Churchill Hero, Villain or Flawed Relic of Empire?

I'm surprised that there hasn't been a outpouring of Righteous Indignation from the UK media including BBC(Wast Britain)b over this

Leanne Wood

15 hrs · 

Churchill is no hero in the Rhondda.
He sided with pit owners against the miners in the Tonypandy riots of 1910/11.
It started in Penygraig.

There has been the expected  hagiography  of Churchill this week as we all are expected to celebrate him on the 50 anniversary of his death.

I'm not going into the Pros and Cons of Churchill's life  but   the media treatment of Churchill by the media this week resembled something out of North Korea.

There are however stories of booing from the audience in the South wales Valleys whenever Churchill appeared on screen in newsreels. i

The fact is even immediately after the War there were many who were not enamoured by the Churchill 

In the 1945 labour and the Liberals decided  not to oppose Churchill in his Woodford  constituency. A independent decided to run against him and received a surprising number of votes. 

General Election 1945: Woodford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon Sir Winston Churchill	27,688	72.53
	Independent	Alexander Hancock	10,488	27.47
Majority			17,200	45.05
Turnout				65.53
	Conservative hold		Swing

And of course this reflected throughout the country as Labour won the Election by a Landslide.

The role of Clement Attlee Churchills deputy during World War II has bee n greatly overlooked 

In the coalition government, three inter-connected committees effectively ran the country. Churchill chaired the first two, the War Cabinet and the Defence Committee, with Attlee deputising for him in these, and answering for the government in Parliament when Churchill was absent. Attlee himself chaired the third and final body, the Lord President's Committee, which was responsible for domestic affairs.
Whilst Churchill war time role in the War has largely blinded people to the fact that he was a Right Wing Tory who in the past  had admired fascist leaders

In 1927 he He also wrote this about Benito Mussolini 

I could not help being charmed, like so many other people have been, by Signor Mussolini’s gentle and simple bearing and by his calm, detached poise in spite of so many burdens and dangers. Secondly, anyone could see that he thought of nothing but the lasting good, as he understood it, of the Italian people, and that no lesser interest was of the slightest consequence to him. If I had been an Italian I am sure that I should have been whole-heartedly with you from the start to finish in your triumphant struggle against the bestial appetites and passions of Leninism. I will, however, say a word on an international aspect of fascism. Externally, your movement has rendered service to the whole world. The great fear which has always beset every democratic leader or a working class leader has been that of being undermined by someone more extreme than he. Italy has shown that there is a way of fighting the subversive forces which can rally the masses of the people, properly led, to value and wish to defend the honour and stability of civilised society. She has provided the necessary antidote to the Russian poison. Hereafter no great nation will be unprovided with an ultimate means of protection against the cancerous growth of Bolshevism.” After a visit to Rome in 1927.

Some years earlier in 1920 he had wrote;

“The part played in the creation of Bolshevism and in the actual bringing about of the Russian Revolution by these international and for the most part atheistic Jews ... is certainly a very great one; it probably outweighs all others. With the notable exception of Lenin, the majority of the leading figures are Jews. Moreover, the principal inspiration and driving power comes from Jewish leaders ... The same evil prominence was obtained by Jews in (Hungary and Germany, especially Bavaria). Although in all these countries there are many non-Jews every whit as bad as the worst of the Jewish revolutionaries, the part played by the latter in proportion to their numbers in the population is astonishing. The fact that in many cases Jewish interests and Jewish places of worship are excepted by the Bolsheviks from their universal hostility has tended more and more to associate the Jewish race in Russia with the villainies which are now being perpetrated”. CHURCHILL Illustrated Sunday Herald - 8th February 1920

 We must take this however in the context of the time without excusing it as charges against Saunders Lewis the former Plaid leader should be.

You can decide whether Churchill was a Hero ,Villain. or simply a flawed relic of the British Empire. but what we don't need is the hagiography we are usually treated to by the maintain media

His role in World War ii should not blind us to other events i his life that casts along shadow. 

