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28/11/2006
Safety lapses in gas pipeline exposed
Protesters who took over a section of the 120-mile gas pipeline across south Wales have exposed potentially disastrous safety lapses. Tonight's Y Byd Ar Bedwar (the World on Four) programme on S4C had exclusive footage of campaigner Jim Dunckley revealing what they found while down the pipeline.
Welders have confirmed that marks on the exterior of the pipeline indicate pinholes that have been repaired - a concern given that the gas will be pumped through the pipe at 94 bar. This is higher than any other major pipeline in the UK.
Inside the pipes, welds were flaking and badly corroded with rust eating away at the inner casing.
On a normal engineering project this would not be such a concern, but the pipeline has the capacity to blow. Indeed one engineering expert Dr Richard Furness estimates that over 30 years one serious accident will occur.
The pipeline's owners, National Grid, have carried out an Environmental Impact Assessment that shows no danger to the public, even from blasting away at rock at Trebanos in the upper Swansea valley. Local people were horrified because the land is prone to subsidence due to previous mining - 10 houses in the village have been demolished due to subsidence. In addition, local people are unable to have gas pumped to their homes because the land is deemed unstable. But a 48-inch pipe could be placed in a 15-metre trench in the same area without risk apparently.
However, during the protest, the Department of Trade and Industry announced that it was suspending blasting and insisted that the trench was dug manually to avoid possible landslips - a minor victory but a symbolic one for the campaigners.
National Grid has a track record of poor safety - in 1999 it was fined £15m for a gas pipeline explosion in Scotland that killed four people. That was with 2-bar pressure.
A larger explosion in Russia killed 650 people when odourless LNG seeped out of a pipeline and was sparked by a passing train.
Do we have to wait for a disaster to occur before we say "enough", as with Aberfan? Or do we insist that the people's voice is heard and the pipeline is halted? This has not been approved by local councils, it has been pushed through by big business interests and the DTI. The protesters spoke for the people and highlighted the need to move away from finite fossil fuels towards renewables.
22:20 Posted in Amgylchedd - Environment | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
26/11/2006
English want break-up of Britain
Today's Sunday Telegraph reveals that an astonishing 59% of English voters want Scotland to be independent - more than the 52% of Scots who favour the break-up of Britain.
The ICM opinion poll also found support for the establishment of an English parliament hitting an historic high of 68 per cent amongst English voters.
For Wales, the most significant stat is that almost half - 48 per cent - want complete independence for England, divorcing itself from Wales and Northern Ireland as well.
The solidly Unionist Telegraph is worried by these findings: "The poll comes only months before the 300th anniversary of the Act of Union between England and Scotland and will worry all three main political parties. None of them favours Scottish independence, but all have begun internal debates on the future of the constitution."
Both Assembly and Scottish Parliamentary elections are shaping up to be as much about the constitutional future of these islands as the bread and butter issues of health, education and crime. Anyone who wants greater powers for Scotland and Wales will see the three main parties plugging varying degrees of Unionism while the SSP, Scottish Greens and SNP openly advocate independence, albeit of a capitalist or socialist variety. In Wales, only Plaid Cymru is advocating independence as a long-term goal.
17:32 Posted in Gwleidyddiaeth - Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Labour hopes for 27 seats in Assembly
The Western Mail asked Rhodri Morgan about the electoral state of play. His answer was illuminating: "Unlike Scotland, where they seem to have a poll every week, we don't have polling data so we don't know what the people of Wales are thinking."
But local council results point to steady reverses with something of a pincer movement. Plaid is taking seats and gaining impressive votes in some unexpected places as well as its heartlands while the Tories are able to chip away at Labour in their strongholds.
So Martin Shipton's report that Rhodri Morgan is aiming for a minority administration with just 27 seats after next May's National Assembly election is, er, interesting.
Labour currently has 29 seats after losing Blaenau Gwent. Plaid has 12 seats, Tories 11, Lib Dems 6 with John Marek and Trish Law both sitting as independents.
Apparently, Labour is banking on losing just three seats - Cardiff North, Clwyd West and Aberconwy to the Tories or Plaid - while regaining Wrexham from Marek. Under this scenario, Labour could also lose either Preseli Pembrokeshire to the Tories or Llanelli to Plaid, while gaining a regional seat in Mid and West Wales.
