Buckingham Palace. Refurbishment , Why not flog off another to pay for it.?

If you were to have more than one home and were unfortunately lose your job amd tried to claim benefit. You would illegible and advised to sell one or rent one of them and live of these earnings.

So why can't a similar criteria be give to the news that Buckingham Palace is to undergo extensive renovations costing £369m, partly funded by the taxpayer.?

A ten-year programme of works will commence next April and replace ageing facilities, including those presenting a fire risk to the 300-year-old palace.


The move will be funded by a temporary increase in the Sovereign Grant, the amount of money awarded by the government to the crown estate.


The grant will be lifted from 15% to 25% of crown estate net income, from £43m to £76m.


This was recommended by the Royal Trustees, who include the Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor Phillip Hammond.


The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it the "Sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's private estate.As a result of this arrangement, the sovereign is not involved with the management or administration of the estate, exercising only very limited control of its affairs.


Historically, Crown Estate properties were administered by the reigning monarch to help fund the business of governing the country. However, in 1760, George II Isurrendered control over the Estate's revenues to the treasury,thus relieving him of the responsibility of personally paying for the costs of the civil service, defense costs, the national debt, and his own personal debts. In return, he received an annual grant known as the Civil List. By tradition, each subsequent monarch agreed to this arrangement upon his or her accession. However, from 1 April 2012, under the terms of the Sovereign Grant Act 2011 (SSG), the Civil List was abolished and the monarch was thenceforth provided with a stable source of revenue indexed to a percentage of the Crown Estate's annual net revenue (currently set at 15%). This was intended to provide a long-term solution and remove the politically sensitive issue of Parliament having to debate the Civil List allowance every ten years. Subsequently, the Sovereign Grant Act allows for all future monarchs to simply extend these provisions for their reigns by Order in Council. The act does not imply any legal change on the nature of the estate's ownership, but is simply a benchmark by which the sovereign grant is set as a grant by Parliament


I hope thats clear who owns them if so maybe you could tell me but I wonder how many of the Crown Estates could be sold to pay for this refurbishment.


Anyway here are the current Residences of Mr and Mrs Winsor you can where the rest of her family live here.

Or maybe the Queen could sell one of her own homes  which she hardly owns

Residence	Location	Notes
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh
Crown Estate[edit]
Buckingham Palace	London, England	Official London residence (Monday to Friday)
Windsor Castle	Windsor, Berkshire, England	Official country residence (Most weekends; a month over Easter; a week in June for Royal Ascot and the service of the Order of the Garter); and Christmas.
Palace of Holyroodhouse	Edinburgh, Scotland	Official Scottish residence (Whenever the Royal Family undertake official duties in Scotland: primarily Holyrood week in July)
Hillsborough Castle	County Down, Northern Ireland	Official residence in Northern Ireland (whenever the Royal Family undertake official duties in Northern Ireland)[3]
Private[edit]
inherited from the current Queen's father
Sandringham House	Sandringham, Norfolk, England	Christmas until February
Balmoral Castle	Aberdeenshire, Scotland	August and September
Craigowan Lodge	Balmoral, Aberdeenshire
Delnadamph Lodge	Balmoral, Aberdeenshire	Being rebuilt for the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall; located on the estate of Balmoral Castle

It may say Private but it is the Taxpayer who actually pays for its upkeep.

Before a penny is paid on Buckingham Palace then we should demand an audit of all the Royal Residences and how much they are used 

How much do Tax Payers pay for Sandringham which seems to be used for leds than Two Months a Year?

Where is the Tax Payers Alliance over this? They are quick to jump on any claims of government waste.

I am not against the preservation of any Historic building but if this  so then the Public should have total access to see them.

Personally I see no reason for Head of State of the UK  to have no more than two official residences 

The US President seems roo manage with  the White House, Camp David, the mountain-based military camp in Frederick County, Maryland, used as a country retreat and for high-alert protection of Presidents and their guests. and  during their term of office, many Presidents have owned or leased vacation homes in various parts of the country, which are often called by journalists the "Western White House," depending on location or season.