The most ridiculous and Insulting excuse for Welsh NHS failings ever,

Healthcheck Wales

• 'Best time' for medical innovation
• NHS 'rescuing' smokers and drinkers
• Community care - the professionals
• Health Check Wales -

BBC "Wales " have over the years have produced ridiculous stories underminding  our Language and but surely  culture but surely this takes the biscuit

Changing the names of some of Wales' health boards might help solve a shortage of junior doctors.

The BBC(West Briton) tells us That is the view of the man in charge of training, with 400 places unfilled.

Prof Derek Gallen believes a perception of Wales is a problem, with junior doctors knowing Cardiff but not sure where Hywel Dda or Betsi Cadwaladr is.
He also says a shortage of junior paediatricians puts pressure on rotas and in turn hits the quality of their training and exam results.
Prof Gallen is postgraduate dean for the Wales Deanery, which oversees training for doctors across the country from when they qualify until they become fully fledged GPs or consultants.
Geography and perception of Wales are issues he comes across and recruiting to north and west Wales is a particular problem.
Prof Gallen also believes some junior doctors think they have to speak Welsh to work here.
"There's a perception they don't understand the geography, that they will have long commutes between trusts on their rotations and that they will have to speak Welsh," 

We might  well wonder on the Intelligence of a Doctor who is put off by the use of Welsh Names.

Prof Gallen  apparemtly believes students and junior doctors are struggling to easily identify areas of Wales outside Cardiff and the Vale due to the health board names.

"When you're applying for jobs you'd have to work quite hard to find out where that is in Wales, and what it's near, so that is certainly an issue.
"In a collective sense it's difficult for people to know the whole of the Pembrokeshire coast is Hywel Dda. Most of middle class England holiday here but there's a perception they don't want to work and live here - and the work-life balance is fantastic.

How bloody hard do you have to work to find where a board is in Wales or the rest of the UK .Do we have Doctors who can't use a simple internet search engine.


This  Map took me less than a minute

The Welsh Health Boards and Velindre Trust  . Confusing aren't they?

What does he suggest changing Hywel Dda to for example?

Probably after some English Monarch.

And that's a  point  if there is a problem then there is a tendency to give  a Hospitals names related to Royalty

My local Hospital The Royal Glamorgan (as opposed to the Royal Gwent .) is nicknamed the Camilla because it lies between the Prince of Wales in Merthyr and the Princess of Wales in Bridgend.

We have seen many excuses for failing of the NHS in Wales but this is the most pathetic and insulting I have ever heard and the BBC(West Briton) should be ashamed for treating it as a serious  story

Can you compare the immorality of Auschwitz with Hiroshima?

Are the attacks on Dafydd Wigley  over his comparison  of the use of Nuclear Weapons with Auschwitz Justified?


Here's a transcript of  the relevant BBC Interview 

Lord Wigley:

 Certainly, we've been opposed to nuclear weapons all down the years, we can't see any possible justification in having them, nobody in their right minds would use them as the first weapon of strike and if another country is attacking us with nuclear weapons, what satisfaction does it give that we can obliterate as many millions of people in their countries by firing back, The thing is immoral, it's impractical, it's not an effective deterrent against people like ISIS and it is a waste of money.

Ross: 

But it would bring a great deal of employment to an area where employment is a struggle at Milford Haven.

Lord Wigley:

 Look, this week we have been remembering what happened in Germany before the war, no doubt there were many jobs provided in Auschwitz and places like that but that didn't justify their existence and neither does nuclear weapons justify having them in Pembrokeshire.

Ross:

 Are you seriously comparing a Trident base to a Nazi death camp?

Lord Wigley: 

The number of people that will be killed by Trident will be infinitely more.

Ross:

 So you think that is a valid comparison, to compare the prospect of a Trident base in Milford Haven with Auschwitz?

Lord Wigley:

 The point I'm making is that you have to look at what a job entails not just the fact that there is a job located in any particular area and, in this instance, we do not believe that we should have nuclear weapons at all, we believe that Trident shouldn't be renewed and we most certainly don't want that renewal to happen in Pembrokeshire or anywhere in Wales or, to be fair, anywhere in Britain.

