The Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party is launched. Don't laugh

The Wasting Mule somewhat gleefully reports that a new political party has been launched in Wales with the goal of scrapping the National Assembly.


The Abolish The Welsh Assembly Party is co-founded by David Bevan, who was previously a prominent Welsh figure in Ukip. 

Mr Bevan quit Nigel Farage’s party after Ukip dropped its opposition to the Assembly. In June 2013 Mr Farage voiced support for a federal future for the United Kingdom . 

Ukip’s then-MEP John Bufton opposed the shift in policy and said it would create the potential for a new party . 

 Before you dismiss this as fanciful consider their argument

After years of frustration and concern about the arrangements for devolution in Wales, a new party has been founded to represent the views of the many Welsh people who do not want an assembly at all. We believe that the Welsh Assembly has failed to deliver for the people of Wales. We are therefore committed to getting rid of the Assembly.

The Assembly is another expensive tier of Government which is totally unnecessary. We in Wales already have Councillors, MP's, MEP's. How many tiers of government does Wales need? 

The cost of running The Assembly is very difficult to estimate. We are tempted to think this is deliberate as the figure would, no doubt, be truly shocking. Now we find that Welsh Assembly members are going to see their salaries increased to £64,000 in 2016. Assembly Cabinet ministers will get £100,000 p.a. The First Minister's salary is due to increase to near the level of Prime Minister David Cameron, £140,000 pa. The First Minister is only in charge of devolved issues covering Wales.

When you consider the salaries of most people in Wales, this is outrageous. This, at a time when our Local Councils are facing huge cuts in services. Last year Wales was the only part of the UK to decrease spending on the NHS. Not only that, but Welsh patients were obliged to travel to England to receive life saying treatments not available in Wales. Senior members of NHS staff and many others have moved to England to receive treatments unavailable to them in Wales.

Standards of Education in Welsh schools have fallen well behind other areas of the UK.

The Assembly says the solution is to give them MORE powers.

We say, “Never reinforce Failure”.

Mr Bevan said

"It was only a few years ago that we had just councillors and MP’s working for the people of Wales. The Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party believe it is time to return to that system and get rid of this unnecessary tier in Cardiff Bay.
“We also believe that local democracy is delivered effectively by the 22 local authorities. We therefore oppose the Welsh Assembly Government’s plan to reduce their numbers.”

Mr Bevan seems to have be longing for the Halcyon days of the Thatcher government . Where  (as now) no matter what Party the people of Wales voted for we still got Maggie in Number 10 and she was given carte blanch to destroy out lives.


It is the simplistic argument of those who just look at cost and not  the outcome.

Abolishing the Assembly would leave Wales helpless  and simply West Britons totally impoverished and if you think things are bad under the Assembly it wil be far worse governed by diktat from London.

However we must be aware that because of "Welsh" Labour's mixture of constant mismanagement and lack of ambition the Assembly has not completely won over all of the People of Wales.

The reluctance to seek  the real powers we need to make a difference coupled with poor management of the Welsh NHS and Education sometimes look like "Welsh" Labour strategy is to like Mr Bevan kill off the assembly.

But I am a Cock Up theorist not a Conspiracy Theorist and doubt that's the plan.

 However if there is not a change of government or Labour changes it attitude from Carwyn's lethargic mode of government  then the view of those above will start to resonate.among people as a whole.

Ukip sends another "carpetbagger" to Wales.

Ukip’s  clearly are going to put a lot of effort in to next years Assembly elections with the news that their head of media is relocating to Wales as the party prepares for the May election  which it hopes to win its first AMs and transform the Welsh political landscape.


Alexandra Phillips argues that having people in the Assembly will ensure that Ukip will remain a political force even if the country votes to leave the EU in the coming in-out referendum.
She said:

 “I think Wales will be the first very definite step to demonstrating that Ukip is here to stay.“Whether people like it or not Ukip will be the big story of the Assembly elections, without a doubt. Actually, that’s good for everybody because it keeps everybody on their toes. “Support us or don’t don’t support us but actually be grateful for our existence, is what I would say

Polling analysis suggests Ukip could win as many as eight AMs and Ms Phillips predicts that Ukip will invigorate both the election and the Assembly.