Yet we pay a fortune for the upkeep of eight Royal Palaces for the use of the Monarch alone , not mentioning those inhabited by her offspring.

I'm sure there's many a Russian Oligarch who would love to but one of the london palaces and pay far more than the cost of refurbishment of Buckingham Palace.

Only Independence can reverse a Welsh Brain drain.

The Guardian Website reports that 

The Tory architect of George Osborne’s “northern powerhouse” strategy and leaders of Britain’s largest northern cities are demanding that the government acts to reverse a major brain drain to the south of England, as new figures show that 310,000 graduates have left the north in the past decade.

They go on to say 

About 31,000 highly qualified British resident workers have left the north each year in the past decade with only 23,500 a year moving in the opposite direction. The net deficit suggests an average of 7,500 highly qualified workers leaving annually, or 75,500 over a decade. The hole in the workforce has until now been filled by an inflow of 15,500 skilled foreign workers a year, but the Brexit vote has raised questions over whether such migration will be encouraged in the future.

I am in no doubt that the situation in Wales is similar if not worse,

For far to long we have lost some of our best people who have left Wales sometimes as they lured by an Oxbridge collage and Labour in Wales have sought  to increase this

Nearly three years ago  the Wasting Mule reported that 

Students from Wales are suffering from low self-esteem and a lack of academic self-confidence which is hampering efforts to send more to Oxford and Cambridge, Wales’ Oxbridge Ambassador has said.
Torfaen Labour MP Paul Murphy said potential applicants believed they lacked specialist skills needed to successfully apply to top universities.
Former Welsh Secretary Mr Murphy, who was appointed to the role by then-Education Minister Leighton Andrews in May, released the findings today as an interim report which probes the reasons why Wales has seen a decline in the number of students applying to Oxbridge. He will produce a final report next summer.
He described the issue as “complex and multifaceted”, but suggested many students, teachers and parents have negative perceptions of Oxbridge, fearing potential applicants from less affluent backgrounds would “not fit in”.
One of the report’s initial suggestions was to maximise pupils’ contact with local Oxbridge alumni.

What other government  deliberately encourages its brightest to leave for an education in another  country knowing full well many will not return

What we need i for Welsh Universities and Colleges to match Oxbridge and offer  a first class Education , and not just Cardiff and Swansea.

It is vital that Aberystwyth and Bangor has the potential to attract students from Y Fro Gymraeg (area of high numbers of Welsh speakers) and when they graduate there are jobs and opportunities to remain.

Emigration from Y Fro is a bigger threat to the Welsh language than immigration of English speakers.

But our the South Wales Valleys also lose their brightest and best  if we are talking about regeneration then it makes sense to make sure that we have a future generation of highly qualified  people living there.

It would be interesting  if there was a survey of how many top Scientist and Academics  are living outside Wales.

But it is not just the op echelons  . We can't afford to lose any of the brightest of our young people.

It might be a Chicken and Egg question of whether the Accademic  Infrastructure is needed to keep our best qualified. Or we need the "brains" in place first.

But we will be unable to  neither,unless we have a government that has both the power and vision to make it so.

For that to happen we need Independence , any other option will fail.

Trump's election could take abuse of civil rights campaigners back to the 60's

This a video of  Milo Yiannopoulos being "skewered " by Channel 4 journalist Cathy Newman

 Yiannopoulos. a writer for ‘alt-right’ American news site Breitbart, was being questioned on the recent appointment of his controversial boss, Steve Bannon, as Donald Trump’s chief strategist.

Ms Newman’s persistent questioning of Mr Yiannopoulos’ widely-criticised views on rape, feminism and race set social media alight with praise for her “outstanding journalism”.

One viewer wrote: “Can’t believe you managed to keep cool. Hate how he puts his head on his hand like he’s pretending to listen.”