Ross:

 And you think there is a moral comparison between working on one of those Trident bases, the staff, the people, the Scots who work on the Trident base and those who worked at the Nazi death camps?

Lord Wigley: 

No, the point I was making was this, that you have to consider the nature of the work and not just that a job exists.

It it is clear to me that Dafydd (Never Lord to me) was comparing the immorality of the Holocaust with the use of Nuclear Weapons.

In Neutral Ireland after the War there was tendency  amongst the population when the first evidence of the Concentration camps came out to disbelieve it as Allied Propaganda  whilst as the dropping of the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima was clear and churches held masses the civilian victims.

Today in Ireland few would rightly be Holocaust deniers and we all consider one of the most massive crimes carried out by Man on his fellow beings.

Not just Jews though understandably we tend to concentrate  on the attempt to destroy a people  but  gays  people deemed mentally unfit and  Romani's who seem to have no one to speak for them.

You can read about the Romani Holocaust or Porajmos here.

The use of Nuclear weapons on innocent people is to me equally immoral  and it will bring huge shame to Wales which once declared itself Nuclear Free that such Weapons of  Mass Destruction may be brought to our Nation.

What we have here is a comparison of the Immorality of the past with the Immorality of the future.

Both to me should be equally  condemned .

Plaid are still struggling in the Polls.

The Latest  Poll on GE2015 in Wales will read as a disappointment  to Plaid supporters who may have been hoping for  a bit of a surge after the row over leaders debates.

• Labour 37% (+ 1%)
• Conservatives 23% (no change)
• Ukip 16% (-2%)
• Plaid Cymru 10% (-1%)
• Greens 8% (+3%)
• Liberal Democrats 6% (+1%)
• Others on 1% (-1%).

It may be that  there has been some movement in their Target seats for Plaid to them whilst they have lost some votes to the Greens elsewhere .

People have also been asked  how they would vote for the National Assembly one year after the general election, 

For the constituency vote, the results of the poll were (with changes from our previous poll, in early December in brackets):

• Labour 34% (-1%)
• Conservative 21% (-1%)
• Plaid Cymru 18% (-1%)
• UKIP 13% (+1%)
• Liberal Democrats 7% (+1%)
• Greens 6% (+1%)
• Others 1% (no change)

Clearly, very little has changed since our last poll, with all the parties seeing changes in their support levels but by amounts that are well within the ‘margin of error’.

On these figures, and assuming uniform national swings across Wales (always a dangerous prediction) , only two constituency seats would change hands from the results in the last Assembly election in May 2011: the Liberal Democrats would gain Cardiff Central from Labour, while Labour would also lose Llanelli to Plaid Cymru.

For the regional list vote,  saw the following results (with changes from our December poll again indicated):

Labour 32% (+1%)
Conservative 20% (no change)
Plaid Cymru 15% (-4%)
UKIP 16% (+1%)
Liberal Democrats 8% (+2%)
Greens 8% (+1%)
Others 2% (no change)

Taking into account both the constituency and list results, this produces the following projected seat outcome for a National Assembly election (with aggregate changes from 2011 indicated in brackets):

• Labour: 28 (-2): 26 constituency AMs, 2 list AMs
• Conservative: 10 (-4); 6 constituency AMs, 4 list AMs
• Plaid Cymru: 9 (-2); 6 constituency AMs, 3 list AMs
• UKIP: 8 (+8): all list AMs
• Greens: 3 (+3): all list AMs
• Liberal Democrats: 2 (-3); 2 constituency AMs

Particularly for Plaid asking people how they would vote in the National Assembly  may result in them  a lower percentage than they would have 100 days before the assembly Elections.

Of course GE2015 will have a major affect on next years assembly Elections. Particularly if we have a hung Parliament.

As the Liberal Democrats have found out being junior partners in a coalition rarely results in increase popularity even if that Government have an aver all approval rating.

But with if the polls are right (and continue) There will be a huge rise in SNP  members in Westminster and Scotland are likely to place constitutional change on the agenda of the next Parliament.

