inside out - a jaxxland perspective

The spectre haunting the tories

2009-11-03T13:56:00.007Z

Events appear to be ensuring that the perennial issue of Europe is as likely to be an unavoidable banana skin in the path of the present tory leader as it was for his predecessors.

According to the Beeb, Cameron will say "later this week" what his policy is on a Lisbon Treaty referendum after the Czechs moved closer to ratification. His stance in 2007 was to provide a "cast iron" guarantee to hold a referendum on anything that emerged from EU talks. But the spin has recently changed to describe the possibility of the treaty passing into law as “a new situation" – albeit an entirely foreseeable one.

Despite enough hedging to build a respectably-sized maze, nothing can disguise that this is a major test for Cammers. He has to position himself with those voters who still see UKIP as an alternative without coming over as so xenophobic as to deter drifting Lib Dems. He also needs to square things with a membership who are not so much aghast at the prospect of federalised Europe as the possibility of who might get the job of running it.

It’s a big ask, but if he can pull it off - and survive a public flogging from the Telegraph and the Murdoch taliban in the process - then he might actually have the makings of a prime minister. Otherwise it's a case of Czech-mate, innit?

Update: Tories rule out referendum. The online story has a caption of William Hague - who announced the decision - as saying "it is a bad day for democracy". We assume he means the ratification and not his party's revised position.

Bums get a kicking

2009-11-02T21:10:00.001Z

Swansea University came in for some deserved stick this evening on Week In, Week Out (ITV Wales) - both for the deleterious effect of 'student life' on the communities of Uplands and Brynmill and the unwillingness of officials to recognise the scale of the problem.

Based on the footage taken by residents, neighbourhoods surrounding the Singleton campus are being forced to endure a brand of night-time yob-culture that goes beyond the norm. Locals made it clear that they see the preoccupation of university bosses with getting 'bums on seats' instead of better regulation as the key problem. They will not be impressed by the registrar who suggested that things needed to be put into perspective.

Somehow you can't imagine him being so dispassionate if someone was regularly pissing through his letter box for a laugh.

Headlines

2009-11-02T20:08:00.000Z

Judicial review over badger cull

BBC Wales - 2 November 2009

Outside the tent, pissing in

2009-10-31T10:52:00.001Z

Rockin' Rene Kinzett, tory group leader and erstwhile Lib Dem gives the ruling regime at Swansea Council a right roasting on his blog. Whilst no-one could fault his indictment of one-sided interests at work in Calamity Hall, it has to be remembered that the parliamentary hopeful wasn’t nearly so concerned about issues of accountability for the first two years in office when he occupied the role of a scrutiny committee chair whilst also acting as the official spokesman for the Lib Dem-led administration.

Headlines

2009-10-30T08:05:00.000Z

MPs 'family firm' revolt continues

30 October 2009

Counting the acronyms

2009-10-29T09:21:00.005Z

The media’s favourite self-appointed public spending watchdog - aka the Taxpayers Alliance - has recently published ACA-to-YJB: A Guide to the UK Semi-Autonomous Public Bodies (SAPBs) which is worth a scan.

Stated by the TPA to be “the only comprehensive and accurate guide to the UK’s public bodies sector”, it lists the 1152 quangos responsible for £91 billion of public expenditure. We managed to spot a few obvious Welsh omissions which tend to slightly challenge their research and overall claims of omnipotence. There is also a mis-match in a couple of sections which are either typos or evidence that the Audit Commission needs a kick up the accountancy section.

But such minor inconsistencies or even an undercover agenda are unlikely to bother the headline writers who clearly regard the Alliance as a tax-free gift and a lot less inconvenient than an FoI request.

Is anything else on offer other than bigger stilts?

2009-10-28T08:22:00.010Z

It was interesting to read an item among all the otherwise expert analysis that it is possible to look at the referendum predictions from the YouGov poll from a different perspective and arrive at a further conclusion from the obvious one that the result will be tight. Despite claims published in the Western Mail that “42% of the Welsh electorate would vote Yes in a referendum on law-making powers for the Assembly”, the truth is that no-one is actually sure if that kind of percentage turnout is in any way achievable.

