Are all the Lib Dem MP's committed to ignore Brexit vote?

There us something peculiar in a post by former Lib Dem AM Peter Black's latest Blog post

He writes

It is right therefore that Tim Farron should step up the pressure on the Labour Leader who, as he says in the Guardian article, has lamely given up while Britain “drives off a cliff” towards Brexit. He adds that in his view future generations will not forgive Labour for failing to stand up to Theresa May’s plans: 

The Guardian article describers this as an

In an overt attempt to steal votes from Labour in pro-remain constituencies, Farron said he believed Corbyn had put his party on the wrong side of the biggest political issue in a generation and was struggling because his MPs were increasingly split on how to respond.

Peter however  denies this is

... not opportunism as some have claimed, it is the reassertion of a core raison d'etre of the party. The Liberals and the Liberal Democrats have always been a passionately pro-European party. The SDP had as one of its core principles a commitment to Europe. The fact that Labour and the Tories have effectively ceded that position to us is helping us to get that message across.

Do what is Peter problem 

 But there are dangers in this approach, not least in the apparent lack of unity within the Parliamentary Party. Just because there are only 9 MPs, does not mean that we can act in an undisciplined way.
On such a key issue as this, splits in the way MPs vote will come back and bite us and undermine much of the good will that has been built up over the European issue. It is not good enough having Tim Farron lead from the front, all nine MPs need to be squarely behind him.
When it comes to the vote on Section 50, the nine MPs need to vote as a single block and have a reasoned justification for the way that they vote. Failure to do so will undermine all the good things that have been achieved in the last six months and set back the pro-European cause for some time.

Could it be that some of the Lib Dem MPs accept that LEAVE won the referendum campaign and they  should accept the electorate mandate.

I myself have this dilemma . I accept that the REMAIN side lost and we thefore are mandated to leave the EU.

I know the argument that the vote to LEAVE was not he view of the entire population but that of those who voted but what other measure can we take  short of counting abstainers as not supporting the measure.

But I do not agree that the Mandate includes the right of the Tories to exclude the UK Parliament and decide on how Brexit is carried out including free movement and the single market.

Maybe Peter Black is worried that some of his party MPs are not prepared to oppose Brexit in its entirety and accept the referendum result .

Brexit and the Lib Dems shameless pursuit of LEAVE voters have helped them to gain some of the electoral success they enjoyed before going in to coalition with the Tories

But do all their MPs believe that  the "Will of the people" however stupid should be ignored.

I don't want to be pessimistic but....

Washington 20/1/01/17

Donald Trump sworn is as the 45th President of the USA

Washington 2021 Donald Trump sworn in for a second term.

God Bless America.

Welsh Lamb producers the first victim of May's Brexit stategy?

An Indication that the Westminster Government  plans to create new Trade Deals came even before Theresa Mays speech laying out  out her Brexit strategy speech  which involves pulling out of the EU single market -

Only Days before   Prime Minister May's  spech came news that  New Zealand hopes to negotiate a "high quality" free trade agreement with the UK once it leaves the EU, 

Following a meeting with Theresa May, he said he hoped this would happen "as soon as possible".

Mrs May said both countries already enjoy a strong and growing trading relationship worth over £3bn last year.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox will be visiting New Zealand in the coming months, she said.

Mrs May said her colleague would begin a bilateral dialogue between the two nations with the ultimate aim of striking a trade deal.

But the Farmers' Union of Wales fears a "hard Brexit", plus a potential deal with New Zealand, could be damaging for Welsh farmers.

About 90% of Welsh food and drink is currently exported to the EU.

FUW president Glyn Roberts said the industry was facing a "perfect storm" if a trade deal was struck with New Zealand and a hard Brexit was pursued.

Mr Roberts said Welsh lamb would have to compete with a country that is in direct competition with it and able to sell at a much cheaper price.

He told BBC Wales:

 "In no way can we compete on price with New Zealand, but we can compete on value, and what we have as a premium product in Welsh lamb.
"It depends on what the consumers want: does the consumer want cheap food or does the consumer feel that by buying Welsh products and Welsh lamb, that they are getting a premium product," 

 Mr Roberts said UK farmers could sell much more to the 500m people living in the European Union - some 20m across the channel - than about 4.5m people living in New Zealand.

