Plaid fire first salvo in Assembly Campaign

'The last 16 years have amounted to a waste' Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood launches attack on Labour

But it wouldn't be the Wasting Mule if it didn't have an immediate Byline of

But Welsh Labour hit back, claiming 'Plaid Cymru are a party going backwards, devoid of ideas'

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood claims Labour’s 16 years in charge of the National Assembly represents the biggest missed opportunity in recent Welsh history.

Her attack on the party that has run Wales without interruption since the National Assembly was set up goes further than she has before and questions what has been achieved since devolution.
Ms Wood is due to launch a nationwide roadshow in Cardiff which will see Plaid consult on policies it will put forward in the run-up to next May’s Assembly election.
She will say the time has come to end Labour’s “managed decline” of the economy and public services, and will highlight what she claims are shortcomings in the Welsh Government’s handling of the economy, education and health.

Ms Wood is expected to say:  ( So its a Press release then).

“It is almost 17 years to the day that Wales voted tentatively for the most modest measure of self-government.
“The period that followed was one of great optimism for Wales. An era of collective self-belief emerged. We were meant to see a new beginning for our country.
“It was not only meant as symbol of empowerment, but a vehicle of delivery. Yet the last 16 years have amounted to a wasted 16 years.
"They have been the greatest missed opportunity in Wales’ modern history.”
Ms Wood will say that a change in government from next May is vital and she will add: “People’s expectations have not been met but Plaid Cymru can reverse that. A Plaid Cymru government can restore confidence in our nation.

“May next year is Wales’ second chance - for people, for communities, for public services, for our economy.
“It is political leadership that has failed people in this country. It is political leadership that has turned devolution from a burning beacon of hope into the damp squib that it has become.
“They said there’d be clear red water; instead we got a stagnant swamp. Bereft of ambition, out of ideas.”

Ms Wood will ask people across the country a simple question:

 “Is this as good as it gets for Wales?”

She is expected to focus on Labour’s record in health, education and the economy and will add: “Wales today suffers average wages 15% lower than the UK as a whole.

"Do people in Wales deserve to earn just 85p for every pound earned elsewhere in the UK?
“Wales today has 25,000 more patients waiting longer than 36 weeks for NHS treatment than four years ago. Do patients here deserve to be treated as second class citizens?

“Wales’ children today are being failed with our country languishing at the bottom of the UK literacy and numeracy league table. Are our children not deserving of the best start in life?”

She will conclude by saying:

 “If you share Plaid Cymru’s view that this just isn’t good enough, then be part of the change Wales needs.”

Responding to Ms Wood’s comments, a Welsh Labour spokesman said:( is he on tap for the Wasting Mule)

 “Plaid Cymru are a party going backwards, devoid of ideas and these tired old attacks are a poor excuse for a campaign.
“Last week, we saw one of Plaid’s most prominent members, Ron Davies, soundly beaten by the Welsh Labour candidate in a council by-election.
“There is a clear choice for people in Wales next year, between Welsh Labour’s vision for a confident, fair and prosperous Wales and the narrow nationalism and economic illiteracy of Plaid Cymru.

“Leanne Wood’s comments will leave many people scratching their heads. Not only does she seem to forget entirely the four years her party served in coalition government, but her comments are completely out of step with people’s own experiences.
“Thanks to Welsh Labour in government, Wales has made huge strides.
"Unemployment is falling faster here than in the UK as a whole because our support for small business and our work bringing large employers to Wales and securing record inward investment.
“Only Welsh Labour will take on the Tories. It is telling that Plaid Cymru yet again seem unable or unwilling to take on the party that has slashed Wales’ funding and attacked our most vulnerable communities.
“Wales won’t forget that Plaid Cymru have tried before to get the Tories into power in the Assembly.”

It is rather typical of Labour to claim credit on "falling unemployment" for example whilst blaming the Tories in Westminster when it rises. 

Can you have a  "confident, fair and prosperous Wales" and still claim Wales is suffering under the Tories?


 I have searched in vain for any real example of  Labour in Wales taking on the Tories. Indeed there seems at times that there is relief among  Labour AMs who can blame the Tory Government at Westminster for Wales's ails as they were unable to blame Westminster when Blair/Brown were in power and Wales constantly suffered from poor Central Government.

