Do the Tories realy want to be "Tory Lite" with the chaos it will bring internally?

The idea of that Politicians brawling amongst themselves is bad enough when one is seriously injured it is not a matter of levity.

Ukip  MEP Steven Woolfe collapsed after an incident at a meeting in Strasbourg.

Mr Woolfe, 49 - among the favourites to be the party's next leader - had a precautionary brain scan and is expected to be released later.

UKIP chairman Paul Oakden said there would be a full investigation and "appropriate action" if necessary.

The incident, understood to be between Mr Woolfe and fellow MEP Mike Hookem, took place during a heated UKIP meeting in the European Parliament.

UKIP sources said "a rumbustious argument" had taken place following claims Mr Woolfe had been considering defecting to the Conservative Party.

Accounts of what followed vary, with Mr Woolfe quoted in the Daily Mail as saying a punch was thrown at him.

UKIP did not deny Mr Hookem, wh MEPo represents Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, left the room with Mr Woolfe, although a spokeswoman is reported to have denied that a physical fight took place.

Despite being opposed to everything that Mr Woolfe stands for I wish him well in his recovery and do not think this is a matter for levity.

The response for the Ukip leader in Wales Neil Hamilton however shows that he is not fit to be a member of our Assembly

In the interview, broadcast live, Mr Hamtilton said: 

"I understand there was an argument between some MEPs and Steven, I think, picked a fight with one of them and came off worst.
"But that’s what I’ve heard second hand and remains to be seen what the full truth is.
“I don’t know what his current condition is.
"It’s obviously a serious matter if he’s been carted off to hospital with bleeding on the brain as I understand it. The information has come from an eyewitness there.
“It’s unfortunate but passions run high.
“I was told he was knocked over and hit his head on a window. I don’t know if he was knocked unconscious.
”He hit his head on a glass window with quite a wallop.
“It was a dispute between two individuals.
”There is too much violence in Ukip at the moment. I don’t mean physical violence, I mean online and in the media.”

Mr Farage has returned as UKIP leader until a fresh election is held to 

Mr Woolfe, the MEP for North West England, later announced he will run for leader in the next election, having being unable to take part in the previous contest because he missed the deadline for submitting his nomination.find a successor to Diane James. She announced her resignation on Tuesday after just 18 days in the job, citing professional and personal reasons.

Meanwhile Ukip backer Arron Banks has warned he could leave the party after being left “utterly disgusted” by Neil Hamilton’s comments after MEP Steven Woolfe was hospitalised.

He said 

 “Firstly, I was shocked at the events that unfolded today – it goes without saying that I wish Steven best wishes and hope he recovers soon.“I am however utterly disgusted to see Neil Hamilton touring the newsrooms this afternoon, spewing his bile before anyone knew if Steven was going to be OK. He truly is a creature from the gutter who will do anything to get his mug on our screens.

“Tonight I am calling for the immediate suspension of the NEC. Elections need to be held for both a new leader of the party as well as the NEC.
“People say that UKIP is split down the middle between two camps. This is incorrect.
“The Tory troublemakers and fifth columnists represent a small minority in our party, yet they use any opportunity they can do undermine those working tirelessly to hold the governments feet to the flames. This ends today.
“If Neil Hamilton and Douglas Carswell remain in the party, and the NEC decide that Steven Woolfe can not run for leader, I will be leaving UKIP.
“People have worked too long and too hard to get UKIP to where it is today, but it is clear that we ourselves, are at breaking point.”

