Alex Salmond Eats Babies.

The latest issue of Private Eye's (1306 lookalike feature has this.

Since the Eye lamppons everyone in their lookalikes Danny Alexander and Dobby the Elf! We hope Alex sees the joke.

But some of the recent comparisons have not been so funny

The Scottish Libdems  comparing Salmond with a Arab despot

Scottish Labour MP Tom Haris  comparing him to Hitler

And Newsnights Jeremy (The Sneer) Paxman in a live interview comparing him to Robert Mugabe 

Can it be that there is a conspiracy to portray a democratically elected leader who has so far not displayed any more anti-democratic measures than any politician from these Islands who wishes to control the agend.a.
So far Alex Salmond seems untroubled by these attempts to smear him by comparing him to despots.

Mind you there could be one former leader leader that he might just find  a comparison going too far.

Wales needs a Party of the Left not another Centre right one.

Gwion Owain, the Chair of the Dyffryn Nantlle branch of Plaid Cymru. has written an article on Click on Wales attacking the Left in Plaid Cymru,  arguing that they promote polices that "are trapped positions that have little resonance with the real world of the electorate".

Gwion writes....

I believe that Plaid has rooted it’s socialism more in the intellectual rather than real issues that concern the everyday voter. This can be explained by the over-reliance on policies based on the community and environment rather than those that appeal on an individual level. Contrasted with Labour’s ability to gain the support of those dependent on public services and the welfare system Plaid has wrapped itself up in the Guardianesque politics of the intellectual left. Any textual analysis of Plaid policy documents will lead to this conclusion given the reliance on policies aimed at the community level and the preponderance of policies addressing sustainability and environmental issues.

What is so bloody wrong with being on the  Intellectual Left notwithstanding the Guardianesque jibe. It is reminiscent of people being accused od being a dogooder . Though why this is worse then a dobadder or donothinger is beyond me.

Actually I no longer read the Guardian switching to the Independent because it seemed more in line with my progressive left thinking.

Gwion may have a point on the resonance with the Welsh Public. But  at the moment the idea of Welsh Independence attracts only a small percentage of Welsh Voters  . Should Plaid abandon this because its currently receiving the support of anything like a majority of the people of Wales? Of course not because this is a core belief. Similar  the Blaid should have  a idea of what an  Independent Wales  will look like and be prepared to argue for this even if the vast majority of people are as yet  not enthusiastic about.

That is what Political Parties are about . The shame of the Blair years was the emphasis on focus groups to find out  what the public wanted and shifting policy to meet this . Nothing wrong in listening  to the public, but Political Parties must also argue for what they stand for and be prepared to go on arguing this even if this is rejected until they win through otherwise whats the point in having any beliefs?

Green leader recently committed on question time on Labour's s  recent  move to say  Labour government would not be in a position to commit to reversing the Conservatives' cuts by saying that "Britain doesn't need  another Tory Party"

There has been arguments over Plaids unique selling point (USP) being Independence. But (and I know its an oxymoron) . Why can't we they have more than one USP.

Its all well arguing for Independence . But what sort of Wales will we have .

A mini Britain with 3 or 4 political parties with no real ideological differences all focusing on a dwinderling number of people who vote (whilst wondering why this is) at the beck of call of big business and the banks. Who set thew policies for them.when they are in government.?

Or a beacon of progressive government galvanising the whole of Wales ?


Gwion Owen's article however is clearly  attack on Leanne Wood in particular he writes

Leanne Wood’s leadership election vision makes much play of community ownership of the means of employment. However, Plaid ought to consider very hard before succumbing to the superficial temptation of unrealisable abstractons at this point in it’s history.

What would be unacceptable for a Independent Wales to carry on a system of unfettered Capitalism which as seen our communities from Gwion'sDyffryn Nantlle to Leanne's Rhondda open to the a market that sees successful companies with a hardworking workforce simply move production to another country .Because Labour cost are cheaper and they can make bigger profits   in order that the directors can achieve larger bonuses

Gwion also write..

 There are plenty of further examples of the manner in which Plaid haslocked itself into a certain type of socialist viewpoint which has very limited appeal. We could include the recent debate in the Assembly on smacking unruly children and the impassioned speeches from Plaid members, dismissed by Andrew R.T. Davies as “emotional nonsense”. The nature of these leftist positions have v

Surely sometimes politicians should take up a cause simply because they believe in it . Not because it is popular.. Was abolition of the Death penalty popular? Women's rights over divorce? Gay and Lesbian rights?

