would want to protray this as a vote for independence.

Wales and the Welsh Assembly can do more and can achieve more for Wales, they need to be givnet he opportunity to make a serious difference to Wales and make sure that the clear red water between Cardiff and Westminsiter remains, and gets more clearer, so that we can have a real Welsh way of doing things and expand on the conventions and the Welsh way that is already in place over the pass decade of devolution.

That said, we cannot rush into a referendum on full law making powers, a defeated referendum will set back the yes vote for a generation, but, as I said, the poll from the Insitute of Welsh Affairs, is very promising and encourging, and that during this term a yes vote can be won.

A New dawn for Wales?

Plaid had a very important descion to make today, do they join the All Wales Accord and form a coalition with the Tories and the Liberal Democrats, or to form a coalition with Welsh Labour and deliever a strong, centre-left, progressive government. The anwser was that they would form a progrssive coalition with Labour, and the "One Wales" document is a very good one, that offers a real opportunities to improve Wales.

One of the first commitments in the documents is a referendum on a scottish stlye parliament (finally), if public opinion permits it that is, and with a recent BBC poll giving support for a full-law making parliament with power to vary taxes being at 47%, with 44% against, if this poll is accurate then it indicates that there is still a sizable propotion of Wales that wants a parliament,however I believe that they can be won around, and have to be, because if we don't and hold a referendum that fails, it would be disasterous for both Plaid and devolutionists in other parties.

The next big thingis the ideas for the NHS, this document will end any threat and what little Privatisation that had happend in the NHS in Wales (and it was little) and will make sure that the Welsh NHS is fully publically owned, and remains true to the socialist principles, that the great Welsh man, Nye Bevan, founded them on. With no internal market,

The ending of PFIs in Wales, and private sector NHS hospitals is a huge, and positive step for Wales to take, and will greatly improve our health service in Wales, I think, since PFIs have shown to be a waste of public money in England and would have done the same here, Wales must show that an NHS true to it's socialist principles can work, and that it works better then the New "Labour" model, that would might help the centre-left in England win the arguement on the NHS, and end the PFI, privatisation programmes there, with Wales once again, leading the way.

The suspention of the right to buy, in areas were there is housing shortages, is another positive and progressive step, and another example of what the new Prime Minister Gordon Brown, can learn from this "One Wales" document. The housing crisis in Britain vcalls for radical action, and this kind of action might help end the crisis, along with the other actions also promised in the "One Wales" document, which includes more funding for social houses, and more. This again is a quiet a strong, social democratic, move by the "One Wales" document, and something which both members of Plaid and Labour should be proud of, if it is delieverd on.

The Welsh Language also does well in this, with extra funding, a new Welsh language act and more Welsh medium education, all of which will help protect and promote the Welsh language, which needs to be protected since it is a vital part of Welsh society, our culture and pyshe (although it should not be protected at the expense of English speakers, it does not have to be a "Zero Sum Game", as some in both Welsh Labour and Plaid seem to think.)

Even though I haven't gone through that I think is fantastic in this document (and there is a lot I really like), I think that this document is a radical, progressive piece that, if implement, will go a long why to improving Wales for everyone.


The Red-Green coalition is a sign that both Welsh Labour and Plaid has matured as political parties, and that the Welsh Assembly, after 8 years, has finally come of age, and is functioning like it is meant to, as a system of coalition government, of co-operation and that will improve the lives of the Welsh people, and when that starts to happen, and is showing to happen, I am sure that the Welsh people will entrust the Assembly with Scottish stlye, full law making and tax varying powers.