Is it just me or is there something over the top with regards Plaid Cymru AM Bethan Jenkins, decision to abandon Twitter after facing strong criticism over her description of Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister as “naive” for agreeing to meet the Queen.
My take on her "Naive" twitter post of Martin McGuinness was that he was naive in not thinking the UK media will portray this not so much as the triumph of the peace process rather as a triumph for the monarchy .And so it has turned out. A perfectly legitimate analysis right or wrong.
However as many commentators have pointed out . It is unlikely that McGuiness a canny politician if ever was one had not worked out the full implication of his and Sinn Fein decision in meeting the Queen of England and decided that they should do so
Whatever the reason for Bethan's Twitter remarkn. Surely the reaction of Labour and The Western Mule (usually the same thing these days) seem well over the top. . The Western Mule reports Vernon Coaker, Labour’s Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary as saying
“These remarks are dangerous and irresponsible. The language used by Plaid Cymru about Martin McGuinness is almost identical to that of dissident republicans who oppose the peace process.“Plaid Cymru should apologise unreservedly for these comments and state clearly their support for the peace process and opposition to those who seek to destroy it.”Is the Peace protest in such a perilous state that it can be undermined by few words by a young Welsh AM on Twitter?
All this has done is the danger of posting on Twitter or Facebook comments or sound-bights that you are not really able to clarify in a short number of words. Leaving you to Misinterpenetration or ridicule.
Bethan Jenkins is wise to abandon Twitter but then should all politicians as it clearly opens you up to attack.
What surprise me is the lack of support or at least sympathy for Bethan.
Never having met her I can't speak for her character but she seems to have ruffled feathers not only with the my fellow bloggers and the media but within Plaid. Is it me or is there something more here.
There does seem a campaign against Bethan Jenkins from establishment and some anti-establishment quarters . as shown in the news that she had missed a few meetings on a Assembly delegation to Dublin It tends to make me warm to her.
9 comments:
I think its more her attitude that has got under peoples skin. There is track here of lack of mature thought
In a situation as fragile as Ireland it doesn't take much to get months of work undermined. Silly arrogant remarks are not helpful,
Ms Jenkins can dish it out and has done so along with her supporters,many many times.If you do that you have to expect to get it back. That's just what has happened. I have read the various comments and don't see where they are anything but showing peoples concerns over how an elected politician needs to be more thought driven and grown up.
Social media is also a minefield, it makes every politician look like an independent if they use it that way, promoting individualism and vanity wich can overide collective entity of any given party. Feel sorry for her being attacked by Labour though.
'Totally naive' and 'making them British' rankled with me as they seem pretty careless and not thought through considering situation in Ireland.
I'm a PLaid member, and I'm afraid I think that she's a pointless gesture politician whose immaturity is bad for the party and makes her and her leader look unready for any kind of office.
The Labour party in Wales are a nasty vicious bunch, and if she's going to say silly and naive things on Twitter then she should have the guts to fight back and not run away.
Just because something is true doesn't mean a politician has to say it. Of course, Bethan is right to suggest McGuinness is 'naive'. A vital role that McGuinness has, is to carry the political will of the republican community, all politicians need to ensure they are kept in touch with the community and principles they represent. The threat to the peace process is not from a Welsh AM, or Labour, or the Queen but from those rioting last night in Belfast. McGuinness needs to carry the republican community to give him credibility. It IS naive to put this in jeopardy by a token handshake at a charity event. Question is, who, and whether or not to say it in public. The Irish press is also questioning the McGuinness gesture, not through a critique of the peace process, but a comment on his all-Ireland political goals. He was a presidential candidate for Sinn Féin the republic and seeks international prestige. Nothing to do with the peace process.
Perhaps you should take the lack of support for Bethan as true Glyn, she’s certainly rubbed plenty of people up the wrong way and made lots of enemies since she was elected. She good at self promotion and not a lot else.
As others have noted Bethan and her supporters are not liked and she’s considered a joke in the Assembly including within Plaid Cymru’s ranks. Leanne doesn’t need any more idiots providing Labour with readymade ammunition when she is trying to turn the party around and fight Wales’s corner.
Lest we forget Plaid Cymru changed the rules and sacrificed Dai Lloyd for her, she’s nearly 31 and still acting like a spoilt child, something reinforced by her comments on Martin McGuinness which weren’t simply naive but incredibly damaging to the Party.
It was maybe a little naive but you also have to take into account just how spineless and pathetic Labour are that they will jump on these comments with everything they have in some sort of childish point scoring excercise.
If we, as a people weren't even more spineless and pathetic then it would be laughable, as is it's quite tragic.
Plaid needs to seriously up it's game. Labours destruction is there for the taking, they just need to start making the economic case for more powers and eventual independence. Show the people that Labour have never done anything for us and that Labour are actively undermining the the already fragile Welsh economy and holding us back.
I feel for Leanne Wood who made a genuinely masterful speech on the Queen recently where she kept her principles and didn't fall for Labour's trap. Please can we stop making ourselves easy targets for the cynical Labour party! It can be done, they aren't geniuses. They are just opportunists and will exploit any loophole or any weakness. This kind of thing deflates morale and scrubs out the efforts Leanne has been making.
I think that Inside Out put her comments in the correct perspective (http://insideoutswansea.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/stuck-on-fringe.html). Whatever the merits involved, her comments were inappropriate and ill-timed. The test here is whether she learns from the experience. Withdrawing temporarily from Twitter is meaningless if she is only going to go back later and make the same mistakes.
Most of the comments seem to be on Bethan personality not the grist of her twitter statement. I have expanded on my views on the problem of Republican response to meeting Royalty today (29/06/2012).
We need to discuss how we should respond and how appropriate this should be.We certainly should not be silent.
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