Monday 20 December 2010

Can the Yes campaign attack the Westminster cuts?

Both Valleys Mam and Plaid Wrecsam have drawn attention to the spat between Peter Black and  Leighton Andrews on Twitter and both used the "Handbags at Dawn" simile. The argument between our two "distinguished" politics highlighted with Peter calling Leighton a cretin.

However we must look at the deeper implications of this unedifying  correspondence. and it is simply can a Yes campaign be run in favour increasing powers for National Assembly without making a comparison with a Right of centre Westminster coalition and Left of centre  Assembly government.

Clearly if this argument  was to be carried out by the Yes campaign it would be difficult for the Lib-Dems and Tories who support the measures to back the official campaign and whilst there could well be a advantage (which has not happened in previous referenda) in making such a comparisons wit a Tory led government it does seem that unless Labour are prepared to be accused of sacrificing National unity for future political advantage, they should cease to make such an argument through the "Yes" campaign.

And yet it would mean that those who were seeking greater powers could be loosing a major advantage.Perhaps  the next Yougov poll on the referendum in Wales should ask the question.

Do you believe that greater powers to the Welsh Assembly will make Wales less or more vulnerable to cuts from Westminster?

Some would argue that this is far from the point of the proposals, and any argument in this manner would be a false one. However the campaign could well be won or lost on such an argument that Wales will be better protected by a more powerful Assembly;But can the "Yes" campaign make such a claim?

1 comment:

Draig said...

To equate the "Yes" campaign with the campaign against cuts benefits Labour down to a tee. They have fuffed about and dragged their heels over this issue since well before 2006, and now that we have a Tory/Lib government in London they are going to use the Assembly (and by extension, Wales) as a political football.

And let's face it - the reason that we are facing these cuts is down to Labour policies over the last 13 years. And of course Labour have had 13 years to push for a fairer barnett consequential.

Labour are going to turn this referendum campaign into a gigantic sleight of hand. They have such a low opinion of the electorate that have loyally supported them for the last 90 years that they will attempt to fool people into thinking that somehow the Tories/Lib Dems are the real enemy. They are not.

It's unbelievable that after everything that has happened over the last 13 years that the Left are still so blinded by outdated dogma that they can still so readily play into Labour's grubby hands.