"It is a perfect storm because what we in Wales want to export is exactly the same thing as New Zealand want to export to Wales," he said.
"Getting a deal with one country is one thing, getting the product there and marketing the product is another thing."

Everytime we who goes to the  butchers or Supermarket will be aware that New Zealand Lamb is already cheaper  so it may be that there may be no difference.

Though who knows what a desperate UK government would sign up to? It is unlikely that it will get better .

The idea that it is the UK which will be in a position  of strength when it comes to signing up to hundreds of Trade agreements is frankly laughable.

Boris Johnson has stated.countries are “queuing up” to sign trade deals with the UK once it leaves the EU,.

One wonders why?

The UK manufacturing base was destroyed by the Thatcherite polices of the 1980's

So what is the Government plans maybe its to change the UK to resemble the Far East nation of low wages and poor workers protection agaist exploitation and safety 

The Chancellor indicated the Government could retaliate by slashing business taxes if the EU moved to shut Britain out of the single market.

In an interview with the German Welt am Sonntag, Mr Hammond said:

 "If we have no access to the European market, if we are closed off, if Britain were to leave the European Union without an agreement on market access, then we could suffer from economic damage at least in the short-term."In this case, we could be forced to change our economic model and we will have to change our model to regain competitiveness. And you can be sure we will do whatever we have to do."The British people are not going to lie down and say, too bad, we've been wounded. We will change our model, and we will come back, and we will be competitively engaged."

As the Tory Press wave their Union flags, one wonders if they really support the UK entering a trade war with the EU and becoming a client state of Trump USA whilst betraying the likes of Welsh Farmers? Sadly the answer is probably yes.

It is time the Devolution Agenda to be made in Wales not Westminster.

Yesterday may well have been a pivotal day in the future of Wales

In a long-awaited speech, Mrs May said Parliament would get a vote on the final deal agreed between the UK and the European Union.

She promised an end to "vast contributions" to the EU, and said the devolved administrations would be "fully engaged" in the process of negotiating Brexit.

"I should equally be clear that no decisions currently taken by the devolved administrations will be removed from them," Mrs May.

But is clear that Ms May is taking us to a Hard Brexit 

Brexit speech: Key points

• The UK should leave the European single market

• Ministers will work for the "freest possible" free trade

• A customs agreement with the EU, but has no "pre-conceived position"

• Maintain the "common travel area" between the UK and Irish Republic

• Continued "practical" sharing of intelligence and policing information

• "Control" of immigration rights for EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in EU

• A "phased approach"

• The final Brexit deal agreed between the EU and the UK to be voted on by both Houses of Parliament before it comes into force

A number of things are  including the fact that Ms May seems to believe that control of immigration was the main reason why people voted to leave and the Tories will use Brexir to create a seeming low Tax but defiantly low wage economy that wilt see erosion of workers rights.

Labour AM Eluned Morgan said

“The PM’s pronouncement on Brexit will slit the wrists of the Welsh economy and lead to a decade of instability for the UK. Most leading economists have recognised that leaving the single market will lead to a 5% shrinkage in the economy which will dramatically reduce public expenditure and have dire consequences for our hospitals and schools in Wales...
“Welsh businesses will find no comfort In this speech, there is no assurance that we will not fall off a cliff edge within two years. This will hit investment and jobs hard.
“The tone of the speech will make it more difficult for us to recruit doctors and nurses to serve in our hospitals in Wales.
“There were no assurances for our poorest areas who have benefitted from EU investment in the past and no guarantees to farmers.
“Of course we should honour the result of the referendum, but there is more than one way to leave the EU, she has chosen the most damaging for our country.”

But largely unnoticed  was the  Welsh Assembly agreeing  for the controversial Wales Bill to be passed – despite huge reservations expressed by Labour and Plaid Cymru AMs.

With a majority of AMs voting in favour of the Bill, the way is now clear for the devolution of income tax varying powers to the Assembly, as well as new powers over fracking, energy projects, water and the Assembly’s own voting system.