The call for the release of Nelson Mandela  "very limited appeal outside the liberal political class" but once he was released it seemed nearly  everyone had believed it it all along


They took place because courageous  politicians fought for them. Politicians should not ignore  a cause simply because it is popular . They should do what they believe is right.

As Caroline Lucus might also have argued . Wales does not need another Tory Party.

The "Tanned One " Remembers

When he was a true radical and man of Conviction.

It seems despite sitting on the Labour Front Benches Peter Hain, in his new autobiography "Outside In" is unafraid to ctiticise  former colleagues

From a Welsh point of interest  he makes the claim that

"Tony Blair and his team never gave Wales "proper respect and attention," 

and

: "At one point it appeared that the secretary of state's post had been abolished, that Wales was being summarily transferred into a department under an unelected peer, Lord Falconer." Mr Hain said the Wales Office was in turmoil, with staff learning about the change via TV.

"For a government supposedly excellent at communicating, this was another example of abject failure - especially if, as later transpired, it had been considered over a period rather than cobbled together at the last minute.

"It was further evidence of Tony Blair and his team never really giving Wales proper respect and attention, contrary to Scotland where the secretary of state's role was pretty minimal because all primary legislation had gone to the Scottish parliament.


"The role of secretary of state for Wales remained crucial, then responsible for all Welsh primary legislation .

This despite his calm role as Northern Ireland Secretary  May 2005 to 2007.was "probably the best job I did". Which er he did whilst Sstill retaining in his Welsh position

In fact his first period of Secretary of State for Wales  202-2008 meant the post was combined with

Leader of the House of Commons, 2003-2005
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, 2005-2007
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, 2007–2008

If he had qualms about his position as Secretary of State for Wale . Why did he accept them?

I haven't read the autobiography yet so can't completely  criticise Hains recollections, but in his review of Hain's Biography  Carl Packman at Left foot forward  makes the claim that

I’m happy to report that on reading Outside In by Peter Hain I did not have the same feeling. In fact one is struck by Hain’s modesty – which I suspect is partly based on his own personal appeal to influences such as Nelson Mandela.

I hope he's right but to mind  the "Tanned  One" has never been a "modest politician".Remember how on the day of the Welsh referendum on law makinf powers  powers Hain seemed to be claiming total credit for it seeming to forget that arcording to Wikileaks

CONFIDENTIAL cables claimed former Welsh Secretary Peter Hain told US Embassy staff Wales should wait five to 10 years before holding a referendum on gaining further powers.

he may deny this but in February 2011 just before the poll he claimed

 “Clearly the Plaid Cymru insistence on holding the referendum before May 2011 is the reason we have a referendum on March 3. We wouldn’t have had one otherwise.

“It’s not the best time to hold a referendum.

“I fear the turnout will be low. But that’s what’s been decided.”

And yet there he was on the BBC sofa on March 4th  giving the impression that he was the architect of the referndum and was the man who deserved all the accolades..

Carl Packman calls Hain a "Conviction Politician" I agree only I think Hain is convinced of his moral superiority. Something he lost when he became just another New Labour hack

No kneesup in Llandudno

News that the Conservatives in Wales have suddenly  canceled their annual Welsh conference just two weeks in advance.

At first it seemed that it was just costs but they now seem to be claiming that security costs had run into thousands of pounds

Can this be just an excuse after all the Tories have huge financial backers who probably be only two willing to make a contribution.

Could it be that there would be a parcity of high profile backers attending as Cameron and Coe concentrte thier energies on the parts of England they neesd support from and actually care about?

Or they need to concentrate on Scotland where they are loosing  the little influence they have and by their sheer arogance have made a yes vote in an Independence referendun more likely.

But suerly the strangest thing that has come out of it is yesterdays  posting by Aberconwy Conservatives which despite the canceled conference being held in Llandudno in the Conwy constituency  of Con MP Guto Bebb and Con AM  Janet Finch-Saunders. makes no mention of the cancellation that would have been a boost to the leisure Industry.

I mean canceling a conference where in the last to elections you made significant gains. Wouldn't it have been worth it just to celebrate?

Scrapheaps they have been to busy trying to explain things to the local Leisure Industry .

If the reason was to concentrate on the May elections it is unlikely to help the 18 councilors in Conwy up for election . They probably expected to lose a few.Now it  may be that there will be a total cull.

Where have all the voters gone?

In 1982 when I was still a Plaid activist . I was one of the small Party members to spend my days fighting the Gower By-election.

