Mule Praise's Adam Price to sow division in Plaid.

With the Wasting Mule Chief Reporter  in full "Lets support Labour Mode " you can express cringing coverage of Carwyn Jones in his coverage of the build up of the Labour Party  Welsh Branch Office spring  conference.

But Martin Shipton has decided that there a new Weapon  to attack Plaid  and that's er they have more than one talented leader.

In an article 

Why Plaid leader Leanne Wood is outshone by the party's former MP Adam Price'

You can look at it yourself  but  its basically bollocks 

The reason for the article  however is not to Praise Adam Price or criticise Leanne Wood  but to divide Plaid into Leanne or Adam camps in the run up to the election in May. and to get the electorate to question the capabilities of Leanne Wood.


Shipton writes

It’s true that she made a generally positive impression during last year’s general election leadership debates on TV.
She was praised for her put-down of Nigel Farage.
Yet the fact remains that Ukip got more votes in Wales than Plaid did, and that in many seats in the coming Assembly election voters who have previously voted for Plaid are likely to be voting for Ukip.
It’s also true that in the leadership debates Wood was outshone by Nicola Sturgeon, who operates at a higher political level entirely.
 

True in the Ukip vote argument  but would any Plaid leader have achieved a better response .

And its also true about being outshone by Nicola Sturgeon but only slightly and Nicola outshone everyone.

Shipton article is not one of  a friend  telling you the truth you don't want to hear but an attempt to cause division and place a question mark in the electorate's eye.

If the positions of Adam and Leanne were reversed  the Wasting Mule , would be  praising Leanne 's honesty and connection with ordinary people , whilst claiming Adam  was "a slick political animal  who however did not have the common touch".

If you want to see Shipton's motive take look on his take on Carwyn Jones. Entitled

Why Carwyn Jones' biggest challenge is to avoid looking smug?.

Where Shipton writes.

" While in Wales Carwyn Jones may be the subject of trenchant criticism from opposition parties and mutterings within his own, at Labour HQ in London he is perceived as an election-winning guru.The First Minister shines, of course, in comparison with the hapless decline of Scottish Labour, and the failure of Jeremy Corbyn to appeal to a wider spectrum of voters.
Mr Jones will also have been buoyed by an opinion poll this week that saw Welsh Labourl losing no more than three seats in May’s National Assembly election".

So for Labour to lose three seats will be a victory for them  according to the Wasting Mule's Chief Reporter.

Perhaps instead of pointing out that Plaid have a very talented persona in the shape of Adam Price likely to enter the Assembly , Shipton should look at the lethargic leadership of his beloved First Minister and the lack of "charisma"  or ant real talent of anyone in Welsh Labour's current and future crop of AM.s.

Electoral Reform Society offer manifesto for change.

Although the "Informal  talks  between Plaid Cymru, the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Welsh Greens for an electoral pact failed. I wonder if they might agree that they together can push forward electoral reform in Wales.

Yesterday the Electoral Reform Society Cymru (ERS Cymru) are launching their first manifesto – calling on parties to get behind votes at 16, online voting pilots and a monthly ‘Citizens’ Question Time’ in the Assembly in the run up to May’s Assembly election. 

Writing on the Left Foot Forward Blog  Josiah Mortimer communications officer at the Electoral Reform Society highlighted  a number of key reforms 

Including:

• Make voting easier by piloting new methods like on-line and electronic voting, weekend voting and early voting;
• Allow people to ‘vote on the go’ in any polling station in their county, not just the one in their local community;
• Lower the voting age to 16
• Ensure any directly elected mayors, health commissioners or NHS boards are elected via a multi-preference voting system
• Support an increase in the number of Assembly Members to 100;
• Introduce a monthly Citizens’ Question Time, whereby members of the public can submit written questions for answer by Welsh ministers
• Reduce safe and uncontested seats and give voters more choice by introducing the Single Transferable Vote (STV) for local and Assembly elections;

I support all of these proposals though care must be taken in electronic voting and "vote on the go" to prevent fraud.

Labour according to the polls will find them in a minority  government , But will face probably a even more divided Opposition.

Plaid may be tempted to go into Coalition but that will not be popular with many of its supporters unless significant concessions are guaranteed.

Demanding that Labour accept  theay be worth Plaid or the Liberal Democrats offering a Coalition or supply and demand support. 

We should have the powers  granted to us under the next wave of Divo Dibynbach and it will be a golden opportunity to introduce reform of our Electoral system.