One question Ms Philips might answer is  to what extent will Ukip campaign here be financed from outside Wales.

Al the Unionist Parties might be asked that question but I suspect if Ukip are going to campaign  as hard as they are indicating it will have to be bankrolled from over the boarder .


Just last Month Farage's Carpetbaggers in Wales had to  cancel their Welsh party conference which was due to take place later this month which led  speculation that they did not have many members wanting to come.


With Ukip predicted by some to win up to 8 seats in the assembly in May al on the Regional "Top Up"list  it May lead to an intriguing constitutional crisis in afew years time.

Elected Ukip  members are notoriously fractious with members resigning often to sit as Independents .

Now consider  the fact that we will see a EU referendum in the life of the next Assembly will some of the Ukip members believe that is enough possibly defecting to the Tories .

Mohammad Asghar came to prominence after being elected to the Welsh Assembly in 2007 as a member of Plaid Cymru on the list for South Wales East He is best known for being the first ethnic minority and Muslim member of the Assembly, and being the first AM who was a member of a political party to defect to another party.[ joining the Tories in 2008.

If Mr Asghar had died or resigned then the seat would have ben filled by a Plaid Nominee and some feel that it showed a major fault in the "Top Up system".

If a number of Ukip members elected on 2016 were to join the Tories then this could see many questioned asked  .

I don't see this as being impossible and its one among many that I hope Ukip flop spectacularly in May.

Plaid councillor's offensive tweat overshadows the real story.

Plaid Cymru has distanced itself from remarks made by one of the party’s councillors in which she described a Welsh Government appointee as a “cocky little £93k madam”.

Llanelli town councillor and former mayoress Ruth Price sparked outrage after tweeting the message about Sophie Howe.

She also compared the new future generations commissioner to actress Sharon Stone, who famously crossed and uncrossed her legs in the 1992 film Basic Instinct. 



 Coun Price tweeted on Tuesday evening: “

Sophie Howe was crossing her legs Sharon Stone-style in her interview. What a cocky little £93k madam.”

The tweet has since been deleted, with Coun Price writing: 

“I withdraw my earlier “Sharon Stone” remarks and apologise if they caused offence. Questions still remain over the Commissioner appointment.”

The Tweet by  Councillor Price was totally unacceptable from am elected member an it ht has also alowed Labour to divert the story away feom genuine questions abot Ms Howe's appointment bby making aresonable argument that   Coun Price should be disciplined.


However to bring the Plaid Leader into the actions of a lowly Town councillor looks like  Labour are probably  secretly delighted by the row switching from what should be the real story on how someone got a £93K job when seemingly being unqualified or whether the position of a future generations commissioner should be created in thse times of austerity should be made in the first placed.

 Labour ’s South Wales Police commissioner Alun Michael – under whom Ms Howe currently serves as deputy – described the message as “vile” and “unacceptable”.
Mr Michael added:

 “There is no place for comments of this sort in a civilised society and it is particularly unacceptable in Wales.
“Anyone who knows the powerful role that Sophie has played as Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner in making effective many interventions that have been aspirations for years, not least in tackling violence against women and girls, will be as outraged as I am at the personal, unpleasant and violent use of language.

Fair enough but prehaps Mr Michael can explain on what grounds did he  appoint a former Labour Councillor as his deputy?
 
a Welsh Labour spoksperson said

“It’s simply not good enough for Plaid to try and brush this disgusting sexism from one of their councillors under the rug,” 

“It speaks volumes that Leanne Wood is attempting to stand by and let her members make offensive sexist comments like this unchallenged.”

On Tuesday, Coun Price said her words had been blown out of proportion.
And, on the appointment, she added: “It’s a very important job, and highly paid, and I don’t know how she is qualified to do it.”

 And Plaid’s health spokeswoman Elin Jones tweeted Ms Howe directly to say: 

“Just to let you know @sophiehowe the Tweet comment by a cllr was completely unacceptable, and I’m sorry for any offence it’s caused you.”

