Wales' and Britain's New Olympian

Congratulations to Nicole Cooke on winning the gold medal in the Women's Cycling Road Race today, doing Wales proud in the process. We've known it for years, and today the world also knows just how good she is as an athlete. This Bridgend girl deserved to win an Olympic Gold Medal, and Britain's first gold medal of the Beijing Olympics.

Tragedy in Antigua

Going off tangent from politics, I couldn't help but notice that the police officer heading the inquiry into the murders of a British honeymoon couple in Antigua has quit. This will be of little or no comfort to both families during their time of grief. My second thought - after trying to get my head around what the families must be going through at the moment - was one of cynicism. I can't help thinking that the two resignations are a desperate attempt by the island to save its tourism industry. Let's hope that their replacements and assistance from the UK will bring about a speedy but just arrest.

It also sickens me to hear that their families have been hounded for their stories by the insensitive element of the media, when they should be left alone to come to terms with their sad and tragic loss. May they both rest in peace.

The island's minister of justice said Detective Chief Ron Scott had resigned for personal reasons. The Canadian officer had been appointed in February to head and reform the local force.

Mr Scott had been supervising the inquiry into the fatal shootings of Ben and Catherine Mullany, both 31 and from south Wales.

The couple from Pontardawe in the Swansea Valley, were shot in their hotel cottage on 28 July, the last day of their honeymoon, in what police think was a robbery which went wrong. Catherine Mullany, who was training to become a GP, was killed instantly after being shot in the head.

Her husband, a University of the West of England physiotherapy student, died a week later after being airlifted to hospital in Swansea in a critical condition.

Several people have been questioned in connection with their deaths.

Mr Scott is the second top officer to resign in a month - Michael O'Neil, the former deputy commissioner left earlier.

Justice Minister Colin Derrick said a replacement for Mr O'Neil had been identified and was due on the island shortly.

Changing, not for change's sake

I've talked many times about changing the look of this blog. Sometimes family, friends, work, and even my lack of IT skills get in the way. I can't continue to pass the blame.

Some question whether bloggers are a dying breed, while others attempt to criticise the way we choose to blog (thanks to Peter Black AM and Al Iguana for their views). I obviously intend to post on this at some point. For now, I intend to stop putting off until tomorrow what I can do today, and work on the layout of this blog before I go any further.

The content, contributors (which may increase), enthusiasm, and support for blogging and bloggers will remain the same. In the meantime blogging may be light (I've said that before) while I work on the overall look of 'Miss Wagstaff Presents' over the next week.

How can I possibly forget...The Riddler

The Riddler

to pierce the artifice in Welsh Politics. The Riddler - A former member of parliament now living in Wales. Now very bored.

and his classic...

"While the boards say impressed things from a willing serrated tongue in a pitch pippa would not spit the pips of an orange land the sycamore cladding will object in sly computer waves through its dark slate."

Fresh faces for the Blogosphere

A warm and open-armed welcome to:

Brother Tecwyn

I am a member of the Labour party and a committed socialist. I stand kinda halfway between Old and New Labour. I am a Christian, am Welsh and speak the language fluently. But don’t get me wrong. I offensive, like my women and drink too much. And, controversially, I don't always follow the party line. You could say I'm the nionist Rhodri Glyn Thomas, but you'd be wrong.

Rhetoric Innes

A West Wales Lib Dem gives his thoughts on various subjects (MW: including me).

Up the Valleys (which has been around for a while. I've been slow on the uptake)

Just a personal blog, covering whatever topic I feel like ranting about today

Second Annual Welsh Blog Index Awards

It must be the Awards season as The Welsh Blog Index has recently made an announcement and encouraging all Welsh bloggers to post on the item. The site is an excellent source for blog round ups in Wales.

It's time for the second annual Welsh Blog Index awards. Nominations will close at 12.00pm on August 31st with the winners announced on September 1st.

Please email your nominations to welshblogindex@hotmail.co.uk

The categories are:

• Best Politicians Blog
• Best Media Blog
• Best Other Blog
• Best Welsh Language Blog
• Best Newcomer (for blogs that were established after August 15th 2007):
• Most Improved Blog

There will be at least one new winner as last years best other political blog Normal Mouth has now left us.

DotCYM, an unsavoury opportunity for some

A £20,000 grant to secure a "dot cym" internet address for Wales is to be given by the assembly government.

Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said the money was to support the DotCYM campaign for a Welsh version of the .com or co.uk endings. He said it would "open up new marketing opportunities and help promote the Wales brand."

