Remembering the Warsaw Ghetto and a " Conviction" Politician.

Last Friday saw the 70th Anniversary if the Warsaw Ghetto uprising 19 April 1943 – 16 May 1943  against  German Nazi forces in the Warsaw ghetto uprising.

The mournful sound of sirens  marked the start of state ceremonies that were led by Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski at the iconic Monument to the Ghetto Heroes. The president was joined by officials from Poland, Israel and elsewhere as well as a survivor of the fighting, Simha Rotem, to honor the first large-scale rebellion against the Germans during World War II.

About 750 Jews with few arms and no military training made their opening attack on April 19, 1943, on a much larger and well-equipped German force. The attack came after most of the nearly half a million inhabitants of the ghetto had already been sent to die at Treblinka.

The insurgency came when it was clear the Nazis were about to send the remaining residents of the ghetto to die too. The revolt was crushed the following month, and the ghetto was razed to the ground, most of its residents killed.


13,000 Jews were killed in the ghetto during the uprising (some 6,000 among them were burnt alive or died from smoke inhalation). Of the remaining 50,000 residents, most were captured and shipped to concentration and extermination camps, in particular to Treblinka.

We must never forget the Courage of those who fought in this uprising and the brutality and inhumanity of the Nazi s.Which can be summed up by the Commanders Jürgen Stroop's internal SS daily report .

"180 Jews, bandits and sub-humans, were destroyed. The former Jewish quarter of Warsaw is no longer in existence. The large-scale action was terminated at 20:15 hours by blowing up the Warsaw Synagogue. ... Total number of Jews dealt with 56,065, including both Jews caught and Jews whose extermination can be proved. ... Apart from 8 buildings (police barracks, hospital, and accommodations for housing working-parties) the former Ghetto is completely destroyed. Only the dividing walls are left standing where no explosions were carried out

However we must remember a single act that showed us that humanity stil  remains.


On December 7, 1970, West German Chancellor Willy Brandt travelled to Warsaw, Poland on a state visit meant to improve relations with Poland and the USSR. On that day, Brandt attended a commemoration of the Jewish victims of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising of 1943. Although it had been decades since the historic uprising and the end of the Holocaust, Brandt was aware of the importance of this official state visit. He would later describe his thoughts leading up to the event:

An unusual burden accompanied me on my way to Warsaw. Nowhere else had a people suffered as in Poland. The machine-like annihilation of Polish Jewry represented a heightening of bloodthirstiness that no one had held possible. On my way to Warsaw [I carried with me] the memory of the fight to the death of the Warsaw ghetto.

Filled with emotion on the day of the ceremony, and taken by the enormity of the moment, Brandt spontaneously dropped to his knees before the commemoration monument, a profound act of apology and repentance.  Although he spoke no words, the image of this silent apology, seen in the news by so many Poles and Germans, had a powerful effect on both nations. Later, when Brandt described the moment, he wrote that he felt as though he "had to do something to express the particularity of the commemoration at the ghetto monument. On the abyss of German history and carrying the burden of the millions who were murdered, I did what people do when words fail them."

Bradt had fought the Nazi's and fled Germany when they come to power the Guilt was not his but he took on his shoulders. Iin w a week when we buried a so called conviction politician perhaps we should look at a man of true conviction and humanity.

What's the point in a Referendum if it doesn't resolve the issue?

Two years ago some of us voted in a  referendum on extending the law-making powers of the National Assembly for Wales

On 3 March 2011. The referendum asked the question:

 "Do you want the Assembly now to be able to make laws on all matters in the 20 subject areas it has powers for?"

What's the point in a Referendum if it doesn't resolve the issue?

The vote  on a  admittedly low 35.63%b Turnout , 63.49% voted 'yes', and 36.51% voted 'no'. In 21 of 22 local authorities the vote was 'yes', with the exception being Monmouthshire by a slim majority.

Few flt that was the end pf the Devolution Process nut it was hoped thta it at least cleared up a number of constitutional anomalies .

Far from it the latest problem/row is whether the Assembly has powers to change the voting system for local government elections.


Plaid’s Mid and West AM Simon Thomas has  proposed a Member’s Bill to change the voting system in local government to Single Transferable Vote (STV), but Labour AM  Mike  Hedges, ( I've never heard of him either) claimed that Assembly electoral arrangements are reserved to the UK Parliament.