Whilst additional powers are naturally considered crucial among the political villagers of Cardiff Bay, pro-devolutionary forces - and their opponents – may have problems in convincing the tax-paying public that constitutional reform should also figure among their own priorities of employment, house prices and the cost of living.

Perhaps what we need are a few practical examples of how Wales - rather than the Welsh political establishment – would benefit. There is plenty of scope although we would probably not see control & construction of social housing returned to democratic local government control. It is unlikely that anyone will even talk about reversing the transfers. Waste management will probably remain under 'arms-length' control whilst economic development will stay a ~~centralised~~ ~~under-resourced~~ strategic function. Privatised utilities & services would stay that way and bankers would continue to get their bonuses.

Like we said, perhaps we need a few practical examples ....

Silly Burghers

2009-10-26T15:10:00.002Z

We read that Swansea councillors earned themselves a ticking off from the presiding officer for twittering at a council meeting the other day. Wendy Fitzgerald felt that a group of individuals including Peter Black and Rene Kinzett should spend a bit more attention dealing with the issues they were elected to address rather than sending out obscure texts.

Council leader Chris Holley however disagreed with the ruling – but only, it seems, because his daughter Nicola was among the transgressors who apparently feel more at home with social networking than social services.

Thankfully, the small task-force of WAG appointed officials who are monitoring the council’s ability to turn-around its failing children’s services were on hand to witness the Administration's priorities in action.

Headlines

2009-10-26T11:06:00.002Z

More NHS investment announced
26 October 2009

Trio con brio?

2009-10-23T16:21:00.005+01:00

According to the local paper (no link available as yet), three defecting Swansea Labour councillors have formed their own political group - despite earlier statements that they only planned to remain outside the tent, etc. Their action is reportedly a 'proportional' response to expulsion letters they recently received plus the result of an oddball legal requirement for them to register either as a new group or join an existing one in order to take their seats in the chamber.

The new faction have decided to call themselves Communities of Swansea; a catchy title presumably intended to carve out a distinctive political niche whilst possibly drawing in other disaffected individuals. It apparently left their former Labour colleagues unimpressed. We're told that the only discernible reaction was one bank-bencher who was spotted doodling somewhat graphic alternatives for the COS initials.

Views are quite mixed on the ability of the three 'vetrans' to redefine local representation in Swansea as opposed to the chances of them succumbing to the Lib Dem osmosis that has successfully gathered in other such flotsam in the past. But if they can stay faithful to the principles embodied in their name then they might be just turn out to be what Swansea needs at the moment.

Planning gain, efficiency loss

2009-10-23T09:47:00.003+01:00

We’re told that Richard “Sticky Dick” Lewis is the subject of a few f-words within Swansea Council’s planning department as a result of his new found zeal. Having ‘forgotten’ to intervene a while ago so that an application for a modestly sized mansion in his own ward could be decided by committee rather than by officers, the Gower councillor is now attempting to make amends big time.

In fact, of the 24 schemes to be decided by the committee next week, Lewis is personally responsible for making sure that half of them appear on the agenda - even though many of them are not in his patch. Officers are narked that Lewis’ actions are working against improvements introduced after auditors pressed for changes to speed up the process.

As one member of staff put it, “the p---k thinks that he is covering up his tracks but he is just screwing up the system for everyone”.

But who is going to stop him? Especially as the newly-incarnated Lib Dem is also the committee’s chairman and considers himself fire-proof - thanks to Holley & Co.

What does the right care about rights anyway

2009-10-22T10:37:00.004+01:00

The story goes that David Cameron was advised by his strategists some time ago to single out the Human Rights Act 1998 as a harmless and relatively inexpensive sacrificial offering for the law-and-orderites and Europhobes within his party. He is said to have been rather luke warm about the suggestion at the time. However, his reservations did not stem from being unconvinced that the Act impeded successful deportation of criminals but that the idea was too closely linked with earlier speeches by leadership rival David Davis about the need for a British bill of rights.

But when the former shadow home secretary won a by-election and screwed up any future chance of senior office in the process, ‘reform’ of the HRA quickly became main opposition A-list platform material.