Broadcasters on BBC Wales news were reluctant to pronounce the proposed "dot CYM" type internet address. Instead, spelling out the name as "dot C-Y-M"

I wonder why this could be. Surely it couldn't be down to the opportunity for some on the World Wide Web. Just goes to show that some things are not thought through from start to finish.

Leighton jumping ship... again!

Matt Withers from 'Wales on Sunday' in a new post on his blog, 'All aboard the Miliband Express' speculates on

... the growing number of Labourites, seeing the way the prevailing wind is blowing, are being lured by the fresh face, boyish charms and fighting talk of Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

Rhodri Morgan thinks any kind of leadership bid would be "suicide". But at least one of his Labour ministers is keen to be intellectually linked to the man known as 'Brains'. Here's a press release sent out by Deputy Regeneration Minister Leighton Andrews today:

LABOUR Minister Leighton Andrews [MW: an outside, outside contender for leader of Welsh Labour] says that that genuine community empowerment must be at the heart of the next phase of devolution.

The Rhondda AM, who co-ordinated the successful Yes for Wales campaign in 1997 will speak of the need for "double devolution" - echoing a phrase first used by Foreign Secretary David Miliband in his role as Environment Secretary in February 2006.

Speaking during a Community Housing Cymru debate at the National Eisteddfod in Cardiff, Mr Andrews will say:"It is not just about transferring law-making powers from Westminster to the Assembly - we should be championing the transfer of more power to our communities as well. Double devolution, in other words."

Gosh - and this from the man who once wrote: "The success of Gordon Brown as the new Prime Minister provides a strong lesson for Welsh Labour on how to renew itself in office seamlessly. We must ensure that we build on the platform that Gordon Brown has built for us."

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or even loose endorsement in this case. If you can switch from one political party to another in order to suit your needs and political outlook, why not from one leader to another within one party?

Welsh Politics needs an Open Culture in the Welsh Assembly Government

Interesting new post from Matt Wardman which I think may be of interest to readers of this blog. Read for yourselves:

I had an exchange with Tom Watson MP, who launched the debate that lead to eventual creation of the Principles for Participation Online for Civil Servants, before my interview with Radio Wales.

In my first post, I said:

I wonder if I can get a statement from Tom Watson by 5:00pm that the Principles for Online Participation apply in Wales as well as England?

This article is to look at Tom’s reply and to ask a couple of questions about the Welsh Assembly Government.

Reply from Tom Watson
I asked:
Tom - can you confirm that Civil Service Principles for Participation Online apply in Wales? CS Code does. I’m on Radio later about CS blogs 03:36 PM August 04, 2008

Tom Replied:
Hi Matt, for civil servants employed by the UK government, yes. People employed by the Assembly have a separate code. That’s devolution. 04:28 PM August 04, 2008

Reading the Runes

Thanks, Tom, for a quick reply (another use for Twitter). So the facts are as follows:

1. The Welsh Assembly Government has adopted the UK Civil Service Code practically verbatim (Welsh Civil Service Code, UK Civil Service Code - both as at July 2008, both small PDF files). The “separate” code is roughly different in replacing “Westminster” with “Cardiff”.
2. The Principles for Participation Online are short and sweet.
   

I went into these differences in detail here.

The question then becomes:
The Principles for Participation Online have now been out for some time (since around June 19th), so why can’t they just be adopted straight into the system in Wales - as is already the precedent with the substantive Civil Service Code?

Taking Action
If I was an employee of the W.A.G. I’d be asking management for confirmation that the Principles for Participation Online apply. Who knows, they might say “Yes“.

If I was a blogging AM, I’d be thinking about asking a few questions to clarify the situation, and hopefully precipitate some action.

If I was an employee of part of the UK-wide Civil Service in Wales (DVLA, maybe?), I’d be informing my management that they applied - perhaps via a Union (or my blog!) if I was worried of being accused of being a tall poppy.

The Most Important Point
The Principles for Online Participation could represent a good step forward - as they allow a lot of leeway for local decision making. But I still think this is mainly about a change to a culture of encouraging political debate rather than stifling it.

The most important point is the last one I mentioned in the Radio discussion - at a time when the rhetoric is calling for more political participation, why are bloggers (who are doing just that) still getting chopped off at the knee? View it from a slightly different angle, and political (or professional) blogs by Civil Servants could be a triumph of open government. It would certainly beat winning a jar of bath salts in a prize draw for voting.

