Labour will always betray us..

Those of you who remember the Peanuts Cartoon will recall that, time after time Charlie Brown, though he constantly had his doubts eventually succumbed to once again try and kick the football only for Lucy to remove it.


There is a comparison to the average Labour Voter in Wales.Time and time again .They head for the polling station with the knowledge that Labour have always let them down. Only to put their mark for the Labour Candidate.


Then in a very short time it becomes clear that Labour have taken the ball away and are betraying those who have trusted them.


I'm sure many of those who voted Labour in the last Local Government elections will feel betrayed this time next year when in response to Westminster Cuts they will ask "How deep "whilst at the same time claim to be fighting them.


But when the elections come along  again they will like Charlie Brown believe that this time they will get what they want .


They will still fall for assurances from Unison Leader Andy Richards that.


 “There is only one party for the working people of Wales, the party that the trade unions founded to give a voice to working people – the Labour Party. This is why it is called the Labour Party,” .


He aimed this at Leanne Wood's attempt to claim that Plaid also aimed to give a voice for working People and to form a progressive alliance.


We will see whether unlike Charlie Brown the Welsh electorate really have a choice from someone offering to allow them to achieve their dreams.


Leanne Wood may not be the answer to Andy (Lucy) Richards. She and Plaid may well let us down those who trusted them but isn't it time we realised the other option will always  betray us?

Rail Electrification . It's not going to happen is it.

Welsh Secretary (For Now) used her Satnav to find Cardiff Bay and and turned up  yesterday to address the Assembly where she in a similar role to a Governor General to a token colonial Parliament explained to a somewhat cynical senedd of the merits of the Queen's  speach talking about infrastructure investment Wales,

Ms Gillan was loudly mocked by Labour AMs (Who used to lower their heads in respect when Peter Hain was Governor General) for referring to “how hard I fought for the electrification of the railway line down to Cardiff”.

She added, to jeers: “I can assure you that I am fighting very hard to make sure that the Prime Minister’s statement that we intend to electrify the Valleys Lines comes to fruition.”

However despite this clear assurance she said "the UK Government must see a business case before it could electrify the main London-Swansea railway line". So don't hold your breath.

The UK Government announced plans to electrify the Great Western line as far as Cardiff last year but the Welsh Government now no longer feeling they can't criticise a Labour Welsh Secretary wants the project to go further west to Swansea and into the Valleys..

Mrs Gillan told AMs she was still continuing to press the case for electrification of the line to Swansea, but warned AMs that “you can't just go ahead on a whim”.


One wonders what's been happening  over the last decades since Electrification of the Railways have taken place .


Has there been case where a line has been electrified and there has been no resultant improvement ?




There have been calls for Electrification before and throughout the last Labour Government wasn't a business case made or was it simply assumed that it was bleeding obvious that electrification that taking the Line to Cardiff and Swansea would benefit both Cities?


Mind you if I had been Cheryl Gillian I had turned on Labour AM's and asked them? 


"Why wasn't electrification carried out when Paul Murphy  and Peter Hain were doing my Job in the 13 years Labour were in power from 1997-2010?"


It seems that two years of the Con/LibDem government has  completely  wiped out the memories of the complete failure of Labour to improve the transport infrastructure  in Wales (and the rest of the UK). 


Thirteenyears of wasted opportunity because Wales was not seen as important when it came to marginal seats as Labour courted "Middle England"


Can any one from Labour truly say that if they had won in 2010 and even if the economy wasn't in meltdown.They would have implemented the sort of electrification of the South Wales they are now calling for. Or would they  simply assume the loyalty of the Welsh People  when it comes to votes and feel there would be no need carry out any promises?

Changing Boundaries Changing Democracy

Cheryl Gillian The Secretary of State for Wales ( but not much longer I suspect)  yesterday published a Green Paper on 'Future Electoral Arrangements for the National Assembly for Wales'. Its a 12 weeks 'consultation paper'. 

For a consultation it is like Hobson Choice because only one solution to the future of Welsh Elections is given.

1: The Proposals are That the National Assembly should continue to have 60 members.
Despite the fact that it will undoubtedly take on more powers in the next decade. This would with the other proposals fix the number of Am's irrespective of any increase in Workload of AM's.

2: That the Assembly electoral boundaries should be changed to allow for 30 rather than 40 Assembly constituencies, coterminous with the new constituencies being introduced for the House of Commons. Or if the decision is to retain the current 40 constituencies, the boundaries should be adjusted to equalise the number of voters within each constituency.


The 1st part makes the assumption that the number of Welsh Seats will be fixed for decades and the second looks like a nightmare as in the Westminster proposals people will be lumped together just to make up an number irrespective of any identification.


