Islwyn MP Chris Evans. Called a Scab Poor Dab.

The Wasting Mule  reports that A Welsh Labour MP who defied orders on how to vote and was hit with a torrent of online criticism has said he fears moderate voices will be driven out of the debate about the future of the party.

Islwyn MP Chris Evans abstained rather than vote against the Charter for Budget Responsibility because he argues Labour must look a “responsible Government in waiting”.


He was soon called a “scab”, a “Tory”, a “disgrace” and a “puppet” with Twitter users suggesting he resign or join the Conservatives. MPs who refused to vote against the charter – which Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell had originally planned to support – were branded “traitors”.

Mr Evans, who was a strong supporter of Liz Kendall during the summer leadership contest, said he had a better voting record than the two men now at the top of Labour.

He said:

 “I’ve never walked through the lobby with the Tories. My voting record in terms of supporting Labour is far better than Jeremy Corbyn’s or John McDonnell’s.

“The concept of me suddenly being this disloyal Labour outlaw is just silliness.”

Some of the online comments, he said, were a “bit wild” but he did not want to moan.

But it looks like he having at least a gripe'. I wonder who initiated this story Mr Evans himself, a SPAD or was he contacted by the Mule to comment

He said: 

At the end of the day it’s like water off a duck’s back. I’m a politician, I put myself up there.”

The poor Dab noted the contrast between the tone of the attacks and the “kinder” politics Mr Corbyn promised in his conference speech. The Labour leader told activists to “cut out the personal attacks” and welcomed an open debate in the party.

Former bookmaker Mr Evans said:

 “If we’re going to have kinder politics then we’ve got to practice what we preach... What message is this sending to the general public?

“On Wednesday I abstained because I believe we need to look like a responsible Government in waiting. How do we look like a responsible Government in waiting when some members see fit to launch personal abuse...
“You can have every right in the world to disagree with me but what right does it give anyone to launch personal abuse like that?”

So what was the Nature of the "abuse" Happily the Mule provides some examples.

 2raggaragga @TRUbigbass

@ChrisEvansMP ashamed to say you're my mp... resign and stand as an independent, you're just a Tory in disguise!

11:29 PM - 14 Oct 2015

Wayne Sullivan ‏@WayneSully62

.@ChrisEvansMP Scab. #FiscalCharter

5:37 AM - 15 Oct 2015
 

@ChrisEvansMP.fence sitting suits you, your resignation letter would suit you better. Shameful.

Catherine Feeny ‏@CatherineFeeny1

@ChrisEvansMP With respect, if you are unable to support the #PeoplesChancellor on this crucial issue, maybe you would be happier as a Tory

I would argue that apart for the "Scab" reference  the rest are fair criticism.

Maybe Mr Evans thinks that people reading his Tweets should simply and disagree with him should simply shake their heads and that Twitter is simply there for him to tell us what he's been up to and look at it in awe.

There is a fine line between abuse and criticism  but as we have seen with the constant labelling of anyone who questioned the supporters of Better Together during the Scottish Referendum as a "CyberNat"

Certainly some YES supporters were abusive but others who were simply  critical were labelled in the same way by a media that were constantly abusive to YES backers.

Indeed the attitude of the Media seems to be we can be as abusive to Politicians as we like but ordinary members of the Public can not.


Mr Evans has ben a MP for a long time and when he  Tweets

Chris Evans MP ✔ @ChrisEvansMP

My reasons for abstaining on Osborne's #fiscalcharter http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/11931892/Why-Im-abstaining-on-the-fiscal-charter-vote.html …

He should not be surprised when some of the public criticize his actions He says that he fears moderate voices will be driven out of the debate about the future of the party.

What he means by "moderate" of course is those who in Labour who oppose Jeremy Corbyn's leadership . 

Backing or abstaining on Tory policies are not moderate voices it is the voice of the Blarites  who blurred the lines between Labour and the Tories for 13 years and who wish to continue to do so.

The SNP have too many MPs

and I really mean it the party has 95% of Scottish MPs on 50% of the vote there  while Labour for instance has MP only one  with  24.3% of the vote.

This for any democrat is not right  even though none can argue that they were won fairly under the current voting system

Of course The Tories with 36.9% one Scottish MP have an overall majority there are democratically elected under the First Past the Post system.


So Scotland having to many MPs  with 50% of the vote Bad . Tory Majority wirth 36.9% Good .

