Saturday, October 29, 2005

It's time to listen, Mr Pugh

Superb article by Steffan Cravos (Welsh Language Society Chairman) in the Western Mail today, in response to Brit Nat Alun Pugh's 'essay' in the same paper a few days earlier. Alun Pugh's essay was full of clichés, and lacked any real substance.

Alun Pugh opposes any calls for legislation, to ensure that Welsh speakers can use their own language in Wales. He constantly refers to private sector companies such as Ikea and Tesco, who do offer a limited Welsh language service, but doesn't refer at all to the 95% of companies in Wales who do not offer any services through the medium of Welsh.

What supporters of the Welsh language are calling for is equality. The right to services through the medium of Welsh, in exactly the same way as
English speaker have the right to services through the medium of English.

His essay shows clearly that Alun Pugh, and his party, are only interested in protecting the 80% who do not speak Welsh, and don't give a toss about the minority who do.

Our language will die with people like Alun Pugh and Rhodri Morgan in charge, and it will be too late to complain when it's gone!


It's time to listen, Mr Pugh
Oct 29 2005
Steffan Cravos writes for the Western Mail

"WE SHALL be abstaining tonight because we hope to have the opportunity before long to do the job properly. That will be done when we revisit the question of a Welsh language measure when we are in Government."

So said Rhodri Morgan MP on the eve of the Westminster vote on the Welsh Language Act 1993. Some 12 years on, the Assembly Government intends to scrap the Welsh Language Board giving Mr Morgan, now First Minister, a real opportunity to honour his words.

Support is now gathering for new and radical legislation on the Welsh language. Alongside the rallies and direct action, John Elfed Jones, former chair of the very first Welsh Language Board, has stated that the time has come for a new Welsh Language Act.

Press here to read the full article on icwales.co.uk

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Welsh, Scottish and English Olympic Teams.

In September, Plaid Shadow Culture Minister Owen John Thomas called on Brit Nat Culture Minister Alun Pugh to commission a survey to assess the demand for Wales to field its own team at the 2012 Olympics in London. He said:

"In a recent survey carried out in Scotland
(by C-scOT), 78% of those questioned were in favour of a Scottish team competing in London's 2012 Olympic Games. Cleary they recognised that a national team would provide greater opportunities for Scottish athletes to experience the thrill and competitiveness of these ancient Games".

Since then C-scOT (The Campaign for a Scottish Olympic Team) have launched a website which states:

"C-ScoT has been set up by ordinary Scottish sports fans to ensure that the Olympic philosophy, can be harnessed; to bring maximum and enduring benefit to Scottish sport, Scotland’s people, its culture and its health; using the forthcoming focus on London’s hosting of the games as a catalyst."


The Campaign for an English Olympic Team was also launched last month, asking:

"why there is a British Olympic team when the people of the British Isles consider themselves to be English, Scottish or Welsh and not British."


The Brit Nat Labour and Conservative Parties in Wales and Scotland have already opposed any calls for a Scottish or Welsh Olympic Team. They claim that Wales and Scotland don't have the talent to have their own Olympic teams, and that Scotland and Wales shouldn't get above their own particular station.


SNP culture spokesman Michael Matheson
recently hit the nail on its head when he said:

"For those who believe that we'd be better off under the GB system, that strikes me as an argument for abolishing any form of independent representation on the international field... Let's get rid of the Scottish football team, the Scottish rugby team, let's get rid of the Scottish Commonwealth Games Team, because we'd all be better to do it under the GB flag - if you want to believe that particular argument."


Wales, Scotland and England SHOULD have their own Olympic teams as a matter of principle. There is no barrier preventing Wales from competing as a nation at the Olympics. The current 202 National Olympic Committees included 13 non UN-recognised nations, and in reality, there is nothing stopping Wales from forming its own National Olympic Committee. The Olympic Charter states:

"Although most National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are from nations, the IOC also recognises independent territories, commonwealths, protectorates and geographical areas."


It's about time a campaign was lauched in Wales. If you can help to set-up 'The Campaign for a Welsh Olympic Team',
please contact us.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

How usless is our National Assembly?

Out of 10, how useless is the Labour governed National Assembly? What ever the score, it must be pretty useless. It's led by a government which can't govern because of it's arrogance to go into coalition, and because it doesn't have a coherent policy for the country except for Blairism with gimmicks and bribes.

The very uslessness of the Assembly under Labour (it is Labour's Assembly don't forget!) is lit up in neon with this week's debate about banning smoking in public places. The Assembly voted to make Wales smoking-free two years ago.