Still it looks like the battle lines are being drawn for Plaid it is important for them to be seen as a a Non-Tory alternative to Labour whilst avoiding any comparison with the Tories at the same time. It would appear at first to be a simple choice but Labour will attempt to paint all Opposition as being Tory Opposition  and unfortunately   they may well be successful especially if the Wasting Mule continues to help them.

SHOULD WE CREATE AN OFFICIAL FONT CYMRAEG?

It is noticeable that when supermarkets do condensed to have Bilingual signs in Wales . The Welsh Language is often protra\yes in a smaller and less distinct Font.

Which has led me to ask the question should we have a distinct Font Cymraeg .

I'm not suggesting we adopt the Gaelic used in Ireland. But it is distinct

 



In Scotland they don't use the Font but Gaelic is distinct when its used
 

But here in Wales Cymraeg is not only below the English but no effort is made  to make it distinct




So should we copy Ireland and have a cleat and different Official Font for Cymraeg all Bilingual signs in Wales.

I can Se an argument that it could be sen as making the Welsh Language exotic rather than a living Language.

But it might well be better than the system now where Cymraeg is given second billing..

Maybe the next Assembly committee responsible for Culture (is there one) should consider it.

Maybe someone has even done so and there are exanples of a Font Cymraeg.?

Maybe even sponsor a Competition for ab Official Cymraeg Font to be use don all new signs as and on existing sIG as they ' are replaced.

It might even make it easier for the Odious Toby Young to get around Wales

Bedwas, Trethomas and Machen Byelection Labour's hegemony continues.

The Latest Welsh By- Election  has seen a continuation of Labour Hegemony in Wales with yet another Hold in Caerphilly bringing the number up to three holds and no losses in that county since May's General Election

Information from Political Betting 

 

Local By-Election Result : September 3rd 2015

September 4th, 2015 Bedwas, Trethomas and Machen on Caerphilly (Lab defence)
Result:#

Lisa Jones Labour  1,002 (47% -14%),
Ron Davies Plaid Cymru 509 (24% +14%), 
Bobby Douglas (Independent, nominated as UKIP) 223 (11%, no candidate in 2012),
John James Dew (Independent) 184 (9%), 
Rita Luckins Conservatives 109 (5%, no candidate in 2012
Ray  Davies (Independent) 106 (5%) Labour HOLD with a majority of 493 (23%) on a swing of 14% from Labour to Plaid Cymru * Independent vote in by-election 513 (25%), Independent vote in 2012 (29%). Change: -4%

Result of ward at last election (2012): Emboldened denotes elected
Labour 1,854, 1,574, 1,282, 1,181 (61%)
Non Party Independents 508, 484, 409, 254 (17%)
Independents 438, 389, 378 (12%)
Plaid Cymru 664, 258 (10%)

This would like  a reasonable swing to Plaid in a Ward where they are not particularly strong but the Plaid Candidate was Ron Davies formally the Labour MP and AM for the constituency and Secretary of S tte for Wales.

Perhaps the most digressing thing is that  Bobby Douglas  who was the Ukip candidate UKIP candidate was suspended during the campaign for writing on Facebook immigrants should be 'GASSED' stillreceived 223 votes in a Byelection which came amour after the death of Veteran Left Winger  Ray Davies

It must be noted that there has not been a a recent byelection in Caerphilly wher Plaid have a strong precense and a previous councilor (Ron Savies was an Independent before 2012) but id they are to win back control of the council in 217 then maybe they would have hoped to do a little better.

Leanne Wood on GMB answers misleading pol on "Migrants"

Leanne Wood was on Good Morning Britain Yesterday discussing the refugee crisis.
She argued that the UK and Wales should more to help since there are big discrepancies in the number of people that have been helped by different states.
While Germany has taken 800,000 refugees the UK has so far only given asylum to a few hundred people during the present crisis.
She has called on the UK to take in a quota of people and has called for Wales to take its fair share of this number

Good Morning Britain disgracefully  stared wit a poll asking people if they wanted to offer "Migrants a Home"

Leanne I think dealt with this superbly in that she read the meaning of the poll as I did

A totally misleading poll

Did people see this as asking them if they wanted to take "Migrants" (not Refugees mind)  into their houses 

What happened tp the 3 in 6 who didn't respond? Were they confused by the question?


Still the public mod is changing after the heart breaking  picture of the drowned body of 3 year old Aylan Kurdi whose family had fled Syria.

And the Media in many cases Hypocritically The Daily Mail maybe the worst.