Mr Yiammapolos who is gay has made a living  British journalist, entrepreneur, public speaker, and technology editor for Breitbart News, a conservative news and opinion website based in the United States. He wrote previously using the pseudonym Milo Andreas Wagner.

Yiannopoulos founded The Kernel, an online tabloid magazine about technology, which he sold to Daily Dot Media in 2014. He rose to notability that year when he began to provide media coverage and commentary surrounding the Gamergate controversy. As a "cultural libertarian" and "free speech fundamentalist", he is a vocal critic of feminism,^]Islam, social justice, political correctness, and other movements and ideologies he claims to be authoritarian or belonging to the "regressive left". Yiannopoulos has been called a spokesperson for the alt-right.^[ He considers himself a reporter of and sympathizer with the movement.^] He was permanently banned from Twitter in July 

Just look at Mr Yiannopoulos reaction it is that of someone who realises his side has won and , that no matter how we protest , he believes  that the days of equality legislation is over.

The appointment of his boss Steve Bannon whose views are  misogynist, xenophobic and racist..

Trumps election and his appointment of  Bannion  as chief strategist will mean the return of the white supremacist  of the deep south of the 1960's

Incidents like the The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960, which led to the Woolworth department store chain removing its policy of racial segregation in the Southern United States and where White supremacists  abused them unhindered.

The election of Trump and his appointment of Bannion . White supremacists , Female abusers ,  anti-semitic groups  ,Islamophobe and bullies believe they have been given hate filled   abuse 

They believe that we can return to a time when  they can not on express racist and other views  because as  President Nixon said  1977

 ‘If the President Does It, That Means It’s Not Illegal’.

Bad as that it is it only a small step to violence, a violence which could see he authorities looking the other way or even abetting in.

Some commenters have  claimed that Trump will not be so Bad and w drop his right wing agenda  now that he is elected . Indeed his appointments show that he is serious.

I suspect that Trump will delegate more power to his cabinet than any previous President , which will see the alt-right with even more power.

After just over a week as President-Elect , many will face the next four years with fear.

Kinnock lobbies for Circuit of Wales and makes a mess of it.

I must admit to being a sceptic over the Circuit of Wales scheme viability and this has not helped.

It now emerges  that Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock repeatedly pressed the leader of one of Wales’ smallest councils to get his authority to provide a loan of £50m to the troubled Circuit of Wales project, we can reveal.

The Wastng Mule  reports that

The ex-Islwyn MP and European Commissioner, who now sits in the House of Lords, sent a letter to Hedley McCarthy, then leader of Blaenau Gwent council, two years ago.

It was one of a string of letters Lord Kinnock sent on behalf of the company behind the planned motorcycle race track on moorland above Ebbw Vale.

It is claimed that the letter, which was sent on House of Lords notepaper, was drafted for Lord Kinnock by Michael Carrick, the businessman behind the £425m scheme.

It said:

 “One area that is of concern to the developers is the rate of progress and visible action on progressing and securing the required Blaenau Gwent debt funding of £50m.”

 Lord Kinnock went on to state that private sector investors had made it clear they would not inject £200m into the project without the £50m from the council.

He said: “I am emphasising to you that [Blaenau Gwent council] is running out of time."

It appears that Mr McCarthhy  was less than impressed

Mr McCarthyr wrote: 

"I was taken aback somewhat by the tone of your letter. This council is well aware of its responsibilities to the citizens of Blaenau Gwent."I was confused to receive your letter on House of Lords headed notepaper, even though it is expressly stated that you are writing in your capacity as chairman of the advisory board of Heads of the Valleys Development Corporation Ltd.

"I trust this is an oversight, and that you intended to use [HOTVDC] notepaper."

 He went on to say that Mr Kinnock had not understood the full picture.

He explained that any loan would have to be underwritten by the Welsh Government, that the company kept changing the amount it wanted and that "slow progress has been made by the company in discharging the planning conditions".

Which is a bit of embarrassing criticism of such an experienced politician  as Lord Kinnock.