The arithmetic of Assembly voting is incredibly complex because any losses at constituency level are often cancelled out by gains on the proportionally elected regional list.
So the following is necessarily a stab in the dark exercise... but my gut instinct is that Labour is not doing enough to win back Wrexham, despite Marek's relatively poor showing since 2003. Unlike the Blaenau Gwent by-elections, Labour is stretched at this election and can't throw resources at Wrexham as it would in the past.
Llanelli and Aberconwy look to be good bets for Plaid to retake in 2007 with two experienced candidates. The unpopular Karen Sinclair in Clwyd South also looks like a good target for Plaid, who got 25% of the vote there in 1999.
The Tories should win Clwyd West from the abject Alun Pugh and maybe the Vale of Glamorgan and even Delyn but this would only mean they lose regional list seats. To a certain extent the Tory ability to win more seats has peaked due to this. The same applies to the Liberal Democrats, who may be approached again by Labour to be junior coalition partners as in 1999. The yellow party's willingness to jump into bed with Labour (or whoever will have them) is unlikely to win them many additional votes next May.
The share-out of list seats could be very tight but I think Dafydd Wigley's hopes of returning via the North Wales regional list could be over-ambitious. He will, however, pick up a lot of that second vote on the strength of his personal popularity.
All the above would mean Labour reduced to 24. Even with the six Lib Dems that would mean an unstable coalition at best. Plaid are likely to gain at least two constituency seats and a couple on the list to take them to 16 with the Tories on 12. Expect the two independents to scrape in again.
The current PR system doesn't really favour small parties as it does in Scotland, where the SSP and Greens have had several MSPs elected on 6% of the vote. So no place for the Greens in Wales.
00:50 Posted in Gwleidyddiaeth - Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
21/11/2006
A pain in the gas for Transco
Eight days on and the pipeline protesters are still there - causing Transco many headaches.
They've been joined by another group of protesters down in Pembrokeshire and have done a lot to highlight the doubts many people have about the pipeline. Here's a video of the activists explaining their actions.
11:18 Posted in Amgylchedd - Environment | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Simpsons on Army recruitment
If you love the Simpsons and hate war, you'll like this
10:04 Posted in Film | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
20/11/2006
Labour panics over hospital closures
The massive protests against the closure or downgrading of local hospitals has caused panic among Labour's ranks.
The ruling party realises that to keep its fragile hold on power it must not be open to attacks about the NHS. Yet the reality shows that Labour is privatising chunks of the NHS while closing local hospitals without providing realistic alternatives.
In its panic, Labour has put plans to axe four Powys community hospitals on ice until after the May 2007 election.
The future of hospitals at Llanidloes, Builth Wells, Knighton and Talgarth was due to be discussed in January. But a leaked letter from Powys Local Health Board Chairman, Chris Mann, has revealed that the initial consultation period of three months could be extended to June or even July 2007. Mann is a former Labour parliamentary candidate.
In the letter, Ann Lloyd, the Chief Executive of the NHS in Wales, says that the Welsh Assembly Government would be reluctant to see public consultation exercises run in the lead up to the Assembly Elections and that as a consequence the LHB should plan to commence public consultation later in 2007.
Too right they're "reluctant" to see NHS cuts as a focal point of any election campaign. But this is just a crude delaying tactic - another Labour government elected in May would mean curtains for these and other local hospitals.
10:14 Posted in Gwleidyddiaeth - Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
18/11/2006
Palestinian protest closes Cardiff castle
Three peace protesters have occupied the keep at Cardiff Castle in a demonstration over the 'occupation of land in Palestine'.
The three got into the keep after buying a ticket for a castle tour and used a bar to block the entrance.
D Murphy, Bob Cotterill and Keith Ross said they plan to stay for a while, possibly days, and have stressed they have no wish to damage the castle.
A negotiator from South Wales Police is at the scene.
The protesters said the action was to make the point about the occupation of land in Palestine which they claimed was being ignored by the public and the media.
Here's a short video on the occupation from Undercurrents.
20:48 Posted in Rhyngwladol - International | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
15/11/2006
Annie Powell RIP
You couldn't ignore Pontypridd firebrand Annie Powell, who sadly died of cancer on Monday. She was uncompromising in her politics but a delight to be with.
