Did anyone notice?

His Lordship has been attempting to deflect attention away from the negative press on withdrawing the Assembly's first landmark decision on the Welsh language, by regurgitating his annual attempt at dissing the Conservative party when it comes to devolution.

Did anyone notice his constitutional mistake? Answers on a postcard, or simply in the comments section.

Meanwhile a Labour-Plaid Cymru led national discussion - A last public question time session on more possible powers for the Welsh assembly will be held later at the National Eisteddfod in Bala, Gwynedd.

The meeting will be the final public event held by the All Wales Convention to gauge views on whether there is an appetite for more powers.

The session follows 23 events across Wales attended by almost 2,000 people since they began a year ago.

A report on the consultation process will be presented to ministers.

We can't wait for the 'report'.

Nationalist Nonsense

What's the point of Nationalists arguing cases such as THIS and THIS.

All David Cameron's saying is that there's an interim report on his desk (well-publicised in the media). Let's wait for an official announcement.

Let's all be grown-up about this.

The Best Waste of £200k of Public Money: Meme

Matt Wardman believes it's time for a Meme and he could be right. I've been tagged and it all started with this:

This morning Tom Harris MP proposed that the Howden and Haltemprice by-election was a monumental “waste of public money” of the order of “two hundred grand”. I differ; it is well worth it.

Matt's suggestions for the most monumental waste of £200k include:

The £200k costs being paid by the taxpayer for Ann Winterton MP and Nicholas Winterton MPs to rent their London house from themselves, and the death duty tax dodge that goes with it. The £200k estimated to have been spent by Mr Speaker Michael Martin on Legal Fees in order to keep MP’s expense details concealed from the public. The £200k of public money spent on each 0.04% of the £500 million just written off by the M.O.D. over the Special Forces Helicopters disaster.

I haven't seen the figure quoted in the Welsh budget but THIS public relations exercise isn't going to be cheap.

I’ll tag:
Cambria Politico, Cynical Dragon, Dylan Jones-Evans, Ordovicius, Peter Black AM, David Cornock (BBC Journalist), Three Line Whip, Iain Dale's Diary, and J. Arthur MacNumpty

Update: Italian chairs and desks formed part of a total spend of £880,000 on furnishing the new Caerphilly Council headquarters at Tredomen Business Park in Ystrad Mynach.

Talk about taking it to the next level.

Senedd Circular: Easter Recess Catch-up

This article appears in The Wardman Wire:

This week, Pippa Wagstaff writes her first column for the Wardman Wire about events at the National Assembly for Wales (the Senedd) in Cardiff. It has been held over from last week. Usually the column will appear on Thursdays.

Cranking the Starting Handle

The Assembly is currently in the middle of its Easter Recess, so I’ve taken the opportunity to bring us up-to-date on what’s hot on the political agenda at the run up to the Assembly’s return to Cardiff Bay.

You can take it as read that there are more important things to life. In my life, at least, there’s family and a new career opportunity that’s taking up so much of my time at the moment. I’ve recently taken a short break away from blogging – part work, part pleasure, part nightmare! Now I’ve found my way back to Cardiff, and eventually back to what lurks down the bay – Welsh politics, or beneath, in the darker areas - the politics of coalition.

I don’t sleep deeply these days, and this can be partly blamed (in equal proportions) on having ‘a little one’ and having ‘a big one’. The little one is self-explanatory. The big one being ‘Miss Wagstaff Presents’, which has always concerned itself with the Government of Wales being more of a ‘first-to-do’ or ‘freebie’ government, that has become affectionately known as a gimmick government. Whether the cause is good or bad, it’s a government that concerns itself with headlines rather than getting down to the bread and butter issues of devolution. Whether it’s the first to appoint a Children’s Commissioner; an Older People’s Commissioner; the introduction of free NHS prescriptions; or even its recent attempt – capturing the attention of the UK public (and probably for the first time) – in starting the ball rolling for free parking at hospitals. You can always rely on the Welsh Government to grab some attention seeking headlines in the name of progress. More will be made of this in future columns.

Senedd Snippets:

• Assembly Members trying to buy their way into heaven
• Senedd proved to be a success
• Possible referendum rift between the cohabiting coalition partners
• History in the making and laws for the taking
• Plaid/Labour coalition – keep your enemies close

Buying a stairway to heaven

There’s rarely an appropriate time to make such an announcement as ‘a more than significant pay rise’, and now is certainly not the best time when we’re all meant to be tightening our belts. This is one to split the opinion of all parties within the Assembly. To the outcry of public sector workers everywhere, Welsh Assembly Members were handed an extra 8.3% in their pay packets (backdated to May 2007). Meant to be endorsed by the Assembly Commission and its membership from all political parties, Plaid Cymru broke ranks, and six members immediately refused to accept the pay rise, which was seen by some as an opportunistic way to buy your way into the hearts of the Welsh public. Their leader, Ieuan Wyn Jones, took this further by stating that he will give most of his rise (that above inflation) to charity in the first year. However, Lord Elis-Thomas, the Assembly’s Presiding Officer and chief diplomat in the making, graciously accepted the pay rise as being a “changing differential in pay”. Whether or nor it is seen as a “slap in the face” to public sector workers, the pay rise is here to stay, and this can be seen as easy political manoeuvring for capital of a different kind. When does a person stop giving the excess to charity? Miss Wagstaff will have to remind certain AMs to set up a standing order in future.

