Wiliam Powell joins Lib Dem shame list.

 Its beginning to look like the  Liberal Democrats are having a particular problem with their elected members.

After Mike Hancock, the MP for Portsmouth South, had his membership suspended after a leaked report into his conduct found "compelling" evidence of "serious and unwelcome sexual behaviour" towards a woman constituent and the continuing row over Lord Rennard  comes the news that  Lib Dem AM William Powell has been given a formal written warning after a young activist complained of his inappropriate behaviour, it has emerged.

The woman, now 21, alleged that in 2011 he gave her and two other women the strong alcoholic drink absinthe, touched her leg and put his hands round their waists.

They only need a MSP  and MEP to get a full set

I suppose some say that  this sort of  behaviour is relatively harmless.and the equivalent of bottom pinching  but of course they will be Men and are not the recipients.

Unwanted sexual advances are unacceptable from Males and also Females we all need to learn this

What if not acceptable 20 years ago was taken as part of life experience   is no longer the case and even then young girls would be warned by colleagues about a male who had a reputation as a "groper".

In fact the only reason it was not acted on more vigorously  was because the "groper" was often in a position of power and their complaints were not taken seriously or it was not worthwhile pursing it.

I doubt that the Lib Dems are alone having members with "wandering Hands" but they are in the spotlight.

What all parties and indeed beyond must do is make clear such behaviour is unacceptable and it will be dealt with vigorously a defence that its no worse than Italian bottom pinching is not acceptable  and offenders can expect more than a rap on the knuckles.

Cowdenbeat Labour win on Bread and Butter Issues?

How much we can take from the Cowdenbeath  byelection for the Sottish parliament  on the result of the forthcoming  Independence Election is open to question.

Election results

Cowdenbeath by-election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alex Rowley	11,192	55.78	+9.28
	SNP	Natalie McGarry	5,704	28.43	-13.17
	Conservative	Dave Dempsey	1,893	9.44	+2.44
	UKIP	Denise Baykal	610	3.04	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Jade Holden	425	2.12	-1.78
	The Victims Final Right	Stuart Graham	187	0.93	N/A
	SDA	James Trolland	51	0.25	N/A
Majority			5,488	27.35	+22.45
Turnout			20,062	38.41	-8.49

2011: Cowdenbeath
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Helen Eadie	11,926	46.5	+3.4
	SNP	Ian Chisholm	10,679	41.6	+13.1
	Conservative	Belinda Don	1,792	7.0	−7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Legg	997	3.9	−10.3
	Land Party	Mick Heenan	276	1.1	n/a
Majority			1,247	4.9
Turnout			25,670	46.9
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.8%

Clearly Labour were the winners but even they seem to think that it was other factors which were of importance,

“This is about a bigger vision for Scotland, a bigger vision than simply independence.
“It’s about full employment for every young person to get the opportunities that they deserve from their lifetime.
“It’s about elderly people living in Fife with dignity, and making sure when they need services those services are available.
“I will spend every day working hard to ensure that we do that.”

Picking up on the issue of the bedroom tax, which Labour seem to have successfully placed on the SNP shoulders. and which they seem to have the support of Tory papers like the Scotsman

“Finally, the message has got to go out in the Scottish Parliament right now that we can mitigate the bedroom tax.
“We can give people jobs, we can give people opportunities, we can do that with a strong, devolved Scottish Parliament working within the UK.

 It seems that Labour have managed to use The Bedroom Tax against the SNP government in Edinburgh rather than Westminster which is a curious though successful means of campaigning.

Perhaps real interest should be diverted to the 2007 Notional result (as Cowdenbeath was a new seat because it shows that Scottish Politics seems to a polarised between the SNP and Labour

2007 Notional Result: Cowdenbeath
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour		11,349	43.0
	SNP		7,510	28.5
	Conservative		3,751	14.2
	Liberal Democrats		3,739	14.2
	Others		32	0.1
Majority			3,839	14.6

 

So the SNP has fallen back to roughly the same percentage before their unprecedented 2011 landslide The Liberal Democrats seem to disappearing from the Scottish Map Ukip are having little impact  the Conservatives seem to be making a small recovery.