 



No the worst is the BBC and ITV we expect the Beeb in particular to give us a insight into what is happening . Instead they have constantly refused to refer to Refuges and still use the term Migrants'

Constant negative stories from Calais and on,y the briefest mention of the constant deaths by drowning of people fleeing War and personification of which little Aylan Kurdi has become a symbol.

Only a few politicians have been brave enough to speak out on this Humanitarian crisis  Leanne Wood is one .

We can expect more do so now but it is to late for those who have perished.

David Davies MP is a heartless bastard.

It is  typical of the Wasting Mule that they concentrate on a spat between Labour and Paid Cymru over the news that  that leader Leanne Wood has been accused of taking “a harder line on Syrian refugees than Ukip” after suggesting each local authority in Wales should take two or three Syrian refugee families and not the comments of Tory MP David Davies.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme she said: “Plaid Cymru has said since the beginning of this crisis that it requires a humanitarian response. 

We think Wales should play a role.”

Asked what sort of number of refugees Wales should take in Ms Wood replied: 

“Well, it’s very difficult to put an exact number on it.
“But I’ve previously supported Oxfam’s call in regard to Syrian refugees, for example, which would amount to just two or three families per council area in Wales – a relatively small number.”

Welsh Labour pointed out the average size of a Syrian family was 5.5 people. Projecting the “two or three families” mooted by Ms Wood across the UK would mean a total intake of about 1,275 people – fewer than the 3,000 proposed by Ukip’s Nigel Farage.


A Welsh Labour spokesman said: 

“People from all parties will be puzzled by Leanne Wood’s decision to take a harder line on Syrian refugees than Nigel Farage and Ukip.

“The humanitarian tragedy unfolding has seen terrible human suffering on a scale barely comprehensible.
“We have a proud history of providing sanctuary to those fleeing persecution and conflict yet the Tory UK Government is completely failing to live up to that tradition. This is the time for action not more overblown rhetoric.'She should ditch her current stance'
“Rather than pitching herself to the right of Nigel Farage and letting the Tories off the hook, Leanne Wood should ditch her current stance which is more extreme than Ukip and throw her support behind Labour’s call to accept 10,000 refugees.

 A Plaid Cymru spokesman said:

“It is a sad indictment of the state of the Labour party that they should seek to score cheap political points on the back of the biggest humanitarian crisis facing Europe.“Leanne rightly gave context during her interview by citing previous Oxfam suggestions of two to three refugee families per local authority as a reasonable figure before the crisis reached current levels.

“Leanne has sought since April agreement among the parties in Wales for an agreed refugee quota for each of the nations of the UK which would of course need to reflect the scale of the crisis as it stands.
“It is worth remembering that she first mooted the suggestion on the very day the previous Labour leader was in Cardiff ‘talking tough’ on immigration.
“This intervention amounts to dreadful political opportunism on the back of enormous human tragedy – from a party who went to the trouble of producing now notorious anti-immigration mugs.”

You can make your mind up whose right (if any) but at least both are moving to some kind of Humanitarian response 

It a pity however they don't unite and turn their fire on Monmouth Tory David Davies who  told the BBC


Most of the refugees attempting to enter the UK are not fleeing war, but are "mostly young men, mostly with mobile phones, chancing their luck",
He told BBC Radio Wales while he would probably do the same in their situation, the UK should not accept any more.


The Conservative said they have made "an economic decision" and are heading to the places where they are most likely to get benefits or work.

Well probably most  the Refuges at Calais arey young men because it is easier for them to get there .

For families with young children fleeing War or the fate of living in terrible conditions in a refugee camp in constant fear that the conflict Will cross the border it is much harder and we have seen Pictures like this .
 

and sorry if it disturbs you but it needs  to be shown if only so the likes of David Davies and those who made comments on the Mules website about Library after Leanne call claiming wee need to spend the money on Libraries se it and get a shot of humanity.

Bur Mr Davies is well aware of the true nature of the problem and it shows what adisgrace he is to talk about young men with mobile phones

 

The image of a 3 year old  Syrian child lying dead  shows the true case of the Humanitarian crisis.

Where's his mobile phone Mr Davies do you think his parents thought it would be easy to leave their homes for a lucrative life in the West ,

They were fleeing war and destitution  and if it at least doesn't change your mind ( and you are a heartless bastard if it doesn't) at least show some kind of humanity in yoyr rhetoric.