Senedd proved to be a success!

No, not this belated column, or my fellow contributor to Miss Wagstaff Presents, ‘Senedd Whip’, but the leaky Senedd building (well, it is Wales) and its construction, that has been proved to be a Welsh success story according to the Auditor General for Wales.

A report recently published concludes that the landmark debating chamber in Cardiff Bay was delivered “on time and on budget”, which is more than can be said in recent reports of financial flaws and inconsistencies in the way last year's Welsh assembly election was run, which have been identified by the Electoral Commission. Its report shows not all of the £4.5m spent on the election was properly accounted for.

We can’t win them all, so better luck next time.

Cohabiting Coalition Cleavage: Referendum Rift

This was always going to be a major issue between coalition partners in government and a bone for other parties in Wales to chew on. Labour has been accused of working to ensure there is not enough time to secure a referendum on a Welsh Parliament before the next Assembly election in 2011. This month we have been told that the All-Wales Convention, which will judge public support for law-making powers, will not report until late 2009. The powers that this Referendum will give the Assembly are already available through Legislative Competence Orders (a request from the Welsh Assembly Government to legislate in a particular area), and will continue to be available even if a referendum is held and lost. The referendum is far more important to Plaid in being seen as the ‘next stage’ towards independence. Once they clear this hurdle, they can then harp on about a totally independent Wales with the right to its own destiny. However, hurdles are a plenty on this further road to devolution. Being part of the ‘One Wales Agreement’ that binds the coalition government in Cardiff, this could possibly be the section that kills the coalition in the end. A yes vote in a referendum will merely make the whole law-making process simpler.

Those in the red-green coalition are all positive about the prospect of pulling this one off; the rift appears to be in Westminster. However, it has to be said, that this way is the only one, where Labour and Plaid can manage to argue party politics these days and still remain willing partners in Cardiff – hunky-dory in Cardiff Bay and a bit of a kerfuffle in Westminster. Even former Secretary and yes-vote supreme, Peter Hain MP, is getting in on the act: “I set up the Yes For Wales campaign in 1997, but I do not believe the time is right for a further referendum in this Assembly term”. This is much to the annoyance of unofficial Plaid leader and part-time philosopher, Adam Price MP, “Some people in the Labour Party thought Christmas had come early when we agreed to join them in a red/green coalition. But we were very clear-minded and hard-edged in our thinking. If anyone thinks the Labour Party can walk away from an agreement it has signed up to, they are not living in the real political world.”

Someone is going to be disappointed, but not today.

History in the making. Laws for the taking

The word historical is a common one that is widely used in the stages of Welsh devolution. For the first time since May 2007, MPs have debated a Legislative Competence Order, which quietly slipped into the history books. The National Assembly for Wales Legislative Competence (Education and Training) Order 2008 was cleared by Committee and the House of Commons, and is on its way for final approval by Privy Council.

It’s been a long time coming, but the Assembly should be able to legislate in this area before Summer Recess - but don’t hold your breath. Some Welsh politicians were optimistic about the number of Assembly Measures that will be able to be passed in an Assembly term; those original figures now look as believable as a children’s fairy story. The process is time consuming and inefficient when it comes to getting the job done. Many fear that this will play into the hands of the Nationalists who will cry out, “the current devolution settlement isn’t working”. Unionists, on the other hand, need to get the process changed and not wait for the inevitable backlash.

Plaid/Labour coalition. Keep your enemies close

Assembly Government insiders have been suggesting that members of First Minister Rhodri Morgan’s team are trying to undermine Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones.

One allegation is that the Plaid Cymru leader’s diary is being overloaded with engagements, so he is left with no time to think - “There are days when he is working from 8am until 10pm. It seems there could be a subtle game going on, with an attempt to make sure Ieuan gets bogged down in a top-heavy schedule of engagements while having little time to reflect.”

Welsh politicos with long-term memories should remember the fuss that was made when the Deputy First Minister was appointed as he then went on to appoint one of his own political support staff to the civil servant position of Diary Secretary. Sounds like she was also kept too busy to notice what was going on, as surely most political types would’ve seen this coming a long time ago.

And finally…

I’ll have to end it there for a first column article, and as I haven’t even mentioned the upcoming local government election that is on our doorstep, it would be wise of me to make a customer service announcement at this point.

If this doesn’t demonstrate to future would-be councillors the harsh reality of politics, then nothing will… One of Welsh Labour’s rising stars has failed to secure selection as a candidate for his council seat – despite being on a shortlist of one.