3) That the ban on candidates standing for a constituency and also taking a place on the 'regional list' should be removed.


I agree with this but if there is a 30/30 split then almost all the leaders of the Parties Will chose the regional option realising that being on top of a list of 6 for a region will ensure their election and that they would not have to nurse a potentially marginal constituency but concentrate on their Assembly profile .


4: That Assembly members should cease to be allowed to sit in The House of Commons or The second Chamber.

This has some merit; But why should this apply to Wales alone? and not Scotland and Northern Ireland  . The Spanish Second Chamber has 264 members . 208 directly elected and 56 appointed by the assemblies of the autonomous regions. Perhaps this should be considered along with Lords reform?


Since Labour are the Party who have most to lose from this. They (despite Pater Hain) are opposed arguing that such decisions should be made in Wales. Though they seemed quite happy with Westminster changing the rules on standing for a constituency and also taking a place on the 'regional list' . When they were in power there.


Plaid Jonathan Edwards although making it clear he supported STV made a similar proposal to Cheryl Gillian last year something that might haunt him when the issue is debated and the Liberal Democrats will probably go along as at the moment regional seats are their future. Though theylike Plaid wil make a half-hearted  case for STV.


So we have a consultation paper which gives us very little choice and clearly with the argument that there should be boundary changes even if we remain with 40 Constituency seats.


Once again the future Democracy of Welsh Government will be decided at Westminster with a token consultation period where those who support a greater form of proportional representation will be ignored.


This would never happen in Scotland and Northern Ireland and shows once again the contempt that Westminster holds for the people of Wales and that when they accept devolution of power to Scotland and Northern Ireland they still feel that somehow Wales don't deserve it.


Update 12:00Pm


Subordinate Central has quoted La Pasionaria as saying.

“We broadly welcome the UK Government’s proposals to protect, and possibly increase, the proportional element and fairness of our voting system. Welsh Liberal Democrats have long argued for a fully proportionate system of voting but given the current political situation we believe that any step to make our National Assembly more democratic and accountable is welcome.

So that's we are going to have to accept this and we won'y be rocking any boat by arguing for STV or by upseting Labour too much as we look to be their coalition partners.

Are there to many Bosses in the Bay?

The Western Maul reports that . Almost four out of five of staff working for the Welsh Government are designated as managers, astonishing new figures have revealed. The  Mule claims that the statistics, released to the Welsh Conservatives following a written question from leader Andrew RT Davies, show that of the 5,424 employed by the Government as of March this year, 4,189 – or 77% – were classed as managers

A reply sent to Andrew Davies  by the Welsh Government’s permanent secretary, Dame Gill Morgan, showed that currently, of 5,424 employees, 4,189 are managers.

Of these, 1,090 are at management band 3, 1,269 at management band 2, 888 at management band 1, 647 at executive band 2, 175 at executive band 1 and 120 are senior civil service.

Just 1,156 are classified as "team support" – below management level – while 79 were classified "other".

But this is the Way the Civil Service Works . When I worked briefly for Custom and Excise on a temporary  basis in the 90's . I was on the lowest level and Administrative Assistant Every one was above me.

For lower grades many departments overlay their own grading structure however the across government is as below.

Grade	Military Equivalent
Grade 6
Grade 7	Colonel, Captain, Group Capt
Senior Executive Officer (SEO)	Lieutenant Colonel, Commander, Wing Commander
Higher Executive Officer (HEO)	Major, Lieutenant Commander, Squadron Leader
Executive Officer (EO)	Captain, Lieutenant, Flight Lieutenant
Administrative Officer
Administrative Assistant

This is only a guide and  the comparison with Military rank somewhat misleading as EO was considered quite a low position.

But  I suppose since from Executive Officer up. The post holder was responsible to the person below them then  the But as  Welsh Government said that all staff above team may well have  classed as management, as they would have some level of supervisory responsibility, whether they were managing staff, projects or finances.

So on the project I was working on only a few of us (Most of whom were on temporary contracts)  would probably  not be classed as managers. However this was an Important project that involved expertise on Custom's procedure so it didn't reflect the Civil Service as a whole. and I suppose the close to Government probably needs people with more expertise than in other parts of the Civil Service.But as I said  the Executive Offices (of Which there were the most) were hardly exalted positions . Being were those who entered  with a degree started out.. So it would appear they would be immediately be classed as managers.

We should take note of this and study the figure  to see if we do have "To Many Chiefs and not enough Indians ". But it may be that calling some one a manager in the Assembly is just a term to say that they simply give an annual assessment of the Admin Officer below them.

Lab/LibDem Coalition in the Assembly ?