Especially as the duality between Parliamentary   and Assembly constituency seats is likely to disappear  .

With local Government changes with the merger of Councils likely to happen under the next Assembly , these reforms can be introduced there as well.

It would be useful if the Parties contesting the Election announce whether they accept Electoral Reform Society challenge now so we see which parties are prepared to as Josiah Mortimer says  as breath new life into Welsh politics

 

 

Welsh Tories to subsidise Landlords rather than Students.

 The Student vote or maybe the parents of students vote is probably not be a major issue in the Assembly Elections but it will loom large.

The  Student funding  cam be costly to a Party  as the LibDems found out when they broke a a pledge not to scrap the Students grant which they promptly did so.

Students from Wales currently pay only £3,810 towards their fees wherever they study in the UK.  

 
But there are  concern from some critics that tuition fee subsidies for Welsh students benefit universities in England.
 "
Students from Wales currently pay "only" £3,810 towards their fees wherever they study in the UK. 

The Welsh government supports anything above that up to £5,190 a year which the Tories said was "unsustainable" at an annual £229m cost to taxpayers.

Now the Welsh Conservatives at least realise that even they have to offer something different  to the way their colleagues in England.

 
According to the BBC

 Radical plans to scrap tuition fee subsidies and pay half of students' rent instead have been announced by the Welsh Conservatives.

The party said its £75m-a-year plans help with living costs and were fairer.
Their argument is accommodation costs often take a chunk out of a student's maintenance loan and the plan would help free up funds for their education.

It may not be popular with Students but Landlords wil be Happy with it.

Education Minister Huw Lewis has suggested Labour would continue to subsidise tuition fees if the party won the election in May, but hinted the subsidies may be means-tested.

Plaid Cymru has said it would shift to a system where graduates who work in Wales would get £6,000 a year of their tuition fee debts written off.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have said they would replace tuition fee subsidies with maintenance grants for students and more direct help for cash-strapped universities.

For some reason Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies will unveil his party's rent support pledge in a speech at Exeter University later today.

So he announcing  Today that he's planning to subsidise  Landlords in England.

 So maybe Andrew RT Davies will just do a check of the average rent there.

The Tories claim  average rental costs in Wales for students were around £118 a week, meaning the average student would receive £59 a week in rent subsidy. 
 

The money would be paid wherever in a UK the student chooses to go to university.
 
So maybe the Tories need to look at the costs  or at least make sure Landlords use this simply to put up their rents in Wales .believing the Welsh Government will pay for part of it.


30 years ago I received not only the basic grant but got more because of my age and still struggled with an overdraft.

So how students manage Today  is a miracle to me  and  the  prospect of paying of future debts must be worrying.

 Faced with limited funds it seems that Plaid has the best on offer something that can benefit Wales as well as Students .

Indeed it could help to reverse the "Brain Drain " from Wales as students going to Oxbridge and other Non-Welsh Universities  fail to return.

We need to keep out best here and  this means not only making it financially viable  for Students but also but raising the profile of Welsh Universities and making them attractive to home grown students , whilst benefiting from the influx of Students from outside, 

Even if that means they stay and become Liberal Democrat Councillors or even AMs for instance.

Where is Plaid's USP?

Plaid Cymru will  pledge to create a "well, well-educated, wealthier Wales" as the party launches its assembly election campaign.But is there something missing

Shorter NHS waiting times, free care for the elderly and improved school standards are among the policies to be announced by leader Leanne Wood.
She said 17 years of "unbroken Labour rule" had brought "economic stagnation" and declining public services.
"People in Wales are crying out for competent leadership," Ms Wood added.
Plaid Cymru had ministers in a coalition government led by Labour from 2007 to 2011, but lost seats and power at the election which ended that four-year term.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday's campaign launch in Cardiff, Ms Wood said Plaid Cymru had been "listening to what the people of Wales want" over the last five years.
"Their hopes and frustrations have informed our most ambitious programme for government to date," she said.
"At the heart of this programme lies our three ambitions - to create a well, well-educated and wealthier Wales."
Ms Wood said Plaid Cymru wanted "a fairer, more prosperous nation which can stand on its own two feet".
She said she would unveil nine key policies to support the party's ambitions to boost the nation's health, education and economy.

All very worthy, but  they could have come  any of the Parties fighting the Assembly Election.

Where is Plaid's Unique Selling Point (USP)?

