Plaid Wrecsam (Free subscription) | yesterday
Today's Wrecsam Communities Festival went off without incident - even though the weather was terrible. By contrast the English Defence League's invasion of Wrecsam consisted of 30 Bolton Wanderers thugs commandeering Wetherspoons and chanting "We want our country back" and then singing "God save the queen" while waving the flag of St George. That went down like a cup of cold sick...
Welsh Ramblings (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
Flicking through the Assembly's record of proceedings for stories for Ramblings, a very important story about the Heads of the Valleys road programme comes up. It has been blogged about already this week but hasn't had a thorough treatment. The record makes sobering reading for those who accuse Plaid Cymru of prioritising "nation-building" north-south links at the expense of safety-orientated...
David Cornock's other blog (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
I do enjoy these surveys of politicians by politicians. The joys of percentages mean small numbers of people can appear as hugely significant masses of opinion. So Edwina Hart is the "top performer" chosen by 25 per cent of the 30 people sampled by the pollsters (I make that eight). Lower down the popularity chain, Nick Bourne, Ieuan Wyn Jones and Jocelyn Davies have the support of four per...
Borthlas (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
During the summer months, there was considerable disruption to traffic locally, as the various components of a new wind farm were transported along the main road north from Carmarthen. They were destined for the Blaengwen wind farm - now renamed the Alltwalis wind farm despite howls of protest from the village and a petition signed by at least one resident of almost every house in the village; a classic...
This is my truth (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
Huw Irranca Davies makes the case in the Western Mail this morning for delaying the referendum beyond 2011. I’ve heard very serious people outside the Labour Party say the same thing. I am concerned about the game of chicken that seems to be going on within the Cardiff Bay bubble, with enthusiasts for a referendum goading [...]
Amanwy (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
Posted on This is My Truth on 20 November Huw Irranca Davies makes this case in the Western Mail this morning for delaying the referendum beyond 2011. I’ve heard very serious people outside the Labour Party say the same thing. I am concerned about the game of chicken that seems to be going on within the Cardiff Bay bubble, with enthusiasts for a referendum goading each other to race across the...
This is my truth (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
As I was preparing for a short presentation I am making to a Plaid Cymru conference tomorrow, I came across this truly shocking report by the Howard League for Penal Reform. The report looks at the state of youth justice in Wales – it calls for greater devolution – but what is so shameful are [...]
ffranc sais (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
The two top positions of the European Union, created by the Lisbon Treaty, have been filled. Herman Van Rompuy was appointed permanent President of the European Council and Baroness Catherine Ashton was appointed High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.The Swedish presidency must be congratulated on not only achieving a satisfactory conclusion to the selection process,...
Plaid Wrecsam (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Jocelyn Davies AM, the deputy minister for housing in the One Wales Government, will be in Wrecsam tomorrow visiting the Bridge St site at Penybryn in the morning and then addressing the "Delivering Affordable Housing" conference in the afternoon. Interest in the conference has been huge with 70 people pre-registering, mainly housing officers, councillors and others working in the field as...
This is my truth (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
So its official, the LCO system is flawed On the day the All Wales Convention delivered its verdict, the Assembly’s Enterprise Committee was meeting behind closed doors to discuss the progress of its own bid for extra powers. There was exciting news. Ministers were dropping their opposition, and if the committee was willing to agree to [...]
Amanwy (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Posted on This is My Truth on 19 November So its official, the LCO system is flawed On the day the All Wales Convention delivered its verdict, the Assembly's Enterprise Committee was meeting behind closed doors to discuss the progress of its own bid for extra powers. There was exciting news. Ministers were dropping their opposition, and if the committee was willing to agree to a delay WAG would swing...
David Cornock's other blog (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
I could see the hand of history coming over the horizon. The Welsh Health Minister - and Labour leadership contender - Edwina Hart was due to make her long-awaited debut before a committee of MPs at Westminster next Thursday. Alas, this historic event has been cancelled as, according to a spokeswoman, the chairman of the select committee on Welsh Affairs decided this was not a suitable date, denying...
Plaid Wrecsam (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
If you've got a spare couple of hours between 11am-4pm on Saturday, November 20, come to Queen Square in Wrecsam town centre to take part in the Wrecsam Communities Festival. It's been called at short notice to show Wrecsam's positive side in the face of a provocation by the English Defence League, which claims to want to come to our town to protest. In fact, it just wants to target Muslims with its...
Betsan Powys' blog (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
From Cabinet minutes Oct 5 Item 1: Minutes of the previous meeting and matters arising 1.1 Cabinet approved the minutes of the previous meeting. Matters arising - Christmas Cards 1.2 The First Minister indicated that, although he was retiring in December, he believed it would be appropriate to send Christmas cards just before stepping down. And thus do great empires fade away. Mind you he'll be more...
Welsh Ramblings (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Che notes that excerpts from one of Rhodri Morgan's last speeches deserve a wider audience than simply being in the pages of the Western Mail. The outgoing First Minister's comments about Wales' increasingly internationalist image are more examples of why he will be fondly remembered, despite doing a number of things with which Ramblings disagreed like sitting on the fence and protecting Tony Blair...
Videos