But Plaid AMs voted against the Bill because some powers will be taken back by Westminster.

Earlier, explaining Plaid Cymru’s decision to vote against it, the party’s Assembly group chair Dai Lloyd

“This is an undemocratic bill which represents a significant roll-back of powers. Plaid Cymru cannot, in good conscience, support a bill which undermines the democratic will of people in Wales who voted for more powers in the 2011 referendum.“If this Wales Bill was already enshrined in law, the National Assembly would not have been able to pass key legislation such as the organ donation act and laws on education, the environment and the Welsh language.“The Westminster government is forcing Wales to choose between a bad bill and no bill. Plaid Cymru refuses to settle for that.“While the Wales Bill may deliver a fair fiscal framework, this should never have been conditional upon a deeply flawed bill which simultaneously takes powers away from our National Assembly.“If this legislation passes, the debate must immediately move on to focus on the real empowerment of the Assembly with responsibility over areas such as justice, policing, and welfare.“The days of Wales gratefully accepting crumbs from Westminster’s table must come to an end.”

Yesterday we saw a future  that Welsh People seemed to vote for last may, handing power to the Tory party who will scrap Workers rights and will many of the people here.

This together with a New Welsh Bill which continues  Third Rate devolution will leave us helpless .

When we look at Scotland we will see a Nation confident and preparing to take its place in the Wales.

Plaid's decision however not to support a devolution bill may well indicate that they are no longer prepared to make the current devolution settlement work and to take a more aggressive  approach.

For to long the devolution agenda has been set by Parties in Westminster .

When the SNP called the Independence Referendum it was they who decided on it and although it was lost it changed the Scottish Political scene possibly forever.

The contrast between a Scottish approach to how they should be governed to a Westminster one is stark.

Is it not time Wales followed  their example?

Tory MP David Davies probably thinks we should be an Annexe of England

The BBC Wales webpage carries what looks like a Toty press release which expresses faux-concern  that the Welsh Government has defended spending more than £84,000 on the Brexit case at the Supreme Court.

Ministers intervened over whether the Article 50 process to leave the EU can be triggered without MPs' approval.

The Welsh Conservatives have found just over £79,000 was spent on legal fees, plus travel and accommodation costs.

Monmouth Tory MP David Davies called it a waste of money, but the Welsh Government said it would not apologise for protecting Wales' interests.

The figures have been disclosed as a result of a Freedom of Information requestmade by the Welsh Conservatives.

They cover both the costs of attending the original High Court case and participating in the Supreme Court appeal.

At the Supreme Court, the Welsh Government argued that triggering Article 50 would "significantly change" the devolution settlement as it applies to Wales.

But the UK government dismissed that argument as "tortuous".

The disclosure shows:

• £79,074.43 was spent on external legal fees
• £4,162.20 was spent on travel, subsistence and accommodation for the counsel general Mick Antoniw and three Welsh Government lawyers
• £800 was spent on the application to intervene
• £327.80 was spent on a meeting room at the Supreme Court

Monmouth Conservative MP David Davies said: 

"What an absolute waste of taxpayers' cash, and all to pay for Mick Antoniw's tortuous bid to block Brexit.
"Ultimately, the weakness of the Welsh Government's case exposed this venture for what it was - a peacocking exercise, motivated by a combination of ego and an unwillingness to abide by the democratic process.
"It might not seem like a grand sum in the context of the Welsh Government's overall budget, but that kind of money could have paid for four full time Welsh NHS nurses which would have been a much better use of taxpayers' money."

Yes its not a great sum and given the cost of legal representation, we might wonder  of the Welsh Government has actually got as full a representation as we deserved.

The Welsh Government has denied that the case was a bid to block Brexit.

A spokesman said:

 "We do not apologise for intervening in what is one of the most significant constitutional legal cases in the UK's history.
"We did so to protect the interests of Wales and its devolved institutions.
"The people of the UK voted to leave the European Union, and we respect that decision.
"While Brexit will happen, the UK government cannot trigger it by overriding the British constitution.
"They need to act within the law.
"In the Supreme Court, we argued the process of leaving the EU must be carried out within the law, which includes respecting and adhering to the constitutional arrangements of the United Kingdom and the legal framework for devolution."