Unfortunately, because the British Nationalists Labour party under Rhodri 'Windbag' Morgan didn't want to implement the Richard Report, we're still left coughing ourselves to death.

The Westminster government (which is increasingly becoming the English Parliament - which we support) is now about to debate smoking in public places. No doubt, Wales will get the fag-end of the debate when they've finished.

Better wait until the grown-ups in London debate this before we take a decision, we don't want to rock the boat do we? After all, we are part of England&wales!

But, honest to God. How useless and anti-Welsh are Labour? What's the point of this Assembly? If any issue could be sorted out in Cardiff (even by Welsh Labour), then banning smoking in public places it is.

But, no, for the Labour Brit Nats in Wales, it seems that it's better to have lung cancer than self-government.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Welsh Assembly Budget

Following our story last Friday, we are glad to say that Brit Nat Labour leader - Rhodri Morgan - has done a u-turn on the small matter of setting a budget for the Welsh Assembly. He has already met with the opposition leaders, with another meeting due within the next few weeks.

It's good to see that Rhodri has realised that the Brit Nat Labour Party haven't got a divine right to rule in Wales and that, as the leader of a minority Government, he must discuss these important issues with the opposition parties in order to reach a compromise.

Plaid Cymru Assembly Leader Ieuan Wyn Jones said in the Western Mail:

"It appears to us that there is a will-ingness to work hard to achieve a settle-ment... We detected a big shift in the government's position. All we want is for the government to respect the amendment that was carried and make sure it's reflected in the draft budget which comes back before November 15."

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Englandwales Nationalists.

Recent events within the Wales Labour Party have got us thinking that we should change the name of this blog. A large segment of the Labour party in Wales aren't British nationalists at all... they're Englandandwales nationalists.

You know, you've heard of Serbia and Montenegro, you've read about President Lukashenka wanting his country – Belarus – to join with mother Russia, well, welcome to Englandandwales. Is it a nation, is it a bird, is it a flag of convenience, what is it? Moreover, it seems that the Labour Party in Wales doesn't even have a coherent philosophy for Wales let alone a long-term policy.

This came startlingly obvious during the debate this week about the reorganisation of the police forces in Wales. Peter Hain, Northern Ireland and part-time Wales Secretary announced that the existing four police services should be amalgamated and brought under London control. Others within the party want the forces to stay as they are and brought under Assembly control (as are the ambulance and fire service). One could also make a viable case for creating a national service (Wales isn't a very big country after all, as we're constantly reminded) with accountability then also decentralised lower down to say county level. These are all policies that Brit-Nat-Watch will leave to others to discuss.

However, what concerned us was hearing the comments of Wayne David MP (the former MEP and the man that lost the Rhondda in 1999) on Sunday's Waterside. David was arguing that the police should stay under London control, because, erm, well, we're under the same legal system, unlike Scotland (or, Northern Ireland or the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands). David may recall that we also had our own highly developed legal system until it was abolished during the colonial Act of Union in 1536 and 42 when we became, and still are, a part of the 'Realm of England'. A situation he seems happy to keep.

What kind of a Welshman wouldn't want the Assembly to control the police force of his country? Would a police force controlled by Cardiff be so stupid as not to cooperate closely with its English and international colleagues?

We use this debate as an example, because it's part of a growing movement within Labour MPs in Wales, with a few notable exceptions, they just want to keep everything in London. What is it? Are Welsh Labour MPs afraid that if more power goes to Cardiff, that people will suddenly start to question why we are sending a bunch of chinless wonders to enjoy the best club in London (whilst, no doubt, telling their constituents, a la Nye Bevan, how they hate the big city).

Or, do they think so little of their own party members, and AMs who govern the Assembly, that they don't trust them to look after their children's education, the health service or police force (as one Labour member alluded to me)? Or is there actually some latent internalised colonialism and self-hate beneath the whole thing in that Wales, or anything from Wales, is by definition useless or second-class to anything from London?

Or is it simpler than that? Had David been elected as Rhondda AM in 1999, and was now an Assembly (and possibly cabinet) member, would he be advocating that the Assembly should have control over the police? It seems that they just want power and a job, and bugger any philosophy or political agenda!

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Letters in the Western Mail

Some superb letters in the Western Mail today:

Wales needs voice

SIR - I must reply to Huw Lewis AM ("Tackling poverty", Western Mail, October 12). He wrote that Leanne Wood AM enjoys word games about who secured Objective One funding for Wales.