But Mr Thomas, a member of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, said:

 “National Assembly lawyers were happy for the proposal for Fair Votes In Local Government (Wales) Bill to go ahead and confirmed that in writing to us. We can use Scotland as a precedent where the Single Transferable Vote system has worked.”

So whose right ?
Er We don't really know.

Stephen Brooks, the director of the Electoral Reform Society in Wales, said that there was a lack of clarity among Assembly Members and government officials over what fell under the competence of the Assembly – and raised the prospect of repeated trips to the Supreme Court to “test” parts of the settlement. said:

 “It appears that the power [over local government voting systems] is not devolved and I think, reading the advice I received from the Chief Legal Officer to the Presiding Officer, and hearing what the Welsh Government has said, it appears it is not devolved.
“But the problem remains that it is unclear, and it has to be the UK Government that declares a view or tests this, in the courts, and effectively until that time, the Assembly is in limbo.”

MrBrooks ,said that the current system was “confusing” and discouraged AMs from making laws.

He said:

“What I find interesting is, if we are trying to encourage backbench AMs and opposition AMs to come forward with new laws for Wales, if they are confused by the powers they have and receive conflicting advice, you have to question the way we have set up the ‘conferred powers’ model in the Assembly.

The issue over reform over the Electoral system is important because of the news that local councils in Wales could face a big shake-up under a major review into the way public services are run.

The Welsh government has ruled out any large reorganisation before the next assembly election; But a review is seen as an attempt to reach an agreement on cutting some of the 22 Welsh councils after 2016.

So it would make it sense that at the same time we examine the electoral system ?

But it seems that even if this was carried out and it was recommended that we aped Scotland adopted STV . the Assembly could not carry this out even if it wanted to.

It would be like the WRU imposing a new League Structure but being told that it couldn't change the points or bonus point system .

It is clear unless we to have parity with Scotland and have a proper parliament then we are still going to have these arguments over competence  and filing the coffers of the lawyers as we troop again and again to the high court and possibly beyond.

Isn't it about time we got it right.?

New Zealand shows Wales the sort of Parliament we should have.

Thanks to Rusell Elliot for pointing me towards the news that New Zealand becomes the first country in the Asia Pacific to legalise same sex marriage. The public gallery in parliament breaks into song following the vote, singing the traditional Maori love song Pokarekare Ana. New Zealand is now the 13th country to legalise gay marriage, after Uruguay passed its law earlier in 

There was also a hilarious speech from MP Maurice Willamson

Even for someone  who is not Gay  finds this incredibly moving and I suddenly realised that what I was watching was the equivalent in many ways of the end of segregation in the USA and Apartheid in South Africa,

It also made me wonder why Wales doesn't have a parliament of its own like New Zealand  instead of a toothlless Assembly.

Its not only the New Zealand All Blacks Wales should seek to emulate but its politicians

Bluebirds promotion may do more for the City than either Government.

Congratulations to the Bluebirds, on gaining Promotion and hopefully we will see either Wrecsam  or Newport joining them .

With Cardiff Joining Swansea in the English Premership and a maybe a third side in the English League it would be nice to think that we can start to bury the antagonism between rival clubs and celebrate all Welsh success.

As a Rugby supporter with two Football Clubs in the Premership attracting the likes of Chelsea , Man Unt, Arsenal etc. to the City . Its a warning to the Rugby Regions who will need to get their act together and stop the exodus of players or youngsters will drift to football .

According to the Western Mule, Cardiff City’s promotion  to football’s super-rich Premier League would generate up to an extra 5,000 jobs and £120m, . Which is probably more than our Assembly can under its current lethargic Administration. or the Con/LibDem gang in Westminster.

Speaking before the match Professor Tom Cannon said 

recently promoted teams like Swansea City, Blackpool and Hull City have seen £30m to £50m boosts to their economies from Premier League football.Cardiff City’s promotion  to football’s super-rich Premier League would generate up to an extra 5,000 jobs and £120m, a sports finance expert predicted last night.