I wonder what  critics outside the Tory Party would have said if Wales was not represented  in this legal case that will affect the way the UK Government can bypass the Westminster parliament and cut debate,

David Davies is one of those MPs who wishes the Welsh Assembly was not there and the only opinion coming out of Wales is that pf servile acceptance.

Having said that  i must admit he's maybe right, when he described the process by which a construction firm from Catalonia was awarded the contract to build the Circuit of Wales racetrack h as “absolutely outrageous and unacceptable”.

I think we can't really complain that the Heads of the Valleys Development Company (HOVDC), the firm taking the Circuit of Wales project forward, has a contract to stage the British event of the annual MotoGP motorcycle championship. That contract was awarded by Dorna, the Catalan company which owns MotoGP. after all any part of theUK would have to accept such a contract to stage such an event.

But at the same time as Dorna announced it had awarded the MotoGP event to HOVDC, HOVDC said the contract to build the Circuit of Wales had been awarded to another Catalan company called Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA (FCC).

David Davies said:

 “It is absolutely outrageous and unacceptable that the Circuit of Wales are looking for more than £200m in financial guarantees from taxpayers when there is no transparency about the selection process which resulted in the building contract being awarded to a Spanish construction company.
“How can we be sure that, if the project does go ahead, it will do so on the basis of best value?
“I am looking forward to a report from the Auditor General for Wales on the project, which is due to be published in February."

As I said he may be right but as he spouts his second act of righteous Indignation in a day he might well reflect . Why a "Catalan" company actually exist that can bid for these contracts?

Could it be due to the autonomy that Catalonia  has and it is able to compete at a level that Wales can only dream about?

Davis Davies outrage would probably not exist if it was a company from the South West of England.

He regards Wales as little more that an Annex of England and we should accept the ruling of our Masters and Mistresses in London

Does it suit the Government to keep us in the dark over Brexit?

This week we may (no pun intended) have some idea what the Prime Minister has in mind over how Brexit will be carried  put

The Prime Minister is expected to give the most detailed insight yet into her approach to the forthcoming talks with Brussels in a major set-piece speech on Tuesday.

Several of Sunday's newspapers claim Prime Minister Theresa May will signal the move in a speech on Tuesday.

Although the exact contents of the speech are said to be a closely-guarded secret, The Sunday Telegraph quoted a government source as saying:

 "She's gone for the full works. People will know when she said 'Brexit means Brexit', she really meant it

However wWriting in The Sunday Times, Brexit Secretary David Davis said the Government would be seeking to forge a "strong new partnership" with the remaining 27 member states.

"We don't want the EU to fail, we want it to prosper politically and economically, and we need to persuade our allies that a strong new partnership with the UK will help the EU to do that," he wrote.He also indicated that the Government would consider some form of transitional arrangement - a move likely to be regarded with suspicion by hardline Brexiteers who have been demanding a clean break."It proves necessary we will consider time for implementation of the new arrangements,"

Which seems a very strange statement if the speculation on a "Hard Brexit" is true because one wonders apart from the likes of Marie Le Pen's National Front (who have their own agenda) what allies will still exit after the UK damages not only our economy  but that of the remaining EU?

Plaid's treasury spokesman Jonathan Edwards told the BBC's Sunday Politics Wales programme the impact on Wales would be "devastating".

The Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP said pulling out of the single market and customs union would have a 

"huge impact on jobs and wages in Wales".

He added..

..."The reality of what we're going to hear from [Theresa May] on Tuesday, it's going to be the greatest job-killing act in Welsh economic history, probably in British economic history," 

Meanwhile the latest Welsh Barometer Poll  still shows a Nation divided   you can see it here but as Professor Scully  comments

 Our new poll is the third one in Wales to ask about voting intentions in such a hypothetical second referendum since last June. All three have shown the nation continuing to be very closely divided: 

Poll	% Remain	% Leave	% DK/ WV	% Leave Lead
July 2016	46	41	13	-5
September 2016	42	45	13	3
January 2017	43	44	14	1

he says 

"Perhaps we will see a change when we find out just what Brexit means and  whether there is any form of open Market"/

Though the Barometer Poll seems to indicate Leavers are pretty solid 

“Thinking about Britain’s relationship with the European Union now it has voted to leave, which of the following would you most like to see?”