Plaid may well benefit from constantly asking "What about Wales"

Or find themselves  in a Little Englander Media backlash .

We are indeed living in interesting times.

Labour show they are not to be trusted over fracking.

If any one in Scotland still believes the Unionist Parties are sincere when it comes to devolving powers to Scotland then they only have to look at yesterdays vote in the House  of Commons 

- Vote on devolving licensing and mineral access rights to Scotland
To amend the Scotland Act to give the Scottish Government responsibility for licensing and mineral access rights for onshore shale gas extraction
ResultThose in favour 231Those against 324New clause not included in the Infrastructure Bill
We in Wales were not even given the opportunity 

Only the day before "Scottish" Labour's  Deputy Leader  Kezia Dugdale  was boasting 

As Scots we’re proud of the fact that not only is the water among the cleanest and best in the world, it’s ours and long may that continue.
So whether it’s environmental concerns or the sheer injustice of people not having a say, Scottish Labour have said loud and clear that we’ll use the powerful new powers of the Scottish Parliament to stop fracking.
We want a tough new regulatory scheme and we won’t consider any fracking until the worrying environmental concerns have been addressed and even then, we’ll always give the people the last word with a local referendum.
That’s Scottish Labour’s triple lock against fracking.
That’s the way to protect the planet and draw strength from people power which has always been at the heart of our movement.
While arguing those points on Twitter this weekend. A bright young councillor from the Tories decided to wade in and proclaim that fracking was key to tackling fuel poverty.
What utter nonsense. How dare the Tories even begin to lecture Scots about poverty after the last five years of David Cameron’s government.
Tories want fracking so their millionaire pals can profit from the natural assets of our land – not because they care about our grannies’ heating bills.
Plus, if they were so concerned about fuel poverty, they’d back Labour’s cap on energy bills and plans to reform the market so that the big six stop operating like a cartel.
But they don’t, and what’s more, we remember the most recent time the Tories experimented in Scotland, with the poll tax.
Fracking isn’t something the Tories will get to test in Scotland.
Oh no – no guinea pigs here.
Scottish Labour will use the powers of the Parliament to protect our proud land. I only hope the SNP follow our lead and do the same.

So  what did Ms Dugdale's Westminster Colleagues di when there waas an attempt to place a Monetarism on Fracking

They abstained and her leader Jim Murphy wasn't even there.

Scottish Labour Leader  thinks a photo opportunity is more important than stopping Fracking

- Vote on a fracking moratorium

To declare a moratorium on fracking while an independent assessment was carried out into the impact of unconventional petroleum on climate change, the environment, health and safety and the economy.
ResultThose in favour 52Those against 308Labour MPs abstained in the voteNew clause not included in the Infrastructure Bill

Labour then proposed an amendment which  was passed by the Government ALLOWING fracking across the UK, subject as (Wings over  Scotland point's  out) companies jumping through some hoops, eg telling people when they were going to frack under their houses and maybe cleaning up a bit afterwards

So Labour cannot protect us when it comes to Fracking  or further powers even to Scotland as they can't or won't devolve the powers.

Why can't we in Wales realise that Labour = Tory and they have no interest in Wales apart for our votes

Greece. Can't Pay Won't Pay.

Whilst celebrating the victory of Syriza’in the Greek Election of is a call for celebration we must be aware where the true power lies.

The damning popular verdict on Europe’s response to financial meltdown may be en as a final warning for the EU’s political elite that people can not take any more of the Austerity programme .




However whilst they may not respond to a swing to the right like Ukip of the French National front the response from Brussels may be to strangle the new Government at birth.


For the first time, power has been handed to populist outsiders deeply opposed to Brussels and Berlin, albeit not anti-European, unlike their counterparts on the far right across the EU.


It may be that Brussels would prefer a right Anti-European Government in a Member State to a a party that may not be Anti-European.  Brussels may fear a Domino Effect in that at last after the Financial crisis which started in the USA (Which seems to have been forgotten) and now seems to be an European crisis, an explicitly anti-austerity party, will take office in the EU.


