I Swear that I will work to skew the democratic electoral system of Wales, to ensure a greater bias to the Labour party than it already does - so help me God.
And God help Wales, if I get away with it.
I have decided to combine two issues in this blog item, one being a recruitment campaign for my party and the second, a positive action to challenge the threat faced by Wales from the Labour party.
Now, I realise that the second point sounds a little melodramatic and as someone considered to be on the left of Plaid you may be a little surprised by my position, but 10th November 2011 was for me a huge day for Welsh politics. Yesterday, the Executive of the Labour Party in Wales supported the notion of abandoning any form of proportional representation for the Welsh Assembly and reverting to first past the post. In doing so, this would have given Labour in last May's election 70% of the seats in Cardiff Bay with only 40% of the vote. Under the current partially proportional system, the system delivered them 50% of seats from 40% of the vote but clearly, this was not enough bias for them.
When Plaid stated in the last election that we were defined by always putting Wales even before our own party, we were not kidding. We also stated that Labour were incapable of putting Wales before their own interests and were scoffed at by Labour's leaders. Yet how else can any objective observer judge their decision to remove the present element of proportional representation, than anything other than a cynical and deeply tribal stab in the back of Welsh democracy.
Carwyn Jones stated after his party's decision to fix the electoral system to suit Labour in Wales that:-
"Labour was united behind a common goal of securing a voting system "that best serves the people of Wales"
This really sums up the danger that the Labour party is to Wales, as they genuinely believe from top to bottom that Wales is their property; a 'regional plaything' that they will treat as they see fit. Plaid's position is to actually increase and not decrease proportional representation, introducing STV (single transferable vote) not only at Assembly but also at Local Government level. This would not have given us extra seats after May's elections but for us, that's not the issue. It would have meant that a Tory voter in the Rhondda, a Labour voter in Monmouth,a Plaid voter in Deeside and a Lib Dem voter just about anywhere would have been counted and been equal. Above all, it's about fairness for everyone who lives in Wales and that statement defines our very existence.
There are some who may think that this is nothing more than a 'never to be delivered' sop for the dinosaur element of Labour in Wales, who have never accepted devolution and who are now more likely to listen to Carwyn-but guess again. For it is rumoured that 'Red Ed' Miliband has been persuaded to support this proposal and as the Westminster election now falls a year before the next Welsh election, a successful Labour election could well deliver regressive electoral change-for the singular benefit of Labour.
So, now's the time to decide if you want to make a difference for a nation that you feel part of-whatever your background. We have no business or union backing. We rely almost entirely on the support of our members and unlike the UK based parties, we have no multi-million pound party machine to fund our campaign methods.
Why not become part of a political party that is member based, where policies are still debated and decided at conference and where above all, the 3 million who live in Wales will always be our greatest priority.
Do Wales a favour and click on the link below.
https://www.english.plaidcymru.org/join/
The sensible answer to the possible rigging of the electoral system by Labour was suggested by Gareth Hughes yesterday: devolve the electoral system and insist on a 2\3 majority in the Assembly for any change, thus taking the question of Gauleiter Hain's hands.
ReplyDeletemay be you should talk to some of your leaders in Cardiff about democracy I was disgusted at the demonstrators being moved on Quoting a ancient bit of bye law. All over the world there is a movement towrads peoples voices,being supported but not in Cardiff it seems
ReplyDeleteAnon 1,
ReplyDeleteGareth has been level headed on this issue and yes, this would be a way forward. However, the current UK Government have no intention of allowing further powers to come our way. In fact, the Silk Commission is looking at exactly the opposite, with the full support of the Tories and I assume their Liberal colleagues (depending on which ones you speak to).