I first met her 25 years ago and, as so often, she held court in a pub. The fag ash was always on the verge of falling as she made a point or intervened with an "excuse me, love". Sometimes her wig was askew but she was always ready with a word of encouragement or a sharp quip.
She joined the Welsh Socialist Republican Movement after a bitter fallout with the SWP - "the Brits" as she called them. As true then as it is today.
Her involvement in the infamous Merthyr Rising riots of 1981 is legendary and both she and her husband Malcolm were arrested (and subsequently released without charge) in police sweeps on political activists in the early 80s.
She had been a nurse before an accident led to her early retirement. Her husband, Malcolm, was always at her side - it was a real partnership. He died earlier this year and in her final weeks Annie made it clear she wanted to join him.
But those who visited her said the same old twinkling eyes would greet them. Although frail and under sedation at times, she was able to reminisce about the hectic days of the WSRM and later Cymru Goch.
Twenty-five years later she was still true to the cause of a socialist republic.
The funeral is likely to be held in Pontypridd late next week.
16:11 Posted in Cymru Fach | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Company's shellfish decision
Here's a company relocating its business to save money - cutting 120 jobs in Scotland. But there's a twist. Young's the seafood company is moving work to Thailand, where low wages mean that prawns caught in Scotland can be hand-peeled before making the 12,000-mile round trip back to Scotland to be turned into breaded scampi.
Currently the prawn shells are removed mechanically at Young's plant in Annan but the company said that shelling by hand produces a superior quality scampi and cannot be carried out in Scotland because of prohibitive wage costs.
The plan to ship more than 500 tonnes of the shellfish around the world will generate a weight of carbon dioxide which is almost half the weight of the seafood itself.
Duncan McLaren of Friends of the Earth Scotland said transporting the langoustines over such a distance would He added: "This for us sums up the madness of contemporary globalisation. It makes economic sense but makes absolutely no environmental sense."
It may make "economic sense" under free-market capitalism because it boosts profits but socialists and environmentalists must make common cause to show the harm such moves do to workers and the environment.
08:58 Posted in Amgylchedd - Environment | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
14/11/2006
Welsh arrests at anti-nuke protest
On Monday November 13th 2006 11 peace activists from South and Mid-Wales were arrested for blockading the Trident nuclear submarine base at Faslane in Scotland. Another eight from North Wales were arrested this
morning. Those arrested over the two days are of all ages and backgrounds, and include South Wales
Labour councillor and veteran peace campaigner Ray Davies.
About 100 campaigners from Wales are present this morning, a rainy day at Faslane enlivened by the presence of a large red dragon and protest songs performed by Dafydd Iwan. Plaid Cymru Euro MP and CND Cymru chair Jill Evans, was among those who visited the base yesterday to join the protests.
Many of the northern contingent are dressed as Merched Beca/ the Daughters of Rebecca, the C19th men and women who took direct action to protest against social injustice. Costs for Trident replacement have been estimated at £25 to £75 billion.
The protest is part of a year-long blockade at Faslane which began six weeks ago.
12:47 Posted in Rhyngwladol - International | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
13/11/2006
Protesters halt gas pipeline work
A dozen campaigners have halted work on the 120-mile LNG pipeline across Wales with a sit-in on diggers and pipes. Construction work, which means tearing a 20-metre ditch across Wales from Milford Haven to Gloucester, has been stopped at Trebanos in the Swansea Valley and the protesters are talking of sleeping in the pipes overnight.
There have been numerous concerns about the pipeline's safety, especially in the Trebanos area where there are fears of landslips similar to Aberfan due to the blasting that takes place on site. There are also fears that the pipeline will be too close to a school and housing.
The size of the 48" pipe and pressure of the gas is a first in the UK. Campaigner Jim Dunckley said: "The companies involved seem to have spent more on spin doctors than on safety."
He also pointed out on the live BBC Wales news coverage that this is a fossil fuel and that money should be invested in renewable energy rather than tearing up the Welsh countryside for a finite energy product.
Local councils appear to have made some strange planning decisions regarding the pipeline - Neath Port Talbot's planning committee was apparently counted wrongly and Swansea council refused to hear an amendment put by Plaid Cymru's group leader against the pipeline.