Can't drive then no access to justice.

Eleven planned court closures will "erode access to justice" in Wales, the Law Society has warned.

The UK government is consulting on plans to shut 91 courts and tribunals in England and Wales.

Law Society president Jonathan Smithers said it had "grave concerns" about the proposals which would mean people would have to travel elsewhere.

The government has said if the plans go ahead, 95% of people could drive to another court in an hour. 

Which leads to a simple question

What if you don't bloody drive or have an acess to a Car.?

What if you lived in an area with poor Public Transport?

I dispute the 95% figure anyway .

 
Carmarthenshire council met on Tuesday to discuss the implications should Carmarthen Law Courts shut.
Carmarthen Civil, Family, Tribunal and Probate Hearing Centre is also earmarked for closure.

Plaid's Council leader Emlyn Dole said the rural nature of Carmarthenshire would make it "impossible" for some to reach hearings transferred to Swansea and Llanelli. 

If you are expected to attend a Magistrate court at 9:0:A M public transport may not getr you there and for others especially invalids such a journey may not be possible

It could lead to people not turning up for cases or Late nad being fined or dropping  cases because they facew an impossible journey.

 The Courts under threat are

• Brecon Law Courts
• Bridgend Law Courts
• Carmarthen Civil, Family, Tribunal and Probate Hearing Centre
• Carmarthen Law Courts (The Guildhall)
• Dolgellau Crown and Magistrates' Court
• Holyhead Magistrates' Court
• Llangefni Civil and Family Court
• Neath and Port Talbot Civil and Family Court
• Pontypridd Magistrates' Court
• Prestatyn Magistrates' Court
• Wrexham Tribunal (Rhyd Broughton) 

 People have already  have had to travel long distances because of previous court closures.

  The same issue apples to closure of units at local hospitals the Maternity at
Wrexham Maelor hospital. faces temporary downgrading of doctor-led maternity services at This option would see up to 1000 expectant mothers forced to travel to either Glan Clwyd or Chester to have their babies.

Others like the Maternity Unit at Royal Glamorgan in Llantrisant have been under threat 

Mayber part of the problem is that those making the dissension all drive probably have cars provided for them and haven't been on a Bus for decades  and they simply beleive what is easy for them is easy for the rest of us.

Every person making these proposals should  try and travel to their prepossessed destination from  an are that is "One hour by car" on public transport .

They may be a little more sympathetic . Though i doubt it.

Corbyn was right about Bin Laden though few will see that.

The Sun coverage of  their news that Jermey  Corbyn called the death of 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden a “tragedy”.

The favourite to be next Labour leader claimed the al-Qaeda warlord’s 2011 execution left the world a “more dangerous” place.



Corbyn’s gaffe casts doubt on Corbyn’s claims that meeting extremists and calling them “friends”, did not mean he shared their views.

He had slammed critics for “hysteria and deliberate misrepresentation” after The Sun exposed him for meeting known anti-semites such as Dyab Abou Jahjah.


Amazingly Mr Corbyn did not deny these views last night, with a spokesman simply saying: “Jeremy is a total opponent of Al-Qaeda and all it stands for.”

The howler came as he spoke to Press TV, the Iranian regime’s English language propaganda channel, just days after the 2011 US hit squad raid in Abbottabad, rural Pakistan.

Corbyn also pushed conspiracy theories that America may have faked the death and burial at sea.

He said: “We can only guess that there is something fishy here. Either Bin Laden wasn’t there, therefore there has to be a story. Or, the pictures ... show something else... This was an assassination at
attempt and is yet another tragedy upon a tragedy, upon a tragedy.”



Well you could argue that it was a summary execution  but vile as Bin Laden was the law should apply to all and he should have stood Trial for his crimes .


However for some reason  (well OK we know the reason) the Sun failed to mention that Corbyn also added that it was his preference that Osama Bin Laden be put on trial, a view shared by, among other people, Barack Obama and Boris Johnson.

 However if he did then the truth of members of the Saudi Royal Family's role in funding Al-Quaeda, and whether the US had backed Bin Laden during the Afghan civil war when he fought against the Soviet backed regime.

I suppose this is what we can expect from the Media if Corbyn wins  then there will be a constant twisting of the facts as the above and there will be very little in the mainstream media to correct them.

A Corbyn victory will lead to an unprecedented  campaign  against him that will make the attacks in the GLC in the 80's under Ken Livingston look mild