Though a majority of those who voted Labour at the 2019 General Election would back Welsh independence if a referendum was held tomorrow, according to a new YouGov poll.
Welsh Nation tell us that
With the figures adjusted to remove those who refused to answer, didn’t know or said that they wouldn’t vote, 51% of respondents who voted for Labour said they would vote for Welsh independence with 49% against.
The polling also showed that the majority in Wales believed the power to call a referendum on Welsh independence should lie with the Senedd rather than Westminster.
With those who didn’t know removed, 55% of respondents backed the Senedd having such powers with 45% against.
The overall number in favour of independence has stayed the same with 32% in favour and 68% against.
The group Labour \labour for an Independent Wales have seized on this to claim their approach is working.
It would be helpful if , they were more open about how many there were and perhaps provide some names. Though I understand they risk of expulsion.
Because of course Labour "Voters" are not Labour members and certainly not the Labour leadership.
The lesson for Labour from Scotland , is that if they chose the wrong side in the Independence debate they face loosing their hegemony to Independence Parties.
Maybe things could change in the "Welsh leadership elections to be held during the next Senedd as Mark Drakeford as said he will stand down Mid-Term.
Unless a candidate for leader stands on a Indy platform, then what appears to be growing wave on favour of it will see them swept aside as in Scotland.
Indeed with rumours of the Scottish Labour leader facing a coup , for any candidate there to take up the Independence banner may to late.
At the moment those Labour voters who favour Welsh Independence should consider taking their votes elsewhere.
A former Liberal Democrat Senedd Member has said that it is an “embarrassment” that the party has named a Scottish MP as Wales spokesperson in today’s reshuffle.
The new Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said that North East Fife MP Wendy Chamberlain will be his spokesperson on Wales.
“Since when was Fife anywhere near Wales? This is an embarrassment,” Peter Black responded on Twitter. He is Liberal Democrat Councillor and Former Lord Mayor of Swansea.
The Liberal Democrats currently have no MPs in Wales, having lost Brecon and Radnorshire to the Conservatives at the 2019 General Election.
Wendy Chamberlain, one of 11 Liberal Democrat MPs, was also named Chief Whip and Scotland spokesperson.
She previously held the Wales brief when Ed Davey was the interim leader. Jane Dodds is the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and their only Senedd Member, Kirsty Williams, is Education Minister in the Welsh Government.
Prior to the 2019 election, the Welsh spokesperson role was filled by Baroness Christine Humphreys of Llanrwst.
With no Welsh MPs and only eleven in the house of Commons four of which represent Scottish constituencies it was either a Lib Dem MP with no welsh connection , or turn to the house of Lords again
The main problem with Md Chamberlain is that her visits if any , are likely to be infrequent, given the distance from her constituency and the fact her seat is marginal
The seat was notable in several respects in the 2019 general election: it was the SNP's only loss of the election and was the seat with the largest decrease in vote share for the Conservative Party (after the special case of Chorley, where the party did not stand). The seat had the smallest Labour share of the vote in the United Kingdom at 3.7%,[5] The seat went from the most marginal seat in Britain at the 2017 general election to the fortieth most marginal in 2019 (measured by percentage majority) The seat was the second most marginal Liberal Democrat-held seat at the election (after Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross), when measured by absolute majority.
So Ms Chamberlin with the Liberal Democrat contingent in the UK Parliament reduced following the general election, Chamberlain was appointed t party spokesperson in three areas: Political and Constitutional Reform; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and International Development. a large remit for someone whose going to have to spend a great deal of her time in her constituency in order to defend it.
There is of course an argument that the position Secretary of State in the devolved areas should be abolished and replaced by a minister for the devolved legislatures.
It would help to answer the problem of when there is no MP in the goverment in Wales or Scotland , but that is of course what happens all the time.
Indeed the biggest question is who is the leader of the Unionist Parties in Wales and Scotland , should it be the Minister or his or her's shadow.
I don't think Mr Black should be embarrassed over Md Chamberlain appointment, rather he should consider whether his party is even relevant in Wales , With no MPs , one AM absorbed into mthe Labour government with no sign of a recovery
I must admit of all the people I follow on Twitter one of the best is the former English Hooker Brian Moore.
I accept his English bias when it comes to commentary on Rugby ,for he is insightful and probably knows what is going on in the Scrums and usually accepts that his side deserve to loose.
