Friday 30 September 2016

Are we going to see a Unionist "True Wales" Party?

Two Welsh councillors have resigned from the Labour Party, saying the re-election of Jeremy Corbyn has made it unelectable.
If you are wondering "maybe they will join Plaid" thing again
Nigel Dix and Allan Rees, who both represent Blackwood on Caerphilly County Borough Council, plan to set up their own local party.
Mr Dix who was one of the leaders of True Wales a Unionist group said:
 “The Labour Party I joined and campaigned for and represented over many years no longer exists.
"The action of the 50 MPs who nominated Jeremy Corbyn as a leadership candidate has resulted in the party being taken over by the hard left.
"Mr Corbyn has turned the party into a protest movement that has no interest in winning power and improving the life chances of those who desperately need a credible and sensible Labour Party capable of defeating the Tories.
 “The party conference clearly demonstrates that the hard left have the Labour Party by the throat and anyone who disagrees is regarded as a traitor or ‘red Tory’. Sadly the party is no longer a place for moderates.
Mr Dix a moderate!? 

Readers of the Wasting Mule letters page will be familiar with his attacks on the Welsh Assembly which he appears to see as a Nationalist Plot.

Well take what he said about the 2011 referendum

The assembly has been dominated by what I call "nationalist light".
There has been an obsession with all things constitutional - costly reports on devolving tax and borrowing, the Richard Commission and discussions on the devolution of law and policing.
It appears that our Assembly Members distrust all things English and also distrust MPs, as they continually attempt to lay the blame for their failures at Westminster's door.
The vote on 3 March is about turning the assembly into a parliament, something that was not stated on the original ballot paper some 12 years ago.
An article in the Western Mail highlighted the scale of AMs' ambitions: if the people of Wales vote Yes, we will simply see more and interference from Cardiff Bay in our everyday lives.
We must ask ourselves whether Wales needs more laws and costly government? The answer has to be a resounding No.
Perhaps it could be that Councillor Dix is frightened that the negativity over Corbyn leadership will affect his council seat and he will be swept away as Labour lose out in next h
years Council Elections.

Or is it local decisions that Councillor Dix fears will be his down fall he says#

“Coun Rees and I will carry on doing what we have always done by putting the residents of Blackwood first, just as we did when opposing the council’s Local Development Plan, a taxpayer funded cinema, fighting to open Blackwood Gate retail park and speaking out about the senior officers pay award.”

Intresting his felow defector   Mr Rees said: 

“It’s with a heavy heart that I’ve decided to leave the Labour Party after nearly six years as a member."If Welsh Labour was a political party in its own right I’d probably stay: being a social worker I see how the policies of a Welsh Labour Government protect vulnerable people
So maybe we are not going to see the birth of "True Wales" as a political party with Nigel Dix  at the head

It would seem unlikely that Nigel would agree with that Labour could be political party in its own right.

Unless of course Former Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan's  call for "clear red water" which divides policy in Wales and Westminster was to turn a pale pink or even blue.
 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I've always wondered why Nigel Dix & Rees were Labour members in the first place when they have blamed the Assembly for its failures but conveniently forget it was THEIR party in power in the Assembly. Leaving because of Corbyn? I'm pretty sure Carwyn isn't as left wing as Corbyn is.
I bet you they will end up joining the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party. And if they harp on about Assembly failures then they be exposed as hypocrites because they contributed as Labour members!!