Best Wishes Welsh Agenda

Yesterday's Blog  where I  wrote on my own financial experience of being unemployed and seeking work may explain why I am one of the few who try to write a post on a daily basis.

I find myself waking up everyday at 6:30 and writing my daily incoherent rant full of grammatical errors etc . Sees me through the first hours.

Still I have the time and still some enthusiasm but I recognise how hard it would be for people to Blog on the same basis regular  basis. 

However we have lost a number of regular contributors to Welsh Blogging, over the last few years.

Including

Dib Lemming- a entertaining LibDem Blog

England's Left Forward - A progressive English Viewpoint

Laudanum - A counterpoint to The Druid of Anglesey (which also has gone away)
Merthyr Voice
Plaid Panteg -Much Missed
Wales Home - What Happened to it
Welsh Political Twins
Welsh Ramblings - For god sake come back.

And now we have the news that because of illness Welsh Agenda has called it a day .

National Left send his best wishes to NA and hope for a speedy recovery

We also have seen some of our better bloggers making less contribution than they used to . No criticism It takes time and effort to Blog on a regular basis and I've nothing but respect for all who contribute irrelevant of their stance

On a welcome note Pendroni has made a welcome return

I think its also time we all who take part in the Welsh Bloggerspherepaid tribute to Alwyn a p Huw on Miserable Old Fart who was probably the first to put this blog on his reading list and I am certain that I woud.t be getting the visits I have it wasn't for his early inclusion.  where he has built up a considerable list of Bloggers not only ones from Wales. Diolch Alyn.

And on that note . I would like to request that readers of this Blog recommend  any Blogs that I could include on my reading list.

If you know any particularly bogs relating to Wales let me know.

Autumn Statement cuts Welfare not Bonuses.

Typically BBC Wales headline on the Autumn Statement  is that ....

The Welsh government will get a £227m windfall of capital from Chancellor George Osborne's Autumn Statement.
Business groups said it gave Welsh ministers an opportunity to rebuild infrastructure.
The Welsh government welcomed the money, but said its budget was still facing big cuts that will hinder attempts to help the economy.
The UK government said it was promoting investment, but opponents said its austerity policies were failing.

They add...

 The Welsh government - which has an annual budget of around £15bn - will also receive an additional £52m of day-to-day revenue funding.
Its extra capital funding, which pays for spending on buildings and infrastructure, comes from a squeeze on UK government departments.
It will be available to spend over the next two financial years until the end of the UK government's spending review period in 2014-15.

Seem wonderful but this comes as  First Minister Carwyn Jones, pointed out that even with extra money, he said his government's capital budget will be 39% lower in real terms in 2014-15 than it was in 2009-10.

"The reality of this Autumn Statement is Wales is still facing a very tough public spending environment for years to come," Mr Jones said.

Of course the BBC do not give us figures for the  share of the £59 billion worth of cuts George Osbourne  they can work out the shre that that leads to  the extra £227 "windfall" but not our share of the cuts.

 The  money is welcome  but its the equivalent of a parent, who has been cutting your school dinner money giving yor a £10 and telling you what to spend it

They may be right on what we should spend this money on but it should be our decision.

 BBC also provide figures that the Treasury claims 13,000 people will be lifted out of income tax and 1.1m will pay less thanks to an increase in the personal allowance - the amount people can earn before their income is taxed. No tax will be paid on earnings under £9,440.


About 640,000 pensioners in Wales will see a rise of £2.70 a week in the basic state pension from next April

Good but BBC Wales do not provide us with the figures that most working-age benefits to rise by 1% for each of next three years

Where are the figures that 125000 unemployed people in Wales face a cut in benefits.

Take a single man (Myself) who is unemployed and seeking work.

I have some advantages

I don't pay rent  nor do I receive housing benefit however
I do not pay council tax

However I must pay for everything else Gas electricity Water , Telephone/Internet (vital for looking for work) Food clothing.and house insurance

For this I receive £71 a week in benefits  from which I withdraw about £20 mainly for food and occasional clothing.. The rest is taken up in paying Standard orders for utilities and the hope that there a bit left over each month in order to pay for emergencies .

Any increase over the next 3 years will be less that 80p  a week I suspect rises in utilities to more than swallow that up.

I'm not saying that people like myself on benefits should not take the share of the burden but there comes a point when people will not be able to carry on and will go into debt simply to pay for the amenities in order to survive.

Yes there is a bit of good news for those who are low paid and there should be, but for those on welfare who are constantly portrayed as scroungers and are an easy target for cuts.

A banker in the city of London will think that £71 would be an incredible cheap night out  but for those unfortunates on welfare its a lifeline  which  in some cases will be falling short of those reaching for it.

