Spend 48 hours with the Liberal Democrats, as I have just done, and you learn why they bang on about 'fairness' so much.
A guessing game to identify the Welsh Assembly Member to make it onto the front page of today's Wales on Sunday would be unlikely to throw up the name of Mick Bates.
But the Montgomeryshire AM awoke today to find himself accused by someone anonymous of doing
something he could not remember doing.
What's not disputed is that Mick Bates was taken by ambulance to hospital on January 19 after a night out in Cardiff during which liquid refreshment was taken.
He had a serious head wound which required treatment. He cannot remember anything else, particularly whether in a concussed state he was verbally abusive to hospital staff.
Colleagues say he behaved oddly during the following 48 hours but, more than two weeks later no-one has contacted him about any alleged complaint.
He did turn up at the Welsh Lib Dem conference today, despite a spokesman insisting he would not. He was there long enough to raise sponsorship for his wife's Inca Trail charity trek and promise us a statement on camera along the lines of he was sorry if he'd done something wrong.
Then he was hugged by Kirsty Williams and disappeared into a meeting with her and senior party officials.
He then left the Grand Theatre by a rear exit without talking to hacks - always a bad move - and we were told he would not take part in a fringe meeting on fuel poverty.
You don't need to be Woodward & Bernstein to sense a potential story here, particularly in the absence of obvious alternatives.
It might not be fair to someone widely viewed as a gentle giant but life's not fair, as Nick Clegg told his troops yesterday. The Lib Dems' crisis management had helped turn a drama into something worse than a crisis - a story.
Showing posts with label Welsh Liberal Democrats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Welsh Liberal Democrats. Show all posts
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Lib Dems don't like Mondays
You may have noticed how MPs hit the headlines recently by apparently spending fewer days at Westminster - 139 - in a parliamentary year than for many a day.
I pondered the subject on a quiet day recently with a passing Tory backbencher who denied there was a secret agreement between the major parties to allow their MPs to campaign in their constituencies at the beginning and end of the week.
MPs are not the only professional politicians who use "constituency days" to further their (and their party's) re-election prospects.
Here's a Facebook entry for the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams, dated January 18:
The Mark in question is Mark Williams, Lib Dem MP for Ceredigion, whose own Facebook entries reveal Mondays spent trying to get re-elected.
I did ask him: "Shouldn't you have been at work?"
His reply: "A different kind of work, I hasten to add only part of Mondays."
Kirsty Williams spent Monday, January 25 campaigning in Builth, in her own constituency, which may have helped the election chances of the deputy leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, local MP Roger Williams.
Perhaps the events were part of a Williams family re-union, although so far as I know the three are not related.
Meeting people in the real world must be a good thing for politicians although perhaps describing it as "campaigning" is not the most tactful choice of words.
I pondered the subject on a quiet day recently with a passing Tory backbencher who denied there was a secret agreement between the major parties to allow their MPs to campaign in their constituencies at the beginning and end of the week.
MPs are not the only professional politicians who use "constituency days" to further their (and their party's) re-election prospects.
Here's a Facebook entry for the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams, dated January 18:
The Mark in question is Mark Williams, Lib Dem MP for Ceredigion, whose own Facebook entries reveal Mondays spent trying to get re-elected.
I did ask him: "Shouldn't you have been at work?"
His reply: "A different kind of work, I hasten to add only part of Mondays."
Kirsty Williams spent Monday, January 25 campaigning in Builth, in her own constituency, which may have helped the election chances of the deputy leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, local MP Roger Williams.
Perhaps the events were part of a Williams family re-union, although so far as I know the three are not related.
Meeting people in the real world must be a good thing for politicians although perhaps describing it as "campaigning" is not the most tactful choice of words.
Monday, 23 November 2009
£800 to be Peter's friend
How much would you pay to have dinner with the Welsh Liberal Democrats? Did I hear fifty quid at the back?
If you have nine mates, why not make a night of it and claim the discounted rate of £450 for a table for 10?
Or if you're feeling really flush, two grand will allow you to sponsor the conference dinner as the Welsh Lib Dems gather in Swansea next February.
"Sponsorship includes:
Space to display promotional material (banners, pop-ups, leaflets etc).
10 minutes to address everyone present with a speech.
A thank you from the appropriate party spokesperson for your organisation.
2 tickets to the Conference Dinner on the top table.
2 Observer Passes to Conference.
A full page black & white advert in the Conference Guide.
Your organisation’s logo printed on menus and tickets.
An invitation to the Conference Dinner with your organisation’s logo sent to all party members. We can include an advert for your organisation as well if you wish.
