With only 4 days to go in the Welsh election, it has been very disappointing to see the admittedly limited Welsh media let Labour off the hook. From the very start of their campaign, they have gone out of their way to avoid policy debate and wrapped almost every statement around their hate of the Tories.
In purely party political terms, this was a very good move in that it appealed to the voters who had previously supported them when the Tories had ruled over Wales, from London. However, in terms of having any meaningful election campaign it has been a disaster. What has been most particularly disappointing for me has been the number of senior Welsh journalists and commentators who have blamed Plaid for the situation, pointing to their 'constant' attacks on Labour. This has been spun very well by Labour as in fact, Plaid has based only one official press conference attacking Labour whereas Labour has actually spent a lot more time attacking Plaid.
Their line of 'vote Plaid and get a Tory led Government' has been very effective, even though it is a complete and utter lie.
For instance, today's Wales on Sunday turned a Plaid exclusive story into a disgraceful personal attack from Labour's candidate in Llanelli. What this shows is not only has the journalist in question bought the Labour spin for this campaign, but that the Labour candidate for Llanelli is prepared to tow the party line so slavishly in making such an attack. Is that what Llanelli needs, another Labour 'yes' man?
For the record, Plaid has no intention of towing the Labour line as we do not believe that it is in the interests of the people of Wales. I have experienced at first hand what Labour do when they have complete control at any Governmental level-very little indeed. Their decades of stagnation in running down Swansea was one of the main reasons why as a trade unionist and socialist, I joined Plaid. I sincerely hope that Wales does not fall into the trap of giving them an overall majority on Thursday, because as a nation, we cannot afford five years of rhetoric and stagnation. Labour think that Wales is their property and not their responsibility and nothing I have seen or heard in recent weeks, has convinced me otherwise.
A CONSEQUENCE OF CHANGE...
5 days ago
Wales a nation? It's just a region will people living in it. That's why you say.....'people of Wales'.
ReplyDeleteAnon,
ReplyDeleteYou are behind the times butty. Have a look at the referendum result in March.
An update on the Wales on Sunday's ability to re-produce the Labour line. The offensive article was remarkably close to a Labour leaflet put out in Aberconwy over the weekend.
ReplyDeleteLabour tried the same 'British' line in Scotland and the Scottish media have crucifed them for it.
Three things strike me from reading the article on Wales Online:
ReplyDelete- the name of the author is not noted unlike all the other political reports which are attributed to Matt Withers
- the quote in the headline is not repeated in the article - so whose quote is it?
- the Wales Online version doesn't provide a comment box for reader responses whilst most of the other political articles do.
WoS would probably argue that they take pot shots at figures from across the political spectrum - Hain, Lemsip Optic etc.
This veneer of neutrality is of course the perfect platform from which individual hacks can give their political buddies a discreet helping hand when it is most needed and appreciated.
This particular piece published just in time to cause your party damage but just too late for you to do anything about it certainly hits the target.
What Plaid must find particularly galling is the fact that the author of this shabby little article has brazenly given your party a good shafting.
Maybe he / she is hoping to follow that well trodden path from hack to special advisor before May is out?
Gwyn Williams
We know who wrote it and yes, it does give the impression of someone looking to impress. Having so few media options in Wales is a real problem. We have a few very big exclusives at present that could well influence Thursday's result, but very few outlets that would give it an objective journalisitic treatment. Wales is served very poorly by the media and democracy suffers in such circumstances.
ReplyDelete