And yet such is the success of the Government and Media  denigration of those in befits  they will be able to cut welfare with barley a whimper from most of the rest us.

Carwyn the Censor.

I think it must be clear that I'm not in the Cardiff bay Bubble, because in a previous post  I wrote that 

"I imagine that First Minister Carwyn Jones is prowling the corridors of the Asembly Building trying to find out what idiot demanded S4C cancel a repeat of an episode of Welsh soap opera Pobol y Cwm because of its portrayal of the government policy on badgers".

It seems that Carwyn, only had to look in the mirror in order to find that Idiot.. It had been earlier revealed that 

"A spokesman for the Welsh Government confirmed that it had made an official complaint to the BBC and S4C about a “serious breach” of BBC and Ofcom guidelines in a storyline about tuberculosis in cattle.
The government believes last night’s episode of the Welsh language soap breached the public broadcasters’ duty of impartiality and have asked for tonight’s repeat (Thursday) - scheduled for 6.30pm - be cancelled". 

Now Carwyn . has admitted he authorised a complaint about the soap opera, after a character criticised his government's decision not to cull badgers.

At first minister's questions, Plaid Cymru AM Simon Thomas asked if he had 

"taken advantage of the excellent S4C service online Clic in order to view the whole Pobol y Cwm episode before authorising the letter asking them not to repeat the programme".

He added  

"Did you actually watch the programme?"

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

A letter was written by press officers and I authorised that action”

Carwyn Jones AMFirst Minister

Mr Jones said he had seen the programme and its script. (Though he seemed to miss a scene where other characters gave an opposing point of view, saying farmers were to blame for the spread of TB in cattle)

 He said 

"A letter was written by press officers and I authorised that action," the Welsh government was waiting for responses from the BBC - which produces the soap - S4C and the regulator Ofcom."There is a public policy issue here that has to be debated," 

Perhaps  Carwyn  thinks Pobol y Cwm, should look back to the early days of the radio soap the Archers, which was originally produced with collaborative input from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and  was conceived as a means of disseminating information to farmers and smallholders to help increase productivity in the post-World War II years of rationing and food shortages.

One can Imagine the Welsh Labour Party in particular envisaging Pobol Y Cwm being a format to explain Welsh Assembly Government. 

Will we in future be seeing the title of Welsh Assembly Script Editor appearing on the cast list after every episode?

This may look like a small spat but it is a dangerous move where the Welsh Government seeks to make our media doesn't portray them in a bad light.

They may have had  a reason to complain to the BBC  that the programme was inaccurate.Though how you can portray a farmer devastated  by TB calmly weighing up the pros and cons of government policy and make it believable is beyond me.

Carwyn should apologise for this attempt at censorship . He has the right to complain how his government is portrayed but he should do so bearing in mind that interfering in the way he did is a dangerous precedent.

Woman to have first child:Major News.

The  main News item on the Television last night was not Syria , Israel threatening the peace process or the forthcoming Autumn statement   last night but after 18 months of marriage  a young couple  William and Catherine, Windsor are expecting their first baby.

True  the news that s Catherine was admitted to a central London hospital with acute morning sickness Monday afternoon. added to the hype but god help is for the next nine months.

Have the couple missed a trick year careful  timing and a conception in January 2014 could have seen the birth of an heir in Autumn of that year about the time of the Scottish Independence referendum .

Perhaps Catherine can be persuaded to produce a second child in time to help to save the Union?

Whatever the sex the first child is the sex will not have an effect on  the succession as William and Catherine's child will be next in line to the British throne after William, regardless of whether it is a boy or a girl, the British Cabinet Office said  Planned changes to the law of succession that end the tradition of a boy jumping over an elder sister are already de facto in effect, the Cabinet Office ,

Still we can expect to be joining Catherine in her morning sickness as we Plebs are faced with months of vomit inducing sycophancy fro the forelock-tuggers  and the demotion of real news in order to cover a Women's pregnancy.

Autumn Internationals WRU need to take blame

The Autumn International are over, and it was rather dismal one for Wales four Tests and four defeats, when we could easily have expected to have won three.

Injuries may well have paid a large part in this and its clear that tight head prop Adam Jones, is an exceptional asset in n the Scrum.

The position of tight head is probably the hardest on the field and  we probably need to develop at least  two Intentional class players to cover for Jones and another two to be ready when he retires and loose head which is a more popular choice for props probablyly need another two class players .

Though some of the young props who played looked promising.

Some of the tactics particularly the kicking away of possession  and although I am loath o single out one player for criticism Rhys Priestland has a huge confidence problem and although he had a fairly good game on Saturday he has not shone since the Rugby World cup in 2011
.
And  I doubt even if Dan Bigger had been fit he wouldn't have been selected . He seems to have a problem with the selectors particularly Rob Howely.

