Saturday, April 16, 2011
Labour fail on devolution again
Another day, another Labour leaflet but this one seems to have been written for them in England by people who have no idea how devolution works.The giveaway is the claim that 'NHS spending cuts across the UK mean Primary Care Trusts in Wales will have to cut services and staff - 1,600 jobs will go in one PCT alone'.
The small problem is of course that health in Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh Government, not the UK Coalition, so if there are cuts then they are down to Labour and Plaid Cymru.
Secondly, there are no PCTs in Wales. Here they are called Health Boards and if anybody can point me to the Wellsh Health Board that is shedding 1,600 jobs then I will be very grateful. I suspect the Welsh Health Minister would want to know that as well. Frankly, it is a lie that any Welsh health board is shedding 1,600 jobs.
Talking about lies, the leaflet goes on to allege that pensions are being cut as well. This may be news to most pensioners, who got a £4.50 a week increase in their income this month and whose pension is now linked to earnings, something that Labour failed to do.
All in all, it is a pretty poor attempt with low marks for honesty and understanding of the Welsh system of goverance.
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"pension is now linked to earnings"
i.e. as opposed to prices
Given the directions in which earnings and prices are going respectively, is this a good thing?
i.e. as opposed to prices
Given the directions in which earnings and prices are going respectively, is this a good thing?
# posted by 
: 8:04 AM
: 8:04 AM
Interesting that Labour don't get devolution either. Having said that the Tory/Lib Dem Westminster coalition can't pass off responsibility for the cuts to Cardiff Bay when they are responsible for cutting the National Assembly budget as a whole.
Yes, we have to take responsibility for putting right the economic mess the Country is in but so far nobody has come up with a feasible alternative. In actual fact we have cut the Welsh budget by less than Labour planned and even on capital spending the UK Government is cutting 41% over four years whereas Labour planned to cut it by 45% over three years.
Nice of them to draw attention to policies which were introduced during the Labour/LibDem coalition period.
Peter's commitment to the Tory-Lib Dem government at Westminster is indefensible, but he is right that Labour would not have been much different.
That leaves Plaid as the only mainstream, realistic party that adheres to alternative politics.
The lesson is that the three British establishment parties are largely interchangeable and cut from the same bland centrist cloth, presiding over a dysfunctional state doomed to slip behind the emerging economies.
That leaves Plaid as the only mainstream, realistic party that adheres to alternative politics.
The lesson is that the three British establishment parties are largely interchangeable and cut from the same bland centrist cloth, presiding over a dysfunctional state doomed to slip behind the emerging economies.
Has anyone noticed the imprint, I think there is a difference between Usdaw and the Labour Party but dont let facts get in the way of a headline.
# posted by : 3:20 PM
: 3:20 PM
Legally and in every way this is a Labour leaflet irrespective of who printed it. It promotes Labour candidates and as such would require approval from the Labour agent.
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