 I in no way approve of  Coun Price Tweet but we should not let it overshadow
Labours constant appointment of party cronies to well paid government  jobs.

Offensive remarks like Coun Price's Tweet are unacceptable but so is the cronyism in the Lanour Party  and the often unchallenged appointment of Party members to Jobs which they appear to be unqualified to carry out.

The only "cultural figures" on new pasport are English.

Plaid MP Hywel Wiliams says he is “incredulous” nobody Welsh is featured on the inside pages of the new UK passport. 

According to the Wasting Mule

The Home Office has faced a barrage of criticism after unveiling the designs of the inside pages of the new British passport, which is based around the concept of “Creative United Kingdom”.
Many have criticised the fact that images of only two women – compared to seven men – are featured.
But all nine of those people are English, meaning nobody from Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland has been represented.

 But, as well as Shakespeare – whose image is a high-security watermark on each page – the other people featured are all English. They include artist John Constable, architects Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and Elisabeth Scott and Angel of the North sculptor Antony Gormley.

A Home Office spokesperson said: 

“The theme of the new passport is a celebration of creativity in the United Kingdom throughout the past 500 years.
“The UK is lucky to have had a huge number of influential and innovative cultural figures throughout history and narrowing it down to a final number was an extremely difficult decision.”

It seems incredible that a year after a referendum campaign in Scotland  that saw the the NO campaigners claiming that we were Better Together seems to largely ignore the existence of anyone seemed creative in Scotland.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh springs to mind


For we in Wales Dylan Thomas or any number of Welsh Poets  writing in English or Welsh springs to mind.

Indeed  if the idea was to celebrate influential and inoventive cultural figuers  then Iola Morganwg the man responsible for reviving the National Eisteddfod springs to mind

Apparently 

There is some Welsh representation, with Cardiff Bay ’s iconic Pierhead building featured on the “Brilliant Buildings” pages.

At least they didn't choose a Norman built Castle.


 Arfon MP Mr Williams blasted:

 “This was an opportunity to reflect and celebrate on the contribution of all UK nations.
“I’m incredulous that Wales will have no representation on new passports.
 A passport is both a definer and a symbol of our identity. It is outrageous that this symbol contains nothing from Wales.

“I will be contacting the Prime Minister’s office directly to convey the astonishment that is sure to be shared by all passport-holders in Wales.” “Instead of being recognised for their contribution, women have also been side-lined, the Government choosing instead to belittle their contribution by writing them out of the history books.”

Which Welsh Figure  would you nominate for inclusion on the New Passport and bearing in mind the poor representation of Women on it, nominations of Welsh Women icons would be welcome.

Tristam Hunts elitism is historic in some sections of the Labour Movement.

When you find someone called Tristam  becoming a Labour MP  it is is very easy to revert to a form of reverse snobbery.

Tristam,Tristam how could anyone with that type of name represent the Working Class.

Even if like me you realise Labour has long abandoned its historic vote base you could stil think a Tristam is a Tory.

Nonsense of course we can't judge people by their first names  after all Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn becames Anthony Wedgwood Benn or Wedgwood Benn (and colloquially as Wedgie Benn), but later as Tony Benn

However when former shadow education minister Tristram Hunt has sparked a political row after telling some of the country's most privileged students that "the top one per cent" must take leadership of the Labour party again.

The Blairite MP told students at the  that the party was "in the s***" following a shock election defeat and Jeremy Corbyn becoming leader.
According to the university's paper Varsity, Mr Hunt said

: "The way you serve the Corbyn leadership is to be as dissenting and creative as possible.
"You are the top one per cent. The Labour Party is in the s***. It is your job and your responsibility to take leadership going forward."

His words prompted criticism on Twitter where dozens of users criticised his words, accusing him of being "elitist", "offensive" and more suited to membership of the Conservatives.