I am at a loss to explain how Ukip are still polling  in the numbers they are

LATEST VOTING INTENTION

14 Sep

40

34

6

9

Con +6

14 Sep

38

31

7

13

Con +7

11 Sep

41

27

8

14

Con +14

5 Sep

40

29

7

13

Con +11

31 Aug

38

30

7

14

Con +8

28 Aug

41

27

9

13

Con +14

23 Aug

40

29

8

13

Con +11

22 Aug

40

31

7

13

Con +9

17 Aug

38

30

9

13

Con +8

15 Aug

45

34

7

6

Con +11

15 Aug

40

28

8

14

Con +12

8 Aug

38

31

8

13

Con +7

8 Aug

39

26

10

11

Con +13

2 Aug

42

28

8

12

Con +14

26 Jul

40

28

8

13

Con +12

24 Jul

43

27

8

13

Con +16

22 Jul

37

31

6

15

Con +6

18 Jul

40

29

9

12

Con +11

15 Jul

39

29

9

14

Con +10

11 Jul

36

35

11

8

Con +1

10 Jul

38

30

8

15

Con +8

5 Jul

36

32

9

12

Con +4

3 Jul

37

30

8

15

Con +7

30 Jun

34

29

7

17

Con +5

26 Jun

36

32

7

15

Con +4

...MORE

They have dropped but still have a core vote of about 9-13% .

What affect the latest leadership crisis is going and the news of the a"rumbustious argument"  in Strasbourg is anybody;s guess,

But if it remains in the percentages it has recently shown it could show that maybe the Tories plans to be Ukip Lite will not garner them any ore support from that quarter.

However maybe the Tories ope is the defection of some leading Ukip supporters to them .

After yesterdays events .do they really want them?

 

Tories Anti Migrant Laws have a dark similarity to the past.

There has been some people who are comparing  Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt s of proposals at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham to crack down on immigration. with a speech made by the then Labour leader David Milliband  in 2012

The Tories  proposals are 

• Forcing companies to list non UK nationals who work for them

• Making the NHS 'self sufficient' so it does not rely on overseas doctors

• Tough new visa rules for students

• Plans to shame companies who turn down British staff

Whilst Milliband proposals were 

• Forcing medium and large employers to declare if more than a quarter of their workforce is foreign, so that gaps in training British workers can be addressed, allowing them better to compete

• Banning employment agencies from taking on only overseas workers

• Extending the scope of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority to all sectors where workers are being exploited

• Setting up an early-warning system, run by the Migration Advisory Council, to highlight areas where the workforce is "dominated by low-wage labour from other countries"

Is there any difference?

Well there  would be if Milliband  had claimed what he was calling for was to protect Foreign workers from exploitation  but he does not appear to be the case .
Such is the  frenzy whipped up by the Murdoch Press and others like the Daily Mail that both the Tories now and Labour then do not even have to pretend that  is the migrants interest at heart.


We are entering a dodgy area and there are worrying parallels  with the first six years of Hitler’s dictatorship, government at every level—Reich, state and municipal—adopted hundreds of laws, decrees, directives, guidelines, and regulations that increasingly restricted the civil and human rights of the Jews in Germany.

The idea pf forcing companies to list non UK nationals who work for them certainly has a whiff of such measures 

Here are examples of anti-Jewish legislation in Nazi Germany, 1933–1939:

• Decree of the Berlin city commissioner for health suspends Jewish doctors from the city’s charity services

• Law for the Reestablishment of the Professional Civil Service removes Jews from government service.

• Law on the Admission to the Legal Profession forbids the admission of Jews to the bar.

• Law against Overcrowding in Schools and Universities limits the number of Jewish students in public schools.

• De-Naturalization Law revokes the citizenship of naturalized Jews and “undesirables.”

• Law on Editors bans Jews from editorial posts.

• Army law935  expels Jewish officers from the army.

• Nazi leaders announce the Nuremberg Laws.

• Executive Order on the Reich Tax Law forbids Jews to serve as tax-consultants.
• Reich Veterinarians Law expels Jews from the veterinary profession.
• Reich Ministry of Education bans Jewish teachers from public schools.

• The Mayor of Berlin orders public schools not to admit Jewish children until further notice.Law on the Alteration of Family and Personal Names forbids Jews from changing their names.

• Law on the Profession of Auctioneer excludes Jews from this occupation.