The campaign so far has been a localised grassroots affair but there seems to be added momentum now to highlight the bigger picture.
13:48 Posted in Amgylchedd - Environment | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Welsh Labour running scared
Remember Tony Blair's claim that we had "10 days to save the NHS" during the 1997 election campaign? Little did we know that voting Labour would mean privatisation, computer system cock-ups, bureaucratic re-organisations and a health service in perpetual crisis.
Now Rhodri Morgan's lame-duck Labourites are claiming we got "six months to save Welsh public services".
So far, so predictable.
But then Rhodri tries to re-write history by claiming that voting Labour will mean "continued government investment in public services". He missed out the words "badly managed" and "badly targetted" in that statement.
The alternative is, apparently, a Tory-led coalition that would rely on “the personal largesse of multi-millionaires or the goodwill of charities” to fund our schools and hospitals.
Really?
I hesitate to defend the Tories. There, I hesitated. But, in fairness, even the Tories are only mimicking Blair's obsession with ploughing NHS money into the private sector either by having NHS ops in private hospitals or actual privatisation of whole chunks.
The most telling part of the attack is a failure to address the real problem Rhodri faces. It's not the Tories - they're just the bogeyman for most Welsh voters and Rhodri's hoping that just a hint of "essence de Redwood" is enough to send any dissident Labour voter running back to the fold.
Rhodri can't say the words "Plaid Cymru" - the second largest party in the Assembly and the only party that can realistically increase its number of constituency seats without losing list seats - because they are the real threat to Labour.
Why? Because they're attacking Labour from the left, they're not hamstrung by the corrupt loans from millionaires of the big three UK parties and they're already eating into Labour's heartland vote.
A series of 12 council by-elections has seen Plaid win more of the votes than any of the other parties - the only poll we have due to the absence of regular opinion polls.
This is why Labour's failing First Minister has opted to ignore Plaid, in the hope that it can tar it with the "Tory-led coalition" brush. Expect to hear this phrase repeated ad nauseum by Hain, Rhodri and anyone else wearing a Labour rosette who can string together a sentence (not a lot in other words).
The lame duck attempted a convoluted metaphor to describe the informal talks about a coalition post-May: "The cat’s out of the bag. And it is plotting with the mice to take over the asylum."
Stick with it Rhodri and you could become Stan Boardman's joke writer.
He then loses the plot completely and wraps himself up in the ghost of Aneurin Bevan: "Welsh people are passionate about their local schools, their health services and council’s ability to provide quality housing.
“We do not take kindly to Tory jibes at public servants. We do not accept their view that the personal largesse of multi-millionaires or the goodwill of charities can ever act as a replacement for properly funded services that should be available to all, free for all."
Obviously the idea of a millionaire being able to pay £2m for a stake in a City Academy in England would be completely anathema to the Labour P... oh.
Or a peerages being given to 80% of those who donated to the Labour P... oh.
Or the dodgy loans that came from businessmen seeking influence with the Labour goverm... oh.
Or the idea that Lord Sainsbury could become an unelected minister in charge of GM crops when he has shares in companies promoting such crops, with the connivance and support of the Labour P... oh.
You have to feel sorry for the old boy - he's either forgotten that the Labour Party is running the UK (easily done with a public-schoolboy Prime Minister who acts like a Tory imperialist) or he's hoping nobody notices that his party has put the Tories to shame in its chasing of the millionaire vote.
00:59 Posted in Gwleidyddiaeth - Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
10/11/2006
Monmouth fights stock transfer
The first stock transfer in Wales since Wrexham tenants decisively said "no" is taking place in Monmouth this month. The Tory-led council there has backed New Labour's pro-privatisation agenda but council tenants such as Norman Lewis are fighting back.
He's organised the "no" vote and is hopeful that they'll win. If they do, it could effectively kill off stock transfer in Wales. Monmouth council has spent as estimated £1 million on trying to win the propaganda battle.
Norman concedes that it's been difficult to get to every council house in this rural county: "There are four main towns but they're far apart and then you've got small pockets of council houses - less than 20 in many cases - dotted throughout the area. It's been difficult due to the distance but we've managed to cover Monmouth, Abergavenny, Caldicott and Chepstow as well as the smaller villages."