However it must be pointed  out that part his problem may be that the kicking duties have passed to Leigh Halfpenny and one wonder if Priestland could slot a few early penalties if this would improve the rest of the game.

But can you change an obviously successful first choice kicker and we should stick with Halfpenny probably our best overall player in the Tests?

Why the draw for the World Cup  is being made now with the World Cup coming in 2015needs explaining . My guess is  the Southern Hemisphere Unions  pushed it.Relising they are already in the top four and wanted to make sure that nothing went wrong in the next year or two,.

But it means Wales will be seeded in the third tier .


1. New Zealand 90.08
2. South Africa 86.94
3. Australia 86.87
4. France 85.07
5. England 83.90
6. Ireland 80.22
7. Samoa 78.71
8. Argentina 78.71
9. Wales 78.39
10. Italy 76.24
11. Tonga 76.10
12. Scotland 75.83



However with the way Wales played in the New Zealand and Australia Test I  think its abundantly clear that if Gatland , had been in charge of all the Welsh Autumn Internationals (and the Australian tour where we could have won all three tests) We would not be out of the top eight

Indeed we could be in the top four..

The tour could not be helped because of his injury but the WRU were stupid to allow him time of from the first two matches in order to "prepare" for the Lions tour next year.

We need an apology from them.

As Gareth Thomas says "I don't care about the Lions its Wales that matters"

Leveson . Lets make sure we get an Independent PCC.

Strangely I find myself sharing some of the disquiet that there might be some form of State Regulation of the Press.

The danger of Governments interfering in a Free Press was  somewhat highlighted  when our own Assembly, demanded S4C cancel a repeat of an episode of Welsh soap opera Pobol y Cwm because of its portrayal of the government policy on badgers.

And we must ask ourselves would the Telegraph have managed to expose the MPs expenses scandal be blocked by the state having to much say?

Indeed the Jimmy Saville disclosures show that we need a Press that can Investigate when there is clearly something going wrong.

But of course this must be done legally and one thing is clear  papers like the News of  The World  broke the law with their Phone hacking etc.

Nor was it in any case of someone who was breaking the law themselves,but in pursuit of celebrity gossip or as in the case of Milie Dowlings family a search for a scoop that actual interfered in the real police investigation..

The problem of State regulation is that it might have the opposite effect making the like s of Rupert Murdoch more determined to cosy up to politicians in exchange for mutual support..

Left Foot Forward , a Labour blog  points out Leveson's cricticism of AlexSalmond,  in that ...

had Salmond undertaken what he had pledged to do in lobbying UK ministers on behalf of News Corp to secure jobs in Scotland, he would have been interfering in a quasi-judicial decision and thereby would have “rendered the decision unlawful

However LFF, fails to highlight a glaring omission of the Leveson enquiry namely how both Labour and Tory politicians courted Murdoch over the years in order to get his paper support (as Salmond allegedly did).

However Murdoch never put up Alex in the Haymand Island in  resort in Australia  as he did Tony Blair in 1995. or hosting David Cameron on his yacht in Sanatorini and putting his son-in-laws private plane at his disposal in (2008) . Coincidentally, two years before each became Prime-minister.

What we need is a completely independent body that can oversee the Press rand which can respond to complaints swiftly and effectively  by members of the public even to the extent of ordering the miscreants to provide some form of compensation (even if this is not legally binding).

It is after all not celebrities or politicians who have the means to seek legal redress but he ordinary members of the public who often have no way of seeking that the press correct a wrongful article on them  who are the real victims.

The current law (though it may need strengening) can deal with the likes of phone hacking and Britain has libel laws which some would argue are used by the rich and powerful to stifle the truth.

But it is the ordinary people that we need to protect here and they need a body that they can turn to which is truly independent and free from the influence of both policians and newspare mogals and their editors.

How well did UKIP really do last Thursday?

The idea that UKIP did well in the three by-elections only hold waters when you consider how badly the other parties did

Only Labour did anything like as  well UKIP and  in three constituencies only managed to obtain 8038 voted

OK a great Improvement on their previous vote  and they were the only Party to Increase their vote but it stands out because of the collapse in the Conservative and LibDem votes. and Indeed Labour,saw the greatest fall in actual nimbers.

UKIP did well to come from a small base but the second place in middles borough was with 1990 votes and even the much vaunted Rotherham result where they had received somewhat favourable publicity they received less than 5000 vote.

What is clear that there is now no third party in England for people with progressive views to turn to.

Before 2010 the LibDems may well have won one of these seats particularly Rotherham where the previous MP had  resigned in disgrace and a candidate was imposed on the local constituency party.

It seems however for the majority of people there was no real choice in any of these constituencies and they stayed at home.