There is an old saying
"The squeaky wheel gets the oil".
It seems that Plaid may be thinking of this with the report in the Wasting Mule that Plaid claim claims Wales gets a 'raw deal' because Conservatives do not respect or fear Carwyn Jones
According to the article,
Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP Jonathan Edwards said Mr Jones was “not taken seriously” in Westminster and that this was reflected in the latest proposals for changes to the funding and powers of the Welsh Government.
The leaders of the devolved governments in Scotland and Northern Ireland can win concessions from the UK Government but Wales gets a “raw deal” because its leader does not “command respect” in Westminster, Plaid Cymru has claimed.
In the latest sign that the nationalist party will target First Minister Carwyn Jones in the month’s leading up to May’s Assembly elections, Plaid drew a comparison with the record of SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon.
Mr Edwards said:
“With the Labour first minister having failed to command respect in Westminster, it is hardly surprising that Wales gets such a raw deal on fair funding and more powers. Recent issues such as fair funding for Wales from the HS2 high-speed rail project has exposed the weaknesses in Carwyn Jones’ leadership.”
The Tories are treating the Labour administration in Cardiff Bay with contempt because they don’t respect or fear them. Contrast this with the relationship between Westminster and Edinburgh and Belfast.
“In Scotland, there is a strong first minister who has succeeded in holding the UK Tory government’s feet to the fire and securing more powers for the Scottish parliament to grow the economy and generate jobs. Similarly the Northern Irish Government has won a succession of concessions from Westminster.
“Wales is not a second class nation and there is no reason why we should settle for anything less than a similar deal. The only way of achieving this is to elect a Plaid Cymru government with Leanne Wood as First Minister in May.”
Of course as I have so often mentioned the Mule finds irs "Labour spokesman to challenge Plaid claim
A spokesman for First Minister Mr Jones said:
“This is embarrassing guff from Jonathan Edwards, he knows Plaid Cymru got it totally wrong on HS2. Working with other devolved administrations, Welsh Labour Ministers secured £755m over five years for Wales. Rather than admit their mistake and welcome the extra funding, Plaid are digging a deeper and deeper hole. Their lack of humility betrays a party unready for Government.”It is interesting that Labour that in Scotland will be arguing against the SNP gaining a Majority in the Scottish Parliament with al the guff about Scotland being a"One Party Stata" whilst campaigning her efor themselves to have a working majority in the Welsh Assembly.
: “In contrast to this, whether it is on Europe, education funding, the Wales Bill, or attracting inward investment, Carwyn Jones is fighting hard for the people of Wales. This is one of the reasons he is so popular with wavering Plaid voters.
“Everyone knows that many inside Plaid Cymru are plotting to jump into bed with the Tories to try form a Government in May. Welsh Labour will be fighting hard to avoid a disastrous coalition of chaos.”
For myself I think Plaid may be wrong Wales is treated with contempt it is more like indifference. Contempt at least means we register on the London Parties Radar
It is not so much because of Carwyn Jones himself but because for Labour despite a few glitches their hegemony here has remained intact and for the Tories although they do not regard Wales a lost cause they see seat gains as a bonus rather than a a long term plan and certainly .
Wales does not even seem to have even drawn the contempt of do the degree that
A former minister in David Cameron's government told Margaret Thatcher that "pampered" Scots deserved deep spending cuts in the 1980s, new files show.
In 1986, David Willetts, then a Downing Street policy advisor, told the Prime Minister that the Conservative Party's position north of the border was "so bad" it might not get worse if Scots' share of public spending was cut, describing the country as a "juicy target" for cuts.
Willetts later became an MP and was universities minister from 2010 to 2014 during the Coalition Government. He stood down from the Commons in May and is now a member of the House of Lords.
Wales will continue to be treated with indifference unless we realise that voting for Unionist Parties and accepting our lot as "Poor West Britons" will not change anything.
Only by joining the move to Independents in the sane way as Scotland and Catalonia can we be able to claim as in the Dafydd Iwan song "Ry'n ni yma o hyd."
3 comments:
Firstly Glyn we are not treated with anything like respect, Scotland has been redacted from the pantheon of nations and it almost breaks their hearts in Englandshire to use the name. We have become North Britain or up there. Those much promised powers are rubbish tied with strings, income tax was never going to change as long as we remain tied to the UK strings, welfare, well not in my lifetime I suspect unless we can have another referendum and have won over the 6% we need to win. Labour care not a jot about Scotland, all they were interested in was the Party and their interests therefore they are unlikely to win power back as they have not changes one whit.
I rather imagine once these things in Thatcher's memoirs come out into the internet properly we may just find more people getting angry but one thing I can assure you, it will not be trumpeted in the British Unionist Media. Most of us in the Nationalist Community were aware of some of the things done to Scotland whilst Thatcher's Government was coining it in from us, and Cameron still does.
Yes of course you are right Helena. But at least I think they (Unionists) see you as a problem . Not since the first Assembly elections where Plaid won 17 out of the 40 seats. Promoting Tony Blair to cry out F*%$ing Welsh have we in Wales rated any real Political coverage .
I would like this opportunity to thank you for your comments and interest over the last year. Here to next year and Scotland annoying the Unionist in May at least.
plaid has never recovered from the curious episode which resulted in dafydd wigley being removed as leader of the party, and seemingly being exiled to plaid's margins. People now forget that back in 1999 under dafydd's leadership plaid had performed better in the may elections than the snp had in scotland, and at the time you might have thought wales was further on the road to independence than scotland. How times have changed.
The 'coup' against wigley still remains largely unexplained, and if you ask the age old question 'who benifited' from this? you start to arrive at some disturbing answers.
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