Another good start would be to unblock ALL blogs in ALL Civil Service establishments. Regulate reading during working hours - fine, but at lunchtime? Come on, boys and girls … let’s have some changes.

Not supported by the Assembly Government

Too many things in Wales have 'Supported by the Assembly Government' written on them. It may come as a great surprise to you that this blog isn't one of them.

Miss Wagstaff Presents... 'Not supported by the Assembly Government'.

Thanks to Dotcommentator for the idea and Matt Wardman for the logo.

The Radio Audio of blogging civil servants, and Miss Wagstaff on Facebook

In case you missed the discussion on 'Good Evening Wales' about recent events in the Welsh blogosphere and Facebook, Matt Wardman has kindly placed the audio on his blog.

We were talking about the restrictions on blogging Civil Servants in Wales, in the light of Miss Wagstaff’s expulsion from Facebook.

I’m delighted that Peter Black AM was more controversial than I was. Welsh Assembly Government “stalinist” indeed - ouch!

The only missing point that perhaps needed to be made was a detailed one that the Christopher Glamorganshire sacking case happened before the “Principles for Participation Online” were officially adopted in England.

I also didn’t get the chance to suggest that the Welsh Assembly Government are perhaps having their internal culture inspired too much by the Torchwood programme episodes set in the 1940s. A problem of working too close to a film set, perhaps.

Peter Black’s final point about the need for consultation with employees is excellent, and it seems to me that - if the Welsh Assembly Government can adopt the Civil Service Code itself with virtually no changes - then it can’t be very difficult to adopt a 79-word set of principles (warning: pic of Government Minister at end of link !).

Live at 17:30 - Good Evening Wales: Welsh Blogging and Facebook

Unfortunately, I'm unavailable for comment, however, my old blogging friend Matt Wardman will be taking part in the radio programme, Good Evening Wales a little later today (just after 5:30) talking about Welsh Political Blogging by Civil Servants from the point of view of an “outsider”, as a result of the coverage he has been giving to the Christopher Glamorganshire case in Wales, and also the Civil Serf case before that.

Matt writes:

I expect to be talking about the difference in attitudes to political blogging by Civil Servants in England and Wales. I am told that Peter Black AM will be joining us.

I think this is the first time in my life that I will have been on the Radio with a real politician. Is that good or bad?

I wonder if I can get a statement from Tom Watson by 5:00pm that the Principles for Online Participation apply in Wales as well as England?

Farcebook
Good Evening Wales are doing this piece because a Welsh Political Blogger - Miss Wagstaff - has been thrown off Facebook because allegations had been made that she was running a “Fake Account”.

You can read the account here. The serious point was that they just swallowed the allegations hook, line and sinker and took action with even checking. That looks far too reminiscent of what many webhosts do in respond to letters alleging defamation for me to be comfortable with it.

As Miss W says, "Why not raise the question with me of the possibility of ‘real and fake names’ in the first instance - before deactivation."

Research Question
Anyway - do you know anyone else that this has happened to, since Facebook seem to be making more than a little of an arse of themselves on this one. The problem seems to be one of action taken on the basis of allegations with no fact checking. I’ve been digging for a few minutes and I have found:

Last December Facebook told Steve Webb MP that he was an imposter and deleted his account. That may be true of the new Lib Dem satellite tracking policy pretending not to be Big Brother, but I think I believe that Steve Webb MP is himself.

Valleys Mam has also had problems.

Does anybody know of any others that are interesting or amusing?

I note that Genghis Kahn has an account. Presumably he is impersonating Alistair Campbell.

Any more for any more?

Two weeks to go

There are two weeks left to get your votes in. Don't forget to vote for some Welsh blogs.

Witanagemot Awards 2008

The votes have been counted, just over 300 of them, and the results are in (Last year's results here (pdf)). How did your favourite blog do?

Political Blog: By Affiliation
Best blog by a politician (MP, MSP, AM, Cllr, etc.)
John Redwood
Tom Harris
Nadine Dorries

Best Labour Party supporting blog
Bob Piper
Paul Linford
Tom Harris

Best Conservative Party supporting blog
Iain Dale
Letters from a Tory
Conservative Home

Best Liberal Democrat Party supporting blog
Norfolk Blogger
LibDem Voice
Liberal England

Best minor party blog (UKIP, nationalists, Green, BNP, etc.)
Devil's Kitchen
Ordovicius
Wonko's World

Political Blog: By Alignment
Best right-wing blog
Devil's Kitchen
Iain Dale
Guido Fawkes