• The Gun Law excludes Jewish gun merchants

• Decree against the Camouflage of Jewish Firms forbids changing the names of Jewish-owned businesses.

• Order for the Disclosure of Jewish Assets requires Jews to report all property in excess of 5,000 reichsmarks.

• Reich Ministry of the Interior bans Jews from health spas.

• Executive Order on the Law on the Alteration of Family and Personal Names requires Jews to adopt an additional name: "Sara” for women and “Israel” for men.

• Decree on the Confiscation of Jewish Property regulates the transfer of assets from Jews to non-Jewish Germans.

• The Reich Interior Ministry invalidates all German passports held by Jews. Jews must surrender their old passports, which will become valid only after the letter “J” had been stamped on them.

• Decree on the Exclusion of Jews from German Economic Life closes all Jewish-owned businesses.

• Reich Ministry of Education expels all Jewish children from public schools.

• Reich Ministry of Interior restricts the freedom of movement of Jews.

• The Reich Interior Ministry forbids Jews to keep carrier pigeons.

• An Executive Order on the Law on the Organization of National Work cancels all state contracts held with Jewish-owned firms.

• Law on Midwives bans all Jews from the occupation.

• Decree Concerning the Surrender of Precious Metals and Stones in Jewish Ownership.

• The President of the German Lottery forbids the sale of lottery tickets to Jews.

Is it over the top to suggest  a comparison?

I don't think so. Pandering to the Daily Mail and its almost Daily anti- immigration headlines will lead to cal;s for even more draconian headlines.

As the true cost of Brexit becomes clear the Tories and those who fought for Leave will be looking for scapegoats .

No they have already identified them what it will may lead to can only worry decent people and we must act now.

True Patriotism is saying when your Nation is in the wrong.

It is becoming clear that the Tories are going to use Brexit to wrap themselves 

in the Union Jack and use it to issue a new era of British Nationalism

The Telegraph claims that in her speech to the Conservative Party Conference Theresa May is to attack politicians who sneer at 'patriotic' working class voters concerned about migration.

Will she attack those who do not call foe and end to immigration or voted Remain as unpatriotic?

I doubt it.

“Just listen to the way a lot of politicians and commentators talk about the public,” Mrs May will say. “They find their patriotism distasteful, their concerns about immigration parochial, their views about crime illiberal, their attachment to their job security inconvenient. They find the fact that more than seventeen million people voted to leave the European Union simply bewildering.”

No what we object to is the use of Brexit to bring in a Right Wing Nationalist agenda  because we find it damaging to our economy but it is partially based on pure racism.

This "Patriotism"  of May is underlined  with plans for a  various of a Bill of Rights, which will replace the Human Rights Act. Now, the Conservative Party have announced plans for the British military to opt-out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).



As Tom McNeil on Left Foot forward states

This means that there will be a presumption that the ECHR does not apply in warfare,The aim is to prevent what May calls an ‘industry of vexatious claims‘ against our soldiers. In particular, it seeks to restrict the ability of people to claim they have been subjected to certain human rights abuses by British soldiers who served in previous conflicts.The ideology behind this policy is that soldiers have gone out to risk their lives for the UK and therefore should not have to endure the stress of defending false claims that they violated other people’s rights. The proposal is potentially a vote winner because it is seen as defending the military against a society that has become too politically correct and obsessed with human rights.

 The ideology behind this policy is that soldiers have gone out to risk their lives for the UK and therefore should not have to endure the stress of defending false claims that they violated other people’s rights. The proposal is potentially a vote winner because it is seen as defending the military against a society that has become too politically correct and obsessed with human rights.

However ,,

Only days ago we saw in the press that our soldiers are being accused of committing multiple acts of torture against Iraqi men, women and children. The devil will be in the detail but, if the Conservative Party proposals hope to prevent these types of claims from being heard, they are a backwards step for our nation.When announcing this proposal the government emphasised the cost to the taxpayer in defending human rights claims against soldiers, suggesting it is a waste of our country’s money. This may well be a popular narrative, after all, who wants to waste money defending false claims? However, it is depressing that the cost of human rights can be seen as an excuse to remove the access to justice.

