I'm now back from Conference. Unfortunately I couldn't get internet access at the Centre as Helen was busy blogging when I wanted to do my bit for the blogging world, so apologies all! I enjoyed conference this year. I haven't read other blogs to see as yet how you lot at home interpreted it. The mood was upbeat contrary to Guto Thomas's analysis that it was somehow 'subdued'. My fringe meeting on child poverty went well, as did the emergency motion on Remploy, with visitors from the Remploy Wrexham factory present. Alyn Smith, the SNP MEP spoke excellently on the Saturday of Conference, as did Ieuan Wyn Jones the previous day.
Debates on Conference floor with regards Inheritance tax, climate change and the House of Lords were all very interesting. I spoke on the Richard Evans live phone in about Plaid's review on the House of Lords. This discussion has been transferred to National Council, but until it is a fully democratic institution I will reserve my right to be sceptical of Plaid's involvement there. Lady Bethan I will never be!
Back to the Assembly this week, and to lots of interesting debates and meetings....
4 comments:
I hope that you and your colleagues are going to make an official complaint about the lack of TV coverage for the Plaid Conference.
BBC Parliament is currently showing a REPEAT of a full day's coverage of the Lib Dem conference - all that they showed of the Plaid Conference was two hours on Thursday afternoon and two hours on Friday.
There was no conference coverage at all on S4C, the rugby might have been more important for most S4C viewers, but S4C2 could have given full coverage - all it had on throughout the conference was "information pages".
Giving some parties full coverage plus repeats for those who might have missed the daytime coverage, whilst virtually ignoring another party's conference is unfair and undemocratic
Glad to hear, Lady Bethan! Not that I have anything personal against Dafydd El or Dafydd Wigley - who would be next in line for a Lordship - but the whole idea of an aristocracy, and the blatant disregard for democracy shown by selecting Lords tends to get under my skin. The sooner we get a full, bicameral and democratically elected legislature in Wales, the better.
alwyn, I will look in to it. I know that all parties have set times for Conference slots, but I am unsure as to the policy on re-runs etc.
I will certainly follow it up.
Regarding the Remploy Emergency Motion, I re-post what I said on Leanne's blog:
I agree wholeheartedly with your stance. But I do have my concerns. It's not just a matter of keeping the factories open, at least not in the long-term, which is how we need to consider policy.
The fact is that it isn't economically sensible to keep Remploy, and while it is socially sensible, it costs a lot now, and will cost more in the future as Remploy loses more and more money. And this will happen, because of the neo-liberal Holy Grail and True Cross of free-marketism and globalisation.
Localism is gaining ground as the most environmentally-sustainable option. But local production and manufacturing is also the socially-sustainable option. To regenerate communities and enhance social inclusion, we need to turn our backs on the cut-throat competition and ruthless wealth accumulation of the free-market.
In the long-term, this is the only way that we can secure the survival of institutions like Remploy, and even the NHS and the comprehensive education system, and enhance their capabilities as organisations.
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