Even in affluent Monmouthshire, there are still 6,000 council-owned homes and the postal ballot will be announced after November 17. Norman, a retired postman and committed socialist, is convinced that Monmouth was chosen to try to break the logjam over stock transfer in Wales: "This is why they've gone for Monmouthshire - they think it's a soft touch and would lead other councils. But, win or lose, it won't stop here and we'll work with others."
He's critical of the council's decision to hire a company called DOME to advise the tenants: "They've spent £470,000 on this company, which is supposed to be friendly towards tenants, and they're all in favour of stock transfer."
Councils like Monmouth say they have to go for stock transfer in order to reach the Assembly's Welsh Housing Quality Standard by 2012 but Norman believes the council has painted a blacker picture about the financial situation to make transferring to a housing association seem more attractive: " The council has over-egged the pudding and put out propaganda but people haven't fallen for it. We need more council housing not less. I'm hopeful that the silent majority will be persuaded by our arguments and vote no."
11:20 Posted in Gwleidyddiaeth - Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
08/11/2006
MPs' token gestures over Farepak
As nauseating little stunts go, my local MPs Ian Lucas and Martyn Jones decision to donate a day's pay to the Farepak appeal fund takes the biscuit. They earn £60,000 and have generous allowances to pay for their London homes, travel, offices and staff. It's easy to make that kind of gesture - their £250 daily wage (with fat pension guaranteed when they get retired by the voters) is more than most of their constituents earn in a week.
The front-page advert on the local paper (masquerading as a splash) was worth the donation alone.
Farepak, like all companies providing a service, should have been made to pay into an insurance scheme similar to the ABTA holiday bond. Any company going bust would then be able to return money to customers.
Labour politicians like Ian Lucas and Martyn Jones could legislate for that rather than poncing about making token gestures.
23:39 Posted in Gwleidyddiaeth - Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
05/11/2006
After Catatonia... y Ffyrc
First came Y Cyrff, then Catatonia and now the moving spirits behind Y Cyrff have re-emerged as Y Ffyrc with a cracking new album called "Oes".
But before getting to the new stuff, some background... Y Cyrff (The Bodies) were the best Welsh-language band I ever heard. A Welsh Clash full of attitude but also lyrics of subtle poetry. They could write catchy riffs in their sleep and they were great live as well as on vinyl (yep, we're talking 80s here). Singer-guitarist Marc Roberts could do anger and ankst better than anybody and bassist Paul Jones was a constant sidekick in all the above-mentioned musical projects.
Both were working-class lads from Llanrwst who lived the "four musicians in a Transit" lifestyle for little reward for a decade. There were European tours alongside Anhrefn but there were also crappy gigs in the middle of nowhere where promoters offered them £27 (I know, I was one of them). I also remember a memorable gig with Y Cyrff, Anhrefn, Attila the Stockbroker and the Newtown Neurotics - all for a quid in Rhosddu Community Centre. We got the last two bands cheap cos they were playing in Bangor Univ
Y Cyrff mutated into Catatonia - with Cerys providing Marc with a chance to retreat to the shadows and concentrate on the music and songwriting alongside Paul. Catatonia went huge with their second album - deservedly so. Amid the headlines about Cerys's latest antics were some catchy tunes and even more catchy riffs. The lyrics became more poetic but retained that edge. "Storm the Palace" is not a typical Catatonia track but it was a typical Cyrff song. Anyone who can recommend turning Buckingham Palace into a Spar gets my vote...
When Catatonia finally went catatonic, Marc and Paul messed around with the Sherbet Antlers project before coming back to what they've always done best. Paul has also designed a stunning cover to the CD based on some old Soviet era artwork - the covers of the Cyrff albums were always worth getting for their original artwork too.
Good to have you back, lads.
Of course the worry is that, after all that hype, the new CD is crap. No need to worry - Y Ffyrc (The Forks) have anagrammed the original name but it's full of the same immediately catchy riffs and changes of tempo. There's a
world-weary cynicism to add to some of the old anger: "Pwy bleidleisiodd dros yr holl ffyliaid?" (Who voted for all the idiots?) asks Marc in "Heb Eithriad" (Without Exception).
The Catatonia years haven't mellowed them, just matured the bitterness nicely and the sense of loss, betrayal and missed opportunities is never far away. Forget the teenage ankst, this is middle-aged ankst and is all the darker for it.