Or, for £1,500 you can sponsor a reception that takes place during the Wales vs England Six Nations match.
At half time, you'll be allowed to make a speech to delegates who will have switched off from the game to want to focus on your policy area.
The Lib Dems promise: "We will supply the first drink for the guests."
Or for a more modest £800 you can sponsor a reception hosted by Peter Black AM. You too could have Peter as a guest at your party for just £800 - are they selling his company too cheap?
You can find out more here.
Many thanks to the Elgan Morgan of the Welsh Lib Dems conference committee for sending me the link to their conference opportunities.
If you have nine mates, why not make a night of it and claim the discounted rate of £450 for a table for 10?
Or if you're feeling really flush, two grand will allow you to sponsor the conference dinner as the Welsh Lib Dems gather in Swansea next February.
"Sponsorship includes:
Space to display promotional material (banners, pop-ups, leaflets etc).
10 minutes to address everyone present with a speech.
A thank you from the appropriate party spokesperson for your organisation.
2 tickets to the Conference Dinner on the top table.
2 Observer Passes to Conference.
A full page black & white advert in the Conference Guide.
Your organisation’s logo printed on menus and tickets.
An invitation to the Conference Dinner with your organisation’s logo sent to all party members. We can include an advert for your organisation as well if you wish.
Or, for £1,500 you can sponsor a reception that takes place during the Wales vs England Six Nations match.
At half time, you'll be allowed to make a speech to delegates who will have switched off from the game to want to focus on your policy area.
The Lib Dems promise: "We will supply the first drink for the guests."
Or for a more modest £800 you can sponsor a reception hosted by Peter Black AM. You too could have Peter as a guest at your party for just £800 - are they selling his company too cheap?
You can find out more here.
Many thanks to the Elgan Morgan of the Welsh Lib Dems conference committee for sending me the link to their conference opportunities.
Monday, 21 September 2009
Simplicity
Is Vince Cable's halo slipping again? The Lib Dems' national treasure's proposed levy on expensive homes appears to be unravelling.
Dr Cable's team say the charge - applied on the value of homes above £1m - is a UK-wide tax.
Oh not it's not say his friends in the Welsh Liberal Democrats. They say the Assembly Government - and the Scottish Parliament - would be able to opt out of a levy, the proceeds of which would raise tax thresholds across the UK, lifting the poorest out of income tax altogether.
Property tends to be cheaper in Wales, with fewer £1m-plus houses, so it's questionable how much the levy would raise.
The tax would apparently be based on land registry values - i.e. sales. So if you bought your home for £60,000 forty years ago and it's now worth £2m you wouldn't pay the levy.
It would also be temporary and apply only until a local income tax is introduced.
The charge has been described as a "mansion tax" although constituents of some Lib Dem MPs in south-west London could re-brand it as a "terrace tax".
Could this possibly be less a policy and another one of Dr Cable's famous "first, rough attempts"?
Presumably not, as the "framework of principles" underlying all Lib Dem tax policy includes "simplicity - tax policies should be clear to taxpayers and new policy should aim to eliminate complexity in existing legislation."
That's all clear then.
Dr Cable's team say the charge - applied on the value of homes above £1m - is a UK-wide tax.
Oh not it's not say his friends in the Welsh Liberal Democrats. They say the Assembly Government - and the Scottish Parliament - would be able to opt out of a levy, the proceeds of which would raise tax thresholds across the UK, lifting the poorest out of income tax altogether.
Property tends to be cheaper in Wales, with fewer £1m-plus houses, so it's questionable how much the levy would raise.
The tax would apparently be based on land registry values - i.e. sales. So if you bought your home for £60,000 forty years ago and it's now worth £2m you wouldn't pay the levy.
It would also be temporary and apply only until a local income tax is introduced.
The charge has been described as a "mansion tax" although constituents of some Lib Dem MPs in south-west London could re-brand it as a "terrace tax".
Could this possibly be less a policy and another one of Dr Cable's famous "first, rough attempts"?
Presumably not, as the "framework of principles" underlying all Lib Dem tax policy includes "simplicity - tax policies should be clear to taxpayers and new policy should aim to eliminate complexity in existing legislation."
That's all clear then.
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
The flippin' obvious
A gold star to Tomos Livingstone for revealing the truth about joined up opposition within the Liberal Democrats.
As one Welsh party official put it in an email to party HQ/federal colleagues at Westminster/their London masters* (*delete according to taste), "We had no idea this saving would be identified and are now dealing with media 'did you knows?' - it's flippin' obvious we didn't....the longer we leave it the more apparent the disconnect."