It is not Patriotic in condemning human rights abuses by others when saying you will protect your own combatants  from such abuses .

   

The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt)[ is an intergovernmental organisation and international tribunal that sits in The Hague in the Netherlands. The ICC has the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

The UK is a member of this along with an other  123 others 





The States Parties to the Rome Statute

  Party

  Party for which it has not entered into force

  Signatory that has not ratified

  Non-state party, non-signatory

It is noticeable that neither the USA  or Russia are members  and one can only wonder when the UK will withdraw claiming it is protecting us from spurious accusations?

I finish with  the words of a leaflet of the White Rose movement who were a resistance movement in Nazi Germany who were executed for distributing leaflets  opposing the regime  

Since the conquest of Poland, 300,000 Jews have been murdered in this country in the most bestial way ... The German people slumber on in dull, stupid sleep and encourage the fascist criminals. Each wants to be exonerated of guilt, each one continues on his way with the most placid, calm conscience. But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty!
— 2nd leaflet of the White Rose

The question is who were the true Patriots? the Nazi or Germans like Hans and Sophie Scholl  of the White Rose who loved their country so much, they has to oppose it rulers and that it should be defeated paying with their lives 

Tories preparing the way to cut extra funding for Wales?

Today's Wale's online claims that  Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns will today signal a major post-Brexit shake-up in regional support for Wales when he takes the Conservative conference stage.

The Vale of Glamorgan MP will say that the “old way” of distributing structural funds will come to an end – and claim that communities that received past support have been “let down”.

Making the case for change, he will say: 

“Simply carrying on with the same spending plans in the same old way after two decades is not an option. But a new structure will give us the opportunity to follow UK priorities, investing in a way that is completely tailored to the Welsh economy.”

Let's face its an argument many would make, as despite decades of being in receipt of European Funding because we are one of the poorest "regions",  it sometimes appears that is only temporarily, easing the situation rather than curing  it

He will say:

 “The outcome of the referendum has naturally raised concerns over the future of what is currently considered EU funding... But again, we must see this moment as an opportunity to do better for these communities.
“After all, European structural funds are supposed to be a temporary fix, a stimulus for the most deprived parts of Europe. In Wales it was described as a ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity’.
“Sixteen years on and £4bn later, Labour’s mismanagement of the funds in Wales let those communities down. So much was their frustration that those areas which received the most EU funds were the areas which voted strongest to leave.
“And when we consider some of the projects they funded there is little wonder of their anger – if only outcomes had been as important as the money spent.”

The problem is that  as any one who knows the Tories this a code for cutting that amount of Money we are currently receiving from the EU, and will now have to reply on from Westminster .

Wales received £3.3bn in European structural funds between 2000 and 2013 and I can't see  us getting anything like that fro the Tories at Westminster.

Plaid Cymru Treasury spokesman Jonathan Edwards said: 

“Parts of Wales have qualified for the highest form of European regional support as a result of the disastrous economic policies pursued by successive Tory and Labour Westminster Governments which have deliberately driven policies which geographically polarises wealth. This fundamental failure in Westminster government explains the strong feelings of disillusionment which drove many people to vote against what they perceived to be the establishment in the referendum...
“If the Secretary of State was serious about doing things differently he would empower the Welsh Government with the necessary job creation levers so that we can solve our own problems. Instead Wales is offered far fewer fiscal powers than Scotland and Northern Ireland.
“A hard Brexit will hit the Welsh economy harder than other parts of the British State. With that in mind, it is vital the Secretary of State delivers a full range of job creating powers to Wales. In a hard brexit scenario there is no reason why leavers such as VAT and Corporation Tax be reserved to Westminster.
“As the months proceed we will see if the Secretary of State is a man of vision or just another Westminster Governor General.”