Mr Mcarthy went on to state that "despite frequent requests from the council for confirmation and details of private sector funding, that information has not been forthcoming."

And he concluded by saying that a £50m loan involved going through the correct political processes, saying: 

"Blaenau Gwent is the second smallest council in Wales and has not considered a loan of this scale in the past".

Lord Kinnock also wrote to First Minister Carwyn Jones suggesting a “brief meeting, coffee or dinner” to discuss proposals to anchor the Circuit of Wales as the pre-eminent home of British motorsport.

A spokesman for the First Minister told us:

 “We can confirm that the First Minister received two letters from Neil Kinnock in relation to the Circuit of Wales, but only one received a response which was sent in November of last year.
"There have been no meetings. We’re happy to provide the November letter for information.
“Our position in relation to this project has always been clear – it has exciting potential, but requires significant private finance and suitable guarantees for any public backing.”

Lord Kinnock also wrote letters to:

• Then Labour leader Ed Miliband,
• then Shadow Minister for Infrastructure Lord Andrew Adonis,
• and Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University, in which he endorsed other large-scale projects proposed by Mr Carrick’s firm Aventa Capital Partners

Lord Kinnock said: 

“I can confirm that I did write to the people listed after having made relevant amendments to the drafts which you have seen.
"For instance,in my letter to my friend and fellow Welshman Vice Chancellor Borysiewicz, I removed the obviously inaccurate reference to ‘my constituency’.
“I also (since this was my first contact with him on this issue) removed the draft phrase ‘I have been engaged as an advisor to the company and said – accurately - that ‘My interest,as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Heads of the Valleys Development Company, is non-pecuniary and entirely related to generating new employment and fresh confidence in the Heads of the Valleys’.
“That has always been, and remains true. I have never been paid, or sought or anticipated payment – past, present or future – ‘for advising Michael Carrick/Circuit of Wales’ or any related activity.”

Lord Kinnock said there had been an error on his entry in the register of peers’ interests which wrongly suggested he was paid as an adviser to the Circuit of Wales.

He stated:

 “Due to an error some four or five years ago, my entry relating to my Heads of the Valleys Development Company role in the House of Lords Register of Members’ Interests was under Category 2 (Remunerated employment) when it should have been under Category 10(a) which refers to ‘unremunerated employment’.
"I usually have no reason to consult the register, but the inaccurate entry came to my notice when a colleague recently drew my attention to another inaccuracy in the register entry ... Both entries have been properly corrected.”

Mr Carrick said:

 “I asked Lord Kinnock to bring to the attention of senior political leaders the very significant challenges in creating economic growth in the regions and what we are trying to do to create and stimulate private investment initiatives that can be rolled out on a national scale.
"I provided him with draft text which he could then use as he wished to frame a discussion.
“We are passionate about trying to secure investment outside of London into areas where we need jobs and in sectors where the UK is very capable of being a leader.
“It was not lobbying over our scheme nor did it request any activity other than to raise the wider challenges and to engage on the thinking over how Government could stimulate this activity.
“The showcase and exemplar is the Circuit of Wales where the enabling role of government through development partnering and credit enhancement would show how this could be applied elsewhere in the country.
“In relation to the Vice Chancellor I wanted to discuss the opportunity for Cambridge to bid on the Alan Turing institute and to participate as a partner on the development of a digital campus at Downham Market.
"Lord Kinnock offered to introduce me to the Vice Chancellor.

 Kinnock ny have been paid  as an adviser to the Circuit of Wales. Which is just as well if he is prepared to sign letters drafted for him which does not seem to understand he nature of local government and whih contained inaccuracies.

