Monday, April 18, 2005
The arrogance of power
Despite promising in their manifesto that they will reduce hospital waiting times in Wales it seems that Labour are not prepared to tell us how they will do this until after the General Election is over.
Presumably they want us to trust them to deliver. They asked us to trust them in 1997 as well, when they set specific targets for waiting lists which they then failed to meet. They asked us to trust them over war in Iraq, only to have the words thrown back in their faces when the alleged weapons of mass destruction proved not to exist.
Trust is not something that voters are prepared to offer Labour anymore. Indeed, if the reaction I encountered on the doorsteps of Neath tonight is anything to go by, many of Labour's most loyal voters are deserting them over precisely this issue.
As if to add to the woes of Wales Labour, rebel AM Peter Law has finally announced that he will stand as an Independent in Blaenau Gwent after all. I have already commented on the impact his decision will have on Labour's majority in the Assembly. The question now is what will happen to their majority in Blaenau Gwent?
Presumably they want us to trust them to deliver. They asked us to trust them in 1997 as well, when they set specific targets for waiting lists which they then failed to meet. They asked us to trust them over war in Iraq, only to have the words thrown back in their faces when the alleged weapons of mass destruction proved not to exist.
Trust is not something that voters are prepared to offer Labour anymore. Indeed, if the reaction I encountered on the doorsteps of Neath tonight is anything to go by, many of Labour's most loyal voters are deserting them over precisely this issue.
As if to add to the woes of Wales Labour, rebel AM Peter Law has finally announced that he will stand as an Independent in Blaenau Gwent after all. I have already commented on the impact his decision will have on Labour's majority in the Assembly. The question now is what will happen to their majority in Blaenau Gwent?
