One of the reasons I am not a member of Plaid though this Blog nominally supports that party is that I feel I have to be able to criticise the Party.
This occurs from time to time and it has happened when Leanne Wood joined with leaders of Labour, Conservatives, Plaid Cymru and Liberal Democrats in the Assembly. with Proposals for further devolution to Wales
Their blueprint is set out in a joint motion which will be debated by Assembly Members next week.
Where's the parity with Scotland? The above looks like no where going towards reaching this.
And bear in mind if English Votes for English Laws goes through then English MPs wil be also de facto members of an English Parliament within Westminster and have the same powers as Members of the Scottish Parliament. Having more powers than our AM in Cardiff.
On his Blog Jac produces an analysis of Plaid that I find completely wrong for instance he says
But that does not mean that Plaid failure to push the Independence argument in years of the Assembly wasn't a mistake.
In the first years in particular the Blaid concentrated to much on making the assembly work and enough on its failings.
My message to Leanne Wood is to make it clear t hat whilst this agreement d may be the maximum of devolution wanted by the other parties (including the LibDems) it the bare minimum that Plaid will back.And don't forget you can't trust the others (remember The Vow).
I am not sure that Independence should be Plaid's rallying call for the 2016 elections but at least let it be Parity with Scotland.
I hope its not going to be we want larger crumbs of the table.
The National Assembly for Wales:
Welcomes the Prime Minister’s commitment that Wales will be at the heart of the debate on the future of the United Kingdom;
Calls for bilateral talks that are informed by the Holtham and Silk 1 Commissions’ findings, including an updated assessment of the current level and likely future direction of Welsh relative funding;
Calls for those talks, which should begin immediately and be completed by January 2015, to have a particular focus on fair funding, with the goal of securing rapid implementation of a funding floor which both addresses underfunding in a way that is consistent with Welsh needs and halts future convergence;
Calls for the UK Government to:-ensure that the same powers are given to Wales regarding the devolution of Corporation Tax if they are provided to Northern Ireland and Scotland;-devolve Air Passenger Duty for direct long-haul flights;-review the level of the borrowing powers afforded to Wales in the Wales Bill; and-work with the Welsh Government to enable it to issue its own bonds;
Seeks recognition that if a decision is taken to hold a Referendum on tax varying powers, this should reflect the view of the people of Wales;
Seeks confirmation that the Reserved Powers model will be instituted for Wales;
Calls on the UK Government to give the National Assembly for Wales the power to determine its electoral arrangements;
Calls on the UK Government to make progress on Silk 2;
Affirms that these matters should be taken forward in legislative proposals, published before the end of the current Westminster parliamentary session.
Where's the parity with Scotland? The above looks like no where going towards reaching this.
And bear in mind if English Votes for English Laws goes through then English MPs wil be also de facto members of an English Parliament within Westminster and have the same powers as Members of the Scottish Parliament. Having more powers than our AM in Cardiff.
On his Blog Jac produces an analysis of Plaid that I find completely wrong for instance he says
The Scottish National Party enjoys its position of strength, not because it ‘reached out’ to colonising Greens (Scotland has its own pro-independence Green Party), not because it indulged itself in sixth form ‘socialism’, not because it snuggled up to Labour and certainly not because it tried to out-Labour Labour; no, the SNP’s strength is the result of confronting the Labour Party and the British system head-on with a message of hope for the Scottish people. This is why Glasgow voted Yes last month. All Plaid Cymru does is agonise over the nuts and bolts of devolution and whine about the Barnett Formula, (basically, just asking for a bigger begging bowl). Plaid Cymru is a defeatist party; it is a collaborationist party.A quick look at the areas that voted YES in the referendum shows that it was those people in working class areas who saw a brighter future for Scotland under a leadership of a Left leaning party (SNP) rather than Blue or Red Tories in Westminster.
But that does not mean that Plaid failure to push the Independence argument in years of the Assembly wasn't a mistake.
In the first years in particular the Blaid concentrated to much on making the assembly work and enough on its failings.
My message to Leanne Wood is to make it clear t hat whilst this agreement d may be the maximum of devolution wanted by the other parties (including the LibDems) it the bare minimum that Plaid will back.And don't forget you can't trust the others (remember The Vow).
I am not sure that Independence should be Plaid's rallying call for the 2016 elections but at least let it be Parity with Scotland.
I hope its not going to be we want larger crumbs of the table.
1 comment:
good call glyn. we were disappointed to see plaid leader leanne wood sign up to such a bland statement - a statement that carwyn jones could have cobbled together on his breakfast table the morning before the party leader's meeting (and probably did) As its basically what welsh labour have been saying they want for the last two years ie a limited form of devolution that still leaves wales wih less power than even northern ireland enjoys.
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