Enough of this, I've got a story to do that involves the Barnett formula and ministerial committees. Have all my Christmases really come early?
As one Welsh party official put it in an email to party HQ/federal colleagues at Westminster/their London masters* (*delete according to taste), "We had no idea this saving would be identified and are now dealing with media 'did you knows?' - it's flippin' obvious we didn't....the longer we leave it the more apparent the disconnect."
Enough of this, I've got a story to do that involves the Barnett formula and ministerial committees. Have all my Christmases really come early?
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Lib Dem Axe-Man
No-one can accuse the Lib Dems of refusing to use the c-word. Their Treasury guru, Vince Cable, is publishing today a list of where the axe would fall should they win power.
His chums in the Welsh Lib Dems may or may not be thrilled to learn that Dr Cable would scrap the defence training review contract, estimated to be worth £13bn, a project that would see a defence training academcy set up in St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Dr C argues that this is believed to be a "highly expensive" option and would therefore scrap the contract.
No news yet on what the Welsh Lib Dems, who previously supported the project, think of plans to scrap one of the largest investments Wales has seen along with the prospect of several thousand jobs.
UPDATE: The Welsh Lib Dems, who appear to have been caught on the hop by their economic expert, say his views - which they circulated - are not party policy although they do indicate "the direction of travel" (their ghastly phrase, not mine) of the cuts required.
Clearly, only irresponsible hacks could confuse the views of someone who describes himself as the "Liberal Democrat shadow Chancellor" and is deputy leader of his party with party policy.
St Vince's spin doctors deny that he's calling for it to be scrapped. I must have been confused by this excerpt from his pamphlet: "The main proposals are.......Reducing the amount of waste in the defence procurement process, including scrapping........the Defence Training Review contract (£13bn over 25 years)".
As he puts it himself: "The time for generalities is over".
His chums in the Welsh Lib Dems may or may not be thrilled to learn that Dr Cable would scrap the defence training review contract, estimated to be worth £13bn, a project that would see a defence training academcy set up in St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Dr C argues that this is believed to be a "highly expensive" option and would therefore scrap the contract.
No news yet on what the Welsh Lib Dems, who previously supported the project, think of plans to scrap one of the largest investments Wales has seen along with the prospect of several thousand jobs.
UPDATE: The Welsh Lib Dems, who appear to have been caught on the hop by their economic expert, say his views - which they circulated - are not party policy although they do indicate "the direction of travel" (their ghastly phrase, not mine) of the cuts required.
Clearly, only irresponsible hacks could confuse the views of someone who describes himself as the "Liberal Democrat shadow Chancellor" and is deputy leader of his party with party policy.
St Vince's spin doctors deny that he's calling for it to be scrapped. I must have been confused by this excerpt from his pamphlet: "The main proposals are.......Reducing the amount of waste in the defence procurement process, including scrapping........the Defence Training Review contract (£13bn over 25 years)".
As he puts it himself: "The time for generalities is over".
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Missing in action
You may or may not be worried that 31 taxpayer-funded laptops, 10 Blackberries and six mobile phones have gone missing while in the carry of Welsh Assembly Government officials during the next three years.
The Lib Dems are very concerned about the possible loss of sensitive data, although they may be re-assured by an Assembly Government statement, which says no personal or sensitive data has been put at risk by the loss.
The statement comes from a spokesman for the Welsh Assembly Government's Director General, (People, Places & Corporate Services).
By the time you've got that job title on your hard drive, there isn't much space left for any personal or sensitive data.
The Lib Dems are very concerned about the possible loss of sensitive data, although they may be re-assured by an Assembly Government statement, which says no personal or sensitive data has been put at risk by the loss.
The statement comes from a spokesman for the Welsh Assembly Government's Director General, (People, Places & Corporate Services).
By the time you've got that job title on your hard drive, there isn't much space left for any personal or sensitive data.
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
All roads lead to Cardiff
Tonight sees the launch of the London branch of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, the brainchild of Lord Roberts of Llandudno.
I haven't seen the agenda but there's a rumour that item one may be education on devolution.
There's certainly scope for improvement, if this written exchange from the House of Lords is anything to go by:
Roads: A470
Question
Asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proposals they have to upgrade the A470 road.
Lord Davies of Oldham: The responsibility for trunk roads in Wales is devolved to the Welsh Assembly Government.
I haven't seen the agenda but there's a rumour that item one may be education on devolution.
There's certainly scope for improvement, if this written exchange from the House of Lords is anything to go by:
Roads: A470
Question
Asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proposals they have to upgrade the A470 road.