But his words actually refelct a long held elitist strain in Labour   


Beatrice Webbone of the founders of Fabianism  described the miners' leader, AJ Cook, thus 

"He is a loosely built ugly-featured man - looks low-caste - not at all the skilled artisan type, more the agricultural labourer. He is oddly remarkable in appearance because of his excitability of gesture, mobility of expression in his large-lipped mouth, glittering china-blue eyes, set close together in a narrow head with lanky yellow hair - altogether a man you watch with a certain admiring curiosity ... it is clear that he has no intellect and not much intelligence - he is a quivering mass of emotions, a mediumistic magnetic sort of creature - not without personal attractiveness - an inspired idiot, drunk with his own words, dominated by his own slogans. I doubt whether he even knows what he is going to say or what he has just said."

 Cook, considered an extremist and Communist, was neither. He was impassioned but, as Walter Citrine, centrist apparatchik of the TUC, remarked, 

"a man of absolute integrity". And someone horsewhipped at 16 by a local magnate for his opinions has a right to passion, which in Arthur Cook's runaway oratory attended a readiness for compromise.

Though Webb was less critical of one Oswald Mosley when he was aLabour MP.

What Hunt was expressing was the Oxbridge elitism that Tory Toffs like David Cameron and Boris Johnson already have before  entering  these universities.

But Oxbridge also aims to bring those who enter from State Schools and drawing them in to believe as Hunt Cambridge University Labour Club that they are in "the the top one per cent" implying  they are destined to lead


Its utter rubbish leadership can can come from anywhere and  the ideas that at the age of 18 some form of manifest  destiny is granted to them on receving an offer from Cambridge or Oxford.

My views of course of a bitter and jealous old man whose University Education started at 30 and only went  to Aberystwyth.

I should of course know my place.

Did Labour collaborate with the Tories to stitch up Silk?

The Wasting Mule today reports that .

The UK Government should reveal which parties blocked which parts of the Silk Commission’s recommendations for further devolution to avoid the impression of a “closed-door Westminster stitch-up,” Plaid Cymru MP Jonathan Edwards has demanded.

 Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP Mr Edwards said:

 “The draft Wales Bill has been rightly criticised for its lack of vision and ambition for Wales. Central to the charge against the Secretary of State is the manner in which he dismantled the cross party consensus achieved via the work of the Silk Commission.

“The Commission, of course, carefully crafted a comprehensive piece of work after the widest consultation process ever with the people of Wales and civil society on the development of our country’s democracy. It was an open and transparent process and meant a great deal of compromise on the part of Plaid Cymru.
“It provided a clear legislative pathway which would have moved Wales forward.
“Admittedly, it was composed prior to the Scottish independence referendum and the subsequent Northern Ireland and Scotland Acts which have provided far more powers for those nations.
“Silk, however, should have been the baseline of powers Wales required in the next Wales Bill. Instead, the Tories and the Labour party have cynically used the St David’s Day process to dismantle the package they had previously agreed to in Silk.”

So Mr Edwards seems to be blaming both the major Westminster parties which might explain why "Welsh" Labour's response to Devo Dipynbach  has ben relatively muted.except from  National Assembly Presiding Officer Rosemary Butler has launched the latest major attack on the UK Government’s planned changes to Wales’ devolution settlement.
The Labour AM has published an Assembly Commission critique of Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb’s draft Wales Bill which runs to nearly 9,000 words.
It would be embarrassing for Ms Butler if her own Party collaborated with the Tories to water down Silk
 

Mr Edwards continued:

 “Plaid Cymru entered those discussions in good faith, but the Secretary of State has cynically used that process to bring forward a Bill which has put the devolution debate in Wales in hyper-reverse drive compared to where it was after the Silk Commission finished their work.
“Of the Silk Commission recommendations discussed during the St David’s Day Process, less than half were accepted by the Secretary of State and the then Shadow Secretary of State Owen Smith...
 Recommendations are not in the Bill ranging from the devolution of Network Rail functions and funding; devolution of policing; the appointment of a Welsh Crown Estates Commissioner; devolution of S4C; review of devolution of criminal justice; devolution of teachers’ pay. This indicates the scale of how Labour and the Tories here in Westminster have eviscerated the work of the Silk Commission.
“Now that the Secretary of State has based a Bill on his flawed St David’s Day Process, in the interests of openness and transparency he should publish which political parties reneged on their previous pledges, and which elements of Silk the Tories – and now Labour – no longer support. If he fails to do so he will be open to the accusation that his Wales Bill has been based on the worst kind of closed-door Westminster stitch-up.