Best left-wing blog
Ministry of Truth
Harry's Place
Liberal Conspiracy

Best centre-ground blog
Paul linford
Political Betting
Wardman Wire

Political Blog: By Location
Best English political blog
Iain Dale
Devil's Kitchen
Little Man in a Toque

Best Scottish political blog
Mr Eugenides
Adam Smith was a Socialist
Freedom and Whisky

Best Irish political blog
Slugger O'Toole
United Irelander
Guido Fawkes

Best Northern Irish political blog
Slugger O'Toole
A Pint of Unionist Lite
A Tangled Web

Best Welsh political blog
Ordovicius
Glyn Davies
Peter Black

Best Foreign political blog (by foreigner outside the British Isles)
Daily Kos
India Uncut
Kiwi Blog

Best Ex-pat political blog (by Brit outside the UK or non-Brit resident in the British Isles)
Last Ditch
Tim Worstall
Remittance Man

Best Local political blog for local people (city / town / provincial)
Edinburgh sucks
Waendel Journal
West Brom Blog

Political Blog: By Main Stream Media, Organisation or Campaign
Best Political Blog run from a main stream media website (TV, Radio, Magazine, Newspaper)
Spectator Coffee House
Comment is Free
Brian Taylor & Nick Robinson

Best blog by a professional journalist
Nick Robinson
Benedict Brogan
Brian Taylor

Best Campaigning Blog
CEP
Burning Our Money
Taxpayers Alliance

Best Blog by non-media organisation
Adam Smith Institute
CEP
Labour Home

Political Blog: By Subject Matter
Best Election coverage / Polling Blog
Political Betting
UK Polling Report
Iain Dale

Best Westminster Village Gossip
Iain Dale
Guido Fawkes
Political Betting

Best Holyrood Gossip
Brian Taylor
Scottish Tory Boy
Crap Holyrood Chat

Best Cardiff Bay Gossip
Miss Wagstaff
Glyn Davies
Peter Black

Best Northern Ireland coverage/Stormont Gossip
Slugger O'Toole
A Tangled Web
Modern Unionist Voice

Best Economics Blog
Tim Worstall
Burning Our Money
http://cityunslicker.blogspot.com/

Best Blog Dealing with Religious Matters
Archbishop Cranmer
Ruth Gledhill
Libby Purves

Best Human Rights/Civil Liberties Blog
Devil's Kitchen
Longrider
Liberal Conspiracy

Best Foreign Affairs (including Iraq and Afghan wars)
Croydonian
Harry's Place
Devil's Kitchen

Best Constitutional Reform Blog
Our Kingdom
CEP
EU Referendum

Best Environmental/Green Issues Blog
Two Doctors
The Daily Maybe
The Difference

Best Law and Order Blog
Nightjack
The Policeman's Blog
Police Inspector Blog

Best Libertarian Blog
Devil's Kitchen
Guido Fawkes
Last Ditch

Best anti-EU blog
EU Referendum
Devil's Kitchen
England Expects & Eurealist

Best pro-EU blog
Nosemonkey
Jon Worth
Richard Corbett

Best Political Satire
Daily Mash
Guido Fawkes
Nanny Knows Best

Best coverage and analysis of politics and current affairs
Iain Dale
Guido Fawkes
Political Betting

Best English nationalist blog
Little Man in a Toque
Wonko's World
CEP News Blog

Best Scottish nationalist blog
Adam Smith was a Socialist
McNumpty
SNP Tactical Voting

Best Irish nationalist blog
United Irelander
Splintered Sunrise
El Blognador

Best Welsh nationalist blog
Ordovicius
Miserable Old Fart
BlogMenai

Best British nationalist blog
BNP
A Pint of Unionist Lite
Nationalist News

Political Blog: Miscellaneous
Best discussion / Community (which blog generates the best comment threads)
Political Betting
Devil's Kitchen
Guido Fawkes

Best multiple author/group blog
Harry's Place
Devil's Kitchen
Spectator Coffee House

Blogger most likely to vote for a donkey if you slapped the correct colour rosette on it
Iain Dale
Chris Paul
Neil Harding

Most vindictive political blogger
Devil's Kitchen
Guido Fawkes
Tim Ireland

Blogger most deserving of a book deal
Mr Eugenides
Dizzy Thinks
Devil's Kitchen

Best Blog design
Devil's Kitchen
Dodgeblogium
Iain Dale

Best new blog (a new addition to the blogosphere in 2008)
Letters from a Tory
Tom Harris
The Happy Blog of Harriet Harman