Plaid Leader Leanne Wood whose Party may Benefit from a Domino effect from Greece or suffer from the concentrated attack of of mainstream politicians allied with the media has welcomed the new Government.


She posted

The Greek election is significant for us all - throughout Europe. People there have accepted that "austerity is the crisis itself". All governments must respect the result. And all must be prepared to work with the new Greek government to end the pain & suffering of people there.

This election may just prove whir the power lies in Europe .

With the People where in Greece they have said Enough is Enough?


Or with the Political and Economic Elite who ironically met in the guise The World Economic Forum (WEF )at the  Davos last week and maybe have already formulated a plan to destroy the new Greek Government s soon as possible?

Hopefully it will be the people who win but experience has nearly always proven otherwise.

Why should we send our brightest across the border?

 If you ever wanted a example of the lack of ambition from Government and our media you only  have to look at Wales online recently.

Under the Banner 

Lord Adonis: 'We need to see more Welsh kids getting into Oxford and Cambridge

It starts with the cringing

Lord Adonis is a man on a mission.

The Labour grandee has bold plans to help Welsh school kids from poorer backgrounds get into top universities.

Most politicians put their feet up when they “retire” but the sprightly 51-year-old is far from slowing down.

Sprightly 51 year old! That's hardly  the age the rest of us end our working days .

it goes on 

That is why Lord Adonis was in Newport to deliver a keynote speech at the University of South Wales to teachers from across the country.

Though currently shadow minister for infrastructure he is shooting up and down the country to talk about his other great passion: education.

The Labour grandee, who served in government under Tony Blair, said he wants to see more of the “Oxbridge hubs” set up by Welsh education minister Huw Lewis.

Former education minister Lord Adonis said:

 “The more of that the better. I’m very glad the Welsh Government are taking this initiative.
“Anything that encourages able students to aspire to top universities is a good thing because too many are put off essentially by myths, by the belief that universities aren’t for them.
“Anything that breaks those myths will overcome what is essentially a mental barrier more than an academic barrier in terms of their capacity.”

What other Nation would aim to send its Brightest to another Nation and Education System?  What we need to do is break the myth of Oxbridge   and build a University System to equal or surpass them.

Would there  be a campaign in Scotland to send pupils  to Oxbridge rather than the likes of Aberdeen,St Andrews or Edinburgh?

Lord d Adonis also warned that Welsh state school pupils who want to go Oxford or Cambridge need to do a lot of the research themselves compared to the spoon-feeding of advice they would receive in the private sector.

He said bright state school pupils should go out and find graduates from the top universities in their area and seek advice from them.

This is the attitude in Wales send your Brightest to Oxbridge collages where they may not return instead of building Institutions that can take and develop them  home and ensure  that they can find work here and contribute to the building of a Nation. 

The  Byline is given to James Rothwell who Wales Online say is a Daily Telegraph trainee reporter on placement as a general reporter at WalesOnline. on this I suggest they send him back.

Welsh Goverment shames democracy in lowering flags for despots death.

Its rather heartening that a Plaid Cymru AM and the leader of the Scottish Conservatives  have both denounced the fying of flags at half-mast after the death of the Saudi despot King Abdullah

Plaid Cymru's Simon Thomas said the move was inappropriate given the country's human rights record.

The death of Abdullah bin Abdulaziz was announced early on Friday morning.

The Welsh government said it would "normally extend this courtesy" to heads of state and royalty who had died.

The Mid and West Wales AM wrote on Twitter : "Woman beheaded on the street Blogger given 1,000 lashes Labour @WelshGovernment sees fit to fly Welsh flag at half mast #sickening #Saudi".

Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has also described the decision to lower flags on government buildings as "a steaming pile of nonsense".

The UK government has asked for flags on government buildings to be lowered until 20:00 GMT on Friday, but the Welsh and Scottish governments are free to issue their own instructions.

A Welsh government spokesman said: "Flags are flying at half mast across the Welsh government estate.

"We would normally extend this courtesy to heads of state or members of royal households who have died."

So if you are "A Royal" you can abuse Human rights, treat Women as second class citizens and publicly behead people.