But Prof Cannon said Cardiff would be unique in the League as the sole representative of a capital city boasting an international airport and this could see them double the return achieved by Swansea.
City go into their game with Charlton Athletic tonight needing just a point to join the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea in football’s elite club.
Professor Cannon said if City get promoted they will go up at the best possible moment as a bumper TV deal begins next season.
The new deal with Sky and BT is worth £3.018bn for three years - 70% more than the old contract.

So it might be prudent for Cardiff Wales Airport recently bought by the Welsh Government to tie itself with the Bluebirds under a sponsorship or promotion deal.


Of course if Cardiff Malaysian owners, were to pull out the Bluebirds would face severe problems not something the Swans under their structure  face.  But for the moment despite the controversial strip change it seems to be working.

Here hoping that both Cardiff and Swansea have a long and successful  stay in the premiership. 

But perhaps my greatest hope is that they develop a friendly rivalry and Derbys between the clubs will be days which all will enjoy and the fans in particular realise that they are not only representatives of their respective clubs bur also of Wales as a whole.

Neil Kinnock role in Thatcher coming to power.

On the day of  Margaret Thatcher funeral Neil Kinnock will not be attending . The former Labour leader has instead chosen to attend a memorial service for a former councillor in Wales next Wednesday.

So at least he will be visiting his old constituency . When was he last there?

Perhaps he should  attend her funeral because he played a major part in her rise to power.

A career politician who eschewed academic success and followed the  route of student politics. He   obtained a  degree in industrial relations and history in 1965. A year later, obtaining  a a postgraduate diploma in education. Between August 1966 and May 1970, he worked as a tutor for a Workers' Educational Association (WEA)

But barley  four years after graduating  at  the age of 28 he was elected for the  constituency of Bedwellty in Wales (later Islwyn) for the following general election. He was elected on 18 June 1970 and became a member of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party in October 1978

 He almost immediately began making a name for himself  by opposing devolution to Wales and Scotland . Labour government policy at the time was in favour of devolution for Wales, but the wider party was split. Calling himself a 'unionist', Kinnock was one of six south Wales Labour MPs to campaign against devolution on centralist, essentially British-nationalist grounds He dismissed the idea of a Welsh identity, saying that

"between the mid-sixteenth century and the mid-eighteenth century Wales had practically no history at all, and even before that it was the history of rural brigands who have been ennobled by being called princes"

.In the Wales referendum, 1979, the proposal for devolution was rejected.

In Scotland antii devolution MPs  had fixed the referendum special conditions on the referendum stipulating at  least 40% of the electorate would have to vote Yes in the referendum.

So although Scotland had voted yes 51.62% to 48.38% the referendum was considered lost.

Under the terms of the Act, the Act could then be repealed by a Statutory Instrument to be approved by Parliament. However, the government's decision to abandon devolution for Scotland led the Scottish National Party to withdraw its support for the government. A subsequent vote of no confidence led to the resignation of the Callaghan government, and an election was called

This led to Labour perpetuating the myth that the SNP  brought down the Callaghan government and let in Thatcher.

But the election had to ve called by October and the real people who brought in Thatcher were those Labour MPs  like Kinnock who fixed and campaigned against devolution.

If the devolution campaign had been won in Scotland alone then Labour may have gone on to win the 1979  election. But the loss give the impression of a failed government.

Kinnocks reward was to become leader of the Labour Party and face Thatcher over the Chamber but never defeating her. or her successor John Major.

So remember that one of the reasons that Thatcher came to power was that a Welsh MP put his own ambition over his own Nation and condemned it  it to years of poverty and deprivation.

What to do During Thatcher's Funeral?

With it looking to wet in the Beddau area tomorrow . I will probably not be able to avoid the  Thatcher Funeral coverage by going on a long walk.

So instead  I will be digging out my 6 box set of Ken Burn's epic documentary of the American Civil War.

I'm not sure what response other people should take tomorrow .

Demonstrating on the route would I think be in appropriate, it is a funeral after all even though it has been exploited by the right elite and should not taken place payed for by £10 Million of public money. So my advice is stay away.

Others are planning vigils to demonstrate their opposition to Margaret Thatcher  being given a State Funeral for that is what it will be and her legacy.

For those who say that we should show respect for the dead . I say that  by treating the funeral of a former Prime Minister in the same way  as that of a head of  state you have lost all rights to ask for our respect.