Anon 2,
A fair point. I would have liked a camp in front of the castle as it would not be obstructing anyone and would have been a statement from a nation that is taking a kicking, due to corporate greed and the politicians who allowed it. I suspect that it was moved on so swiftly due to any commemoration ceremonies around the castle today. The protesters must have realised this would be an issue, so why try to set up camp at such a time? Any time after today may well have got a different response. Well, I would have hoped so. I share your concerns about the reaction to this camp. It's a fine balance for the police but I do not believe they did themselves any favours yesterday. I suspect that they are being advised by Government in London, to come down very hard on protests as the cuts are in my opinion, going to create the sort of social strife that we have not seen for a long time - potentially much worse than in the 1980's. I sincerely hope I am wrong about this, by the way.
I'd love to see Labour's reaction if the SNP proposed a similar change to FPTP for Scotland. Luckilly for Slab, the SNP believe in democracy and fair votes.
ReplyDeleteVote Carwyn Jones and get the preferred policies of Peter Hain/Ed Millibland! He is also back peddling in the .com debate, opting for Wales.com rather than Cymru.com. That is the trouble when you vote for the Welsh section of a British political party. Policies have to be scrutinised to ensure they are acceptable to Westminster.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't be more of a contrast with what happens in Scotland. Another reason to vote Plaid and get a government into power that puts Wales first!
Everytime I post something to do with Plaid manning up and using the I word on their facebook page they end up deleting my posts.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately they are the only party Ican vote for at the moment. Hopefully either this will change or they will change.
Anon & Britnot,
ReplyDeleteThe Scottish media would never let them get away with it, but will the Welsh media expose them tomorrow morning?
Stuart,
We use the 'i' word everywhere, so why would we have a hang up when you use it? As long as your comments are not offensive, please feel free to use it on my blog.
As a Labour Party member, I always thought it would be something at the UK level which could make me consider my membership. Welsh Labour were supposed to be at least partially removed from the Victoria Street lot, but recent local issues (which your last article sum up well) and now this electoral gerrymandering are enough to make me consider.
ReplyDeleteWould I join Plaid? Certainly not immediately. Like you Ian, I'm probably left of many within Plaid (Although that has proved less of an issue than I thought within Labour) but while independence remains on the agenda, I would find it very difficult.
Anon,
ReplyDeleteWe have many former Labour members from England, who when they moved to Wales found Labour in Wales even more centralist. I joined Plaid because of what I saw Labour get up to in Swansea when I grew up. They had it on a plate and yet still failed to deal with the issues they claimed to own. I have always been an active trade unionist and consider myself a de-centralist socialist and internationalist (also chuck in anti-fascist, one of my real pleasures) and have found a very happy home in Plaid. I am also a Welsh nationalist, but this is based on civic nationalsim-do you think I would be a member otherwise? Sure, there are issues I differ with in certain areas but I am always allowed to express myself. Also, there are no tiers of importance-anyone thinking they are on one soon being brought down to earth with a bump.
I have many friends in Labour and hope that I always will, as there are so many issues in which we share the same values.
However, I am saddened that these people (the progressives in Labour) have been muted now that Labour once more have complete control. It happens every time, as if the London bosses press some magic button that brings them back into line. I hope that you do consider coming over to Plaid, as I have never known a former Labour member to regret it-and I know quite a few.
Thanks for the response, Ian. It's something I've given more thought to than I ever thought possible, so something or someone is working some magic somewhere.
ReplyDeleteThe worrying trend re: Labour and the whole magic mute button in London that you mention is that it is now not just a London-centric problem. Where Welsh Labour used to be 'traditional Labour', there is an increasingly Blairite faction - especially within the South Wales cities, where membership is growing, and that is slowly having a knock on effect on the Welsh Exec, the local execs, and the National Policy reps. Martin Shipton says in Monday's Western Mail that the Welsh Labour Assembly Group voted against the FPTP proposal, so what does that say about the exec? Do they all feel as if they owe Peter Hain some sort of loyalty? Or has the progressive edge really disappeared?
I really don't think Welsh Labour will get away with this, but the fact it's even proposed it scares me.