It may be that Kier Starmer, DPP director has heard the same story or that like many others in the judiciary he is just aghast by such apparent tory willingness to put the UK’s legal standing out in a limb for the sake of a legislative make-over to produce a ‘British law for British people’ – if that is actually possible.

As one academic put it when the idea first surfaced as a Cameron-backed proposal three years ago, "Either this is going to look very much like the Human Rights Act or it's going to look very different, and if it's going to look very different we will still find ourselves falling foul of the Human Rights Act if we stay in the European Convention on Human Rights." And as far as anyone is aware, no-one in CHQ is suggesting that particular split – for now.

Ming Campbell, then Lib Dem leader, also pointed out this contradiction in that repealing the act would mean people having to go to Strasbourg in order to vindicate their rights under the European Convention – but only if they were sufficiently well-off or had access to the necessary resources.

“Essentially what he's doing is taking away from ordinary individuals the opportunity of challenging decisions of government where they believe their individual human rights have been infringed”, he said.

The fact that an establishment figure like Mr Starmer is standing up to be counted in defence of human rights and that tory MPs are demanding he is sacked for his actions probably says all that needs to be said on the matter.

Stupid is as stupid does

2009-10-21T11:08:00.002+01:00

Whilst Cammers does his utmost to shatter some shibboleths on inclusiveness so Nick Bourne effortlessly re-establishes the party's inflexible image in Wales by rejecting the proposal for an independent pay panel for AMs. Not exactly terrific timing considering the present public mood about freebies and stuff - something which he of all people should understand. It also contrasts badly with a more acceptable stance established elsewhere on expenses.

All in all, we have agree with Che Grav-ara on his assessment, i.e. the man is plain stupid.

BNP in Swansea - still a concern

2009-10-21T10:47:00.001+01:00

Whilst there appears to be some doubts expressed about the accuracy of leaked BNP membership details, the breakdown for the Swansea locality is interesting. According to the spreadsheet, membership across the city's three constituencies has dropped slightly but whilst local trends show a decline in the east by a third, numbers have almost doubled in the west during the same period.

A total membership of 51 may not sound very great but it probably stands comparison with even some of the mainstream parties in the area - especially when it comes to putting activists on the streets or leafleting. The level of protest that greeted the WDL march over the weekend is a credit to all who took part but these figures should serve as a reminder that fascism is still at work in the community- and still gaining credibility.

How many weeks to go?

2009-10-20T15:07:00.000+01:00

More paranoia in the Hart4Labour camp - and some of it probably justified - as a critical health spending story by Shipton (who else?) appears in today's Western Mail just as an "I Love the NHS" message is sent by Carwyn to all party members.

Edwina's campaign team are pissed that the Bridgend AM make more references to problems within a devolved health service rather than to successes achieved since 1999. Carwyn's assertion that "no-one has a monopoly on good ideas" and stating that its time for "common-sense solutions – particularly where red tape seems to get in the way of patient care" all chimes a little too neatly for some with the comments of unamed auditors about a wasteful and badly planned reorganisation.

There are no outright accusations of collusion (yet) but you cannot help but feel that it's only a matter of time before someone makes sure that questions are raised elsewhere about the levels of competency demonstrated in delivering the LCO process - or rather the lack of it.

Huw must be loving it.

Bad day for the BNP

2009-10-20T11:32:00.006+01:00

First come the accusations from a group of former military leaders that the reputation of the armed forces is being tarnished by right-wing political "extremists". Then a document apparently listing thousands of British National Party members gets posted on the internet – which includes the names of former senior members of the military, doctors and professors.

A BNP spokesman said he could not confirm that the list was genuine, and accused the "whole establishment" of trying to "derail" the party.

Let’s hope so.

Update: Ve vas only joking - BNP claim threat to hang generals was a bit of 'black humour'.

Pop Quiz

2009-10-19T09:51:00.001+01:00

Today’s quiz involves some guesswork as to which is the odd one out from the list below. The clue is that all but one has been mentioned at length on Peter Black’s blog in the last few days.