 

Perhaps    the lesson for the SNP is that they need to concentrate more on Bread and Butter issues as well as Independence but with much of the media in Labour pocket and the fact they can enjoy the luxury of being the opposition when it comes to by-elections  probably means . No matter what they do or say they will be held reasonable  by a disgruntled electorate

Zulu may have ben a great film but the actual history is not something to praise.

Wales Online have a piece on the 50th anniversary of the movie Zulu,”


 It a reasonable piece which points which points out some of the films historical inaccuracies  Including the fact that take the British regiment who’d actually fought against the Zulus – the 24th (The 2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot – and rename them the South Wales Borderers – despite the fact that platoon would not actually come in to being until 1881.
The truth also went awry in the scene where one new recruit to the garrison is told, “This is a Welsh regiment, although there are some foreigners in it, mind”, the homegrown infantry in the 24th regiment having actually been outstripped 49 to 32 by the English.

A film over the defence of British Colonialism?

 I've blogged about this before but I think its worth while repeating myself.

Of the soldiers present at Roakes Drift , 49 were English, 32 Welsh, 16 Irish and 22 others of indeterminate nationality

 Breakdown of British and colonial casualties:

1st/24th Foot: 4 killed or mortally wounded in action; 2 wounded

2nd/24th Foot: 9 killed or mortally wounded in action; 9 wounded

Commissariat and Transport Department: 1 killed in action; 1 wounded

Natal Mounted Police: 1 killed in action; 1 wounded

1st/3rd NNC: 1 killed in action

2nd/3rd NNC: 2 wounded

 

 Three hundred and fifty-one Zulu bodies were counted after the battle, Something Wales Online  seem to miss missed.and  it has been estimated that at least 500 wounded and captured Zulus might have been massacred.

In fact that  whilIe can't deny the heroism of those involved the  defence .The 11 Victoria Crosses were  largely a public relation and moral boosting exercise  after the disaster of  Battle of Isandlwana  where the Zulu's had killed 1300 troop

An early form of spin doctring in fact

One aspect that is often ignored by Wales Online and most reviewers  is that the film   Zulu was actually  based on the Western  Apache Drums  where a group of Welsh Settlers sing it as a response when trapped in a Barn and surrounded  Apache chanting in the manner of the Zulus by launching into ' Men of Harlech and in Welsh this time.

I agree that Zulu was a great film but  is it not time we asked the question 2Why Welshmen or even others were in a far away country fighting people who were defending theirs.

Prehaps we ned a film from the Zulu viewpoint and how they in order to defend thier land from foreign invasion charged superior fire-power and died in their hundreds.

Is colonialism anything to be proud of ?

Is it not also something of a shame that this historical  inaccurate  film raises such identification  amongst the people of Wales . When our own history is largely ignored by them edia.

Wiliam's Commision proposals face a rocky road.

It is beginning to look like The Commission, led by former Welsh NHS chief Sir Paul Williams, recommending slashing the number of councils from 22 to between 10 and 12. is not going to happen ,

The report  see mergers of existing authorities, rather than redrawing council boundaries from scratch, to a maximum of 12 authorities, with options for two further mergers involving Swansea and the recreation of Dyfed. The only authority left untouched under any of the scenarios would be Powys.

The commission has not helped its case  by insisting that must agree the programme arrangements for mergers by Easter 2014(April 20th) at the latest.

This does not leave much time taking in the fact that Labour do not have an overall majority they will find it hard to push this through.

But his chances of a united position  look unlikely as  after both Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats both support reform of the voting system to Single Transferable Vote (STV) as is the current state in Scotland local government.

This of course will face opposition from Labour Councillors, who are more likely to lose out under STV

Clearly the argument that if we are to reorganise local Government it must be done in a manner that we do not have to revisit it in 10 years.

The commissions merger solution looking increasingky  like a "Cut and Paste" job which may easily established, But is this seriously the best way to do this .

We do not want to be revisiting this in 10 years when it becomes clear that there is no tangible difference.in the performance of our councils.

