Is AM Alun Davies thinking about jumping ship?

I have been developing a suspicion that Labour AM Alun Davies may be thinking about defecting back to his old home in Plaid Cymru .

He recently was very critical that  the site of the £100m automotive park no foundations have been laid and there is no sign of the promised jobs.

 Blaenau Gwent AM Davies said if the Welsh Labour government could not bring new skills to the area it could cost them at the next election.

"We've waited for long enough. No more press releases, no more speeches, we need action... the people here need to see these promises made real,"

Since losing his  Cabinet Job and the patronage of the former First Ministe Carwyn Jones  his old Aberystwyth  Uni mate, some of his recent Tweets seem to be indicating a more independent course.

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2. Alun Davies  🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿‏Verified account @AlunDaviesAM 7h7 hours ago

   Alun Davies  🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿Retweeted Plaid Cymru

   We agree on this. I made a statement on it before Christmas. Sometimes we need to emphase agreement rather than disagreement.

   Alun Davies  🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿added,

   

   1:09

   Plaid CymruVerified account @Plaid_Cymru

   Wales has the highest incarceration rate in Western Europe despite Wales having a lower crime rate than England says @LeanneWood. Westminster criminal justice system is not working for Wales. Wales needs power over criminal…

   1 reply0 retweets2 likes

    

    

    

Not entirely of course, there are still loyal statements

Alun Davies  🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿‏Verified account @AlunDaviesAM Jan 16

Alun Davies  🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿Retweeted Mark Drakeford

Good to see @WelshLabour @WelshGovernment @fmwales standing up for the Welsh economy as the UK Govt walks away.

Alun Davies  🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿added,

 

Mark DrakefordVerified account @fmwales

Met with workers, unions and managers at Ford Bridgend this morning and told them we will do everything we can to protect jobs and secure a long term future for the plant.

0 replies0 retweets0 likes

 

 

 

But maybe there is a feeling that Mr Davies time in Labour is up within his own party ?

The BBC report that

Newly-appointed Welsh Government special adviser has compared one of its former cabinet members to Donald Trump.
Paul Griffiths likened Labour AM Alun Davies's use of "alternative facts" about local government to Trump's false claims about climate change.
The comments, made last year in a blog, came to light little over a month after Mr Griffiths was made an adviser for local government minister Julie James.
The Welsh Government said the remarks did not represent its views.
Former Labour councillor Mr Griffiths, who once served as an adviser to the late Rhodri Morgan, criticised plans to reorganise local government in a series of posts on his website pgriffithsblog.

 He wrote:

 "When certain politicians do not like tested and confirmed evidence they make up 'alternative' facts.

"Putin says he has no soldiers in Ukraine."Trump says the climate is not changing."Johnson says that Brexit will lead to £350 million a week more for the NHS."Alun Davies the Welsh Government's Local Government Minister says that local authorities in Wales need to have an average populations size of 300,000 in order to meet contemporary challenges."There is no factual evidence to support this.... It is an alternative fact."

In March 2018, the Welsh Government set out steps to reform and "strengthen" local government. Merger proposals included "voluntary, phased and comprehensive ones".
Mr Griffiths said the plans were effectively taking "the word 'local' out of local government".
And in a further post in April he claimed that "alternative facts are once again being manipulated" by the Welsh Government "to justify the unjustifiable".
The Welsh Government said the comments were the views of a "private individual".
A spokesman said: "They do not represent the views of the Welsh Government then or now.
"As a temporary special adviser Paul Griffiths will provide advice on a wide range of issues - advice which may or may not influence the views and decisions of ministers."
Plaid Cymru said described Mr Griffiths' appointment as "surreal" while Welsh Conservative AM Mark Isherwood said he agreed with the comments and hoped the adviser would "knock some sense into this government from within".
Mr Davies has been asked to comment.

OK this criticism is nearly a year old but I wonder who alerted the media to it. Can Welsh Labour be planning to discredit Alun Davies (Not a hard job) in case he goes completly maverick or jumps ship

I doubt, this would be immediate, but if the ever ambition Mr Davies comes to the conclusion , that he can no longer climb any higher on the ladder in the Welsh Government  then perhaps  a change of party was due.

However I wonder what Party would take him?

Brexit is being dictated by DUP bigots. It must be stopped.

Just imagine what the English Media would make if the four Plaid Cymru MPs  or  Thirty Five SNP MPs had done a deal  with the Tories in the same way the DUP had and influenced the whole of the Brexit debate , to the extent that although the UK was to leave the European Union, but would stay in the Customs Union and single Market.

Well of course we have.

Even the Guardian had a headline before the 2015 General Election

"General election attack ad campaign suggesting Labour leader is controlled by SNP firebrand shows that gloves have come off in run up to general election""





Now consider the power the DUP have at a time of the biggest political crisis that face the Westminster Parliament in which a far right  sectarian part has more power simply by backing Mrs May government not in a coalition but largely as long as May makes sure Northern Ireland , leaves the European Union on the same terms as the restof the UK, even if this means a Hard Brexirt or No Deal  and and a customs boarder with the Irish Republic.