Blogger you would most like to share a pint with
Devil's Kitchen
Guido Fawkes
Linford / Worstall

Blogger you would most like to shag
Trixy
Bethan Jenkins
Iain Dale / Devil's Kitchen

Blogger with the best sense of humour
Devil's Kitchen
Guido Fawkes
Mr Eugenides

Blogger most desperate to win blogging awards
Iain Dale
Guido Fawkes
Wonko

Blogger that you never agree with
Dirty European Socialist
Tim Montgomerie
Recess Monkey

Most dyslexic blogger
Kev
Dizzy Thinks
Terry Kelly

Blogger most likely to be suffering from Tourette's syndrome
Devil's Kitchen
Terry Kelly
Old Holborn

Blogger most likely to have bi-polar disorder
Devil's Kitchen
Tim Ireland
Nadine Dorries

Shouldn't be allowed to own a computer, let alone have a blog
Dirty European Socialist
Tim Ireland
Nadine Dorries

Most missed (retirement from the world of blogging)
Reactionary Snob
EU Serf
Normal Mouth

Political Blog: Overall
The British Isles' best political blog
Iain Dale
Devil's Kitchen
Guido Fawkes

The British Isles' most influential political blog
Guido Fawkes
Iain Dale
Political Betting

Political Blog: Witanagemot Club
How often do you read The Witanagemot Club?
Daily 9.50% Occasionally 31.5% Often 15.5% Rarely 13% What? 30.5%

Which is your favourite Witanagemot Club blog?
Iain Dale
Devil's Kitchen
Wonko's World

Gossip! Me? Never! Good news for a change

Apparently I've been awarded first prize in the 'Best Cardiff Bay Gossip' category in the Witanagemot Awards. Not sure how many voted for me or why.

Such a wonderful feeling after the recent negative action against me. Slightly disappointed not to be mentioned in the same category as Bethan Jenkins AM. You can't win them all [laugh].

Thanks to Damon Lord for letting me know.

Wiped from the Face (book) of the earth

"Facebook is a social utility that connects you with the people around you." No longer, thanks to the Facebook fascists!

It seems that due to a number of complaints from Labour party members [including a reasonably well-known UK blogger; a Labour Special Adviser; and a member of the National Assembly] and one from a member of Plaid Cymru, my Facebook account is no more.

Those that want to spread a little affection can still join the Miss Wagstaff Presents blog network.
I noticed on 17 July that my account had been disabled:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have just been informed that my account has been disabled without a warning or explanation. Would you be so kind as to explain the reason why.

Yours,

Pippa Wagstaff (Wales)

On 21 July 2008 I received this response from Facebook:

Hi,
Fake accounts are a violation of our Terms of Use. Facebook requires users to provide their real first and last names. Impersonating anyone or anything is prohibited. Unfortunately, we will not be able to reactivate this account for any reason. This decision is final.

Thanks for your understanding,

Bella
User Operations
Facebook

Fair enough, I thought! Wrong use of "Thanks for your understanding" was another. But why not raise the question with me of the possibility of 'real and fake names' in the first instance - before deactivation.

I wrote back with the following:

Thank you for getting back to me. I can assure you that I am not impersonating anyone or anything. Pippa Wagstaff is my real name, and I have even noticed - to my surprise - that there are others with that name on Facebook.

I hope that you will reconsider.

Kind regards,
Pippa

I should have known better and atleast I'm happy with the name Pippa Wagstaff. I'm slightly disturbed that they haven't even asked me if this is my real name. As I've mentioned, there are others with this name on Facebook - I was curious and looked them up. In fact, there are plenty with some weird and wonderful names on Facebook that haven't been deleted, and I say good luck to them.

I can only imagine that this will put others off from joining Facebook, if their genuine names and account can be deleted without a hint of warning, and with such contempt for the person who joined in the first place. I just hope that like me they don't rely on the social network to keep in touch with others, or they could be in for a shock some day.

In the real world they shouldn't have done this without checking all the facts first. I expect it's too late to reinstate in my case.

Banned internally by the Welsh Assembly Government. Now erased from Facebook without them even questioning me about my identity. I don't know what the world is coming to, but admit that thankfully I will now have an extra 20-30 minutes spare each day. This got me thinking about how much time some of us dedicate to online networking, and maybe we should take note and all free up some extra time in our daily lives and do something more meaningful.

This is a non-aligned blog, but the evidence demonstrates that it must be getting under someone's skin. It's just a shame that I know who - it spoils the surprise!