Lib Dem Peter Black is at his hypocritical best.

Former Liberal Democrat AM Peter Black's attacks on the parties are often hypocritical and one of his latest Blogs is no different.

A lot of promises are being made in this election, some of them so wild that one wonders if anybody could possibly give them credence. The biggest obstacle faced by all parties however, is how they can operate within an asymmetric constitutional settlement, when the biggest concerns of voters, namely education and health, are no longer the responsibility of MPs in three of the countries that make up the UK.
Labour, the Liberal Democrats, even the Conservatives are having to produce different manifestos for Wales and Scotland, in which they set out how, if they are given the chance, they will spend the Barnett consequential of their UK-wide promises. In reality, only Labour in Wales (and of course the SNP in Scotland) are able to guarantee that these pledges will be met. Nevertheless. the others can at least deliver more money for the devolved governments if they win on 12th December.
But what about the remaining nationalist party, Plaid Cymru. They are only fielding candidates in Wales, so they do not even have the fall back argument that they will be able to secure extra resources for the Welsh Government by implementing new spending priorities in England. The odds of them forming part of any government is remote, and getting remoter by the day. Their only real chance of doing anything is to use this election as a dry run for the Assembly polls in 2021.
Plaid's position as a purely Welsh party operating within a devolved settlement, means that their latest promise to recruit 1,600 new police officers for Welsh communities comes across as rather absurd.
Policing is not devolved to Wales, so the nationalists do not even have the cover of seeking to influence Welsh budgets to deliver on this pledge. The odds of them being able to secure devolution of policing when they are fielding just 37 candidates out of 650, with only a handful having a realistic chance of winning, are remote. They may as well promise to annex the moon for Wales, for all the good it will do.This pledge above the many others I have seen Plaid Cymru make, just underlines their irrelevance in this election. At an Assembly level they have the opportunity to deliver on their promises, in this election they are just talking to the hand.

# posted by Peter Black : 8:42 AM 

And yet what do we see on this mornings news?

"The Liberal Democrats claim Wales is set to gain an extra £560m a year due to their election pledges on education.
The party is unveiling a £10bn boost to schools in England in its manifesto, and aims to hire 20,000 more teachers.
Education is devolved, so more spending in England triggers extra cash for the Welsh Government to use as it sees fit.
Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds said she would urge ministers in Cardiff Bay to spend the money on schools, to give children "the best start in life".
Her Lib Dem colleague Kirsty Williams is education minister in the Labour-led Welsh Government.
"Our ambitious plans to reverse cuts to education in England would provide £560m more that the Welsh Government can spend on our schools and teachers, to ensure we continue to build an education system fit for the 21st Century," Ms Dodds said.
"This funding will enable us to build on Kirsty Williams' great work to create an education system that supports and nurtures every child to reach their full potential."
The Lib Dems say the money would come from what they claim would be a £50bn boost to public finances by cancelling Brexit".

Money diverted to Wales are not bookmarked for specific purposes and if Ms Williams  is Education Minister, if the Liberal Democrats are in a position tho boost education spending  it does not mean it will be allocated in Wales as Peter Blach himself writesIn reality, "only Labour in Wales (and of course the SNP in Scotland) are able to guarantee that these pledges will be met". 

 Prehaps he should have previewed hi parties  "Welsh" Manifesto before making hypocritical attacks.

If Mr Black's party looked like making a breakthrough in this election then perhaps just perhaps his party leader could make a difference and provide either another coalition with the Tories or  very poor opposition in which they ar going to be eclipsed  by the numbers and talent of the SNP.

Indeed Plaid may have had four MPs in the last parliament , but practically Liz Saville Roberts have  arguably had more hits on the government than the 12 Liberal Democrats and even when their number were swelled by some 9 Labour or Tory defectors.