Plaid MPs: why we cross picket lines

A Plaid Cymru spokeswoman e-mails to explain why the party's MPs will be crossing picket lines today:

"Plaid's AMs have supported the right of the PCS union to withdraw labour during this dispute by not crossing their picket lines. Plaid is urging the Westminster government to return to negotiations with the union immediately and the Assembly group will be writing to the Gordon Brown's government to impress on them the need to do so.

"It is also inconceivable that Members of Parliament representing Plaid Cymru should not attend the budget debate today.

“It was a tough decision between supporting the strikers and the importance of the up and coming budget on public sector workers given the agenda of the two main parties in Westminster.

"There is a difference between this and the meaningless attempts by opposition parties in Cardiff Bay to score petty political points during such a worrying time for so many public sector workers.

“Their actions show how little they care for the people affected by the Westminster government's plans to cut redundancy payments."

MPs cross where AMs fear to tread

"It is something ingrained in party thinking. We do not cross a picket line."

The words of Welsh Labour leader Carwyn Jones, quoted in today's Western Mail. They may create some difficulty for his Labour colleagues in Westminster, where pickets are out in force on Budget Day.

Chancellor Alistair Darling will have to cross a picket line to deliver his own Budget - and presumably run the risk of being called a scab by his party's leader in Wales.

In Cardiff Bay, Labour and Plaid Cymru AMs are staying away from the Welsh Assembly chamber.

Plaid Cymru say their AMs have supported the right of the PCS union to withdraw labour in this dispute.

Plaid's three MPs may also support union's right to withdraw labour during this dispute, but, according to a spokeswoman, they will be present in the Commons for the Budget statement.

No news yet on what Plaid AMs make of their colleagues' decision.

Think Plaid. Think London?

There's new evidence that a catch-all "London" has replaced "slap in the face" and "snub to Wales" as Plaid Cymru's campaign slogan of choice.

A press release from Hywel Williams MP uses the L-word no fewer than seven times, more often than the word "Wales".

Google "Plaid Cymru" and "London" and you get far more suggestions than you would googling "slap in the face" or "snub to Wales". They really are so last decade.

The strategy appears to be to try to convince voters that everything done at Westminster is purely for the good of rich people in the UK capital, a nationalist version of class war.

The Hywel Williams press release is peppered with references to "Labour in London", "cuts imposed on the Welsh Government by London" and "bosses in London".

Another press release from the party, announcing their line-up of candidates, arrived this afternoon with no fewer than five L-words in its three paragraphs.

Plaid's honorary president, Dafydd Wigley, once upset a few people by referring to "gin-soaked Surrey" (to compare, replace Surrey with any Welsh location and stand by your inbox). Plaid Cymru insist they are not anti-English - "some of my best friends are English" as Elfyn Llwyd told the BBC News Channel recently.

To demonstrate the L-word strategy is not an anti-English pitch, Hywel Williams highlights another area of the UK where public spending is higher than Plaid would apparently like.

"Public spending in England and Scotland outstripped Wales during the ‘good times’ while, under the Barnett Formula, Wales loses out on hundreds of millions of pounds a year."

Scottish public spending outstripping Wales? The SNP, who form part of a single parliamentary party at Westminster, will be thrilled with this contribution to their combined negotiating strength should there be a hung Parliament.

Referendum(s) fever - "pretty bloody confusing"

You wait years for referendum fever to take off and then two come along at once.

I'll leave the Alternative Vote details to those with more time on their hands, but I ventured into the Welsh referendum date by asking a question at a Plaid Cymru Westminster news conference.

When, I asked Plaid's parliamentary leader, would the next Welsh referendum - on increasing the Assembly's powers - be?

Elfyn Llwyd said: "I don't think it is going to be in May [2011], it is either going to be in October or March. At the present time my suspicion is October."

Mr Llwyd said First Minister Carwyn Jones and his Plaid deputy Ieuan Wyn Jones had held a press conference in Cardiff today at which they were not talking dates.

"The Conservatives in the National Assembly are adamant that they don't want it on the same day as the election in May.

