Tories and Labour fight for the Union crown.

I recently posted this Twitter spat between the Labour MP for Rhondda and his Plaid AM counter part

Chris Bryant MP‏Verified account @RhonddaBryant  20h20 hours ago20 hours agoMoreChris Bryant MP Retweeted LeanneWood
I hope you'll explain why your referendum on Welsh independence would be good for the Rhondda?
Chris Bryant MP added,LeanneWoodVerified account @LeanneWood
Mas yn Nhonypandy y bore 'ma / some of team @RhonddaPlaid will be out in #Tonypandy with Wendy Allsop this morning. #Plaid17 @Plaid_Cymru

32 replies5 retweets15 likes

Reply

32

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5

  

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15

To which came the response 
LeanneWood‏Verified account @LeanneWood  9h9 hours ago9 hours ago9 hours agoMoreReplying to @RhonddaBryant
People know this election is about local matters & the council not constitutional questions. You worried? #desperate
#NotAGoodLook #Plaid17

I wrote at the time  that "In an ideal world Leanne would be right, but constitutional questions may be a big thing in Scotland and the Lib Dems will be hoping for a Brexit backlash and Remainers. turning to them".


Its certainly true in Scotland

The Unionist Parties there seem intent on turning it into " A Referendum about  referendum".

Wing over Scotland has provided us with examples of the literature  for May 4th and  its all rather peculiar

Take This one from the Tories.



Not to be outdone Labour seem to be using  similar tactits




There are numerous examples on Wing's site as the Tories and Labour fight for the Unionist crown. One  the Tories are winning.

The stupidity of Labour in Scotland after the Toxic identification of them with the  Tories in the Better together campaign  in the last referendum.

Accusation that Labour and the Tories have done a deal in some wards so that they don't cancel each other out and maximum their seats under the STV electoral system.

The Media of course are behind Tory Scottish Branch manager Ruth Davidson  using UK polls to claim she is more popular than Nicola Sturgeon,

Whilst the reverse is true when t Scottish voters and not people in Kent who asked



Labour could of course make a play for a third option in Indy2 that called for for a powerful Scottish Parliament , but they seem hell bent on preserving the Union as it is .

Any fool can see that the Tories will win the battle for the Union Crown  but it may be that in doing so they lose Scotland .


In the meantime if the SNP make gains in May the unionists will be denying that this had nothing to do with a call for a second referendum. despite them trying to make it so.

Schrödinge's Assembly Group

Most will be  Schrödinger's Cat which we place a living cat into a steel chamber, along with a device containing a vial of hydrocyanic acid. There is, in the chamber, a very small amount of hydrocyanic acid, a radioactive substance. If even a single atom of the substance decays during the test period, a relay mechanism will trip a hammer, which will, in turn, break the vial and kill the cat. 

The observer cannot know whether or not an atom of the substance has decayed, and consequently, cannot know whether the vial has been broken, the hydrocyanic acid released, and the cat killed. Since we cannot know, according to quantum law, the cat is both dead and alive, in what is called a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive).

There seems to be something of this within the Welsh Conservative group in the Welsh Assembly. 

Acording to the BBC

"The defection of a UKIP AM to the Welsh Conservatives has left a Tory AM feeling "unsure of his status".

A row has broken out after Mark Reckless joined the Conservatives, despite rules stating only party members can be in the assembly group.

It caused Monmouth AM Nick Ramsay to ask:

 "Am I a member of a Welsh Conservative group or am I a member of some kind of hybrid independent group?"

Welsh leader Andrew RT Davies. said the constitution had not been suspended.

Mr Reckless defected from the Conservatives as Rochester and Strood MP in 2014. He became the UKIP AM for South Wales East in May 2016 but quit UKIP on Thursday to rejoin the Tories.

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement programme, Mr Ramsay said:

"It has raised as many questions as it has answered and from my point of view, I think we need clarification on this because I think confusion will otherwise arise.
"We now have a member in the Conservative group who is not a member of the party - now that is a strange situation."

 Contradicting what his party leader earlier insisted, Mr Ramsay said the party's constitution 

"had to have been suspended in some shape or manner".

He also said a Wales Officer minister would not be willing to meet with the Welsh Conservative group with Mr Reckless in it.

Earlier this week, Mr Davies said 

there was "unanimous agreement" among his group "that Mark was a fit and proper person to vote with and work with the Conservative group in the assembly".