Where is the call for if not Independence now parity with Scotland ?

Where is the Inspiration to take to the people of Wales a future of a Welsh Government that does not look to a vision k to Westminster and the Pocket Money they give us to solve our problems?

All of the Parties will be dangling goodies in front of the Welsh Electorate  ,
not mentioning that something else will have to be cut in order to pay for this.


The LibDems are giving us almost a daily feed via Subordinate Central as alluring as anything Plaid promise

But Plaid can offer much more with a vision of Wales with control of much more of our own polices  in Policing ,Law and Order to name just two that would move us to the same level of devolution as Scotland.

I hope Plaid's Spring Conference will see them putting parity with Scotland at the core of the Assembly campaign.

Lets have a campaign of ambition not just promises.

Offering to rearrange the "Deckchairs on the Titanic" even if it is not actually sinking at the moment is not good enough.

Is Ukip rise in Wales due to media ignoring Us?

Yesterday's Blog on calls by Plaid to the BBC to ensure coverage of the Assembly Elections in their news coverage can well be seen to be justified  with the news that  UKIP is on course for major gains in the Welsh Assembly despite its internal squabbles, according to new polling.

Ukip have virtually no councillors in Wales s, No MPs ,very little grassroots membership and lately have been split over selection of candidates for the said Assembly Elections.

 
And yet the latest Welsh Political Barometer suggests that UKIP will snatch nine seats in the Senedd, setting up a “three-way fight” for second place in May’s elections.


The polling in the constituency vote section puts in Labour on 34 per cent (-1 since December), Conservatives on 22 per cent (-1), Plaid Cymru on 19 per cent (-1), UKIP on 18 per cent (+3), the Lib Dems unchanged on 5 per cent and other parties down 1 point to 2 per cent.
On the regional list vote, Labour are on 31 per cent (-3) followed by the Conservatives on 22 per cent (-1), Plaid Cymru on 19 per cent (-1) and UKIP on 18 per cent (+2). The Lib Dems are unchanged on 4 per cent with the Greens down one point to 3 per cent and others on 3 per cent.


Replicated universally across Wales, this would indicate the following Assembly breakdown:
Labour: 27 seats (25 constituency seats + 2 list seats)
Conservatives: 12 seats (7 constituency seats + 5 list seats)
Plaid Cymru: 10 seats (6 constituency seats + 4 list seats)
UKIP: 9 seats (9 list seats)
Liberal Democrats: 2 seats (2 constituency seats)

When we bring in the response to rhe EU Referendum? With the referendum becoming likely to be held in June already there seems to be a strong leave majority.

Remain a member of the European Union: 37% (-3)
Leave the European Union: 45% (+3)
Would not vote: 3% (-2)
Don’t Know: 16% (+2)

This means that coverage of the Referendum will dominate the news that the BBC and the rest of the UK media give us  ,even during the Assembly campaign further bolstering Ukip profile , to such an extent they could end up with 12 regional seats .

With mt local SPAR giving out free copies of the SUN on a daily basis many people where I live will be getting their news from a right wing xenophobic  press ,which hardly  even acknowledge Wales exists.

I know our friends in Scotland face an constant barrage from the Unionist media with its SNPBAD coverage ,but i can't help thinking even that is preferable to virtually no news of what Palid stand for.

We are facing 4 years of a big Ukip in the Welsh Assembly where they will squabble will squabble constantly even among themselves probably loosing some AM from their ranks to resignations from the party.

It will lead to calls to abolishthe Assembly from some quarters and may find willing ears.

Will the BBC show as much interest interest in the Election here as well as the US?

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood has raised a big issue with the BBC with her call to give as much network coverage to devolved elections as the broadcaster has to the US presidential campaign.

According to Wales Online Ms Wood has written to James Harding, the BBC’s director of news and current affairs, to stress the importance of elections to the National Assembly to the people of Wales.

Forthcoming polls in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will have a major impact on the way public services, such as health and education, are run in each of the devolved nations.