"Godinebwraig" (Adultress) is angry accusation with references to a dark car park in Brecon, while "Byth" (Never) is a song to lost love. "Mae 'na le" (There's a place) hits the spot immediately - with uplifting chorus that hints that "the place" he's seeking is more of a feeling than anywhere in particular.
It's no surprise that these anti-stars have a pop at the superficial world of the fashion industry in "Gwisgo Fyny" (Dressing up) but it's muted, as is the downbeat musing on getting old - "Mae pob dim rwy'n eu garu yn mynd i ladd fi, mae pawb dwi'n cusannu yn diflannu" (Everything I love is going to kill me, everyone I kiss disappears).
More ankst follows with the pregnant girlfriend's betrayal in "Beichiog" (Pregnant) - we're straying into very dark territory here: "Babis heddiw yn hwligans fory" (Today's babies, tomorrow's hooligans).
"Nia be wna'i?" (Nia, what shall I do?) offers a short acoustic break but then we're back to more loss and darkness. Politicians are put on the spot for "closing your eyes, putting their faith in fortune" rather than dealing with the problems the world faces in "Heb Eithriad".
"Bylchau" (Gaps) is the smalltown boy's escape from Llanrwst to the bright lights of Cardiff but never quite getting there it seems - "mae pendraw'r enfys yn symud tra dwi'n symud" (the end of the rainbow moves as I move). The rock star lifestyle didn't make much impact on Y Ffyrc - except to confirm as the closing track "Corridor" does that "mae'n haws bod yn unig mewn cwmni" (it's easier to be lonely in company)
• Anyone wanting to catch up with Y Cyrff can get hold of a Mae Ddoe yn Ddoe, a "greatest hits" compilation CD that covers from their earliest singles to the haunting and mature "Hwyl Fawr Heulwen".
17:07 Posted in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
04/11/2006
Newport Rising 1839
Today marks the anniversary of the 1839 Newport Rising, when Chartists from across South Wales attempted an armed rebellion. Opinion is divided on the intention - some say the aim was to create a separate republic, others say it was part of a wider UK rebellion by the Chartists. Whatever the intention, it was a serious armed uprising that failed due to poor organisation.
The best book on the subject is Ivor Wilks's South Wales and the Rising of 1839.
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Bash The Rich - Ian Bone
Ian Bone was once described as "the most dangerous man in Britain" by the Sunday Times. It's the kind of stupid headline that made the anarchist founder of Class War jump for joy.
His autobiography - a romp through his glory years both as the driving force behind Swansea's Alarm newspaper and later Class War - reveals a more complex man who understands what makes the media tick and how to outrage the establishment.
I met Bone, or Ieuan ab Asgwrn he was then calling himself, at a Welsh socialist republican gig in Swansea back in 1981. He was selling massive "I slept with Lady Diana" badges, which went down a storm due to the media hype surrounding the Royal Wedding. Not for the first time, he captured a mood with wit and good timing. Turns out Bone was closer to the truth than the establishment on that one.
He was right about the corrupt Swansea Taffia too, who he relentlessly exposed in his weekly Alarm news-sheet. This grassroots paper spawned a movement that contested elections and unseated Labour from power in the city, allowing an equally corrupt bunch of Ratepayers to take over - Bone was delighted to expose them as well.
Although rooted in anarchism, Bone's willingness to contest elections and reach beyond the usual ghetto of the left with some fantastic stunts marked him out.
The chapter about his time in Wales reveals his support for Welsh republicanism, although he's contemptuous of the comic-book Free Wales Army. His admiration for Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru and John Jenkins was also genuine - he realised that these working-class republicans were tapping into a real mood in Wales for change.
Bone's upbringing as the son of a butler and maid gave him a pretty unique insight into the class divide - as a kid he met the rich and famous but his father, from Scottish mining stock, was never broken by the ruling class who expected him to bow and scrape at every turn.
Bone's use of comic-book style phrases ("Bash the rich" being one of them) and his conscious mockery of the rich as "Toffs" come from a different era that is more Beano than iPod, but it struck a chord.
I wish he'd written more about his time in the WSRM - a disparate (and often desperate) alliance of socialists, republicans and anarchists - but this is just a chapter in a very rich political life.