Tomorrow the rest of the World will be given the impression that the whole of the UK are in grief over the death of Mrs Thatcher . Which is what those who have organised this have intended.

It is reminiscent of the death of a leader in a totalitarianism state not a democracy.

Sod them. 


Don't try and protest at the actual funeral but elsewhere do what you feel is appropriate to show that you oppose the expense of this funeral and that you have no remorse in the passing of a Prime Minster who destroyed Communities and the lives of many of the UK's inhabitants.

Blaerites are also the true heirs of Thatcher.

Its beginning to look like the Blareite criticism of the apparent direction Ed Milinand is taking Labour  is coordinated.

Firstly the Lad himself  Ex r Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote in an article in the New Statesman  was in danger of becoming a protest movement without electable policies - his boldest foray into British politics since resigning.

In an article that prompted Labour leader Ed Miliband to defend his own leadership, Blair suggested the left-leaning party looked like it was offering austerity-hit voters sympathy but few specific remedies before a 2015 general election.

"The scenario is more menacing than it seems," Blair wrote in the New Statesman magazine. "The guiding principle should be that we are the seekers after answers, not the repository for people's anger."

The Labour party had to remain on the centre ground of politics if it was to succeed again, said Blair, arguing it was wrong to tack right on some issues and left on others. He did not mention Miliband by name.

He wrote:

The Labour Party is back as the party opposing “Tory cuts”, highlighting the cruel consequences of the Conservative policies on welfare and representing the disadvantaged and vulnerable (the Lib Dems are in a bit of a fix, frankly).
For the Conservatives, this scenario is less menacing than it seems. They are now going to inspire loathing on the left. But they’re used to that. They’re back on the old territory of harsh reality, tough decisions, piercing the supposed veil of idealistic fantasy that prevents the left from governing sensibly. Compassionate Conservatism mat­tered when compassion was in vogue. But it isn’t now. Getting the house in order is.
For Labour, the opposite is true. This scenario is more menacing than it seems. The ease with which it can settle back into its old territory of defending the status quo, allying itself, even anchoring itself, to the interests that will passionately and often justly oppose what the government is doing, is so apparently rewarding, that the exercise of political will lies not in going there, but in resisting the temptation to go there.

Newsstatesman 11 April 2013

Blair, was followed  by former Home Secretary, David Blunkett who urged Ed Miliband to look beyond 'selfish' public sector

"'One Nation' cannot and should never be simply the avoidance of the most obvious injustice or collective suicide.
"It has to be about a great deal more than politics built on grievance and the unhappiness of a resentful and selfish public sphere.
"More than putting right the playing-off of public sector workers against those in private enterprise. The retired versus the young, the migrant versus the resentful and excluded. Or, the badly housed versus the homeless.
"In other words, replacing the politics of Conservative division with a morally more superior and a politically more cohesive engagement."

Observer 13th April 2013 

Blunkett added 'that Miliband ne

"to speak to all parts of society from the "inner city with the rural hinterland, the more affluent south-east with the once powerful and prosperous economic engine room of the north".
He writes: "Changing the way in which we deliver our public services (as opposed to simply slashing and burning) offers common cause as much in Berkshire or Bedfordshire as it does in Bury or Bolton.".

And Blunkett's  former cabinet colleague  Ex Mp John Reid now Lord Reid, who held six Cabinet posts,  said Labour had to move beyond criticising the coalition and must propose its own solutions on issues such as welfare, the economy and housing. adding that  that while Mr Miliband had succeeded in establishing an effective opposition, he had yet to offer an alternative agenda for government.



The Blarites may be right because there are no votes in backing the poor  and dispossessed . Under the UK electoral system it not Bury or Bolton where the election will be pme by the two main parties but in that elusive Middle England that they both court enthusiastically.

For t he rest of us we can go hang. Our votes are either taken for granted by Labour otr are of no Importance in those Tories seats with huge majorities.

At least in Wales and Scotland there's an a chance that a vote for Plaid or the SNP can make a difference and for others there was always the choice of the Liberal Democrats who might be wearing their radical left of centre hat. 

But with three  right of centre parties ( and the centre  has itself moved right) the future for those on the bottom rung looks bleak

It seems that in the week we bury Margaret Thatcher  her victory may well be complete.