Will there be a response from "Welsh"  Labour and from which section . The Party at Westminster who seem to be working hand in glove with the Tories to deny meaningful devolution to Wales or the Party in Cardiff Bay who seem to be out of the loop when decisions on the Assembly.s future in Wales are made.

A former leader of Labour in Scotland and its Parliament has complained that she was treated as little more than a Branch Manager.

I can only suggest that Carwyn Jones is regarded by his bosses as little more than a Senior  Office Clerk.
 

The national living wage could leave people to believe they don't deserve better.

The BBC News Website has news that almost six million workers in the UK are paid less than the living wage, 

According to the Beeb

.

"The data showed a "worrying trend" of part-time, female and young workers being most likely to earn below the figure, researchers found.
The living wage, promoted by the Living Wage Foundation, is currently £7.85 an hour and £9.15 in London. It is not compulsory for employers to pay it.
The government said it was "determined to move to a higher wage economy".
Professional services firm KPMG said its research showed that the proportion of workers earning less than the living wage had risen for three years in a row.
The wage is well above the compulsory national minimum wage, and more than the new national living wage which the government has announced will come into force next April".

The Beeb helpfully  gives a clarification of the rather confusing difrence between the minimum wge and a living wage.

• The living wage is an informal benchmark, not a legally enforceable minimum level of pay. It is currently £7.85 and £9.15 in London
• The national minimum wage is the compulsory minimum level of pay set by the business secretary each year on the advice of the Low Pay Commission. Since October 2014, it has been £6.50 an hour for adults aged 21 and over, and £5.13 for those aged 18 to 20
• In the last Budget the government announced a new compulsory national living wage will come into force from April 2016. It will be paid to workers aged 25 and above. It will be set initially at £7.20 an hour and is intended to exceed £9 an hour by 2020

So on paper the Government will give a fair pay increase to the Low Paid in April but of course as the Tax credits row has shown it will take back much of this from their beloved "Hard Working Families".

Mike Kelly, of KPMG, said: 

"With the cost of living still high, the squeeze on household finances remains acute, meaning the reality for many is that they are forced to live hand-to-mouth.
"The figures show there is still more to be done if we are to eradicate in-work poverty. For some time it was easy for businesses to hide behind the argument that increased wages hit their bottom line, but there is ample evidence to suggest the opposite, in the shape of higher retention and higher productivity.
"It may not be possible for every business, but it is certainly not impossible to explore the feasibility of paying the living wage."

A government spokeswoman said the new national living wage would give a direct boost in wages for 2.7m people in the UK, "meaning a full-time worker will earn over £4,800 more by 2020".

"Treasury analysis shows women and those based outside London and the South East will be the biggest winners when the new national living wage comes into force,"

 It looks good on paper but to me time will tel what the "benchmark" Living Wage will look like in 2020
.
But Labour's business secretary Angela Eagle said things were getting worse, not better, for many families. 

"We need to see more better-paid, high-skilled jobs which pay a living wage, but these figures show that progress is slipping," she said.
"At the same time the Tories are making life harder for those on low and middle incomes as they cut tax credits and hit families with a work penalty. People are working harder than ever, but will rightly feel that the government is working against them."

 The problem with both a minimum wage and  national living wage is that over time it can be used to justify low pay in that companies can claim that they ae paying a living wage and despite being highly profitable and constantly giving their top echelons pay rises and a bonus deny ordinary workers a pay rise.

People will be expected to be grateful that they are being  paid national living wage and not to expect anymore.

Indeed there is a danger that the  national living wage will increase the gap between the rich and the poor with the latter being conned into believing that they are being treated fairly and that what they are receiving is a "Natural" rather than National living wage . and the verse of the Anglican Hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful .

 The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made them high and lowly,
And ordered their estate.


still rings true and they should be happy with their lot and not seek anymore than their allotted.