He added: 

"I accept some MPs, because of historical arrangements and historical actions by Mark, feel aggrieved by Mark's actions, but he has not applied to join the party."

However, two senior grassroots Tories in South Wales East also told BBC Wales they were happy with the decision to bring Mr Reckless into the group.

Mr Ramsay also raised concerns about the impact this would have on the party at the polls: 

"Are we a Welsh Conservative group that can go into a future assembly election and campaign on one united platform? Clearly that is not the case."

Simultaneously being a member of the Tory group and not a member of   the Conservative Party. Mr Reckless seems to be in a neverworld.

I wonder wherethis leaves , Mark Reckless and a lucritive employment issue. that he had with former Ukip MP Douglas Carswell who now sits as an Independent

As the Welsh Assembly's website points out, Reckless declares amongst his interests that he is a 'Part-time Director (not a company director) and Company Secretary, UKIP Parliamentary Resource Unit Limited (SO 4.3 - Band 2 - Between 5 hours and 20 hours per week). Company in receipt of House of Commons 'short money'.


Is there an agreement with RT Davies that he can continue to be employed by his former colleague . maybe that is why he not to worried about being fully embraced with his new Tory mates.

The threat of a Klingon Invasion to the English Language.

I have written before that I don't always agree with Jac o' the North and I whilst we both seek an Independent  Wales  we have very different approaches to it and maybe a different vision to the Wales we want.

I suspect Jac scorns my support for Left, Green and Feminist issues but there are times when I am really glad he's around to expose some of the rotten politics that exist in Wales

His latest  piece on a group, seeking to raise money to ‘Save English Language Education in Wales’.is well  worth a read




The funding page, which has a target of £7,500, states “this is the most important legal case in respect of Education in Wales in 200 years”.

The page adds:

 “This case sets a precedent for all other schools to be changed in a similar manner despite apparent flaws, breaches and overwhelming opposition.
“Learning through the Medium of Welsh must be through choice and encouragement not by compulsion.”

I wonder if the authors would agree that  

“Learning through the Medium of English must be through choice and encouragement not by compulsion.”

Because those who support Welsh Medium Education do not see children growing up in Wales being monoglot speakers of Cymraeg, indeed many envisage us copying , the Scandinavian countries and being multilingual.

The only way that children in Wales will not become fluent in English after an Education here  would be if there was an Alien invasion and Earth was forced to speak something like Klingon.

Much more of a threat to English than having Welsh Medium Schools.

There appears to be an organised campaign against Welsh Medium Education, which Jac points a finger at and which seems to be routed in a Labour Party panicking  that somehow it will lead to Plaid usurping their hegemony here.

It has a rather colonial mentality and I wonder when there will be an argument against Gwynedd's Welsh language policy and that it is holding the area back by making it difficult , for English speakers moving to the area who can show the Natives how to run things.

As I said I don't always agree with Jac and am sometime uncomfortable with some of his rhetoric but i suspect if he wasn't there it would be necessary to invent him,

The main Welsh Opposition Parties ignore Heads of the Valleys contests .Why?

There has been some comment over the lack of a Ukip  in Merthyr Tydfil but there seems to be very little of a battle from other parties other than Labour,

• Conservatives: 1
• Liberal Democrats: 4
• Labour: 33
• Plaid Cymru: 1
• Independents: 29
• Merthyr Independents: 3
• Welsh Communist Party: 1

A similar story  seems to be the case for Blaneau Gwent  and Torfaen

The Liberal Democrats did look look like they were about to break through in 2008 winning 6 seats

Election results by party

Party name	Seats won	% of votes
Independent	16	37%
Labour Party / Llafur Cymru	8	37%
Welsh Liberal Democrats/ Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol Cymru	6	17%
Merthyr Independents	3	6%
Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales	0	2%
Communist Party	0	< 1%
Turnout:		39%
Proxy votes:		16

Only to lose all of them in 2012

2012 Merthyr Tydfil Council Election[2]
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	23			+15	69.7	45.5	8,145	+12.5
	Independent	7			-9	21.2	35.4	6,343	-7.0
	Liberal Democrat	0			-6		5.1	910	-10.9
	Merthyr Independents	2			-1	6.1	4.4	797	-1.1
	Plaid Cymru	0			0		3.9	703	+1.2
	UKIP	1			+1	3.0	3.3	588	N/A
	Communist	0			0		2.1	383	+1.7
	Conservative	0			0		0.3	50	N/A

References[edit]

1. Jump up

Plaid of course famously won control of the council on the 1970 but now struggles to find candidates.