"And frankly, there is some sense in that because while parties might be rowing the same boat on the referendum they are also at each others' throats getting seats so it's going to be pretty bloody confusing."

"I don't think anyone wants to be hemmed in by the Tories and giving in to their demands but their demand is that they would be happy to vote for the trigger provided it was explicitly ruled out that there would be something in May.

"In reality it is ruled out, all but, although no guarantees can be given. It is simply not tenable" {to hold a referendum on election day}"

He added: "My guess is October, if not March."

It's fair to say that the reporting of those remarks has led to a minor, although hopefully temporary, eruption on the Elfynometer.

Perhaps I'll stick to less controversial subjects in future; tomorrow, it's back to the Iraq Inquiry.

Think different: think slavery

The House of Commons chamber has virtually emptied as MPs open a debate on competitiveness in the food industry - the power of supermarkets and so on.

Perhaps some the 600 or so MPs absent are heading for the Queen Elizabeth conference Centre to watch Jack Straw give evidence to the Iraq inquiry.

While we wait for Mr Straw to explain his role in the war, it's time once again to dip into the Plaid Cymru handbook.

The fundraising chapter is illuminating. Here are a few highlights:

"A new member not only means a potential new activist but also a new source of income, especially if you recruit them on direct debit."

If you want a personal visit from a Plaid candidate, make sure you cough up bigtime. "Send a personalised thank you letter from the candidate as soon as the donation is received. If it is a substantial donation the candidates should make contact via a phone call or a personal visit."

The handbook offers useful advice to Plaid candidates on how to organise a raffle.

There is also the softly-softly approach: "The next time you are lying the garden enjoying the summer sunshine - remember this is the perfect time for a Plaid Cymru BBQ! Ask all your friends, neighbours and Plaid Cymru members to come around with a bottle of their favourite tipple and charge them £5 to enjoy the products of your culinary expertise."

Or: "An alternative way of raising funds might be to hold a cheese and wine themed evening.....as well as selling tickets at £3 you can charge £1 for every glass of wine."

Then there's "exotic food evenings" - "a group of around six people take it in turns to cook an exotic meal for each other (Spanish, Mexican etc)". As if cheese and wine evenings were not exotic enough (!), Plaid candidates are told this is "cheaper than a posh restaurant".

There is an alternative - the "slave auction" with members putting themselves up for auction. "The 'slave' will have stated in advance what they are willing to do (such as cut the grass, or paint a room etc) and the other members bit for them."

Worth remembering next time you're faced with a full nappy and wonder whether Elfyn Llwyd's time is within your bidding range.

Think Different: the plot thickens

The hunt for the origins of Plaid Cymru's election slogan has taken a new twist.

Welsh Assembly Member Nerys Evans told am.pm that the party had not stolen it from megarich loadsalawyers corporation Apple but from Plaid's sister party, the SNP.

Or, as she put it the SNP have been using something similar and Plaid got their idea from them.

A search of the SNP's website reveals no trace of the said slogan. Can anyone help clear up the mystery?

Think different: sue Plaid?

There are only a finite number of political slogans in this world so you can forgive political parties for "borrowing" phrases from other sources.

Plaid Cymru's "Think Different" campaign has made its mark, with the party's various leaders now parroting the phrase in speeches and press releases.

Outside the party, the slogan has been noticed for two reasons - its approach to grammar (who needs an adverb when an adjective will do?) and its former use by Apple.

The Apple campaign is credited with reviving the company's fortunes from 1997 to 2002. There are even rumours that the slogan itself may be revived.

Plaid hope the slogan will have a similar impact on their fortunes at that time in the political cycle when, as is traditional, they are predicting their "best ever" Westminster election result.

They will also hope Apple's lawyers are not watching. Here's some helpful trademark advice:

8. Slogans and Taglines:

You may not use or imitate an Apple slogan or tagline.


For example: “Think different.”

Ah. My Plaid source says: "Apple who?! We actually developed ours totally independently, and then later realised Apple had used the think different part as well, honest! Great minds think alike."

They'll be claiming next to have invented a personal music player - the iPlaid? - but the great minds argument might struggle to convince Apple's learned friends. Perhaps, imitating Apple is just a core vote strategy.