Prime Minister has praised King Abdullah on "his commitment to peace and religious understanding.

I am given to understand a the penalty for a Saudi  Moslem converting to another religion is death.

The treatment of Saudi Arabia which is no better than Libya under  Gaddafi of Iraq under  Saddam Hussein and who treated Women and religious minorities better. shows the West hypocrisy of the West its appalling that the Welsh Government has chose to join in.  

Thanks to Anon yesterday i can direct you to a petition here condemning this here.

Leaders Debate a chance for Leanne to shine.

It is still not a done deal but Plaid Cymru, the Greens and the SNP are likely to see Ukip and the three main UK parties in the BBC and ITV debates ahead of the election under new proposals put forward by the broadcasters.

David Cameron insisted he would not appear if Ukip leader Nigel Farage was on the panel but Green leader Natalie Bennett was excluded – sparking claims from opponents that he was “running scared”.

Though he will probably claim that he has won a victory for Democracy


The latest proposals would see BBC and ITV hold identical debates featuring representatives of all seven parties.


This would be followed by a head-to-head debate between Mr Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband organised by Channel 4 and Sky News.


So that will suit Labour and the Conservatives as both will l claim they are the only Parties that can win.and although it is likely they will get a smaller audience  it will be more presidential and get more news coverage.

Which is why I object to the debates  as we are not electing a president  and not even a Prime Minister . We are electing MP and the Prime Minister will be the one who can form a government. and as have said before that could be someone who didn't even take part in the debates especially in a hung parliament

The biggest looser will be Nick Clegg who last time was seems as the Star of the debated and saw (although brief) a spectacular rise in the polls.

.


This time he will have to defend his record in coalition and will have tree more Party leaders who can offer something different to the Con-Lab consensus.


Under original plans, the BBC debate would have only involved the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat leaders, with Nigel Farage joining them for the ITV event.


So there a major change .and Plaid's Leanne Wood could be the major winner here raising her profile not so much in GE2015 but in next years Assembly Elections .


The Northern Ireland parties are already aggrieved that they are not invited but the argument would be that the main UK parties do not tend to stand there.


But with 7 leaders in the first debates what's the betting that one of the Tabloids will lead on the  following day with

Where's Snow White?

Chris Bryant now calls Owain's Parliament a myth.

It seems  Rhondda Labour MP Chris Bryant, has managed two silly things this week. Fresh from the  attacks on James Blunt where he singles out two entertainers for criticism  He now appears to come up with the idea that he's an expert on welsh History and think he can dismiss a major part of welsh history in a few dismissive words

On his BBC Blog David Cornock  write 

 As part of the BBC's "Democracy Day" I appeared alongside Mr Bryant on a two-hour programme looking at democracy within and beyond the UK.
My role was to summarise developments in Welsh governance through the ages. I mentioned Owain Glyndwr in passing.
Chris Bryant took the earliest opportunity to correct me: "David Cornock said that Owain Glyndwr held a parliament. He didn't. That is complete myth.
"The only person who ever referred to it anywhere near contemporaneously was Geoffrey of Monmouth and he said he pretended to hold a parliament. Actually, if he gathered anybody he gathered a few barons."
Compared to James Blunt, I got off lightly, but then I did go to a comprehensive schoolThe Geoffrey of Monmouth reference may though have come as a surprise to some people, not least because Geoffrey of Monmouth lived three centuries before Glyndwr's day.

The Geoffrey of Monmouth reference may though have come as a surprise to some people, not least because Geoffrey of Monmouth lived three centuries before Glyndwr's day.

A contrite Mr Bryant later realised he had got things wrong and gracefully corrected his own mistake on twitter.
"An apology. I corrected @davidcornock but I was wrong. It wasn't Geoffrey of Monmouth but Adam of Usk who wrote about Owain Glyndwr."

Actuaiily Mr Bryant may have had a point Owain Glyndwr's Parliament may have been more symbolic than the start of welsh Democracy but the same could be said of English Medieval parliaments up to the death of Elizabeth 1st

I had the privilege  at Aberystwyth of studying as part of my History degree under the late (and much missed) R.R. Davies one of Wales's no the World's foremost Medieval  Historians. and I would recommend Mr Bryant to read R.R.R Davies' The revolt of Owain Glyndwr".