If this is the level of competence of those involved in the circuit of Wales hen for once I am in agreement with Monmouth Conservative MP David Davies said:

“I have no doubt of Neil Kinnock’s sincerity in wanting to see investment into the Valleys."However, he should enquire further into the way in which this project has been managed.
"He is in a position to find out why Michael Carrick transferred nearly £1m from the publicly funded Heads of the Valleys Development Company [the company behind the Circuit of Wales] into another company he owned and why HOTVDC bought a loss-making motorcycle company in Buckinghamshire which has gone into administration.
“When someone comes along offering to create thousands of jobs and to transform a depressed area then it is always tempting to believe in them.
"When they ask for and receive £9m of public money then public figures need to be wary and ready to ask tough questions.”

I accept that there always a financial risk in any such venture for for a public investment, and if we do not take them then virtually nothing will be done.

And 9 million may not be great deal of money for what is promised though if Kinnock was asking Blaneau Gwent for £50m we can surely expect HOTVDC to come with  pleas to the Welsh government for a great deal more.

But the way those promoting the Circuit of Wales need to prove that their ability matches their ambition.  

Want to be a Welsh Politician? Change your name to Elwyn Davies.

Professor Roger Scully over at Elections in Wales has presented us with a interesting but depressing picture  how much the Welsh Electorate know their elected politicians.

He writes 

We asked our survey respondents about all four types of elected politician we have in Wales above the level of councillor – MPs, constituency AMs, regional AMs and MEPs. I will now present some of the main results that these questions produced.

Name Recognition for Respondents’ MPs Response % Correct Answer 70% Incorrect Answer 9% No response 21%

Not a a great start remember except the participants were given a list of names in which their MP name was  listed

• NAME OF ACTUAL MP
• Andrew Farmer
• Morgan Thomas
• Sarah Cole
• Rhiannon Griffiths
• James Evans

Next we have recognition of AM's

Name Recognition for Respondents’ Constituency AMs

Response	%
Correct Answer	53%
Incorrect Answer	15%
No response	32%

Even worse, and remember they were prompted 

• NAME OF ACTUAL AM
• Gemma Davies
• Simon Jones
• Lowri Jenkins
• Paul Granger
• Martyn Hughes

What of the regional AM

Name Recognition for Respondents’ Regional AMs 

Response	%
Both correct, none incorrect	2%
One correct, none incorrect	21%
Two correct, at least one incorrect	1%
One correct, at least one incorrect	2%
At least one incorrect, none correct	14%
No response	60%

74% failed to get even one right though this time I accept that the name prompt did not help

The Names were randomised  so it might be helpful to know a breakdown on a consituency basis where the strength of certain parties and I am sure how someone could get two correct and one correct unless they tried to name more than two actual regiaonal AM

• NAME OF ONE OF ACTUAL REGIONAL AMS
• NAME OF A SECOND ACTUAL REGIONAL AM
• Robert Myers
• Mohammed Salim
• Sara Burns
• Carys Price

But the real shocker was the failure of the respondents to recognize  even one of the four MEPs

• 
  

Name Recognition for Welsh MEPs

Response	%
Both correct, none incorrect	2%
One correct, none incorrect	14%
Two correct, at least one incorrect	1%
One correct, at least one incorrect	3%
At least one incorrect, none correct	18%
No response	63%

• NAME OF ONE OF ACTUAL MEP
• NAME OF A SECOND ACTUAL MEP
• David Sherwood
• Elwyn Davies
• Lynn Goodwin
• Jenny Green

This time we were given the actual figures for recognition

• Name Recognition for Individual MEPs/False Names
• Name % Selected
• Derek Vaughan 9%
• Nathan Gill 16%
• Kay Swinburne 6%
• Jill Evans 11%
• David Sherwood 5%
• Elwyn Davies 12%
• Lynn Goodwin 5%
• Jenny Green 5%

Again these were randomised so it might be interesting to see where  where the names were changed

Nathan Gill tops the list though this might well be his recent high profile that his  election to the assembly and the subsequent publicity  gave him

Second was the fictitious Elwyn Davies on 12% where I suspect his name led some wrongly guessing that he was aPlaid MEP rather than the long serving Jill Evans on 11%

Labour Derek Vaughn on 9& and the Tories  Kim Swinbourne on 6% fared even worse.