Peter Black has commented on the alleged snubing of Leanne Woods, by the Trade Union Unite .Which in fact was a Labour Loyalist believing that he solely spoke for his members in what is supposed to be a Democratic Institution.

But its Peter's end comment that is perhaps of greater interest He writes......

"Labour too appear to have commited a tactical error in the vehemence of their response. Clearly, there is no love lost amongst the former coalition partners, but the rift between them is growing wider.
Labour do not have a majority in the Assembly chamber and need to work with other parties to get things done. All they have succeeded in doing this week is to close down their options and hand a stronger negotiating hand to the Welsh Liberal Democrats".

This resulted in the following exchanges

"a stronger negotiating hand to the Welsh Liberal Democrats"

Yes, after the hiding you got in the local elections - just about everywhere!# posted by maen_tramgwydd : 11:32 AMI don't see the relevance of that to what goes on in the Assembly# posted by Peter Black : 11:35 AMI think that Welsh Liberal Democrats should resign themselves to the role of vocal spectators in theAssembly and local government for some time to come.# posted by Martin : 1:11 PMI cannot see why we should do any such thing. We are a party of government and our elected representatives have a duty to secure the best possible deal for their constituents and to seek to implement our policies. We will take whatever opportunities are available to do that.

It seems that Peter is making it clear that the LibDems are seeking to enter coalition with Labour in the Assembly. Indeed there seems to be more than a hint of as desperation here . As although Plaid and the Conservatives did badly in the local election . It was disastrous for the Liberal Democrats.


They now have only 73 councillors throughout Wales.

Control None,

Lead None, 

Are the Largest Party on None 

and there are 7 councils where they have no councillors at all.


Peter obviously thinks that only option is get into some position of Power in Wales by forming a Labour Coalition with Labour. Who probably feel they currently hold all the cards So if the LibDems do join it is unlikely they will get anything out of it apart from their Pupil Premium project.


Maybe that's all the Libdem can do hope La Pasionaria (and maybe Peter Black) himself secure a  minor cabinet post and get positive publicity. 

Though it didn't work for them last time they formed a coalition with the Assembly as iit also failed to do for Plaid.

In fact if I was Labour leader I would invite the LibDems in . The only strength of the latter in the Assembly is La Pasionaria attacks on the Welsh Governments handling of the easy targets of Health and Education where any opposition can find fault. Giving her a seat in the government will remove a relative thorn in their side.

I don't see any advantage for the LibDems or Plaid in any coalition with a minority Labour Government . The desire for a Cabinet post may be strong but neither Party is in a position to wrench major concessions from Labour (Such as bringing in STV) and perhaps they should concentrate on being effective oppositions

Union Leader shows his loyalty lies with the Labour Party not its members

Leanne Wood's attempt to form a new Progressive Alliance which met with some interest from from the
Public and Commercial Services Union  has been completely rebutted by Unite or rather the Union's "Leader"  in Wales.   Labour Loyalist Andy Richards, who made it clear where his if not his members interest lay.

In a statement accusing the Plaid Leader of opportunism. he said...

“Unite Wales is already committed to working with our fellow trade unionists and other community organisations in Wales to fight the UK government’s austerity agenda and further action against the cuts is high on the agenda at next week’s conference.
“But we want to go one step further for the people of Wales and next week will open our discussion on ‘Making Devolution Work’ – a positive progressive policy debate on how we work within a devolved Wales to win for workers and the Welsh economy as whole.”
Past experience meant that unions would “not be fooled by Plaid Cymru’s attempts to portray themselves as trade union friendly nor are they the party of Welsh working people”, he went on.
“There is only one party for the working people of Wales, the party that the trade unions founded to give a voice to working people – the Labour Party. This is why it is called the Labour Party,” .

So

• Unite "is committed to working with our fellow Trade Unionists . Apparently only  as long as they support the Labour Party it seems.
•  Past experience meant that unions would “not be fooled by Plaid Cymru’s attempts to portray themselves as trade union friendly nor are they the party of Welsh working people” but they can continue to fooled by a party that has been in power for 13 years and did little to improve workers rights. Does Andy Richards really claim that the Blair/Brown Governments.Who made it clear even before coming to power  that they were focusing on "Middle England" were fighting for the working class? When in recent years has Labour at Westminster,Cardiff Bay or Local Authority stood up for the working class.
• “There is only one party for the working people of Wales, the party that the trade unions founded to give a voice to working people – the Labour Party. This is why it is called the Labour Party,” . There are thousands of working people in Wales who have never supported the Labour Party who are as loyal Trade Union Members as Andy Richards but are denied a voice because of the Unions blind loyalty .to Labour or even some of their leaders attempt to represent that party at Westminster or Cardiff Bay as a MP or AM.where these career politicians will ignore their former members struggles.

