Tuesday 18 May 2010

Cheryl Sits on the fence.

According to her interview on Good Morning Wales Cheryl Gillan plans to remain neutral on a referendum for more powers to be dissolved to the Welsh Assembly.  She will neither campaign for or against giving the Assembly primary law-making powers in areas devolved to it. Gillan seems to have suggested that as she  doesn't live in Wales, so she shouldn't comment.

Pardon! The person who represents Wales in the Cabinet (or the Cabinet in Wales in reality) can't comment on a referendum because "She doesn't live in Wales"? Doesn't this expose her position? Having a Secretary of State who represents a English Constituency is embarrassing enough but one who doesn't have a view with how Wales is governed is unbelievable.

Perhaps the fact that some of the Tories in the assembly seem to have gone Native and will support the move to primary law-making powers is the reason for Gillan's fence sitting . It would be a ridiculous if the Welsh Secretary was to campaign against further devolution (which I believe is Gillan's real position) and the leader of the Tories in the assembly campaigning for it.

I also suspect that London are going to change the rules again and attempt to fix the question on the ballot paper and move the referendum to the same day as the Assembly elections in the hope that in a years time the popularity of the Con-Lib coalition will see that there is a No vote.

What are the Lib-Dems view on this. Can Kirsty Williams our own "La Pasionaria" tell us? She looked very uncomfortable with Cheryl Gillan the other day. Perhaps she realised that her Party's own prospects in Wales has been dashed by her Leaders decision to join Cameron's Tories. Based on the General Election results the Lib-Dems would have been expecting big gains in next years Assembly Election. It is now likely they will be the ones who pay the price for the cuts to come.

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