I feel that who got Wales and other regions of the UK to the situation of needing this funding is of more concern to us all.

That lays at the feet of the Westminster Governments of all colours and their economic strategies for London and South East England.

The UK being regarded as the fourth biggest economy in the world should be ashamed that any of its regions should qualify for aid.

Westminster cannot stop the inequalities it has caused, we cannot trust them to get the aid to the regions that need it. That is why Wales needs a voice direct to Europe.

DB HOPKINS
Eaglesbush Valley, Neath



Undemocratic policy

SIR - Once again we witness how the control freaks of New Labour have been at it again. Their decision to outlaw Assembly candidates from seeking election on both a constituency and list basis was always more to do with political gain for New Labour and nothing to with voter confusion.

Now the Electoral Commission has reported that New Labour's plans have no justification and would hand an unacceptable advantage to New Labour. Furthermore, in a comparative study the Commission reports that of the 30 countries that have a two-tier electoral system, the only one to have outlawed dual candidacy was pre-2002 Ukraine, hardly a bastion of democracy.

The question is now will New Labour do the admirable thing and reverse this fundamentally undemocratic policy?

SUSAN JONES
Llandysul, Carmarthenshire



Undemocratic power

SIR - The democratic deficit in our country once again raises its head with Peter Hain's announcement that he tends to favour a merger of Welsh police forces into one body. He also rules out devolving responsibility for policing to the National Assembly.

Why do we put up with a system of government under which a single Minister can determine policies of such great public interest.

Surely our own Assembly is the appropriate democratically elected forum to debate, consult, and decide on the shape of policing in our country?

PAUL SAMBROOK
Eglwyswrw, Pembrokeshire

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Don't patronise us Alexander.

Brit nat Labour MP and Government minister, Douglas Alexander, is the latest Labour MP to push British Nationalism on us.

His recent comments that the European Union shouldn't be allowed to submerge national (erm, British I assume, not Welsh, Scottish nor English) identity is just the latest in a long line of British nationalist 'nation building' rhetoric from the Labour smugocracy.

There is a very strong argument (political, economic, moral and of identity) against the further deepening of the EU, but I can hardly see how the European idea is a threat to my Welsh identity.

It's certainly less of a threat than the British nationalist nonsense being forced on us by New Labour. British negates Welsh identity with its 'national' British team in the Olympics (therefore no Welsh team), a British seat in the EU means there's no Welsh seat and the 'British' language aka English, is a massive threat to Welsh.

All these fears of course are narrow-minded racist rhetoric to Labour. It's odd, therefore, that Labour British nationalists now use similar terms to promote their British nationalism - what's wrong, now that they don't believe in socialism, are they looking for another philosophy?

It's also odd to see the Scottish MPs, Alexander, Brown et al, who are turning out to be the biggest British Nationalists. What's wrong, afraid that if the UK goes down the pan, their careers will follow?

I always thought the Scots were an intelligent nation. If they were independent, they'd enjoy the same standard of living and services as Norway. But, no, British nationalist MPs like Alexander and Brown would rather enjoy the limelight of Westminster; Scotland it seems is too small for their 'talent'.

So, they use Scottish nationalist arguments they've heard back home, replace Scottish with British and hey presto, it's all sold as good, clean, inclusive British nation building. Alexander, don't patronise us!

Saturday, October 15, 2005

English - a nationality which has disappeared from the media

A great article appeared in the Guardian today by Mark Lawson. He talks about how the English, as a nationality, has disappeared from the media in recent years to be replaced by British. It's well worth a read.

Renaissance for the nationality that dared not speak its name
The plaudits heaped on artists from Harold Pinter to Nick Park show that Englishness is no longer a handicap.


There seems to be little immediate connection between Gromit, the always-silent Plasticine dog, and the intermittently silent playwright Harold Pinter. But their coincidental triumphs abroad - the former topping the American box office with his first full-length movie and the latter becoming a Nobel laureate - are part of a striking redefinition and renaissance of English culture.

For at least a decade the grumpy assumption in the senior common rooms of English-speaking culture has been that, because of progressive politics and historical resentments, no white Briton or American would ever again win the literary Nobel. And film-makers believed that movies from the UK had to genuflect to America in their look (the permanent Dickensian Christmas of Richard Curtis movies) and casting (Andie MacDowell in Four Weddings) to succeed.

