Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Keeping the WULF at the door
Two news stories today cannot help but make one long for the halcyon days of past governments. Both hark back to positions and policies that many of us thought had long been cast into pre-history.
Firstly, there is the small matter of Councillor Peter Davies of Newport. Councillor Davies is the father of David Davies MP AM but that is as far as his relationship with the Welsh Assembly goes. The moment when David stands down as an AM in May clearly cannot come too soon for his father if his recent missive to the Western Mail is anything to go by.
In his letter to the Western Mail Peter Davies said: "Since only 24.7% of the Welsh people voted for an assembly and now after eight years we know that it doesn't work, the best way to save money would be to abolish the assembly and all its members!"
The response from Assembly Tory Leader, Nick Bourne was curt and to the point. He told the press that the letter "hadn't gone unnoticed" and that Welsh party's chairman Lyndon Jones and director, Matthew Lane have been asked to remove him from the Welsh Tory approved candidate list "urgently".
The imperative here is for Nick Bourne to quickly disassociate himself from anybody who might undermine his carefully crafted image of the Welsh Tories as pro-devolution. As with Cameron's new touchy-feely Conservative Party however, the image belies the reality. There are a great many Welsh Tories who will agree with Peter Davies. That is Nick Bourne's real problem and he knows it.
Meanwhile, Labour appear to have walked blindly into their own controversy with a proposal to give public money to Welsh Trade Unions. The Trade Unions already get money from the Assembly Government of course to upskill workers. This is the Welsh Union Learning Fund or WULF and currently amounts at £1 million a year. Most people accept that this is a legitimate use of public resources.
However, the proposal to create a Trade Union Modernisation Fund to allow them to to build a sustainable role for themselves in a modern setting, appears to be a whole different ball game. There is some credibility in the claim that this is an inappropriate use of public money to prop up some of Labour's biggest backers.
The strange thing is that this proposal appears to be entirely out of keeping with the New Labour agenda. Surely, they ditched this sort of buddy-buddy link with the Trade Unions ages ago. Yes, they take their money but up until now they have been very scrupulous to avoid any proposal that might imply that their relationship is improper in any way. In the interests of clear red water Wales Labour have abandoned that stance.
What is also interesting is the names of the two ministers who have launched this initiative. Both Andrew Davies and Jane Davidson are viewed as potential leadership candidates once Rhodri Morgan stand down. This new-found enthusiasm for Trade Unions as instigators of social change will do nothing to damage their relationship with important voters in that election.
Firstly, there is the small matter of Councillor Peter Davies of Newport. Councillor Davies is the father of David Davies MP AM but that is as far as his relationship with the Welsh Assembly goes. The moment when David stands down as an AM in May clearly cannot come too soon for his father if his recent missive to the Western Mail is anything to go by.
In his letter to the Western Mail Peter Davies said: "Since only 24.7% of the Welsh people voted for an assembly and now after eight years we know that it doesn't work, the best way to save money would be to abolish the assembly and all its members!"
The response from Assembly Tory Leader, Nick Bourne was curt and to the point. He told the press that the letter "hadn't gone unnoticed" and that Welsh party's chairman Lyndon Jones and director, Matthew Lane have been asked to remove him from the Welsh Tory approved candidate list "urgently".
The imperative here is for Nick Bourne to quickly disassociate himself from anybody who might undermine his carefully crafted image of the Welsh Tories as pro-devolution. As with Cameron's new touchy-feely Conservative Party however, the image belies the reality. There are a great many Welsh Tories who will agree with Peter Davies. That is Nick Bourne's real problem and he knows it.
Meanwhile, Labour appear to have walked blindly into their own controversy with a proposal to give public money to Welsh Trade Unions. The Trade Unions already get money from the Assembly Government of course to upskill workers. This is the Welsh Union Learning Fund or WULF and currently amounts at £1 million a year. Most people accept that this is a legitimate use of public resources.
However, the proposal to create a Trade Union Modernisation Fund to allow them to to build a sustainable role for themselves in a modern setting, appears to be a whole different ball game. There is some credibility in the claim that this is an inappropriate use of public money to prop up some of Labour's biggest backers.
The strange thing is that this proposal appears to be entirely out of keeping with the New Labour agenda. Surely, they ditched this sort of buddy-buddy link with the Trade Unions ages ago. Yes, they take their money but up until now they have been very scrupulous to avoid any proposal that might imply that their relationship is improper in any way. In the interests of clear red water Wales Labour have abandoned that stance.
What is also interesting is the names of the two ministers who have launched this initiative. Both Andrew Davies and Jane Davidson are viewed as potential leadership candidates once Rhodri Morgan stand down. This new-found enthusiasm for Trade Unions as instigators of social change will do nothing to damage their relationship with important voters in that election.