 After over seventeen   years of the Assembly Government,we still have to go Cap in Hand to the EU for funding and now we will have to this to Westminster,  who are going to tell us there will be no more and that it ids a form of "Tough Love" encouraging us to fend for ourselves.

Carwyn was told there was no more money for him and he would have to fend for himself.

Without of course having the powers to do so .

Whether you are on the left or the right  its time to realise we will always be poor "West Britain"  treated as poor cousins with contempt and reliant on handouts from London.

Only an Independent Wales that has Men and Women with vision for our Nation can end our decades of being one of the poorest regions of Europe.

Those in the Labour Party who think that we are simple voting fodder giving them most of the Welsh Mps, AMs and Councillors  must realise their hegemony with its opposition to even parity with Scotland must end their opposition not only parity with Scotland  must realise that we will get nothing more from Westminster Labour or Tory and its time for a diffrent party to ave a go at government here who will follow the same path as our friends in Scotland.

It is not EU funding that has failed, nor the Welsh Assembly It is ur own reluctance to take the powers and responsibilities of an Independent Nation.

Only then can we flourish .

Oh God we're so screwed

Two parts of Theressa Mays conference speech  show how Unionist think

"We're going to be a fully independent sovereign country that is no longer part of a political union with supranational institutions that can override national parliaments and courts.

In the speech to the Conservative conference in Birmingham, the Prime Minister said she would "consult and work" with devolved executives in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland during the course of the two-year Brexit talks.

But she said it was for the UK Government alone to carry out the negotiations and made it clear there will be no special deals for different parts of the country.

"The negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union are the responsibility of the Government and nobody else.

"I have already said that we will consult and work with the devolved administrations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, because we want Brexit to work in the interests of the whole country. And we will do the same with business and municipal leaders across the land.

"But the job of negotiating our new relationship is the job of the Government. Because we voted in the referendum as one United Kingdom, we will negotiate as one United Kingdom, and we will leave the European Union as one United Kingdom.

"There is no opt-out from Brexit. And I will never allow divisive nationalists to undermine the precious union between the four nations of our United Kingdom."

So basically by work with devolved legislatures she means telling them  what she was doing and we can like it or lump it.

South Wales East AM Steffan Lewis, warned that Theresa May’s “Great Repeal Bill” – which would scrap the 1972 European Communities Act – could have negative consequences for devolution.
He urged the Welsh Government to state which EU laws it wants unchanged, and what powers it wants devolved.

He said: “Now that the Prime Minister has announced the creation of a Great Repeal Bill to end the authority of EU law in the United Kingdom, the Welsh Government must not delay before responding robustly.
“The Leave vote on June 23 was a vote to leave the European political union – not a vote to centralise powers in Westminster.
“That is why the Welsh Government must press ahead with publishing a full list of EU laws it wants maintained unchanged, alongside a full list of repatriated functions it wants devolved to the National Assembly.
“There is a danger here that the Great Repeal Bill will become the Great Power-Grab with powers centralised in Westminster unless the Labour Welsh government gets its act together.
“The Labour First Minister and his colleagues must approach this matter with urgency and clarity to ensure that the Welsh national interest is protected as this significant transfer of power takes place.”

Other parts of Ms May's speech  were also disturbing 

"And that means we're going once more to have the freedom to make our own decisions on a whole host of different matters, from the way we label our food to the way in which we choose to control immigration."

She added: 

"It's not going to be a Norway or Switzerland model, it's going to be an agreement between an independent, sovereign United Kingdom and the European Union."

Possibly trying to avert worries that  "The Great Repeal Bill" will lead to abandoning workers and human rights she said

"By converting it into British law, we will give businesses and workers maximum certainty as we leave the European Union. The same rules and laws will apply to them after Brexit as they did before.
"Let me be absolutely clear, existing workers legal rights will continue to be guaranteed in law and they will be guaranteed as long as I am Prime Minister."

So we must hold her and her party to her word it would be a mammoth task to amend each law as they are transferred and it would delay Brexit  so they will wish to change things after.  