The DUP indeed have a unique position because the Northern Ireland Assembly does not currently meat and to some extent Sinn Féin not sending their elected MPs to Westminster, Arlene Fosters band of bigots are virtually the only voice we hear from the six counties despite opinion polls that suggest if they have thier way then support for an United Ireland will soar

Date	Polling organisation/client	Yes	No	Undecided/No intention to vote	Lead
December 2018	LucidTalk	48%	48%	4%	0%
September 2018	OFOC	52%	39%	9%	13%
June 2018	Lord Ashcroft	44%	49%	7%	5%
June 2018	NILT	22%	55%	22%[59]	33%
June 2018	YouGov	42%	45%	13%	3%
May 2018	ICM	21%	50%	29%[60]	29%
December 2017	Lucid Talk	48%	45%	7%	3%
October 2017	Lucid Talk	34%	55%	10%	21%
July 2017	ESRC	27%	52%	21%	25%
September 2016	LucidTalk	28%	61%	11%	33%
September 2016	Ipsos Mori	22%	63%	15%[61]	41%
January 2013	Ipsos Mori	17%	65%	17%[62]	48%

Mrs May claims she will speak to other parties , but it is clear that whilst she will meet with Plaid, SNP Greens and Liberal Democrats she will not actually listen. indeed Corbyn's refusal to meet her may well be the right approach.

Instead she turns back to a Part that is prepared tom see Northern Ireland  burn, to preserve a Unionist and sectarian hegemony in the six counties.

The only option if we are not to see such a disaster that a No Deal or a DUP led Brexit is to first extend Article 50 and seek a mandate from the electorate with a second referendum  on whether to accept any government deal and that includes  Corbyn becoming PM or the option of Remain.

Wales the "Land of Artist's Impressions".

BBC Wales reports that

"Business and political leaders will meet to discuss ways they can help workers affected by the suspension of work on a new nuclear power station.
Japanese firm Hitachi's decision to halt its Wylfa Newydd project on Anglesey was described as a "tremendous blow" to the north Wales economy.
About 9,000 workers had been expected to build the £13bn plant.
Economy secretary Ken Skates will be at an emergency meeting of the North Wales Economic Ambition Board later.
Mr Skates said he wanted to discuss what job opportunities there were for people in similar fields in and around Anglesey.
Energy is not currently devolved to the Welsh Government and Mr Skates said he was "deeply concerned" and wanted the UK government to "step up to the plate" to give assurances about the project and the wider implications for the regional economy".

The North Wales Economic Board?

Apparently

 The North Wales Economic Ambition Board is made up of private and public organisations, colleges, universities and business leaders from across north Wales, working with the Welsh Government to encourage business investment.Its vice chairman, Gwynedd council leader Dyfrig Siencyn, said Wylfa was worth "billions" to the local economy.

"It's quite difficult to imagine the sums we're talking about, so the impacts are extremely severe," 

How this relates to both Labour and Tory support for a  "Northern Powerhouse Region" in which the economy of North Wales becomes subordinate to Liverpool and a  A "western powerhouse" between Cardiff, Newport and Bristol, I am not sure .

What is clear is that there has been a constant failure by the Welsh government to take control  of the economic future for Wales.

As Martin Shipton in excellent form reports  in the Wasting Mule points out.

2There's a discernible pattern that has emerged in recent years.
An announcement is made that a public or private sector organisation is planning a project that will create hundreds or thousands of jobs in Wales.

• Everyone rejoices at the boost to the Welsh economy that the new project will bring.
• Politicians from different parties and different levels of government claim a slice of the credit.
• Then things go silent for a while before rumours start circulating that there are problems.
• Eventually an announcement is made that the project can’t go ahead after all.

All manner of excuses are trotted out, and the politicians who originally claimed credit for their part in securing the scheme now assert that Wales has been betrayed yet again.
From the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon to the Circuit of Wales, and the M4 Relief Road to rail electrification, an argument can be made in isolation about the specific individual merits of each one.
But the repeated pulling of plugs from potentially transformative infrastructure projects planned for Wales is a pattern of events that's is increasingly difficult to believe are unconnected.
People in Wales can look at enormous outlays on initiatives like HS2 and Crossrail and wonder, legitimately, why it's acceptable to spend billions of pounds in bringing jobs and prosperity to parts of England, but not to us in Wales2.

 It was common in the  early days of Package Holidays that people would book a Holiday in Spain based on an artist's impression of an hotel to find it only half-built on arrival, but it at least it would be eventually completed.

Someone has recently pointed out that Wales is a land of Artist Impressions

An artist's impression of the planned new Wylfa Newydd nuclear power station

An artist's impression of an aerial shot of the Circuit of Wales next to Rassau Industrial Estate at the Heads of the Valleys

Artist's Impression Swansea Tidal Lagoon

 What Wales needs is not only a Welsh Government  with ambition capable of carrying it out.

That means we need both the powers but a First Minister and government capable  of both.

At the moment  we have neither and unless there's a sudden change in how people vote it will continue.