As for grammar, Plaid say: "The 'Different' is not meant as an adverb - more of a statement, so the grammar is fine." That's all right then. Presumably Plaid won't be "borrowing" the full Apple script too. Here's to the crazy ones......

Plaid call in their fashion police

You know there's an election looming when Plaid Cymru put quails' eggs on the menu at their New Year "bring-a-candidate" party.

Several of Plaid's wannabe MPs spent yesterday in Westminster catching up on lines to take, being photographed with their political heroes in front of sloganeering backdrops and getting tips on how to handle the media (never say "no comment", apparently).

The candidates were handed a copyof Plaid's Campaign Handbook (£10 from its National Campaigns Unit). This includes election tips supplied by some of the party's leading lights past and present.

For media interviews, candidates are told: "Decide in advance what you want to say. If you have any questions about lines to take, contact the National Campaigns Unit before any interview.

"Stick to what you want to say and don't allow the interviewer to deviate you from your key messages. Repeat yourself using different language if necessary.

"Relax - You will almost certainly know more about your subject than the interviewer." (Hmmm....)

And if you've ever wondered what to wear when a BBC TV crew comes calling, here is the official Plaid line:

"Look smart - wear something appropriate for the occasion, don't wear something too trendy. If you are a man do not wear a tie that is much lighter in colour than your shirt. Don't wear shirts of blouses with elaborate patterns or with close lines."

To make the point, the front of the handbook features party leader Ieuan Wyn Jones wearing an open-necked shirt and denim jeans, jacket draped over right shoulder.

Definitely not too trendy, although my own fashion guru advises that men over 40 should be careful before wearing denim - something to do with Jeremy Clarkson and Tony Blair, apparently.

My own photograph shows the deputy First Minister wearing his Sunday best but if any of you do have photographs of Plaid figures wearing "something too trendy", do feel free to e-mail them to me.

Siwperman

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Plaid Cymru's parliamentary leader.

Elfyn Llwyd reveals to readers of Total Politics magazine that the literary character he would most like to be is: "Superman - for obvious reasons."

So if you spot the Meirionnydd Nant Conwy flying through the air with his underpants over his trousers you'll know this is a dream come true.

It will at least make up for his disappointment at the magazine's (snub to Wales?)  failure to include him in its list of top 10 politicians with facial hair.

David Lloyd George is the sole Welsh representative in a top 10 that includes Bob Ainsworth, Ken Livingstone and Peter Mandelson.

Family-friendly values

"Making your spouse your secretary is the best way to avoid the disruption and heartache of making your secretary your spouse."

That advice, from the Newport West Labour MP Paul Flynn, has been taken by more than a few MPs.
It's estimated that around 200 employ relatives, be they spouses, nieces, or parents.

Fourteen of the 40 Welsh MPs currently employ staff who are related to them and will presumably be caught in the new rules proposed by Sir Christopher Kelly. You can read the full list here.

Plaid Cymru's three MPs do not feature on the list. As their parliamentary leader, Elfyn Llwyd, puts it: "We have had a policy that we have never employed members of our families."

That policy, he says, is party-wide, dates from 1993, and applies also to members of the Welsh Assembly.
That may be news to two of the party's Assembly Members, Mohammad Asghar and Jocelyn Davies, the latter a deputy Housing Minister in Cardiff.

According to the latest register of AMs' interests, each of them employs their spouses part-time in constituency offices.

Perhaps they were unaware of established party rules. Either way, they are likely to be the last Plaid Cymru politicians to keep it in the family. The party has accepted unanimously new rules that AMs "should not henceforward make any new appointments of family members."

Plaid women

What have the Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru got in common?

Neither has ever sent a woman to Westminster. The Tories hope to change that next year but for Plaid Cymru it may be more of a challenge.

The party's shortlist for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr contains four would-be candidates linked by one thing - their gender.

Little wonder then that Plaid Cymru's parliamentary leader says it's "a huge embarrassment" the party has never had a woman MP.

Elfyn Llwyd said Plaid's failure to get a woman elected to Westminster was "very unfortunate" and something needed to be done about it.
The Meirionnydd Nant Conwy MP said the shortlist was a local matter and he did not know why no woman had made the final four in the race to succeed Adam Price.