Ehy are the Head of the Valleys  Council seats seemingly a No-Go area for political parties ?

Clearly the Labour vote is not rock solid as UKip amd the Lib Dems have found in Methyl

Welsh Assembly Election 2016: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Dawn Bowden	9,763	47.2	-7.1
	UKIP	David Rowlands	4,277	20.7	+20.7
	Plaid Cymru	Brian Thomas	3,721	18.0	+9.2
	Conservative	Elizabeth Simon	1,331	6.4	+0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Griffin	1,122	5.4	-7.4
	Green	Julie Colbran	469	2.3	+2.3
Majority			5,486	25.5	-11.0
Turnout			20,683	38.5
	Labour hold		Swing	-13.9

and Plaid in Blaneau Gwent

Welsh Assembly Election 2016: Blaenau Gwent

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Thomas Alun Rhys Davies	8,442	39.7	−24.3
	Plaid Cymru	Nigel Copner	7,792	36.6	+31.2
	UKIP	Kevin Boucher	3,423	16.1	+16.1
	Conservative	Tracey West	1,334	6.3	+1
	Liberal Democrats	Brendan D'Cruz	300	1.4	−0.4
Majority			650	3.1	-42.0
Turnout				42.1	+3.3
	Labour hold		Swing	−28.0

But when it comes to local government despite the occasional "Flash in the Pan" local government  which often sees over 4 political Parties contesting wards in other parts of Wales sees the main Parties struggling to get six candidates for the entire council in Merthyr.

Surely the people of the Head of the Valleys councils deserve more choice.

Maybe a election by STV would  provide more of an imput .

In the 1976 Merthyr Tydfil made History and UK coverage when it won control of the council,
On May 4th 2017 the result will probably create a Yawn, 

Merthyr, Blaneau Gwent , and Torfaen need more than Labour who treat them like a Fiefdom  and Independents who may be hiding sinister views .

"Shafting Plaid", Labour's response to Reckless defection.

So we have an interesting  set up in the Welsh Assembly 

• We have a Liberal Democrat (Kirsty Williams)in the Welsh Labour Cabinet but it is "Not A Coalition" 

• We have former Plaid AM (Dafydd Elis Thoma) now sitting as an Independent  and backing Labour

• We have a former Ukip AM (Nathan Gill) who is still a party member and a UKip MEP sitting as and Independent.

• And now we have a former Ukip AM (Mark Reckless) apparently joining the Tory group without being a member of the party, which may be against Party rules.

I know it may be hard but, you don't have to be a supporter of Ukip to agree with  this statement.

“We are disappointed to hear that Mark Reckless has decided to leave UKIP in order to join the Conservatives in the Welsh Assembly. “When Mark joined UKIP in 2014 we admired his long-term commitment to Brexit and his decision to put his country first. “Having been elected as a Conservative in Rochester & Strood, Mark didn’t think it right to sit as an MP for another party without asking the electorate for their endorsement in a by-election. A position that was right as it was honourable. In the campaign that followed, our membership worked incredibly hard to ensure that Mark retained his seat.“After losing his seat at the General Election, Mark was a popular colleague and a diligent Head of Policy for the Party, before being awarded a top position in the UKIP list for the Welsh Assembly Elections in 2016. Those elections gave voters in Wales the opportunity to support a party rather than a particular candidate and one in eight voters backed UKIP. As a result, Mark was one of two UKIP candidates from South Wales East elected to the Senedd. “It is now incumbent on Mark Reckless to relinquish a position he has only by virtue of a UKIP mandate. The position should go to the next UKIP candidate on the regional list.”

Llywedd (Presiding Officer) Elin Jones seems to have agred to Mr Reckless position , maybe she was advised that Kirsty Williams's  "Not a Coalition" position set some sort of precedent.

Perhaps the saddest reaction to an afront  to the democratic process comes from Labour

According to Gareth Hughes

Labour is delighted by the move, a source said, “this shafts Plaid Cymru, UKIP are in disarray and the Tories are seen as the nasty party.”

Will the publicity boost the Tories in the May election's  in Wales or it see a backlash , we shall see.