Does this show a failure of our political parties to communicate or apathy amongst voters.

I suspect the latter

It a pity that the participants  weren't asked if they voted in any of the elections above and f there was any correlation  between recognition of politicians  and actual voting ,

In the meantime If I was an aspiring politician I might well consider changing my name to Elwyn Davies by Deed Poll.

Powers over Water merely a symbolic gesture?

Why have Politicians and the Media gone all patriotic over the UK Government plans to give the Welsh Government new powers over water?

 Is it really a “historic” opportunity to ensure the 1965 Tryweryn flooding is never repeated.

Has there been any recent plans for another Tryweryn ?

The Wales Office has announced that AMs and Welsh ministers are to gain new water powers.

At present, the UK Government can stop the Assembly passing laws it fears will have a serious impact on supplies in England. It can also stop Welsh ministers taking action.

There are now plans for the UK Government to give up its right to intervene on water-related issues. This is expected to allow the Welsh Government to make policy without looking over its shoulder

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said:

 “The current powers allowing UK Ministers to intervene on water issues will be replaced by a statutory agreement between the UK and Welsh Governments.
"This recognises the increasingly mature relationship between the Governments of Westminster and Cardiff Bay.
“It is part of a wider package of measures being agreed under the Wales Bill. Water has been a challenging issue as anyone familiar with recent Welsh history knows.
"I’m pleased we are now about to reach a definitive agreement that resolves past differences and provides clarity for the future. This approach lies at the heart of the Wales Bill which is designed to give Welsh people control over the daily decisions affecting their lives.
“It is only natural that a critical issue like water is part of this agreement.”The move comes as the Wales Bill continues its journey through the House of Lords. The legislation will give AMs the power to change the name of the Assembly and also grant them control of elections.

What exactly apart from preventing another Tyrweryn  does this mean

A fair deal of Water in Wales  will still be run by Severn Trent  so it seems unlikely that we will see Wales charging those over the boarder for our water.





 Why has the Tory government done this?

The move comes as the Wales Bill continues its journey through the House of Lords. The legislation will give AMs the power to change the name of the Assembly and also grant them control of elections.

The House of Lords has published a scathing verdict on the UK Government’s proposals on this Bill 

A committee of peers have added their backing to those who say the Wales Bill legislation would actually reduce the powers of the National Assembly.

And they are calling on the UK Government to clarify if it intended to reduce those powers and, if not, to set out what steps it will take to rectify this.

The report was published by the House of Lords Constitution Committee, which has been scrutinising the legislation as part of its passage through Parliament.

It has also faced a scathing criticism  from Professor Richard Wyn Jones is the director of the Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff University .

Such is the weakness of the bill that this Blog has suggested the Welsh Assembly veto the Bill.

Is the transfer Water powers which looks like the Welsh Secretary surrendering them (and therefore regaining them?) rather than devolving them an attempt to convince Welsh Politicians that the Tory government really have our interests at heart?

All that seems to be offered is the recognition of a great Injustice carried out on Wales by the drowning of Tryweryn.

But much of the real power will lie with Severn Trent and the chance of Wales to dictate what really happens to Welsh water and how England pays for it  is limited.

Are Ukip going to become a branch of Trump's Republican party?

It seems that Donald Trump's election may we; become a feature of UK Welsh politics

Ukip the party that claims that it wants a an UK independent of Europe seems to want to make us a client state of Trump's US with them as  the equivalent  of the Republican party.

Nigel Farage's decision to go to the US to meet Donald Trump. maybe has proved what this "British Patriot" will surrender 

With Minister Carwyn Jones attacking on him for a Poppyless photoshoot

Mr Jones said the MEP should have been at UK Remembrance Sunday events rather than "on a jolly", calling him a "grinning poppy-less popinjay in a gold lift".

I am one of those who has blogged against Poppy Fascism and support anyone's decision  not to wear a poppy.

But Farage would be outraged by any other Politician from the UK who failed to wear a Poppy last week.