We are all often guilty of  trying to impose modern Ideas on past events and we are going to see this with the Magna Carta celebrations .

We will see what was  essentially a English treaty (although it recognised Llewellyn the Great) where e Barons under the guise of Liberty tried to protect their feudal rights are treated as  a beacon  of Democracy .

This a myth as maybe Owain's Parliament  (using our 21st century values ) was but Bryant attempt to belittle it seems to be largely based on a idea to prevent a Welsh National Hero being given prominence  so we can concentrate on the "Birth of  UK democracy" .

After all the danger of learning Welsh History might strengthen Welsh Nationalism and we can't have that can we? 

Peter Hain: Another Working Class Hero.

One of the most interesting  Welsh MP who did not Vote , alongside their Tory colleagues, to continue  the Austerity programme   for the next five years. was the Tanned One AKA Peter Hain the Member for Neath.

As Daily Wales Stated at the time.

The Labour Party showed exactly where its loyalty lies as 23 of their Welsh MPs voted in favour of the UK Government’s Charter for Budget Responsibility, with three abstaining.
All of the London controlled parties were in support as Welsh Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs helped vote through an estimated £30 billion worth of cuts to public services over the next five years.

So it was Interesting that the Tanned One failed to vote

According to Wales Online

Labour big hitter Peter Hain has issued a clarion call to his party urging it to abandon austerity and commit itself to a massive public investment programme if it wins power in May.

In an interview   as he publishes his new book, Back to the Future of Socialism, the Neath MP and ex-Cabinet Minister insisted there is no need for the post-election cuts being planned by Labour as well as the Tories and Liberal Democrats.
And he said there was a stifling orthodoxy shared by most of the mainstream media that there was no alternative to the austerity agenda that has resulted in huge public sector job losses and devastating service cuts.

 Now he advocates a £30bn economic stimulus package over two years if Labour returns to power.

Asked whether the party will do that, he said:

 “I don’t know. It’s not the party’s policy at the moment.
“But we have said that we will  borrow to increase capital spending and that’s the argument that I’m making. And the figure I’m quoting is backed by reputable economists. It’s not a figure I’ve plucked out of the air.”
'Investment needed in housing'

He sees house building as the most important element of such a package:

 “I’m passionate about the housing crisis we face, particularly affordable housing for people who just cannot get on the housing ladder – young people who couldn’t afford to buy their own place if they were living on low to modest incomes.

....“And then there’s all sorts of other infrastructure projects – speeding up the dualing of the Heads of the Valleys road, for example. There will be lots of things we can do, including renewable energy projects.”

He remains hopeful that the stalled , potentially creating tens of thousands of jobs, could be resurrected.

I bet he still hopeful  for the Severn Barrage project it may crate one special job for a special person


He continued.

“I represent a constituency which has got high levels of deprivation.“People are suffering in Neath, and they’re suffering in so many parts of Wales in a way that makes me so angry because it doesn’t need to happen.“And we’re going to have another five years of it if these policies continue to be followed.”

Yes he represents Neath and has failed those he has represented  time and time again.

Asked whether his views on the economy weren’t closer to those of Plaid Cymru, the SNP and the Green Party, all of which will standing on an anti-austerity ticket, Mr Hain responded:

 “The irony is that Ed Miliband as a Labour leader is I think more true to Labour’s historic heritage than we've had for a while.

He has the values, he has the policies and he has the analysis to create a Labour government that would allow our party to rediscover its soul.

So that's a No then.

It all goes to show why Hain abstained on the Anti-Austerity vote . If he had joined the vast majority of his Labour colleagues in siding with the Tories  the Launch of his new boook would have been met with accusations of hypocrisy.

Of course we can still wonder if Mr Hain wasn't retiring would he have refounded  his faith

Of course not there would be clarion call for an end to Austerity and he would have traipsed into the Lobby with the Tories .