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.

Beware of the German.

With the Plaid-Labour/Red-Green coalition still on the cards, any messages from the Lib Dems need to be taken with a serious health warning. Mike German and the Lib Dems will say anything and do anything to try and kill off the Red-Green coalition, and his recent message of "If the Rainbow fails we will look for a Coaltion with Labour" is a clear example of such an obvious attempt to try and kill off any deal between Labour and Plaid. As pointed out by another Lib Dem AM, that Mike German does not have the authourity to do such a move.

Labour and Plaid must not be sucked in by Mike German's words, which is nothing but an attempt to try and drive a wedge between Labour and Plaid, playing on the feelings of both party members. The Lib Dems have no intention of forming a coalition with Labour, they are playing Machiavellian politics, so that the Lib Dems get their feet under the cabinet table with a Rainbow Coalition.

The only choice for Labour, is that we go into coalition with Plaid for the next term of the Assembly (obviously after every Assembly election, all options should be re-opened), it be disasterous for Wales if the Tories got their hands back on power, and it would be a massive victory for David Cameron and would help him in the next Gerneral Election since he be able to point to Wales and say "Look, we have changed, look at Wales, and what we are doing there."

We must push ahead with the Plaid-Labour coalition, and do everything we can to get it up and running, and if we are to go into oppisition, it should be because we are forced into it, and not because we walked away, or allowed the Lib Dems to drive appart Labour and Plaid. However, the main goal of the talks needs to be a Red-Green coalition, that will last the full term of the Assembly.


(On another note, Labour's sister party, The French Socialist Party has lost the election, hopefully it only be for a short period.)

Was the assassin's bullet fired tonight?

The Liberal Democrats in Wales rejecting to do deals with either Labour or Plaid and the Tories, has left Wales in political limbo. Will we see a Lab-Plaid informal coalition (or formal with any luck?) Or will Labour trot on in a minority government for a while, until something better for Wales can be sorted out (Lab-Lib, Plaid-Lab or other, since a minority government is not good for Wales) ? Or will Plaid and Tories try and go it alone with the sort of Trish Law (not at all likely, and electoral suicide for Plaid and Trish.)

However you have to wonder if tonight was the firing of the assassin's bullet at Mike German in the Liberal Democrats, otherwise why else would they want to turn down a deal with both Labour and Plaid+Tories? It makes little sense to me, since either way they would have seen Liberal Democrat policies on the table and put into action, and Liberal Democratic ministers around the cabinet table.

The argument about the Welsh people not wanting Labour nor the Tories, nor Plaid in government is mute, because the Welsh people want a government and a majority of them did vote for a majority government, be it Plaid-Lab, Lib-Lab, Rainbow or other. They do not want a minority Labour government, not even Labour members want that (at least ones with any sense), and they definitely do not want to see another election in a few weeks time, they would disastrous for the three main political parties (Labour, Plaid, Tories) and especially the Lib Dems (don't think they deserve to be called a main party after this), as well as devolution and Wales as a whole, it could even set back a referendum on further law making powers for a long time, and that would be a very Bad thing, since Wales needs more powers.

I feel this was internal Liberal Democrat politics, and if it is, the Welsh voters should not and hopefully will not forgive the Liberal Democrats too easy, and their reputation will be knocked for six. The Lib Dems will be damaged for this, but I fear the damage will leak over to all the other parties, especially Labour and Plaid Cymru.

This could be the biggest disaster to hit devolution, and it is now up to Labour and Plaid Cymru to sort something out fast and come to a face saving compromise for Labour, for Plaid and for Wales and Welsh devolution, or otherwise Wales will become a massive laughing stock and public opinion on devolution will drop like a stone, and that is something I don't think anyone in Welsh politics wants.