Heads down and let’s brace ourselves in anticipation for the build up to May.

Alas Goldsmith and Jones

Commentators on Lord Goldsmith’s review of citizenship have focused on a specific proposal, that schoolchildren should swear oaths of alliance to the Queen. The oaths, he said, would tackle a “dimunition in national pride” and address the divided nature of Britain. But polls and surveys about national identity suggest nationalism in Britain is not necessarily diminishing, but rather changing and evolving. Take a walk in Cardiff Bay and you will see the Senedd building and the Wales Millennium Centre – two monuments in the Welsh capital to a changing Wales.

Whereas some national groups define themselves on primarily ethnic grounds Wales’ emerging identity is rooted in these new institutions. A Welsh ethnic category does not exist and neither does a British one, except in the minds of a few at the extremes. British identity in more modern times has often been wedded to the British/English/UK state and to the promotion of democracy at home and abroad.

But there are now democratic institutions in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and these have had tangible effects on the nations they represent. Recent coverage of the Welsh Assembly Government’s decision to phase out hospital car park charges show the UK media are slowly beginning to report the differences arising within the UK nations. There have been faults and Freudian slips that reveal a concerning ignorance of UK events. More than one UK broadsheet newspaper has in the past year mistakenly referred to July 1, 2007, as the date of the ‘UK smoking ban’, missing the fact that Wales and Scotland banned smoking in public places earlier.

When George Bush made his 'you're either for us or against us' speech about terrorism, a lot of people decided they were against 'us' not because of the attractiveness of the opposition but the unattractiveness of 'us'. The measures proposed by Lord Goldsmith could well have the similar, unintended effect of alienating anyone who does not wish to swear allegiance to the Queen. What is needed is a better, less polarised debate about what the union is and where it is going.

One Wales: Not worth the paper it's written on

With an early call for more cash than expected for a Daily Newspaper in Welsh, the One Wales Agreement now has more cracks than my Grandmother's china. The upcoming local election will no doubt also add to the tension between the two coalition partners.

In the latest chapter from today's news, Ned Thomas, chair of Dyddiol Cyf, said they were "firmly of the opinion" the assembly government was not fulfilling a pledge in the coalition One Wales document to back moves to expand the Welsh-language sector, and set up a daily paper in the language.

This is just a short post on the subject, but considering the many events since July 2007, we can't help but think that this 'One Wales' document isn't worth the paper it's written on.

The product and the process

One of the most important moves of the Labour-Plaid Cymru government was the establishment of the all-Wales Convention. The Convention will explore the case for further powers for the Assembly, was a key One Wales commitment and will test the strength of the coalition. The test will be how quickly Labour (Welsh and UK) can respond to Plaid Cymru's efforts to push full steam ahead towards a Welsh Parliament.

The Convention deals with proposed future powers. The Assembly has two important processes already, Legislative Competence Orders and Measures. For the unfamiliar, a Measure should be explained first. It is an Assembly law and can make 'any provision that could be made by Act of Parliament' (according to the new arrangements since the last Assembly election.) But there are three conditions to this. Firstly, and most naturally, it must relate only to Wales. Secondly, it must fall under an Assembly 'Field' of legislative competence, something like 'economic development' or 'health and social care'. Thirdly, it must relate to specific 'Matter' within one of these Fields. An LCO is more simple to define. It is the process of adding Matters to the Fields. In other words, it is Westminster's permission to legislate and represents a widening of Assembly powers within a Field.

Crucially, it is only permission to legislate and so the Assembly will still have to form Measures afterwards to make Assembly laws. We should find it concerning that there is only one Measure currently being processed, the NHS Redress Act. At the same time, there are five LCOS – on learning needs, environmental protection, vulnerable children, domiciliary care and affordable housing. Put far more simply, and in light of the Convention, the Assembly seems more concerned with widening its powers with no clue (sorry, one clue) about what to do with the powers!

Sir Emyr's around Wales rally ends in 2009

Following on from my last post and the mention of yet another eminent man, Sir Emyr Jones-Parry, who was a major figure in Welsh news yesterday and today. He's certainly made the most of his media appearances yesterday and I enjoyed listening to him answering his critics on Dragon's Eye and then on Waterfront last night.

Don Touhig did make mischief yet again on Dragon's Eye, but I hardly think that a man whose political career has rarely got off the ground should question another on his unsuitability and lack of Welshness, and then attempting to make him look like a victim of his own success. Fancy taking on a career diplomat yet again, and with such a weak argument.

Sir Emyr:

Anybody who tells me I need a sat nav, I'll compete with them in a rally around Wales without a map.

I did happen to cover my eyes when Sir Emyr started to question the original devolution settlement and wished him to stop while he had the upper hand. I guess even a diplomat can get it wrong sometimes, so there's hope for all of us.

Sir Emyr, you're always welcome at mine for dinner on your rally around Wales. Most of the population are behind you and you'll always find that we're proud of one of our own that has done good.