Lord Davies of Oldham: The responsibility for trunk roads in Wales is devolved to the Welsh Assembly Government.
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Bye for now
I have decided to spend more time with my family.
Forgive my use of this over-used cliche from the political world, but it is actually true. Today is my day at the office for a while.
Twenty years since I started work at Westminster, I will be disappearing for a few months to work on my childcare skills.
Reports that I am retiring on the proceeds of the takeover by a Dubai-based investment company of Charlton Athletic (I declare a small shareholding) are sadly wide of the mark.
The decision is prompted by the imminent arrival of our son. As an equal opportunities family, I will be taking the adoption leave while my wife goes out to work...
Admittedly, this is a risky, volatile, unpredictable time for a political correspondent to remove himself from the fray.
But the battle for the Welsh Liberal Democrat leadership will just have to cope without me.
I will miss the presidential election - but Lembit Opik's chances of taking this top job in the Lib Dems appear remote.
Listeners to Good Morning Wales will no longer be able to set their clocks by my appearance and can look forward to hearing a new voice at 6.30am.
By my return in March, the United States will have a new leader.
The Conservatives may have decided their policy on devolution.
Parliament's Welsh affairs committee may even have finished its two-year inquiry into globalisation.
It will certainly have started its inquiry into the National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Agriculture and Rural Development) Order 2008, dealing with the red meat industry.
Note to self: hurry back for that one.
People will wonder about the crying, the tantrums and the challenging behaviour. But the kids will just have to get used to their dad.
By next spring, my family will probably have decided it would like to spend less time with me.
I am back at my keyboard/microphone on March 23. Bye for now.
Forgive my use of this over-used cliche from the political world, but it is actually true. Today is my day at the office for a while.
Twenty years since I started work at Westminster, I will be disappearing for a few months to work on my childcare skills.
Reports that I am retiring on the proceeds of the takeover by a Dubai-based investment company of Charlton Athletic (I declare a small shareholding) are sadly wide of the mark.
The decision is prompted by the imminent arrival of our son. As an equal opportunities family, I will be taking the adoption leave while my wife goes out to work...
Admittedly, this is a risky, volatile, unpredictable time for a political correspondent to remove himself from the fray.
But the battle for the Welsh Liberal Democrat leadership will just have to cope without me.
I will miss the presidential election - but Lembit Opik's chances of taking this top job in the Lib Dems appear remote.
Listeners to Good Morning Wales will no longer be able to set their clocks by my appearance and can look forward to hearing a new voice at 6.30am.
By my return in March, the United States will have a new leader.
The Conservatives may have decided their policy on devolution.
Parliament's Welsh affairs committee may even have finished its two-year inquiry into globalisation.
It will certainly have started its inquiry into the National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Agriculture and Rural Development) Order 2008, dealing with the red meat industry.
Note to self: hurry back for that one.
People will wonder about the crying, the tantrums and the challenging behaviour. But the kids will just have to get used to their dad.
By next spring, my family will probably have decided it would like to spend less time with me.
I am back at my keyboard/microphone on March 23. Bye for now.
Wednesday, 3 September 2008
Auf Wiedersehen?
Tonight's bedside reading has arrived, in the form of the agenda for the Lib Dem conference.
There's a special slot for the new leader of the Scottish party, Tavish Scott, but no place on the platform for his Welsh equivalent, Mike German.
This will be Mr German's first and last UK autumn conference as leader of the Welsh Lib Dems but he's been squeezed off the agenda for his farewell tour.
Last year, his conference presence was confined to a fridge magnet (5op from the Lib Dem shop). This year, he is expected in Bournemouth to say more personal farewells during the first couple of days before departing for Welsh Assembly business in Africa.
Conference organisers deny any snub to Wales in excluding Mr German from the platform. They tend to rotate slots among their devolved leaders.
Expect his successor to be given a starring role (well, 20 minutes on a Sunday morning) at next year's conference. Eleanor Burnham has probably pencilled it in her diary already.
There's a special slot for the new leader of the Scottish party, Tavish Scott, but no place on the platform for his Welsh equivalent, Mike German.
This will be Mr German's first and last UK autumn conference as leader of the Welsh Lib Dems but he's been squeezed off the agenda for his farewell tour.
Last year, his conference presence was confined to a fridge magnet (5op from the Lib Dem shop). This year, he is expected in Bournemouth to say more personal farewells during the first couple of days before departing for Welsh Assembly business in Africa.
Conference organisers deny any snub to Wales in excluding Mr German from the platform. They tend to rotate slots among their devolved leaders.