But he added: "it is a huge embarrassment we have never had a woman MP. It is very unfortunate; we need to do something about it."

Legg letters latest (sort of)

This won't come as news to those of you who've already had your weekly dose of Dragon's Eye, but some don't catch the programme until BBC Parliament airs it on Sunday and others record it to watch at their leisure. (Spoiler alert as they say on movie previews)

A gold star to my colleague Bethan James who succeeded where I - and a Plaid Cymru spin doctor - failed in getting to the bottom of the tensions between  members of the joint Plaid/SNP parliamentary party at Westminster.

The SNP, you will recall, announced that they would publish their letters from Sir Thomas Legg, while Plaid were rather less keen to open their envelopes for the media.

The Plaid Cymru parliamentary leader, Elfyn Llwyd, has now explained all to Bethan: "Curiously, they [the SNP] did this without discussing it with us and had we known beforehand we would have considered doing it but frankly these are enquiries at this stage and people may think there is no smoke without fire but that is not right.

"Several of the enquiries I know from speaking to Members of Parliament are incorrect."

The Meirionnydd Nant Conwy MP himself is prepared to pay back a few hundred pounds as he is not going to query Sir Thomas's questions about his own expenses.

He''ll be among a few dozen MPs who arrive for the state opening of Parliament on November 18 with one eye on matters along the M4 as Sir Emyr Jones Parry has chosen that date to present his report on the Welsh Assembly's powers.

With the next parliamentary session due to be curtailed by the general election, it may be touch and go which is delivered first - Gordon Brown's legislative programme or the proposed referendum to increase the Assembly's powers.

Rising to the challenge?

Plaid Cymru and the SNP have always argued that their joint parliamentary group at Westminster helps them punch above their weight.

So when Plaid called for Tony Blair to be impeached, the SNP piled in, and when the SNP reported the Blair Government to the police for allegedly selling peerages Plaid wrote to Plod too.

But the Celtic alliance does not appear to be working on today's big issue - MPs' expenses.

The SNP were swiftly out of the blocks, promising to publish their letters from Sir Thomas Legg and challenging other parties to do the same. "There should be complete openness and transparency," said the SNP MP John Mason.

Plaid were rather more cautious, their three MPs spending several hours discussing what to do. Eventually, a statement arrived summarising their Legg letters.

Apparently Sir Thomas has asked them to provide more information on mortgage payments. There have also been individual requests about claims for "maintenance work, council tax and water rates, ground rent, buildings insurance and the purchase of an item of white goods."

Many MPs across all parties have received similar letters asking for information. Sir Thomas has not as yet advised any Plaid MP to repay any money, although they will if he does.

But will they, in the interests of "complete openness and transparency" rise to the challenge set by their Westminster group partners?

They're going to get back to me on that one.

Public service blogging

Consensus politics lives, up to a point. Labour, Plaid Cymru and SNP politicians emerged from today's Joint Ministerial Committee at Westminster to declare unity on the issue of the day - public spending.

Their cause - endorsed by the arrival of Gordon Brown towards the end of the meeting - was the need to keep spending high until the recession is over, a policy that isolates the Conservatives.

There were limits to the consensus. The Labour/Plaid Cymru coalition that runs the Welsh Assembly Government want an advance on their budget for 2011/2012 so they can carry on spending next April for the 2010/2011 financial year.

Will they get it? Welsh Secretary Peter Hain pointed out that "you can't keep bringing forward capital spending because it's within a fixed envelope over a period of years" although UK Ministers will consider the request. Ministers hope that economic recovery will be underway before next April, removing the need for a continued fiscal stimulus.

Plaid were also happy to get agreement for Ministers and officials to consider independent arbitration in deciding levels of public spending in Wales. At the moment the Treasury decides how the Barnett formula works and whether Wales gets a slice of extra spending in England, e.g. on the London Olympics.

Peter Hain offered limited hope to his nationalist partners/foes: "You cannot in the end settle issues of spending and finance and the distribution in our case between England and Wales and Scotland and Northern Ireland by some independent court. You need to find a way of resolving disputes but in the end it'll come down to politics and what the public support and don't support."