A UKIP spokesman described Mr Jones's comments as "look-at-me vapourings".

Hopefully some one can explain what this means.

Mr Jones said: 

"This weekend when people from every walk of life joined to commemorate our war dead in services around the country, there was one conspicuous absence. Nigel Farage."You don't get to appropriate the Battle of Britain in your campaign literature, only to prioritise transatlantic photo-ops a few months later."Mr Farage likes to play by a different set of rules, this much is true. But in what universe do we let go, without comment or censure, the pictures of this grinning poppy-less popinjay in a gold lift with Donald Trump?"

He has a point and we can only wonder what would the reaction of the Mail or Sun . If Jeremy Corbyn had rushed off to congratulate Hilary Clinton and not wear a poppy.

Instead they attempted to smear Corbyn 

Mail Online published “Is this really the day to audition for Strictly, Jeremy? Corbyn appears to dance a jig at the Cenotaph as he waits for the Remembrance Day parade”, and thus doubled down on the lies by claiming that Jezza was waiting at the Cenotaph when the shots were taken, although he wasn’t. The Murdoch doggies at the Super Soaraway Currant Bun were also on the case. 

Meanwhile our own Wales Online  reports that 

Under the headline, 'Welsh Donald Trump welcomes Trump', Ukip's South Wales Central AM Gareth Bennett has blogged on his webpage and invited him to the opening of his constituency office.

Mr Bennett generously admits that

 "Don Trump has a rather bigger job on his hands, having been elected as the 45th President of the United States". "I would like to invite Donald Trump to join me at the opening party for my Constituency Office, which is on the 7th December at Gelliwastad Road, Pontypridd.

Modestly he writes

 He writes: 

"I would like to congratulate the new President-elect of the USA, Donald Trump. Especially as we have a few things in common.
"Not sure if you remember this, but back in March, when I was running for the Assembly, the Western Mail called me ‘the Donald Trump of Wales’ . (This was their idea of a really harsh insult.)"
(The quote was actually from the Latvian Honorary Consul to Wales Andris Taurins. Criticising Mr Bennett's comments on immigrants and litter, he said: “Please withdraw your silly, ill-thought-out, stupid comment or you run the risk of being the labelled the Donald Trump of Wales.”) 

"Not sure if you remember this, but back in March, when I was running for the Assembly, the Western Mail called me ‘the Donald Trump of Wales’ . (This was their idea of a really harsh insult.)"

 (The quote was actually from the Latvian Honorary Consul to Wales Andris Taurins. Criticising Mr Bennett's comments on immigrants and litter, he said: “Please withdraw your silly, ill-thought-out, stupid comment or you run the risk of being the labelled the Donald Trump of Wales.”)

In his blog post, Mr Bennett continues:

 "The only problem is, following the petition against him entering the UK back in January – signed by more than half a million people, and backed by numerous MPs – is President-elect Trump actually allowed to enter the country?"This petition was signed by so many people that it sparked a debate in the House of Commons."Many MPs expressed derision for Trump (who was not yet the Republican candidate), generally based on his supposed stupidity and lack of intellect."
"David Cameron, who was Prime Minister at the time, came out with the worst quote.
Speaking about Trump’s plan to put a temporary halt on Muslims entering the USA (for security reasons), Cameron said Trump’s remarks were “divisive, stupid and wrong.”
"Clearly Prime Minister Cameron did not have the slightest notion that Trump could possibly be America’s next President.

You may find Mr Bennett delusions amusing , but already the media is becoming comfortable with a Trump presidency .

Soon he will be lauded and the Sun, Mail and Express will be calling for greater links with the US.

Especially as it becomes  clear we will need to find trading partners as we surrender many of our European Markets after Brexit.

Will Trump demand that we follow his policies and accept his terms for any trade deal? You Betcha.

The biggest supporters will be Ukip of course , who will  gleefully surrender sovereignty to the US so long as we accept the Alt-Right agenda coming out of Washington