One of the candidates John Donovan stood as a Computer Democrat and although he only realised 125 . His idea whilst the concept of the Internet existed  the World Wide Web was a decade that computers could support democracy  was somewhat visionary

So his argument then that there should be a electorate which  constantly voted on issues which may have seen like Science Fiction in 1982 loks almost possible these days and with the growing influence of Petitions triggering debates.in the House of Commons . It could be argued it as already began.

I mention this not because I believe there is  a deep concern in the amount of  people voting in Elections.

In the past Wales used to have the highest turnout of any "Region" of the UK but it has joined the rest it seeing a decline in the number people voting in General Election.

Take the number of voters in Wales in the the Election which saw a New Labour  take Power (1997 and 2010 when they lost.

1997
Total  Number of Votes 1,619,703
Turn out 73.5 %

Lab 886,935/34
Con 317,127/0
Lib/dem 200,020/2
Plaid/161,030/4
Reff 38,245/0
Soc lab 6,203/0
Green 17,018/0
NLP 516/0
Others 7909/0

2010
Total Number of Votes
Lab 531,601/26
Con 382,720/8
LibDem 295,164/3
Plaid 165,394/3
UKIP 35,690/0
BNP 23,0088/0
Green 6,293/0
TUSC 341/0
Others 24,442/0
Soclab 6203/0

From this we  see that it is Labour who have lost the most number of votes due to absenteeism in Wales

And this is reflected into what has happened to the massive votes they used to have in some Welsh Constituencies.

Take Islwyn for Example

1997
Electorate 50,540
Turn out 72.0%
Lab 26,995 74.2%
Libdem 3064 8.4%
Con 2,864  7.9%
Plaid 2,272 6.2%
Reff 1209 3.3%
Maj ority 23931 65.8%

2010
Electorate 54,826
Turnout 34,690
Lab 17,069 49.2%
Con 4,854 14.0%
Plaid 4,518 13.0%
Libdem 3,597 10.4%
Ind 1,495 4.3%
BNP 1,320 3.8%
UKIP 916 2.7%
Ind 901 2.6%
Majority 12,215 35.21%
So Labour has lost over 14000 votes  over the period  that they were in government and seemingly largely due to absent voters.

And they will not be helped by plans to introduce individual registration as outlined here by Plaid MP Jonathan Edwards here as it expected that the changes will increase the number of unregistered voters
as he says

There is surely consensus that the preferred outcome is that all adults who are entitled to vote should be registered. Everyone should be on the electoral roll and have the opportunity to cast their vote at elections. The principle of individual electoral registration is positive—that electors should take upon themselves the responsibility to register to vote in their own right rather than under the aegis of a household. All relevant people should be willing and able to register and should have the same opportunity to do so. However, there might be a disconnect between equality of opportunity and equality of outcome in that although relevant people may register, they might not all actually do so. The Minister said that the Government hoped to learn lessons from Northern Ireland, and I look forward to seeing some of the resulting changes in the Bill. However, I believe that when the changes were introduced in Northern Ireland in 2002—Mark Durkan might wish to correct me—there was a fall of 11% in registered electors, and it has taken more than 10 years to rebuild the figures.

If this true then surely it will be Labour will be the biggest looser.

Already according to the Electoral Commission 6 million people were not registered across the UK.

How can this be?

Why it is impossible to use National Insurance Numbers to automatically register voters in the computer age is beyond me. I'm sure someone can see the flaws. But in 1982 someone had a vision of using computers to increase our democracy surely it would.t me to difficult in 2012 to ensure that they are at least used to ensure people are registered to vote.

A Plaid by any other name

The name of the Irish Political Party Fianna Fáil  is commonly directly  translated into "Soldiers of Destiny" but its official name is "The Republican Party". But I suspect nowhere in Ireland says they are a member of or a supporter of The Republican party.notwithstanding the huge defeat it had in last years election.

Which brings me to the news that commission set up by Plaid Cymru in the face of two poor election results to recommend that Plaid  should consider changing its name to the Welsh National Party.

If you didn't know and I wouldn't blame if you did.  Plaid's English name is currently the "Party of Wales "( a more direct translation). Its been suggested that the name was adopted In order that  Welsh Labour couldn't  Labour it self Welsh Labour - The party of Wales.