In the mean time we may see existing councils thinking again about their budgets.

If the council that you are going to be merged with decides rather than cut Libraries  dip into their reserves then some councils are going to find that they may have to carry a virtually  bankrupt incorporated area.

Clearly Ceredigion's cabinet also decision  to raid £900,000 from its war chest to ease public service cuts in the county.has nothing to do with the Williams commissions proposals .

But other councils may if it becomes the proposals are going through.

What's to stop Merthyr who are likely to be swallowed  by Rhondda Cynon Taf seeing that they will have most of theirfacilities largely intact on the day the new council comes into force? 

Its beginning to look like  the Williams commission failure to be bold will cause us to be back at the table by 2025.

The Unions new friend. That great democrat Vladimir Putin.

Its begining to look like the Unionist are  starting to get desperate  (despite)the polls ) in finding alies for the NO side in the Scottish referendun

Thier new hero is Russian President Vladimir Putin   who has  has said the issue of Scottish independence is not a matter for Russia but is solely for the UK - while emphasising the benefits of being part of a "single, strong state".

But it looks like their wanted him to go further as the he Russian president was speaking to the BBC amid claims Downing Street had tried to encourage Moscow to oppose ­Scottish independence - which Number 10 has denied.

Putin said 

 "One should not forget being part of a single, strong state has some advantages and one should not overlook this. It's a choice for each and every people according to their circumstances." 

It's the choice the three Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania made in 1991 and I have never heard anyone say it was the wrong one.


Itar-Tass, the Russian state news agency, said over Christmas

 "Great Britain is extremely interested in the support of Russia, as holder of the G8 presidency, in two vital areas in 2014: the Afghan pull-out and the Scottish independence referendum.

" It cited an anonymous source in the office of Prime Minister David Cameron as the basis of its report.
Its report, which follows claims Cameron and his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy have forged an "anti-separatist pact", sparked criticism last night from Alex Salmond.
The First Minister said:

 "This report from Russia raises serious questions about the UK Government's underhand tactics. If this is accurate, then Westminster has been caught red-handed trying to stir up hostility to Scotland instead of representing Scotland's interests - it seems the No Campaign's self-named 'Project Fear' has now gone global."

So there we have it I doubt if this Referendum  was to be held in the 1970 Unionist would have turned to the old Soviet Union or Franco quassi fascist regime  for support But it has no problem with its heirs maybe Russia embracing Capitalism whilst still having dubious democratic credentials is enough.

 



 

UKip OK with "Gay marriages causing floods " councilor.

A UK Independence Party (Ukip) councillor has blamed recent storms and floods on the Government’s decision to legalise gay marriage.


David Silvester, who defected from the Tories in protest at David Cameron’s support for same-sex unions, claimed he had warned the Prime Minister that the legislation would result in “disasters”.


The Henley-on-Thames  town councillor said that the country had been “beset by storms” since the passage of the new law on gay marriage because Mr Cameron had acted “arrogantly against the Gospel”.

In a letter to the Henley Standard Mr Silvester who has a  er colourful history he wrote: 

 “The scriptures make it abundantly clear that a Christian nation that abandons its faith and acts contrary to the Gospel (and in naked breach of a coronation oath) will be beset by natural disasters such as storms, disease, pestilence and war.

“I wrote to David Cameron in April 2012 to warn him that disasters would accompany the passage of his same-sex marriage bill.
“But he went ahead despite a 600,000-signature petition by concerned Christians and more than half of his own parliamentary party saying that he should not do so.”
Blaming the Prime Minister for the bad weather, he added: “It is his fault that large swathes of the nation have been afflicted by storms and floods.
“He has arrogantly acted against the Gospel that once made Britain ‘great’ and the lesson surely to be learned is that no man or men, however powerful, can mess with Almighty God with impunity and get away with it for everything a nation does is weighed on the scaled of divine approval or disapproval.”

