Peter Black says on his blog today that we should get on with the Yes campaign for a Parliament for Wales. I couldn't agree more, but wasn't it the Lib dems who said a while ago that they didn't want a vote on a Parliament on the same day as the next National Assembly elections? Seems a bit disjointed, but now that the Lib dems are changing tactics ( again) and trying to out Welsh Plaid Cymru and the 'Welsh' Conservatives at the moment ( what with Eleanor Burnham's reference to the LCO system as 'swimming through custard') then this doesn't surprise me.
The Convention is set to start its work in the summer, and I see no reason why the Yes campaign cannot start organically regardless of the timeline of the Convention. Surely everything that we are seeking to do in the National Assembly( at least here in Plaid Cymru) is to try and show how and why we need a full legislative Parliament for Wales?
Yes, the current system is complicated and long-winded- but let us not forget that this was instigated as a way to appease the Labour party internally. Again, it was the Unionist vs Devolutionist fight in the Labour party that took precedence over endorsing the findings of the Richard Commission. That is why we are where we are today.
So lets move on, be positive about the Referendum, and enthuse the people of Wales about the importance of the Assembly becoming a Parliament. OK, so the Ian Lucas's and the Don Touhig's of this World probably don't have constituency offices brimming with letter on the constitutional question at face value, but when we delve into the issues, then the importance of enhancing the powers of the Assembly becomes clear.
People want to know why the National Assembly can't decide to keep the Post Offices open, why we can't change the regressive immigration and asylum policies of London Labour. People want to know why we can't make decisions on planning applications above 50MW, and why the Assembly can't reach the child poverty targets alone. There are many things that we can do currently as an Institution, but for the sake of clarity and consistency, as well as for the sake of enshrining the rights of the people of Wales- we must campaign for a successful outcome to this referendum.
4 comments:
And the good lord - or at least, his supposed representative s on earth - will be on your side too, Bethan. I'm speaking about the Archbishop of Wales' statements that the lack of law-making powers is immoral...
http://charliemarks.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/lack-of-self-government-immoral-says-welsh-archbishop/
Bethan, from you last paragraph it seems you want a referendum on independence not on a Scottish style Parliament. If you are holding out to give the Assembly powers over the Post Office, Asylum and child poverty then you will be waiting much longer than 2011. Who is confused now?
Wanting a referendum as soon as possible is perfectly consistent with not wanting it on the same day as the Assembly elections and is one reason why we are running out of time. Combining the two is a perfect recipe for losing that referendum because any cross-party consensus will be lost in the election campaign. If you cannot see that then Plaid Cymru really are in cloud cuckoo land.
What I am trying to say is that we need to be explaining why we are tied on various issues as an Instituion, and make it clear that we want more powers to be able to shape the future of Wales.
Yes we will need far more powers to deal with asylum and immigration, but we need to make the arguments for more powers so that we can win people over.
Wanting the referendum as soon as possible is my goal as well, but I don't see how coming out against it happening on the same day as the next Assembly elections assists the argument at all. If it happens at that particular point in time, I will be content.
Good point about having an organic "yes" campaign rather than waiting for the official top-down convention to get going. If we're going to have the powers it must be a people-led campaign.
While Lucas may not have many letters about the convention, I suspect he has even fewer asking him to draw dragons on Union Jacks. Lucas is an ideological enemy of democracy for Wales; he doesn't trust the people of Wales to be able to decide their own futures.
As for the Lib Dems... slippery is the only polite word I can use for these chancers.
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