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.

Labour must re-offer Plaid a formal deal

Adam Price the Senior Plaid Cymru MP has called upon Welsh Labour to re-offer Plaid a Red-Green Coalition (here and here) and there is a serious case for Welsh Labour to offer such an agreement to Plaid Cymru and go into a red-green coalition, and the reasons for which are the following:

Firstly the current minority government, going along with 'progressive agreements' is unsustainable, Labour cannot keep saying to the opposition, "here we will do this for you, by the way here is our backside give it a kick while you at it" because sooner or later they will kick it hard enough to get Labour out of the door and into opposition, and would end up damaging how electable Welsh Labour is for quite a while. It is also even more important that we get a working consensus in the Assembly, Wales cannot cope with an unstable government that could fall at any moment, it would not be good for the people of Wales, nor will it be good for Welsh democracy. A struggling government trotting along for months with an opposition just waiting to get the boot in, is very, very bad for the governance of Wales, and would be the fault of both Welsh Labour and the current opposition parties, and the Welsh public shouldn’t forgive any of them, if they were to allow this farce to go ahead, like it is at the moment.

Another reason why Labour needs to team up with Plaid, is because it would be the best thing to get a radical, centre-left and hopefully socialist agenda on the cards. This would have to include getting a full-law making parliament, like the one Scotland has. This is because the current Assembly’s powers is too limited to make any real impact on fighting poverty and inequality in Wales. A full-law making parliament however would give Wales the ability to make serious measures to bring more social justice, fairness and equality to Wales. However a full-law making parliament in Wales should only be an ‘end to a means’ (more social justice), rather then Plaid’s means to a end (independence). Plaid should no-longer be seen as the enemy, or as an reactionary nasty nationalist party, but as an ally in the cause of making Wales a progressive nation.

There is also the case that, if Labour attempt to conduct a coalition deal with Plaid, in an open, honest, serious and fair manner, willing to listen and concede on many issues with Plaid, all talks must be done as openly as possible. This way we could put the ball in Plaid’s court. Plaid would have to show their hand, they would either have to come into a coalition with Welsh Labour, or turn around and admit that they want power for themselves, and don’t even want to listen seriously to what Labour have to offer (if the latter is indeed what Plaid want.) However if that is to work, Welsh Labour would have to give Plaid no real excuse to turn down the deal, and do anything reasonably possible from Labour’s end.

The way forward for Wales is Red-Green coalition with Plaid, that would give Wales what they really voted for in the Assembly elections, and would bring Wales forward into a modern and mature democracy, with the radical ideas and progressive values to improve the value of life for everyone in Wales.

Time to build a progressive alliance, and let the left really win in Wales

The election of Rhodri Morgan as First Minister under a minority Welsh Labour government, is firstly a victory of progressive, left wing socialist politics and shows that, in Wales at least, the European left is very much still alive. In fact 63% voted for progressive centre-left parties in Wales (Welsh Labour, Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats), and they have gotten what they wanted, NO Tories in the cabinent. The fact is Labour, Plaid and the Liberal Democrats have more in common with each other, then they do with the Conservative Party, and people like Darren Miller AM (Tory).

The make-up of the third Assembly and the (hopefully long term) end of the "Rainbow Allaince" has given Wales a unique opportunity to go down a new path, a path were Labour,Plaid and the Liberal Democrats co-operate more closely and work together for a common goal. However this will require a change in attitudes in all the political parties, especally Welsh Labour, who haven't had the same opportunity as Plaid, Tories and Liberals have of co-operation during the past term of government.

Welsh Labour must forgive Ieuan for wanting to jump into bed with the Tory Party, it is understandable that he wanted to be First Minister at any cost, however that does not make Plaid Cymru "weak dafodil Tories" and I do not believe the party are a reactionary right wing party. The Liberal Democrats are another matter, since they swing all over the place.

During this next term, Welsh Labour need to learn and modernise itself to adapt to the Propotional Representation which Wales has, through the minority government it has to learn about co-operation, cabinet coalition and working with other parties for a common goal. The Welsh Labour Party also need to modernise in other ways (however I do NOT mean becoming another Blairite New "Labour" party as that would be disasterous), but that is another matter.