Since then has anyone really noticed the Plaid- Party of Wales name on party leaflets?, Hss any member canvassing said . Hello I'm calling on behalf of the Party of Wales? Has any senior Party member used it on a Pol tics pro gramme?Has any journalist or member of the public

Indeed nearly everyone simply refers to the Party as "Plaid Cymru "or simperly  "Plaid" or if they wish to be negative "Welsh Nats" or  even more derogatory " Nats".

Would a name change make any difference I doubt it and I suspect hardly any member will use it . Indeed it will be  largely only the Blaid's opponents who will.

Quite frankly if Plaid wants to link more with English speakers and avoid being seen as a Welsh speaking party it should  concentrate it efforts more in widening  it membership and campaigning more in the South Wales Valleys.Including a  staffed valleys office

So why has the commission come out with the name change proposal which they must know most members will not use ?  Could it be that the Party realised that this would be the major issue taken up with the report? And therefore the main points will be left to the membership and the four leadership contenders to digest rather than the media?

Gareth Hughes on his blog has given us most of the real recommendation  of the commission and I reproduce them below.

• The establishment of a National Academy to revolutionise campaigning and organisation, as well as nurturing the community champions and national leaders of the future.
•  A radical modernisation of the party’s campaigning methods to create a permanently campaigning party equipped with the tools that are necessary for a modern 21st century party.
• The establishment of a more effective mechanism for policy formulation. Ensuring that the skills of members, supporters and external experts are utilised in order to ensure better policy development.
• An acceptance that the Party needs greater clarity over its aims in order to be able to present a coherent and united message to the people of Wales.
• Fundamental changes to the Party’s structures in order to ensure clearer leadership and greater accountability from all Plaid representatives

All of which seem to be the sort of thing any review of any structure would come up with.

Quite frankly the future of Plaid for the next decade will .not be based on a inward revue but on who it elects as its leadership in March and who can galvanize the Party with a vision of a Independent Wales that will unite all of its people. The question is will she  be up to the task

Lay on! Lay on! Lay on! They fail!

I some times wonder whether London Journalists are Lazy or ignorant  rather than simply just opposed to Scottish Independence.

A recent issue of the Express stated that.

The First Minister vowed to press ahead with his own poll to break up Britain despite being warned that the SNP’s proposals would be illegal.

Critics accused Mr Salmond of “panic” after the UK Government said a referendum would be unconstitutional without its authority.

The fact is a little research would point to Autumn 2014 as  always being the most probable date for the Independence referendum,.simply because June of that year will see the 700 anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn and whether you think that it would be cynical or not . The fact is that is that the comparison of an arrogant English Ruler crossing the Border to face a largely peasant army will be made during that year by commentators and you can bet Salmond will be compared to tRobert theBruce to Camerons (Edward 11)

Other comparison of Edward attempting to legitmise is invasion by including disgruntled Scots like the gormer Guardian of Scotland Ingram de Umfraville,( Labour former First Ministers?) will be made.

But Robert had prepared his troops well. They had spent the winter drilling and he had chosen the ideal spot well.

One of the sad fact of the Battle is the presence of Welsh Archers on the English side. Tough hopefully the Welsh will be behind the tanks of the Scottish this time.

I,m not saying that this anniversary will be a major influence in the minds of Scottish voters but it will be an additional factor.

But who lead the invading army this time against Salmond's. Robert the Bruce

In theory it should be current Scottish Secretary Michael Moore but his Liberal Democrats are scarcely more popular in Scotland than the Tories and in recent weeks he has loked little more than Camerons puppet over the Independance issue. and has already made conflicting statements over whether the Scottish Government can legally call  a referendum 

There has been some talk that the Unionist army should be senior scottish politician, and former Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling has been recently spoken of, as it is claimed (at least by London commentators)  he is well respected in Scotland, but perhaps this is  largely because of sympathy from Scottish noters after his mauling (and often semi- racist) from the London media.

And as events have shown Cameron will be unable  to stay out of the issue even though it will not go down well with Scottish Voters . His latest intervention has seen nearly  800 people joining the SNPi n the last few days. Indeed its probably why Labour did comparently well in the 2010 Westminster Election.

Camerons other recent boob has been his attempt to prevent a option of devo-max in the Scottish independence referendum. as  Syniadau.so excewntly points out His instance of the  exclusion of a Devo-Max option will make it more likely for voters tvote for com plete Independence.

I still think it will be hard for the SNP to win an Independence referendum but every time the likes of Cameron seek to interfere makes be more confident that 2014 will see Scotland if not gaining complete Independence will have made a giant stride towards it.

P.S. If you are wondering ? The Title refers to the cry of the Scots as the Battle turned in thier favour.