Got that . I just wish people would know their place and realise that that the UK voting system is designed to make sure  that smaller Parties are prevented from entering the UK Parliament in any numbers and when they do the establishment have every right to call foul.

 and with the Proportional system for Scottish Elections  designed to prevent it the SNP heading for another majority in the Scottish Parliament  looking likely to lead to another SNP majority the Establishment  can cry foul again and  we get the sort of Tosh enlightened opinion below in the Spectator
 

Features

Centralising, illiberal, catastrophic: the SNP’s one-party state

For years, the Scottish government has used the independence argument to avoid proper scrutiny. That has to stop

Adam Tomkins

Imagine a country where the government so mistrusted parents that every child was assigned a state guardian — not a member of their family — to act as a direct link between the child and officials. Imagine that such a scheme was compulsory, no matter how strongly parents objected. Imagine that the ruling party controlled 95 per cent of MPs, and policed the political culture through a voluntary army of internet fanatics who seek out and shout down dissent

Professor Adam Tomkins is a British legal scholar and John Millar Professor of Public Law at the School of Law of the University of Glasgow. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2014.

 In August 2015, Tomkins announced his intention to stand as a conservative member of the Scottish parliament in the 2016 elections. In a blog explaining his decision, he was highly critical of the SNP's actions in government at Holyrood and praised many (Westminster) conservative policies including Ian Duncan Smith's "outstanding" benefit reforms.

Yes the man who calls the SNP government in Holyrood  thinks it perfectly alright to attack the most vunrable members of Soceity.


I don't know whether Mr Tomkins is stll a member of Republic organisation advocating the replacement of the monarchy with a democratically elected head of state.

I do know that  he also stood on a platform advocating an independent Scottish Republic in 2004.
 



There was an alternative event to the  State opening of the Scottish Parliament just over a mile away atop Edinburgh’s Calton Hill. The Scottish Socialist Party drew up a declaration of independence calling for “an independent Scottish republic built on the principles of liberty, equality, diversity and solidarity.”
 
Quite a journey from Scottish Republican to Conservative Unionist and we are supposed to take this man seriously.

Are Plaid going to do a deal with Labour over Council mergers?

The Wasting Mule makes the claim that Plaid Cymru and Welsh Labour are in talks over an Assembly bill that would allow councils to voluntarily merge.
Last week the Welsh Government pulled the Local Government Bill from the agenda, with all opposition parties united in saying they would block it.

But apparently the bill has now been re-tabled for a stage four vote next Tuesday – which would allow it to become law, despite no apparent deal to get it through.

A Labour source said that Leighton Andrews, public services minister in charge of local government, is speaking to Plaid Cymru Mid and West Wales AM Simon Thomas.


 We can only wonder why this "Source" should  leak what appears to be secret negotiations

The source described the talks as “constructive” but said it is still possible that the law could be pulled from the agenda again. The bill is not time sensitive, the source added.

It does not appear that talks are taking place with the Welsh Conservatives, who want local referendums before mergers go ahead, or the Liberal Democrats, who want voting reform.

Labour is in a minority in the Assembly and need at least one other AM to vote with them or abstain to get legislation passed.


Simon Thomas said that the

 “way things are at the moment we would be voting against” the bill.

He refused to comment on whether talks are taking place.

A Plaid Cymru party source said, however: 

“We’ll do whatever we can to ensure Labour can’t push through their costly, ill-thought-out reorganisation before the election.”

 
Mr Thomas had said last month that:

“The idea that we should be legislating for voluntary mergers when three came forward and the government said no to them, it’s taking the p*** a bit with the Assembly, to be honest with you, as a legislative body.”

 Peter Black, Welsh Lib Dem spokesman for local government said:

 “We will not support this bill without fairer votes for local elections and powers being devolved to our communities. I sincerely hope that the other parties won’t back down for any less.”

Welsh Conservative shadow local government minister Janet-Finch Saunders said: 

“This stop-start vote is shrouded in a veil of secrecy.”

A Welsh Government spokeswoman said: 

“We are continuing discussions and when those are concluded we will proceed to a vote at stage four.”

It seems unlikely that the Assembly Labour Government would put this back on the Table if they didn't think it had a chance of getting through unless it is simply to show the difference between them and other parties.

 If Plaid were to do a U turn then we can only presume that some shady backdoor deal is being hammered out and Plaid get something substantial out of it. Though a change to Single Transferable Voting like the system for Sottish Councils even as an aspiration seems unlikely. Maybe local referendums but then it would probably be the Conservatives or LibDems involved.

So maybe it simply a deal preventing a the Welsh Government from a veto on agreed voluntary  mergers.


The Local Government Bill would allow voluntary council mergers to be implemented – although none are on the table at the moment.



