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Content Articles Pierhead: The column that gets to the heart of Welsh politics i-Cambria April/May07 Pierhead: The column that gets to the heart of Welsh politics
Content Articles Pierhead: The column that gets to the heart of Welsh politics i-Cambria April/May07 Pierhead: The column that gets to the heart of Welsh politics | Pierhead: The column that gets to the heart of Welsh politics |
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David Davies leaves because he has been elected to Westminster for his Assembly seat of Monmouth. His right-wing liveliness will be much missed – although perhaps party leader Nick Bourne might use an alternative phrase. Mr Davies’s value has been his unwillingness to fit into the sometimes stultifying all-party consensus-style thinking which pervades the Assembly.That this includes vigorously attacking some of the beliefs held dear by the soft-left consensus that is supposed to run Wales means the Assembly will become a quieter place – although it will be less likely to appear in the political gossip columns of the Daily Mail or Sunday Telegraph. If Labour’s Huw Lewis (Merthyr and Rhymney) likes to see himself as the archetypical Labour AM fighting for the downtrodden poor of the Valleys, his oppo in Plaid is surely red-headed Owen John Thomas, who is retiring at 67 from South Central. Plaid is, perhaps, the party most affected by the belief that some of the ideas and ideals of its AMs would best stay hidden - just in case they scare the voters. Perhaps that is why their members are so cautious about giving outspoken support to the topic that led to the party’s creation: the Welsh language. The exception is Owen John – who has even had to courage to speak out for a running subsidy for Y Byd, the Welsh language daily due to be launched this autumn. Such a subsidy might breach a few conventions, but it could be argued that the Assembly is European-treaty bound to find such money. It has been a long time since Owen and Huw issued a challenge to “meet outside” after a heated plenary debate; perhaps they have both cooled down a bit. Owen John has the better sense of humour – try him on Catholics and Cardiff Royal Infirmary. Huw’s assured rejection of the Ballad of the Gurnos Olympics is in stark contrast. Janet Davies, Plaid member for South Central, is one of the Assembly’s quieter members But as chair of the audit committee she is viewed with strict respect by organisations hauled in to give evidence after a sometimes-blistering report by the Auditor General for Wales. Mrs Davies, now also 67 and a widow, will be glad of the time she has acquired to get to know her grandchildren better and to do all the things that her time in public life have prevented her from doing. Sometimes, she wonders whether she ought to have retired four years ago; she stayed to help hold the fort when giants like Dafydd Wigley, Dr Phil Williams, Gareth Jones and Cynog Dafis all quit at around the same time. Too-often under-estimated, Janet is one of the founders of her party’s political growth which has done so much to remake the entire political landscape of Wales. Her hidden strengths helped break forever Labour’s arrogant and seemingly perpetual control of the Valleys. Under her leadership Plaid not only took (minority) control of the old Taff Ely council, but also forced the officers to act in accordance with council decisions, rather than according to what they imagined their old Labour masters wanted. A quiet-voiced chartered accountant from Newport will be the Assembly’s first ethnic-minority member. Mohammad Asghar is second on the Plaid Cymru list for South-East and will probably be elected in a region where individual constituencies are now way beyond the reach of the Nationalists. Mr Asghar may find the Senedd chamber quite a rowdy place and, with English as his second language, he may decide often to keep his peace. But don’t underestimate him. Mr Asghar comes from a leading military family in Pakistan featuring air force generals, he is university educated, and he won’t be giving his party unadulterated admiration. Most Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in Newport vote Labour. The Iraq war has certainly strained the link – although John Griffiths, Newport East’s AM, is well known for being a strong critic of Tony Blair’s Middle East policies. Whether Labour deserves those votes can be questioned. Mr Asghar’s daughter speaks such perfect English that, when carrying out research into an aspect of Newport council policy, she spoke to a Labour councillor in the city who – assuming that his questioner was white – launched into a tirade of racist abuse. Expect this to turn up as election propaganda. But it only took an hour or so of each of Tuesday’s or Wednesday’s plenary for opposition discipline to evaporate. Not untypical was the Liberal Democrat-sponsored debate on the police, slating the “dysfunctional” Home Office for wasting £1m on the aborted back-of-a-Blair-sofa plan to merge four Welsh police forces into one; calling for 500 more Police Community Support Officers; and – most important – the devolving of policing to Wales. With powerful elements in both the government and the Tory Party in favour, there was a good chance of most elements sailing through. But entirely absent from the voting were 10 opposition members, including half the Lib Dems. An even worse example – because it would have forced Health Minister Brian Gibbons to stand parts of his rural hospital closure programme on its head – happened earlier in the Assembly. Elin Jones, fighting to retain Ceredigion for Plaid against a strong Lib Dem challenge, had carefully prepared an assault on the thinking behind the Assembly’s demand that every general hospital must be backed by a population of 300,000 – or closed down. That’s fine for industrial districts, but out in the country patients would be saddled with three-hour journeys for major surgery. For such areas she quoted the Royal College of Surgeons’ willingness to accept a catchment of 150,000. But when it came to the vote, the 150,000 amendment was easily rejected; once again, the government won by the so-usual 29-20 votes margin. This time, too many Conservatives were absent. To some extent, that particular failure may not be as bad as it looks. Dr Gibbons, a GP himself and the son of a GP in rural Ireland, has, it seems, been half-convinced by Ms Jones’s arguments. He stated that a stage-two plan is being worked up to deal with rural-area problems. The string of opposition failures must bode ill, however, for those three parties which must successfully form - and then maintain - a governing coalition after the elections. Labour clearly possesses the discipline to keep its act together through thick and thin. The party claims that is because – after the departure of the late Peter Law of Blaenau Gwent – no rebellious character lurks within the ranks. In addition, group meetings successfully hammer out any arguments. But above all there is Labour’s traditional discipline, learned often over the years, and the willingness of their AMs to sit through plenaries even when feeling unwell. If there is any weakness, then it’s bladder control… It’s hard to see a coalition of the three opposition parties faring nearly as well: one of Plaid’s new regional members - and almost certain to be returned – has already been marked down as a rebellious left-wing problem. But then, if Labour loses enough seats, the rump that is returned may well be too dispirited to mount regular challenges to a new government. Somehow, though, I wouldn’t rely on Labour becoming so supine.                |
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