	Remain	Leave	Overall
Britain should leave the EU completely and have no sort of formal deal with the rest of the EU	3%	32%	18%
Britain should try to make only a limited deal with the rest of the EU, restricting any deal only to trade	11%	46%	27%
Britain should try to make a wider deal with the rest of the EU, giving Britain full trade access to the rest of the EU, in exchange for allowing EU citizens to live and work in Britain	26%	10%	18%
Britain should try to reverse its decision and stay in the EU	50%	2%	23%
None of these	1%	1%	3%
Don’t Know	8%	9%	12%

As Professor Sculy sates

"So more than three-quarters of Remain voters prefer either a ‘soft’ Brexit or no Brexit at all, while almost four-fifths of Leave voters indicate a preference for a ‘hard’ Brexit. And across the sample as a whole there is no consensus whatsoever: no option wins the support of much more than a quarter of people. Once again, the basic point is reinforced – there is no public consensus about Brexit emerging. Wales – and, one imagines, much of the rest of the UK – continues to be deeply divided about the issue.

We are still in the dark on what form of Brexit we are going to have and if the Welsh Polls are any indication  then it suits Theresa May and her government to keeps us in suspense.

So maybe we may not be any wiser n Tuesday after all.  

We must be wary over the Intelligence leaks over Trump.

We are living in Topsy-Turvey times when we see a Right Wing President Elect of the USA denouncing his own Intelligence Agencies and the Liberal.Left gleefully picking up the allegations.

Obama tenure has been long on rhetoric but short on action particularly on foreign policy and it was ridiculous  to award a man who has failed to close Guantanamo Bay detention camp followed his predecessors  disastrous polcies in the Middle East , including sending drones against civilian targets and allowed the Banking sector that caused the financial crisis we are still paying for to continue.

Since his Peace Prize was strangely for what he might do in the future maybe the Ex-President will begin to earn it.

There was no hint of any private scandal though unless you support the "Fake News" that he was a secret Muslim or the accusation by Donald Trump that he was not born in the US

  This time round,Trump is the centre of  attention  focused on reports of a 35-page dossier containing utterly unsubstantiated claims of a “compromising relationship with the Kremlin” and sexual escapades that could expose the President-elect to blackmail.

It did not take long for the dossier to appear online in a move which outraged Trump.

But journalists sat up when they learned that Trump and Obama were presented with a summary of the claims by, in the words of CNN, “four of the senior-most US intelligence chiefs”.

Trump reaction As he has done on so many occasions, including the intelligence reports that Russia had interfered in the Presidential Elections was to deny the source.

Trump expressed his innermost feelings on the  on the lurid sex allegations and Blackmail on Twitter, saying: “Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to ‘leak’ into the public. One last shot at me. Are we living in Nazi Germany?”

When he faced reporters he refused to take a question from CNN, which broke the story that he was briefed by intelligence officials about the claims.

“You are fake news,” he told the reporter.

He derided Buzzfeed as a “failing pile of garbage” and said the intelligence agencies had “maybe” released the information.

As Leigh Richards on Rodolfo Walsh's Glasses points out

The prospect of a Trump presidency genuinely appalls me but i would prefer it those of us opposed to his uniquely divisive and dangerous brand of politics sought to defeat Trump by exposing and challenging his reactionary plans - such as abolishing Barak Obama's affordable healthcare act, building a massive wall on the mexican border and his dinosaur views on climate change - rather than trying to undermine him by relying on on dubious leaks from intelligence agencies trained in the art of deception.

I don't know if the allegations are true or not but would we on the Left be so readily to accept the CIA leaking similar Allegations against Bernie Sanders if he had won the Presidency?

 The US intelligence Agencies may share my view that Trump is a dangerous Demagogues and it is their role to save the US and the World from him but can we trust their information ?

We cannot choose to believe and not believe  such Intelligence Reports  to suit our own views.