It would also not allow for the compulsory mergers suggested by public services minister Leighton Andrews’ map for eight or nine authorities published earlier this year.

A further bill has been proposed for the latter.

We can only wait and see what if anything will emerge.

Darkness at the Bay

The Wasting Mule covers the story that  a Labour AM sacked by Carwyn Jones as a committee chair has launched an attack on the “unhealthy culture” at the top of the Welsh Government, saying anyone who criticises its decisions from within the party group is “ruthlessly dealt with”.


Cardiff Central AM Jenny Rathbone spoke out against the spending of millions of pounds on a controversial M4 relief road route around Newport she believes will never go ahead.


In response, the First Minister sacked her as chair of the committee monitoring the spending of EU aid money in Wales.

Ms Rathbone issued a statement saying:

 “Following my intervention on the issue of the M4 relief road in the media last week, the First Minister has dismissed me from the role of chair of the All Wales European Programme Monitoring Committee, for speaking out publicly.

“In the Labour group meeting on Tuesday, I reiterated my call for a debate within the group on this massive spending commitment. I am disappointed that no such debate has yet taken place and there is no commitment by the First Minister to allow this to take place at some future date. I remain confident that my views are shared by the majority of Labour AMs, even if they are not encouraged to express them.

“Since appointed in July 2013, I have enormously enjoyed chairing both the European Programme Monitoring Committee 2014-2020 from its inception as well as the European Programme Monitoring Committee 2007-2013 which is winding down as the 2007-2014 projects reach a successful conclusion.

“I recognise the right of the First Minister to choose who he wants to carry out the important role as Chair of the European Programme Monitoring Committee. I am however disappointed that he has chosen to sack me for speaking out on a matter that is unrelated to this role.

Of course Cabinet  Ministers are expected to show collective responsibility and support decisions once they are made or resign. Bur this is not Arthur Koestler's "Darkness at Noon" in which he portrays a barley disguised  Stalin's Russia in which 

“The Party denied the free will of the individual - and at the same
time it exacted his willing self-sacrifice. It denied his capacity to
choose between two alternatives - and at the same time it demanded that he
should constantly choose the right one. It denied his power to distinguish
good and evil - and at the same time spoke pathetically of guilt and
treachery. The individual stood under the sign of economic fatality, a
wheel in a clockwork which had been wound up for all eternity and could
not be stopped or influenced - and the Party demanded that the wheel
should revolt against the clockwork and change its course. There was
somewhere an error in the calculation; the equation did not work out.

OK I've exaggerated  things I can'r really see Carwyn as Stalin  but Ms Rathbone  is a committee chair and it is can well be argued that the First Minister should not have the power to dismiss people from that position and that  should be up to the assembly as a whole.

and Ms Rathbone expressed her concerns  that there is a unhealthy culture within Labours Assembly Cabinet.

 ”The events of the last 24 hours have confirmed in my mind there is an unhealthy culture at the top of the Welsh Government which does not allow for rigorous debate and reflection on the best use of public funds. Independent thought is not tolerated by AMs and if someone does step out of line, they are ruthlessly dealt with. This is not a good way to make difficult decisions.”

Again you can't really see Carwyn as Stalin. Indeed it looks more likely that he is a prisoner of those AM who promoted  what the vast majority is the wrong route M4 relief road route around Newport and which is unlikely to go ahead but sem intent on pushing it through by creating an initial expenditure which will be wasted if it is scraped.

If ever there was an example that we need a change of Government in May we have one here.

Wales will need its own Pro-EU campaign.

 John Dixon over at Borthlas is is usual erudite self when commenting on the forthcoming (though we do nor know when) European In-Out ) referendum..

He points out that those expected to lead the campaign to remain does not fill those who wish to do so with confidence.

John writes.

I do wonder though about the strategy of the ‘in’ camp in the names that they’re putting forward.  It looks like the product of some sort of bubble-think to me.  I fear that an unholy alliance of Blair, Brown, Major and Cameron might actually end up having quite the opposite effect of that intended.

And over at Bella Caledonia Jim Kerr has a similar worry

 As a socialist and a yesser, I’ve often been puzzled at the hostility of the Scottish far left, towards the EU and I can’t see that hostility dimming now we know that the remain campaign will be headed by three former prime ministers, John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, none of whom are fondly remembered by many yessers, especially not Blair and Brown. With a name like Britain Stronger Together, the remain campaign is beginning to feel uneasily familiar.

Which leads to  the suggestion that Wales and Scotland should have their own remain and out campaigns.