But it is progressive quotes on twitter that really warms me to him and he was on form this week with this
Apart from provoking ridicule by making a tweet (subsequently deleted) supporting the removal of benefit entitlement from non-English speakers: "Strongly support the loss of benefits unless claimants lean [sic] English." [12]
He also attracted criticism in 2014 for reportedly telling a meeting that "disabled people work harder because they're grateful to have a job", following a furore over Lord Freud's claim that some disabled people were not worth the minimum wage. Selous subsequently argued that he had simply been trying to convey the message that disabled people were valued by employers, and his observation that disabled people often work harder was supported by a spokesperson for Disability Rights UK.[13]
Selous chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Strengthening Couple Relationships, and argues that cross-party efforts to prevent family breakdown can relieve pressure on the care system.[14] He was opposed to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, arguing that it was directly contrary to what Jesus said.[15]
In terms of Selous’ voting history in Parliament, he regularly voted against human rights, equality & LGBT rights, as well as against funding to guarantee jobs for young people. Selous voted in favour of reducing welfare benefits for disabled people, increasing VAT and tuition fees, and ending financial support for young people in education.[16]
In terms of environmental issues, Selous almost always voted against measures to prevent climate change.
Which is bad enough but this bigot who wouldn't look out of place in whatever Party Nigel Farage heads these days
As an agnostic and someone who lives in a nation where The 1914 Welsh Church Act provided for the disestablishment of the Church of England within Wales, and the creation of an independent but non-established Church of Wales. it's not for me to tell the Church of England , who they should appoint .
However if a member of any other religion who is in the UK Parliament or any other legislature was to repeat the sort of bigotry of Selous he or she would be on the front page of the newspapers even those who repeat it in thier headlines
hey was created in 1983, mostly from the former seat of South Bedfordshire. It was represented by Sir David Madel, a Conservative, from its creation until his retirement in 2001; he almost suffered one of the biggest upsets of the 1997 general election, when the Labour candidate spectacularly slashed his majority from 21,273 in 1992 to just 132. but it is now a safe seat
We often see the portrayal of working class people who support bigoted views.
But it in seats like South West Bedfordshire with a majority of middle class voters who elect people like Selous , and who cannot be voted out even if faced with a progresive coalition.
For those in Wales who consider themselves on the left who support the Union , ask yourselves , whether we should be part of a union not where people like Selous can get elected for we have too many Tory MPs , but where they cannot be defeated.
Of course the fact that independent review into the handling of academic results in Wales have been announced by the education minister does not mean we will get to know if and where a government policy went wrong.
The BBC report that Welsh Government Education Minister and Liberal Democrat
Kirsty Williams said it was "essential that lessons are learned" from this year's experience.
With no exams because of coronavirus, thousands of A-level grades were initially downgraded but teachers' estimates were given after a backlash.
Ms Williams apologised "directly and unreservedly" to thousands affected.
This also meant that GCSE results, announced the following week, used the same format.
Ms Williams has now confirmed an independent review "will consider key issues that have emerged from the arrangements which were put in place for this summer's exams".
"It is essential that lessons are learned from this year's experience so that the review can provide recommendations and considerations for approaches for 2021," she said.
"These recommendations will be centred on the needs of our learners and their progression, and on the continued need to maintain standards and the integrity of the education system and qualifications here in Wales."
The review will be chaired by the director of the Open University in Wales, Louise Casella.
Ms Williams added that "given the pressing need to put measures in place for the 2021 exam series", she had asked for an interim report of key findings to be ready by the end of October.
A final report would follow by mid-December, she said.
But ColegauCymru said it was concerned there was not enough time for proper scrutiny by the Senedd in its final autumn term.
The education charity added it wanted the review to examine why "the needs of vocational learners were often side-lined and overlooked" and to "pay specific attention to the lack of a substantive and accepted examination and moderation process".
Chief executive Iestyn Davies said: "We welcome the announcement that Louise Casella will lead the review.
"We pledge, as a sector, to support her work so as to reach a resolution that will avoid a repetition of what we have seen this summer."
A cynic may think that Ms Williams will make sure that any inquiry's remit will make sure that the Government and herself will not face undo criticism .
But as the sole Liberal Democrat in the Welsh Government, to rally around her .
However with the report to follow in Mid December about six months before the scheduled Senedd Elections in May , it may be that some Labour leaders in and out of the Senedd may consider to make Ms Williams the "Fall Guy" (or Woman)and risk her resigning, making any criticism fall largely on the hapless Liberal Democrat figuring they could just about survey til May and indeed use it as an argument that they need a majority after the Senedd election to "deliver for Wales".
Even Ms Williams might consider it a blessing of she left the Government and was free to speak out.
One of the weird aspects of Ms Williams being in the Not a Coalition" Welsh Government" is that her party seem to have taken the whole Cabinet collective responsibility,s a constitutional convention in Parliamentary systems that members of the cabinet must publicly support all governmental decisions made in Cabinet, even if they do not privately agree with them. to heart.
I have tried for instance to find evidence of frequent LibDem Blogger Peter Black , give us some of his mercurial, viewpoint on the Exam scandal.
Ms Williams the former La Pasionaria, of the opposition benches if she was not on the Government benches , would have relished such an opportunity to attack Labour if she was not a minister and her party with Peter Black at the front would be supporting her.
