Wednesday 16 December 2015

Why is the IWA amd "Welsh Labour giving Farage a platform here?

Yesterday s Blog  about a Pontypridd's Ukip general election candidate switching  to Labour ahead of Assembly election generated a fair bit of interest and it seemed to prove how worried the Labour Party are about Ukip gaining a  foothold in in Wales  

 
That’s apparently comes from a stark warning in an internal Labour Party analysis, leading sources to warn that “the real danger UKIP pose to Labour lies ahead”.

 Now we have Ukip leader Nigel Farage and Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones have accepted a think tank’s invitation to debate whether the UK should remain in the European Union

The event, organised by the Institute of Welsh Affairs, is due to take place in Cardiff on January 11.

 Director of the Institute of Welsh Affairs, Lee Waters, was selected as Llanelli candidate for Labour earlier this year.

There have been  some questions how a Labour candidate in the National Assembly elections can continue to run the Welsh think-tank following his selection.

It does seems rather odd that both the IWA and Welsh Labour  seem intend on  giving Ukip a wider platform im Wales.


On spring 2014 Mr Farage held two debates with the then deputy prime minister Nick Clegg in the run-up to the European Parliament elections, in which UKIP topped the poll.


It is wildly accepted that Farage bested Clegg and give him a boost . Whereas the LibDEm leader appeal to Pro-European voters fell on deaf years .

Can we rely believe that Carwyn who has spent the last Five years not answering questions in the Assembly and who is not highly regarded for his debating skills outside.

So why is he and the IWA giving Farage and Ukip the Oxygen of Publicity.

OK here comes the conspiracy theory.


Labour in Wales have been looking at Scotland and nay well have come to the conclusion that the long term threat will come not from Ukip but Plaid Cymru.

Maybe the hope is that by flagging a Ukip threat  Plaid,Green and LibDem voters will hold their noses and vote for Labour  especially in the Regional list.

After all if Ukip push Plaid into 4th place you will probably here muted cheers in Labour quarters.

I'm not sure if my theory is correct after all it may well be the IWA is interested in having a Welsh angle on the European debate.

But then why exclude other Welsh Parties?

If my wild musing are correct Labour may be playing a dangerous game with the future of the Welsh Assembly  at stake

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Is this IWA’s latest attempt to make itself relevant or is Labour’s attempting to play the populism card after the latest YouGov poll showed a majority of welsh votes in favour or Syrian airstrikes and considerably less immigration?

Whatever it is, it will backfire spectacularly for Carwyn Jones as it did for Nick Clegg because Farage’s man of people stick and UKIP’s appeal aren’t to do with cold hard facts but an emotional appeal to a fading glory that was Britain, in a way no other politician can match.

And if Labour was genuinely worried about May’s poll they’d be encouraging their own supporters to votes for Plaid Cymru, Lib Dems or Green on the Regional Lists, but they’re not worried at all they’re just using UKIP to frightening their own supporters to the polling booths.