Ms Wood said:

“I’m writing to raise the issue of coverage by the BBC of May’s elections to the devolved administrations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on network television.
“Many viewers have noted the extensive coverage given by the BBC to the campaigns in Iowa and New Hampshire for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations.
The US presidential election is obviously significant and will impact on our lives but the people of Wales and those living in the other nations of the UK have no say in them.
“In Wales, elections to our National Assembly will have a direct impact on people’s lives.
“They will have the opportunity to choose the next government of Wales, a government which is responsible for running vital public services such as health and education.
“The BBC, as the UK’s public service broadcaster, has a responsibility to ensure that the voting public in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are kept informed of the choices they have, the record of current governments and the policies that the parties are putting forward ahead of the election.
“I would like an assurance from you, as director of news and current affairs, that the elections here in May will receive the same extensive network coverage as the battle for the Republican and Democrat presidential nominations have received on our screens.
“For the people in Wales, the elections to the National Assembly will, I would stress, have a far greater impact on their daily lives than the battle for Republican and Democratic nominations in the United States.”

 A spokesman for the BBC gave a lees than full and committed response : 

“We will cover the elections across the UK in May appropriately to give audiences clear, impartial information about the choices they have.”

Some Plaid and SNP supporters may think that given the BBC bias towards the Union  it may be just as well we didn't get constant coverage giving a Unionist slant to everything.


But given that people in Wales and Scotland get much of their news Information from the same source that has been churning out coverage of the odious candidates for the Republican nomination (Trump is not the only one) people in both countries need to be informed that there is an election going on and that it is important to them.

At the moment it is likely that any coverage of the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliamentary Elections on the BBC will be largely when a negative story appears.

Unionist Parties  will be given air time as part of UK coverage even if as with the Junior Doctors Strike it only affects England.

Indeed such was the nature of the dispute and the failure to empathise that it was  not happening in Wales in Scotland  . I'm surprised  that we haven't seen some comments in the Social Media asking what Plaid and the SNP were doing to resolve it.

You can bet the English Local governments will get far more coverage and we will see a addendum "Welsh and Northern Ireland Assembly Elections and Scottish Parliamentary Elections will be held on the same day".

That will be largely it and those outside NI ,Wales and Scotland will be blissfully unaware such elections are happening.

The sad thing is that this will also be true for those who live in Wales as well.

We need Consensus on the Welsh NHS>

Maybe the NHS staff in Wales deserve an apology from the Tories,  after a major report said the health service was no worse in Wales than elsewhere in the UK.the first minister has demanded.

Though in reality he means his government deserves one.


Carwyn Jones said the OECD report "nails the lie that the NHS in Wales is being out-performed by England". 


However the  Welsh Conservatives pointed out the OECD had not looked at waiting times. Which is a major concern.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt have ruthlessly and consistently attacked Welsh Labour in the House of Commons over its handling of health services in Wales.
On numerous occasions, the pair have publicly denounced the Welsh Government’s record on the NHS, with Mr Cameron controversially describing Offa’s Dyke as the “line between life and death”.
Mr Hunt claimed patients in Wales received a “second class” health service, even describing the state of the NHS in Wales was “a national scandal”.



First Minister  Jones claimed David Cameron and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt had "denigrated" NHS staff in Wales to gain political advantage.


He said the UK government should examine its own record on health in England.

 Welsh Labour will use the report  to present a positive spin on the Welsh NHS at a time the English Health Secretary is caught up in a heated contract dispute with junior doctors in England.

So ther eis no Border of Death as Cameron claims but this does not let the Welsh Labour government  off the Hook and if they were tp go into Opposition  it would not be long before they started attacking the state of the Welsh NHS even if in reality Nothing had changed.


As the cabinet post in Westminster and Cardiff Bay  are handed  out after a reshuffle . I bet every potential minister is praying.

"Please not Health"

 This report may put a end to the "Our Health service is better than yours" or rather "our Health service is not as bad as yours" claims but the problems are still there

In England Jeremy Hunt attempt to convince voters he can improve the Health service there has led to Junior Dr's going on strike.

Whilst in Wales we are likely to see all sorts of promises  on waiting Times being reduced by employing more Doctors and Nurses.

But could the best thing for the NHS  after the Election be a consensus on the Welsh NHS taking it out of the political spectrum for now and all Parties joining together to work out what is the best response to the problems of the Welsh NHS .

It will not happen of course there's to much Political capitol to come out from the NHS and lets face with it be responsible for nearly half the Welsh Budget.

Indeed it will probably eclipse all the other issues, and we have many more things to discuss in the run up to May including where we foresee the Assembly going.

The argument is that the electorate  are not interested in Constitutional matters so we will have debates and promises on the Welsh NHS and maybe Education as well.

As i said maybe we need consensus on the Welsh NHS not treating it as a political football . There are so many more things we need to address which are being overshadowed .