Obviously there will be some element of Welsh and Scottish issues in the UK campaign but the reality of the effect on these Nations if the UK was to leave will in all likelihood be lost.l

During the first EU Referendum Plaid put forward  a comprehensive  argument for a Leave vote which was so well presented that those in the Labour who were hostile to what was the the EEC  used it .

Times have changed and Plaid are likely to push for a Stay voter.

In that the case for Wales to remain must be made .

For those on the Left who are thinking of voting to leave I present   the Nightmare scenario of Scotland voting to remain against an overall UK wide vote to leave.

This could easily see a second Independence referendum which will be run.

This will lead to Wales being permanently under Tories in England outside any EU protection and who may well legislate to prevent any Welsh Independence referendum  no matter how high the support is.

 

MP Huw Irranca-Davies hopes to become Assembly Member

I am not a huge fan of Ogmore Labour MP Huw Irranca-Davies  but he should br congratulated for his intention  to become the first former UK Government Minister since the original intake to become a member of the National Assembly, we can reveal.


In an exclusive interview,with the Wasting Mule  he said he wanted to send out a message to budding Welsh politicians that they should consider seeking election to the Senedd, rather than to the House of Commons.
Mr Irranca-Davies, who was elected to Parliament in a 2002 by-election, has served as a Minister at the Wales Office, and as an Environment Minister.
He currently chairs one of the Commons’ most influential committees – the Environmental Audit Committee.


His announcement followed another from current AM Janice Gregory that she intends to stand down next year.

Mr  Irranca-Davies said:

 “The idea of standing for the Assembly, if a suitable vacancy arose, has been on my mind for some time.
“With the lawmaking powers that the Assembly now has, together with the fact that those issues that affect people’s everyday lives like health and education are now devolved to Wales, I’ve no doubt that the centre of Welsh politics is now at the Assembly.
“I’ve been very privileged to be Ogmore’s MP for more than 14 years, and greatly enjoy serving my constituents.
“But now there is a vacancy at the Assembly, I’d very much like to be given the opportunity to serve there.
“I believe that as a longstanding MP who has had ministerial experience at a UK level, I could bring something valuable to the Assembly.
“I’d also like my decision to be a signal to young people who may be thinking of entering politics that the Assembly is the place to aim for rather than Westminster.

There are  however some points that maybe we should be asking Mr Iranian-Davies

Does he he intend to remain as an MP for Ogmore or resign and force a Byelection . There' no legal mandate to prevent dual mandate members and of the original intake only Cynog Bafis resigned his Parliamentary  seat of Ceredigion after becoming an AM.

• Are his intention anyway linked to his seat being merged into a new one?
• Could it be he sees no likelihood  of Labour in Westminster regaining in power  in the near future.
• and has this anything to do with the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader. Mr Irranca-Davies has not shown any indication of being even remotely o n the Left.

Still its an encouraging move, especially as the Tories seem to have an inclination to leave the  Assembly for Westminster.
 

DUP SPAD gets sevrence pay despite promotion to MLA.

Thats the most acronyms i've put in a title.

 It's not often this Blog ventures into the field complex of Northern Ireland Politics but there a story that may be of interest to watchers of our own Assembly.

The DUP have confirmed their new South Belfast MLA is to receive a severance payment from her previous job as a special advisor.

The Irish News reported that Emma Pengelly, who was co-opted into the assembly seat, was to receive the payment.

She used to work in the Office of the First and Deputy First Ministers.

Special advisors are civil servants that are appointed by ministers to work on party political matters.

A DUP spokesperson said: "Emma Pengelly receives a severance payment in accordance with the terms and conditions of her contract of employment.
"Mrs Pengelly will receive her severance payment from her former employer in due course as it is a contractual obligation to resign upon having become identified as an election candidate." 

The new MLA will contest the Stormont election scheduled for next May. 

Of course if she were to loose in May she would be out of a Job  . 

Such is the current dominance of the DUP among Unionist Parties they would easily hold the post of First Minister and  she probably would have been more likely to have kept her SPAD position

While the exact amount has not been published, special advisors who have been in the job at least four years and leave the post under these circumstances are entitled to a severance payment of six months' salary.

What perhaps is the most interesting part of the story is that Ms Pengally is actually facing a potential pay cut   

Mrs Pengelly's annual salary was just under £92,000. As an backbench MLA she will earn £48,000 a year. 

I wonder if this reflected in the Office of our owb First Minister. are the specials advisors to Carwyn Jones payed  nearly twice that of an ordinary AM?

No wonder they may be tempted to squeeze as much out of their expenses  allowance as possible.