Alex Salmond and Libya
Peter Hain and the BNP
David Cameron and the Sunday Telegraph
Michal Kaminski and Wikipedia
Kirsty Williams and expenses
Lib Dems and free prescriptions

Strangely, it’s the ~~u-turn~~ policy shift by Welsh Lib Dems in finally embracing free prescriptions that fails to get a mention by the AM – despite his apparent active role in changing a long held stance.

Then again, he didn't mention a £112,000 wag-mobile either.

The odd couple

2009-10-18T11:26:00.001+01:00

To several observers, a telling aspect of Kirsty Williams’ criticism of Anagram is not so much that she makes it in today’s Wales on Sunday but that even now she only feels able to sort of go on the record.

Despite the predictable yada-yada about youth, radicalism and other stuff during the leadership contest, Williams appears to be a fireball on a slow burn. Her supporters point to a shrewd understanding on her part that she firstly needs to consolidate her relatively new status within a party that sometimes holds to a different definition of federalism than you might find in a dictionary. And she is gradually winning hearts & minds in the right places – just as she hopes to continue doing in Wrexham this weekend.

However, having successfully portrayed herself during the campaign as the person best placed to replicate the kind of electoral breakthrough her party has achieved in Welsh local government in the last decade, her internal critics - especially those in the Randerson camp - suggest that this will need something more substantial than periodic bouts of pensioner-bashing in the Senedd chamber. Some of her colleagues, whilst employing just the right balance of regret and frustration, seem all to willing to highlight that her chances of actually delivering wins at Westminster as well as Cardiff Bay remain very slim given current trends.

Plaid are already predicting a takeback of Ceredigion on or before 3rd June 2010 and current polls confirm a frustrating regional picture replicated elsewehere in the UK of a party that is unable to effectively capitalise on Labour’s electoral unpopularity let alone claim back a social reformist agenda hijacked by Cameron's almost reconstructed tories.

The truth, as one commentator points out, is that more people read what Lembit has to say than Kirsty on any given day, and the added uncomfortable irony, which will not be lost on the Welsh leader or her loyal followers, is that the MP for Montgomeryshire might well end up being the last man standing when the general election dust finally settles.

One can only guess at the Daily Sport headline on that one.

Surgical switch

2009-10-16T14:08:00.003+01:00

Following on from yesterdays post on neurosurgery, it turns out that RT was more or less on the right track in asking the questions he did. How intriguing.

According to reports issued today, adult brain surgery will be permanently centralised in Cardiff because of the nationwide shortage of junior doctors. However, the corollary is that more patients from Mid and West Wales who need spinal surgery will be treated at Swansea.

An official statement confirms that “Complex inter-cranial neurosurgery will continue at the University Hospital of Wales but any pre and post-operative care will be carried out at Morriston Hospital.

“However, more patients from Mid and West Wales who require spinal surgery will go to Morriston instead of travelling to UHW as at present.

“The plans will allow surgeons to sub-specialise, increasing their expertise and services, which will improve outcomes for patients.

Reaction and fallout will no doubt emerge as the day progresses and politicians & patients groups catch up with events.

Update (18 Oct): Based on the ambivalent page 6 treatment given to the announcement in Saturday's EP and the total absence of any mention by caller or studio presenter on this morning's Swansea Sound phone-in, the Assembly's spin-corps can congratulate themselves on a job well done.

Still in two minds?

2009-10-15T17:11:00.001+01:00

The local Swansea paper reports that tory health spokesman Andrew RT Davies was yesterday demanding clarity over the future of complex neurosurgery in South Wales. According to the Cardiff based AM, the present service is in imminent danger of collapse and the temporary arrangement of shared facilities between Swansea and the capital must be tackled immediately.

Nothing particularly new in the comments themselves but the timing is a bit odd given that the lamentable situation, caused by on-going staffing issues, does not look any more likely to be resolved in the next three months than during the preceding period.

Is RT merely adding a new dimension to the Labour leadership contest or does he know something?

Economical with the inward investment

2009-10-14T10:34:00.004+01:00

Alan Cairns had a right old tantrum on air this morning over the ‘outed’ inward investment body, International Business Wales. Whatever contrived outrage the AM for south Wales west and tory spokesman had summoned up for the interview was soon overtaken by irritation at getting dissed & dismissed when he attempted to assign all the IBW's ills to Rhodri Morgan and Ieuan Wyn Jones viz. for scrapping the WDA in the first place.