Expect his successor to be given a starring role (well, 20 minutes on a Sunday morning) at next year's conference. Eleanor Burnham has probably pencilled it in her diary already.
Monday, 1 September 2008
The price of democracy
September is here, the silly season is over and most politicians - and political journalists - are back at work.
Well, something like that. The end of August shouldn't deter journalists from leadership speculation, with major contests brewing in Washington, Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats.
The leader of the latter, Mike German, will stand down on October 11 when the campaign to succeed him will officially get under way. (October 11 is also the day one of Wales's star hacks gets married - the lengths some people go to to avoid a Lib Dem conference!).
The Lib Dems still have to decide some of the rules for the leadership contest and it's likely Mr German will stay in post until the new leader takes over in late November or early December.
One of the rules concerns how much candidates can spend on their campaign. The current limit is a modest £250. Don't spend it all at once, guys......
Well, something like that. The end of August shouldn't deter journalists from leadership speculation, with major contests brewing in Washington, Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats.
The leader of the latter, Mike German, will stand down on October 11 when the campaign to succeed him will officially get under way. (October 11 is also the day one of Wales's star hacks gets married - the lengths some people go to to avoid a Lib Dem conference!).
The Lib Dems still have to decide some of the rules for the leadership contest and it's likely Mr German will stay in post until the new leader takes over in late November or early December.
One of the rules concerns how much candidates can spend on their campaign. The current limit is a modest £250. Don't spend it all at once, guys......
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
Leadership frenzy
For months - almost since he got the top job - the political world has been agog with rumours about the party leadership.
The verdict from the voters was, at best, mixed. Speculation about the man at the top was never far away whenever the party's politicians and activists were gathered together.
A fixture on the political landscape for so long, could the leader survive demands to make way for a young pretender who could re-vitalise the party?
Should he stay or should he go?
Now we know.
Mike German will step down as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats this autumn.
The only party leader from the original Assembly still standing, he announced his decision today.
"I said earlier in the year that I would stand down when it was sensible and practical to do so, and having received this request from the party's senior officers, I have decided that I will resign following the debate on the constitution at our Autumn Conference."
(Can there be a more appropriate way for a Lib Dem leader to leave than after a debate on the constitution?)
Mr German's announcement has fired the gun, as we hacks say in these circumstances, for the race to succeed him.
You will doubtless find detailed analysis of the potential candidates elsewhere but I will be taking a passing interest in the campaign.
Regular readers of The National Assembly for Wales - The Record of Procedings (always devoured chez Cornock over breakfast) will be aware that Eleanor Burnham has recently been stressing the breadth of her experience.
Not content with regularly throwing the "as a former magistrate" into speeches, EB JP has also spoken recently "as a former teacher of underachieving disaffected 14-16 year olds" and "as a former hospice fund-raiser".
Her campaign team will be hoping that come the autumn speeches do not begin "as a former future leader......"
The verdict from the voters was, at best, mixed. Speculation about the man at the top was never far away whenever the party's politicians and activists were gathered together.
A fixture on the political landscape for so long, could the leader survive demands to make way for a young pretender who could re-vitalise the party?
Should he stay or should he go?
Now we know.
Mike German will step down as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats this autumn.
The only party leader from the original Assembly still standing, he announced his decision today.
"I said earlier in the year that I would stand down when it was sensible and practical to do so, and having received this request from the party's senior officers, I have decided that I will resign following the debate on the constitution at our Autumn Conference."
(Can there be a more appropriate way for a Lib Dem leader to leave than after a debate on the constitution?)
Mr German's announcement has fired the gun, as we hacks say in these circumstances, for the race to succeed him.
You will doubtless find detailed analysis of the potential candidates elsewhere but I will be taking a passing interest in the campaign.
Regular readers of The National Assembly for Wales - The Record of Procedings (always devoured chez Cornock over breakfast) will be aware that Eleanor Burnham has recently been stressing the breadth of her experience.
Not content with regularly throwing the "as a former magistrate" into speeches, EB JP has also spoken recently "as a former teacher of underachieving disaffected 14-16 year olds" and "as a former hospice fund-raiser".
Her campaign team will be hoping that come the autumn speeches do not begin "as a former future leader......"
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Spending a penny wisely
If anyone ever asks you the point of a political institution, you may wish to refer them to this quote from Jenny Randerson, a Liberal Democrat member of the Welsh Assembly.
"Making sure there are enough public toilets, in the right places and accessible to all who might wish to use them, is exactly the sort of thing the Assembly was set up to debate."
"Making sure there are enough public toilets, in the right places and accessible to all who might wish to use them, is exactly the sort of thing the Assembly was set up to debate."
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