Right place, right time

A surreal night spent in a tin barn just outside Haverfordwest.

The location of the national Welsh European election count was not perhaps the best advert for 21st century Wales - no broadband and the results read against an anonymous grey backdrop that passed up the opportunity to advertise the delights of Pembrokeshire.

For once, given my recent luck, it felt as if I was in the vicinity of the story. Twelve years ago, when the Tories were wiped off the map in Wales, no-one would have predicted a comeback that would see them as the largest party.

Labour will take some consolation that the low turn-out suggests their voters disproportionately stayed at home, but the Conservatives will also hope to reclaim some Euro-sceptic votes from UKIP at the next general election.

There was a long wait for the results, filled by spin from the political parties. Plaid Cymru, assuming they'd come second, tried to persuade us that this was a significant development as they would be the leading party of the left. They stopped spinning this analysis when the votes came in and they came third.

Labour blamed the expenses scandal for their woes, although tales of duck houses, moats and dog food on the taxpayer don't appear to have damaged the Tories. The silver lining for Labour is that they can more credibly warn voters of a Conservative threat at the general election - the danger for Labour is that the electorate may not longer be scared by that prospect.

UKIP's success appeared to take them by surprise, their winning candidate struggling to give the impression that gaining election to the European Parliament was a lifetime's ambition achieved.

UKIP may have swept up the anti-politician vote after the expenses scandal but it also suggests that not every voter in Wales views politics through a Welsh prism.

But it's the Tories who are wearing the biggest smiles today after the collapse of the Labour vote allowed them to claim victory with only two per cent more of the vote than last time. As I write, David Cameron is heading for Cardiff to join in the party.

Election fever

You can't put an opposition MP in front of a camera at the moment without them demanding an immediate general election .

Next week they'll have the chance to vote for one. Plaid Cymru are to use their debating time in the Commons to call for a dissolution of Parliament.

Plaid and the SNP will use the debate to put pressure on Gordon Brown to hold a snap election.

Don't expect a massive turnout but it should be interesting to see how many turn up to vote for another encounter with the electors - particularly if any Labour MPs decide they really, really want an election now.

A day of reckoning for all?

Apologies for the lack of regular blogging of late: I've been too busy working.

Today, as you might well have noticed is Budget Day, or "the day of reckoning" as the Tories would have it.

It's the day we discover just how deep in it we are - well, possibly. Treasury economic forecasts are not known for their accuracy of late.

We can predict political reaction with more certainty. Future public spending plans will be tight, and made tighter by what the Treasury calls "efficiency savings" - the ones that have alarmed Ministers in Cardiff Bay so much.

With overall public spending around £500bn a year, "efficiency savings" of around £5bn-£15bn don't sound like much, but the knock-on effects in Wales could be challenging.

Efficiency savings may be seen as Treasury-speak for spending cuts, although Peter Hain points out that they can be recycled to deliver improved public services. His view that the Welsh adminstrative bureaucracy has been too comfortable for too long may at least spark a debate in Cardiff Bay.

One of the consequences of a system where a Government is responsible only for spending (not raising) its Budget is that there is always someone else to blame - in this case, the UK (or London, if you work for Plaid Cymru) Government.

So expect howls of outrage from opposition parties in Cardiff Bay as the spending squeeze bites.

While Labour MPs hail "a Budget for jobs" (on the day unemployment rises again), Plaid Cymru will doubtless describe it as a Budget for the south-east of England (from a Scottish Chancellor).

Plaid argue that the UK Government's recovery plan has so far benefited largely London and the south-east of England, even if Northern Rock, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Halifax Bank of Scotland and the Dunfermline Building Society have their roots elsewhere.

The squeeze really bites from next year, by when there may be a change of government in London.

So today could be a day of reckoning for the Tories too. Will Tories in the Welsh Assembly agree with George Osborne that public spending needs to be curbed? (and not just in non-devolved areas)

Will the Conservatives at Westmisnter match Labour's spending plans? Almost certainly not.

Shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan told me: "We will spend less than Labour - we are looking for less of an increase in public spending than Labour has planned in." A point worth remembering should the Welsh Tories bemoan lower public spending to come.

With spending cuts and higher taxes to come, next year's general election may be one not worth winning - "a poisoned chalice" as the Lib Dem MP Jenny Willott puts it.

If Iceland can do it....

I suspect the campaign for Welsh independence may be looking for another role model in the light of recent events.

This is what the Plaid Cymru AM Helen Mary Jones wrote in the Western Mail in August.

"Take Iceland as an example. It has a population of around 300,000 and is the tenth most prosperous country in the world (by GDP per capita) according to the International Monetary Fund. It is also the second most equal society in Europe. If Iceland can do it, Wales can."

Adam Price has reported how Iceland has a gdp £7,000 per head higher than in Wales with a growth rate double the Welsh level over five years.

"Why is it," asks Adam, "that small nations are succeeding more than ever before?"

He told the Western Mail last July: “Iceland, with the population of Cardiff, has achieved a very impressive economic growth rate of 10% thanks to an imaginative use of the tools and resources available to it."

Few would suggest today that Wales adopts a similarly "imaginative" approach.

Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy used the economic crisis to take a swipe at Labour's coalition partners today:

"Small countries don't necessarily flourish under current circumstances. Ireland is in some difficulty, to say the least, Iceland is in terrible difficulty.

"It is the strength of the United Kingdom economy as a United Kingdom that will ensure that we are in a position to withstand it [the economic crisis]."

We'll find out in the months to come just how strong that UK economy is.

Strings attached?

The strange political ceasefire over the financial crisis and the Government's rescue package announced today appears to be operating in parts of the Welsh Assembly too.

Here's the view of the Plaid Cymru leader, Ieuan Wyn Jones: "I do support the package. I understand the concerns of taxpayers...when there's so much public money being set aside for the banks. But I do think it's necessary because the economic situation is unsustainable, with share prices plummeting.

"And it's not only a problem for us here in Britain...it's a problem that's affecting people all over the world. And it came to the point, where the Government in Westminster had to react in this way and I do hope this will help the situation on the stock markets, and will encourage banks to lend to each other."

Plaid's Treasury spokesman, Adam Price, has a slightly different take on things, suggesting political hostilities have yet to be suspended throughout Westminster. (Some people may find it refreshing that some MPs are still asking awkward questions):

"By calling for the restructuring of the entire banking sector the Government is tacitly admitting a systemic failure at the heart of banking caused partly by poor regulation, partly by the recklessness of the bankers themselves. But how do you restructure when the Government says it doesn't want to run the banks, won't put anyone on the Board, will leave the management intact and won't even place a real cap on executive pay?"

"The taxpayer is now the biggest sleeping partner in economic history. The Government says there are strings attached to this bailout but in reality they are so weak and so few that the Government's credibility, and that of the entire financial system, are hanging by a thread."

UPDATE: Plaid have been in touch to say that IWJ agrees with Adam Price's analysis. "No split". Perhaps he ran out of time during his Radio Cymru interview this morning to offer similar criticisms on air.

The People's Laptops

Gordon Brown will use his speech today to launch a new educational technology allowance that will pay for broadband connections, software and computers for poorer families who currently lack internet access at home.

Students of Welsh politics may remember the "free laptops" idea put forward in the Plaid Cymru manifesto for the last Assembly elections, a policy currently in development.

Gordon Brown's plans will apply to England alone and are funded from existing budgets, so there's no spin-off cash for Wales. As yet we don't know the timescale for their introduction so there's still time for the Welsh Assembly Government to steal a march on Mr Brown before being outflanked by the UK Government.

Mr Brown will also unveil details of (long-term) plans to expand nursery education in England. It may be telling that the two trailed ideas from the speech will be implemented through the department run by his former aide, the Schools Secretary Ed Balls.

One stylistic note: the Prime Minister will apparently be using a lectern rather than the fashionable Cameronesque "look at me, no hands" wander around the stage while talking from the heart (autocue).

Just as well, really. Some of us are still dizzy from Nick Clegg's tour of the Bournemouth stage last week.