A few weeks ago in the three councils that treated his workers appallingly by cutting their wages Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend ,and Rhondda Cynon Taf. Labout swept the board as they did in the rest of Wales. 

In this they were aided by Unions like Unite who represent many of the workers affected by these cuts who still showed loyalty to a Party that where behaving worse than Tory ones when they failed to denounce the Council Leaders for their betrayal of the Working Class members employed by these councils. This with the tacit and sometimes enthusiastic backing of the Welsh Media saw thousands of Welsh people giving their support to a Party whose response to coalition cuts was to ask "How Deep do you want them"

Richards may have a point when he accuses Leanne Wood of opportunism (She is a politician after all). But to reject outright overtures from anyone,  because it could threaten his members loyalty to the Labour party rather than to his Union Is not one of them.

Unite is there to fight for its members.Not to see a a right wing  Tory Lib/Dem Government that treats workers with contempt, replaced with a right wing Labour Government , that does the same out of historical loyalty.

The Western Mule report gleefully claims that

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood’s dream of building an “alliance of progressives” against UK Government cuts looks over before it even got started..

Andy Richards s  reaction  to her overture shows she has a long way to go: But then the Union Leaders who see their role in supporting Labour rather than its members are probably not her target.

Denbighshire literally elects the wrong Councilor.

Denbighshire council has apologised after a Labour candidate appeared to have lost an election when votes were wrongly handed to a Tory rival.


Council said human error was to blame for votes for Paul Penlington being counted towards Allan Pennington in the elections on 4 May.


In a night which saw big gains for Labour in the County Particularly in Rhyl and Prestatyn the result in Prestatyn North.was declared as


.

Prestatyn North - results  2012

Election Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Carys Louise Guy-Davies	Labour	633	13%	Elected
Jason Mathew McLellan	Labour	598	12%	Elected
Allan Geoffrey Pennington	Conservative	580	12%	Elected
Michael Adrian German	Independent	557	12%	Not elected
Isobel Marion German	Independent	538	11%	Not elected
George Peter Anthony Flynn	Independent	472	10%	Not elected
Gwynn Alexander Clague	Independent	438	9%	Not elected
Paul Penlington	Labour	366	8%	Not elected
Michael John Eckersley	Conservative	325	7%	Not elected
Michelle Monique Marie Pope	Conservative	314	7%	Not elected

The result saw a big swing to Labour on the previous election

Prestatyn North - results 2008

Election Candidate	Party	Votes	%
George Arthur Green	Conservative	741	15%	Elected
Allan Geoffrey Pennington	Conservative	709	14%	Elected
Michael John Eckersley	Conservative	696	14%	Elected
Michael Adrian German	Independent	684	13%	Not elected
Isobel Marion German	Independent	634	12%	Not elected
David Cooper	Independent	476	9%	Not elected
Velma Wilshaw-Cryer	Labour	396	8%	Not elected
Patricia Irene Dawson	Labour	391	8%	Not elected
Amanda June Wiggan	Labour	366	7%	Not elected

It is not unusual for a popular councillor to survive  a swing against his party but eyebrows must have been raised particularly  amongst the Party Tallymen  watching the count 
.
Mr Penlington (Labour)  would have been just ahead of Mr Pennington (Con) with Ms Pope (Con ) at the bottom of the Ballot paper.


I can see how a few votes could have gone astray but this is frankly ridiculous. I don't know when the ward was counted and tiredness on behalf of the counting staff (and Tallymen) may have some factor but the system of counting seats with multiple seats is usually quite efficient involving special sheets.and of course the Party is quite clear.


And lets face it in Wales there must be  many vase of a number of Joneses from different Parties being grouped together and in this case there was a clear difference in the candidates first names.

If I had been refering to "Paul Penlington" and "Allan Geoffrey Pennington" instead of Mr then the error would be glaring.As  you can see Mr Pennington was declared the winner of one of three county council seats in Prestatyn North with 580 votes, and Labour's Mr Penlington received 366
.
It has been  that if the votes for Mr Penlington had been allocated correctly, he would have won for Labour with 605 votes to Mr Pennington's 340 which would reflect those of the other candidates for both parties.


However, the council confirmed a mistake had been made, and it was now up to Mr Penlington to decide whether to challenge the result.


Labour has a week to decide whether to challenge the result before a judge


On the evidence there will undoubtedly be be a court challenge which should reverse the result.Or Mr Pemnnigton if it is clear an error has been made could resign and a By election held which should if there is any lustice see  Mr Penlington  the only candidate.