It was probably just bad luck that he managed to encounter an amazingly well briefed Beeb presenter who pointed out that: (1) the announcement to incorporate the agency pre-dated the One Wales Government and (2) tory economic heavyweight Ken Clarke has been proposing a similar fate for English development agencies for some time. But for all the shouting over each other, Cairns managed to making a good point rather badly on the fitness for purpose of inward investment practices in recessionary Wales.

Whilst most businesses claim to mourn the loss of the WDA, the truth is that they miss the handout culture the agency engendered and which had given Wales an effective but under-the-counter competitive edge within the UK for over a decade. All that pretty much stopped as a result of anschluss and the IBW is now little more than an expensive hangover from the days of golden goose chases that saw high-flyers attempting to entice US corporations to set-up shop in the valleys.

That particular story stops at Chapter Eleven nowadays and indigenous growth within the knowledge economy is the new catchy but otherwise meaningless political mantra. You do not have to be an economist to know that investment in these trying times means public investment, in all its various manifestations,and that Wales cannot even afford to build new M4 link road yet alone deliver a step-change in economic strategy. The reality is that things will need to first get better in Tokyo before they get better in Treorchy.

As regards all the recent aggro, the general view is that matters would have merited no more than a few headlines if Rodders could have resisted a knee-jerk compulsion to side with his former profession. As one of the First Minister's colleagues privately observed, the old Rhodri would have made an glib comparison with the troubled European outfit once run by former Lib Dem leader Mike German and moved on. Calling Kirsty Williams a liar for fingering a bunch of self-indulgent civil servants was a mistake. Taking the word of those officials at face value was an even bigger one.

Oddly enough, whether IBW is an embarrassment for IWJ is a subject that seems to have been avoided entirely by the usual suspects within the Plaid Blogroll to the extent that they are not even taking shots at the messenger. You have to wonder how long that can last.

Be careful what you order

2009-10-13T11:56:00.001+01:00

Staying in is the new going out, according to those who report on recession-led social trends. But home entertainment definitely seems to have its downside.

The Western Mail recounts today how a Cardiff woman received abusive calls from a vendor after cancelling an overdue fast-food order whilst the Evening Post carries a story of the Swansea man who was taken away following a delivery dispute.

Seems the best way to avoid getting a grilling is to cook for yourself.

Shape of things to come

2009-10-13T10:17:00.001+01:00

Past and present Welsh tory opposition spokesmen, such as Jonathan Morgan and Andrew RT Davies, who have been vocal in their criticism of a creeping politicisation of the health service will no doubt greet the announcement of a five year plan to improve the NHS as further chilling evidence. They are right to be concerned.

Sooner or later the significance of choosing an October date for regime change will also dawn on them as well.

Moving on?

2009-10-12T17:14:00.004+01:00

Rumours are circulating in Calamity Hall of a possible exit by main man Paul Smith. The Swansea Council chief executive is apparently “undergoing considerable stress” over burgeoning performance and financial headaches facing the authority. Additional aggravation is said to come from intransigence by influential directors and senior politicians on a number of budget decisions.

It is no secret that Smith is frustrated at the interminable squabbling between political groups which hinders effective debate on a number of vital key issues. In reciprocation, several councillors on both sides of the chamber are critical of his low-profile, light-touch approach which they feel contrasts poorly with the ‘damn-the-torpedoes’ methods favoured by his ill-fated predecessor Tim Thorogood.

No official statement is expected for the moment, other than vague denials, but the fact that word is leaking out should register with the leadership. Perhaps it was intended that way(?)

Called to Order

2009-10-12T10:02:00.001+01:00

The sad loss of Patrick Hannan leaves a substantial gap within Welsh public affairs broadcasting. A familiar and trusted name for those wishing to gain a no-nonsense insight into the political world, he provided clarity, balance and a touch of sardonic humour where it mattered. He had his opinions and they sometimes showed. But he always posed the questions you wanted to ask and more often than not made sure he got the answers.

Authoritative without being bullying, he set a standard of journalism over 40 years that few within his industry have been able to emulate.