Bur they will you can be sure of it.

Is this worse than a bad translation into Welsh

We get many stories of bad translations  into Welsh of official signs but even worse are half-hearted  attempts 


Here is a directional signs to the Royal Mint Experience  a new visitor attraction at the Mint's Llantrisant site.

I took this photo on my phone as I walked towards Talbot Green the other day

How ridiculous  is it not to translate The Royal Mint into Welsh. 

Y Bathdy Brenhinol, seems to be the official translation so why has that not been used?

The sign was hanging of its hinges but I suspect this was not part of a campaign to remove the signs.

If we are going to have a Bilingual Wales perhaps the Welsh Language Commissioner powers should be extended to compelling public bodies not only to use bilingual signs but to ensure they are correct and replace them immediately if the translation is incorrect.

However compulsion should not be necessary both the AA and Royal Mint are sufficiently and  should be able to ensure that this does not happen again. 

AM's can't complain of overwork if they Double Job.

So what work does A UKIP AM who  has been criticised for “moonlighting” and “double-jobbing” as a researcher actually do for the party’s only MP at Westminster, Douglas Carswell.

Mark Reckless, himself a Ukip MP until he lost his Kent seat in last year’s general election, now represents South Wales East in the Senedd.

The Wasting Mule reports that

"His entry in the Assembly’s register of members’ interests says: “Part-time director (not a company director) and company secretary, Ukip Parliamentary Resource Unit Limited”. The entry goes on to state that Mr Reckless works for between five and 20 hours per week. It says the company is in receipt of House of Commons “Short” money.

Unlike at Westminster AMs doing outside work do not have to say how much they are paid.

They are, however, obliged to say if they are in receipt of public funds. “Short” money is cash from public funds that is paid to opposition parties to help them employ researchers who help their policy development".

Asked to explain the work he did for Mr Carswell, Mr Reckless said: 

“The declaration is there. I am not sure I have got much to add to it. I generally work on Mondays in London to support the Ukip Parliamentary party as I don’t committees in the Assembly that day.” 

As an AM Mr Reckless’ basic salary is £64,000, on top of which he is paid £13,000 as chair of the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee.

His entry in the register of members’ interests also shows that he employs his wife Catriona as a senior adviser for 29.6 hours a week. Until earlier this month she sat as a member of Medway council in Kent, where she was deputy leader of the Ukip group. 

So we have the case that a member of one Legislature  is employed by another and paid by the Taxpayer. 

Although we have councillors retaining their council seats it could be argued that that helps them to keep in contact with some of their constituents.

Currently only Plaid Neil Mcevoy  seems to be in this position although Peter Black still operated as a Liberal Democrat ward councillor throughout 17 years as a AM  for   South Wales West Region until 2016.

Mr Mcevoy of course  ward on Cardiff Council is close to the Assembly  so maybe  he  has no problem at all juggling  between the two.

However AM cannot really complain about being overworked if they can find time to do their jobs during the Assembly week.

Which brings me to Blaenau Gwent AM Alun Davies  being  named as Welsh Labour's representative on UK Labour’s National Executive Committee.

At the time As Darren Williams who is a member of the NEC  argued

I pointed out that Welsh Labour has only 29 seats out of the sixty in the Assembly and needs every vote; no Labour AM, therefore, would be able to attend NEC meetings in London on a Tuesday when the Assembly is sitting. I made this point twice in the discussion but it was largely ignored. My second objection to the proposed rule change – that Scotland and Wales should have NEC representation but that these seats should be subject to an OMOV ballot of all members in the countries in question –"

So is Alun Davies the Welsh Representative  on the NEC  or  Carwyn Jones's?

Either way Labour seem to have decided o risk loosing a vote in he Assembly on the days when Mr Davies  is supposedly  representing a Welsh viewpoint to his party .

With Nathan Gill perhaps on Europe duties or Mr Reckless having to stay for a day in London to work for his Westminster  master  maybe there is no chance of that happening however.