 You may think that this would be an embarrassment  to Ukip

Apparently not
Ukip said the views expressed by Mr Silvester were “not the party’s belief” but defended his right to state his opinions.
A party spokeswoman said:

 “If the media are expecting Ukip to either condemn or condone someone’s personal religious views they will get absolutely no response. Whether Jain or Sikh or Buddhist or Sufi or Zoroastrian or Jewish or Muslim or Baptist or Hindu or Catholic or Baha’i or Animist or any other mainstream or minor religion or movement, we are taught as a tolerant society to accept a diversity of ideologies.

“Freedom to individual thought and expression is a central tenet of any open-minded and democratic country. It is quite evident that this is not the party’s belief but the councillor’s own and he is more than entitled to express independent thought despite whether or not other people may deem it standard or correct.
“That is what makes the United Kingdom such a wonderful, proud, diverse and free country.”

So basically Ukip are saying "You are welcome in our party no matter how loopy or offensive your views are

it beginning to look like that. Tory MP Kenneth Clarke was bang on last year when he said

He said:

 "They of course have not been able to vet their candidates. Fringe right parties do tend to collect a number of waifs and strays...
"Some of them are saying quite different things now they are in politics than their actual views."

Asked whether he agreed with David Cameron's 2006 claim that UKIP was made up of "fruitcakes and closet racists", Mr Clarke replied:

 "I have met people who satisfy both those descriptions in UKIP.
"Indeed, some of the people who have assured me they are going to vote UKIP I would put in that category. I rather suspect they have never voted for me."'Angry people'

"most of the UKIP people are perfectly nice when they are having a drink".

"The trouble with UKIP really is it is just a protest party.

"It is against the political class, it is against foreigners, it is against immigrants. But it does not have any very positive policies. They do not know what they are for."
He added: "The temptation to ordinary voters to UKIP is these are very difficult times, the political classes are regarded as having got us into a mess.
"It is very tempting to vote for a collection of clowns or indignant, angry people, who promise that somehow they will allow us to take your revenge on people who caused it."

The trouble is once these people are elected it is to late .

In September 1930 after the financial   Germany saw a surge of support for a party that "that somehow they will allow us to take your revenge on people who caused it."

Maybe Ukip are not the Nazi's but they are dangerous and we should worry about just whose being elected their ticket.

Local Government reorganisation may be a botched job.

It looks like any Welsh Local Government ,will not be a root and branch job, but rather  a merger of existing councils.

 

 The Welsh Government commissioned Williams report on the future shape of public services in Wales is expected to be published on Monday.


The existing councils are likely to be the building blocks and as a result any changes will be the result of a series of mergers between councils in the same health board and the police force areas probably  cutting the number of county councils from "22 to 11" which could cost £200m-£300m. but would be cheaper than doing the job properly
So taking on board some of these principles, you could take an educated guess at some of the possibilities.
, 
So how will it look 

OK using the fact that this will be mergers within the Police and Health boards it could possibly look like

Caerphilly, Torfaen, and Blaenau Gwen
 Newport and Monmouthshire.
 Cardiff  and the Vale of Glamorgan.
 RCT and Merthyr.
 Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot and Swansea.
 Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire.
 Gwynedd, Anglesey,
 Conwy,  Denbighshire,
 Flintshire and Wrexham.
 Powys  will remain as it is

But that's Ten  so this may not be the case on Monday when the recommendations are made

But if this is the case its going to leave some with traditional loyalties to old county names in apoplexy.

If this is going to be the criteria then it may be the cheapest and swiftest option but that may not be the best option

But it beggars the question  . Since some councils are going about cutting Libraries Leisure centres whilst others seek to make drastic cuts elsewhere . Would it not be prudent to try and delay these cuts until reorganisation ? 

Finding that the council you has closed your leisure centre whilst there has been no move in the part that has merged with you could cause problems in the future.

.If these new authorities are to come about before the next elections then sped will be of the essence so scrutiny may not be as robust as we would hope and it may be the council may look like the result of welding two cars together, from two wreaks by cowboy mechanics which is dangerous and falls apart after a year  rather than complete rebuilding.


But shouldn't we have torn up the map and ignored the old borders? and at the same time give more powers to community councils as well as looking introducing STV for elections?

I suspect in a decade we will be back at the drawing board