Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Sauce for the goose
This morning's Western Mail has Plaid Cymru defending a claim by their Anglesey candidate that Carwyn Jones has been anti-nuclear in the past.
Their argument is that in 2006, Andrew Davies, the Welsh Government Minister responsible for energy policy said there was no commercial case for more nuclear power stations in Wales. This was backed up by a Welsh Government report called Energy Wales, which did not mention nuclear power but did say that it is difficult to see the need for new nuclear build in Wales within the timeframe of that report's route map.
As Carwyn Jones was a member of the cabinet at the time then collective responsibility applies and thus this is his view as well.
I have no problem with that argument but I do have some reservations about it being deplolyed by Plaid Cymru. That is because during the One Wales coalition government and ever since, they have applied collective responsibility only when it suited them.
Thus, although they were in the same cabinet they claim that they were not responsible for cock-ups in health and education policy, which were portfolios held by Labour. Welsh Labour Ministers have not been immune from this either. They have disowned policies promoted by what were then Plaid Cymru colleagues.
If Plaid or Labour are going to deploy a collective responsibility argument they should at least do so consistently and not just when it suits or benefits them.
Their argument is that in 2006, Andrew Davies, the Welsh Government Minister responsible for energy policy said there was no commercial case for more nuclear power stations in Wales. This was backed up by a Welsh Government report called Energy Wales, which did not mention nuclear power but did say that it is difficult to see the need for new nuclear build in Wales within the timeframe of that report's route map.
As Carwyn Jones was a member of the cabinet at the time then collective responsibility applies and thus this is his view as well.
I have no problem with that argument but I do have some reservations about it being deplolyed by Plaid Cymru. That is because during the One Wales coalition government and ever since, they have applied collective responsibility only when it suited them.
Thus, although they were in the same cabinet they claim that they were not responsible for cock-ups in health and education policy, which were portfolios held by Labour. Welsh Labour Ministers have not been immune from this either. They have disowned policies promoted by what were then Plaid Cymru colleagues.
If Plaid or Labour are going to deploy a collective responsibility argument they should at least do so consistently and not just when it suits or benefits them.