Bone would love you to beg, steal or borrow this book. Even today he probably qualifies as "the most dangerous grandad in Britain".
Wonder where that Lady Di badge got to?
08:52 Posted in Llyfrau - Books | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/11/2006
"Hooked on prison"
Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood has an interesting challenge for Rhodri Morgan AM and David Cameron MP - she wants Wales to set its own criminal justice policy.
The Shadow Social Justice Minister will address the Annual Youth Justice Convention in Cardiff today along with the other two. She will ask them to give Wales the chance to opt out of the UK's addiction to prisons and take a radical new approach to criminal justice policy.
Plaid's call comes after the Youth Justice Board recently described the prison system as reaching crisis point with a record 3,350 young offenders held in custody.
Leanne Wood, a former probation worker and one of the few AMs willing to think outside the box marked "electoral safety", will tell the conference: "We have become addicted to prison. A relatively small section of our society are serial re-offenders, hooked on crime, but the rest of us are hooked on prison.
"No one grows up with the ambition of leading a life of crime, but once involved in the criminal justice system, it can become a habit. This is especially the case with young offenders, as prison can be a crime university. Those who are a danger to others do need to be secluded, but they are the small minority. The sad reality is that the criminal justice system is recycling the same individuals over and over again. It's not tough on crime to stay on this course, it's just plain stupid."
"Our prisons are just like the former poor houses and mental institutions. They are a mask, not a cure to the problem. Causes are being ignored. In the main, prisons do not solve anything. They just hide our problems away.
"The vast majority of prisoners will be released, and on release, many are likely to offend again. Our prison system does little to break that cycle, so we are throwing taxpayers money away. Until we pursue an alternative policy, we will continue to have a costly and ineffective system.
"The only hope is to develop a new Welsh consensus in favour of education and rehabilitation not the continuance of this never ending carousel of prison followed by re-offending."
Sounds like Plaid is attempting to tackle what Blair has signally failed to do - getting tough on the causes of crime.
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MPs - less work, more pay
Imagine going to work and deciding - along with your fellow workmates - that you want more money for more pay.
Fantasy island? No, House of Commons.
MPs yesterday awarded themselves more money as they voted to cut the number of days they sit in the House of Commons. They now "earn" £60,000 - and many manage to hold down second jobs and company directorships to supplement this.
On top of this, they also backed a new £10,000 a year communication allowance to allow them to answer our letters. MPs already get an allowance for stationery and postage, with a handful claiming more than £20,000 a year for this. Our MP already send his poor constituents a glossy brochure every year outlining the many photo opportunities he's had - we don't need more communication from him.
To cap it all, the lazy gits decided that they needed more summer holidays and will now not reconvene until October - an 11-week break.
The vote comes less than a week after it was revealed MPs claimed more than £86m in allowances between April 2005 and March 2006, an increase of nearly £6m on the previous year.
And it came amid back-bench warnings about public cynicism over MPs' pay and holidays, and as it was revealed that taxpayers are going to have to pay £166m for MPs' pensions.
The extra pension cash will mean MPs continue to enjoy one of the UK's best pension schemes. A back bencher retiring today after 26 years' service would have an annual pension of £40,000.
Under the scheme MPs will only contribute a minimum 3% to the scheme, while the Treasury will pay 27% of the cost. By comparison, in the private sector the average employer contribution for final salary schemes is 13% and 7% for deferred contribution schemes.
• PS Isn't there a case for reducing the wages of Welsh MPs? After all, about 75% of their casework on health, education and such matters are now devolved and dealt with by the local Assembly Member.
09:59 Posted in Gwleidyddiaeth - Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
01/11/2006
Patchwork privatisation of the NHS
The stealthy privatisation of the NHS in England is detailed in this damning briefing by Keep Our NHS Public.
Some of the figures are astounding:
Although these are causes that need fighting, they pale into insignificance when compared to the salami slicing of the health service in England for the benefit of private profit.
Wales, it seems, has avoided much of this privatisation thanks to devolution. It's inconceivable that Wales and England would have had different approaches to healthcare a decade ago and, as NHS trusts in England face job losses and cash crises, we may have cause to thank devolution for sparing us the worst excesses.
13:15 Posted in Gwleidyddiaeth - Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this