But, within a few days, both prejudices have been overturned by the international acclaim for The Birthday Party and The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, scripts which do not aim for any universality of reference but are both as English, in their way, as kippers for breakfast in a seaside B&B. I don't make this point out of any primitive patriotism but because these successes represent a fascinating shift in cultural politics which, at home and abroad, has made art from Albion fashionable and even radical.

In a week when a novel by the Irish writer John Banville took the Man Booker prize amid critical disdain, the two serious books gaining the real attention and sales are Alan Bennett's memoir Untold Stories, a forensic account of life in northern England, and 85-year-old PD James's The Lighthouse, which must stand as one of the last in the line of classic English detective fiction. And the startlingly warm tributes to Ronnie Barker, cremated on Thursday, memorialise and hope to immortalise a form of comedy rooted deep in English soil.

Yes, not "British" but "English", a nationality which has almost disappeared from the media in recent years. If Muriel Spark had received the call from Stockholm on Thursday, she would rapidly have been identified as a "Scottish" laureate, emails and letters quickly descending if southern journalism had claimed her for the wider kingdom. Similarly, Paul Muldoon would have been "Irish" or "Northern Irish". But Pinter, in broadcast bulletins and most newspaper reports, was persistently "British".

The point was often made, during the years of referendums and assemblies, that, while it became bad form not to stress the separateness of the Welsh and Scots, it was established as extreme bad manners to treat the English as a race apart. But writing style is shaped so strongly by the experience of specific speech and places that, in literature, this division of rule is seriously misleading.

Pinter and his plays are vitally and recognisably English in exactly the same way that Spark and Muldoon derive central elements of sensibility and vocabulary from Scotland and Ireland. Equally branded by exact nationality is the work of Bennett, James, Barker and Nick Park, the genius behind Wallace & Gromit. In fact, though their current prominence in the news and arts is a pure accident of events and release dates, it's striking how much their work has in common.

Strangely ritualised afternoon teas and the seediness of seaside boarding houses feature at various times in the work of Pinter, Bennett, Barker, James and Park. And all of the writers play continually with the slipperiness of English. Their key lines always have a second meaning: darker in Pinter, sexual in Barker, criminal in James, comic in Bennett and Park. On this sample, English writing of such apparently different kinds surprisingly unites around rock buns and puns.

Until very recently, being seen to carry an English ID card so visibly might have been a handicap for these artists. If a work had too much of a whiff of the Thames and tea bags, it risked classification as retrograde, conservative or, in the ultimate insult, "Little English". Being identified too heavily with traditional language or values made a writer seem resistant to multiculturalism or pan-Europeanism and therefore a de facto racist. Read the late-career reviews and obituaries of Anthony Powell, Philip Larkin or Kingsley Amis to experience this perception of Englishness as an illness for which doctors would hopefully soon find a cure.

So what's most startling about the reviews of The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (five stars out of five in most newspapers) is that almost all critics, conservative and liberal, have commended Park for his resolute parochialism and refusal to pander to the audiences of any other country on earth.

In cinema, though, the definition of Englishness is even more than usually complicated. While many film-makers here clearly did adopt mid-Atlantic tactics - even Park's film Chicken Run had an American hero - there is also a strain of movies which present an England so ridiculously English that it is recognisable only by Americans. The latest example, out this week, is Kinky Boots, in which Northampton railway station, in reality a buzzing commuter hub, is depicted as a sleepy rural halt where the platform contains a single passenger.

The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, while it has the defence of being a Plasticine fantasy, is also guilty of sentimentalising and simplifying England; but unexpectedly this vision no longer feels like the concoction of a "heritage" country for export but as a heroic refusal to bend to American expectation. In a culture enraged by US arrogance and expansionism, parochialism becomes a form of radicalism and resistance.

This new fashionability - indeed even political correctness - of militant Englishness is a consequence of the Iraq war and is what links Gromit with Pinter. Twenty years ago, when the playwright first turned against the British and American governments over their foreign policy, such vociferous opposition to the special relationship was widely considered maverick or treacherous. Now Pinter's vilification of his own prime minister and the US president is broadly mainstream newspaper opinion, with only the Times consistently dissenting.

It doesn't much matter - because Pinter has written at least five indelibly great plays - but paradoxically the politicians he most detests probably helped him win the Nobel. His fierce opposition to Blair and Bush and their Iraq adventures has cleansed him of the stain of colonialism or obsolescence that modern English writers have carried internationally.

In the list of Nobel laureates on the Swedish Academy website, "Harold Pinter" is followed by "(UK)". The Curse of the Were-Rabbit will go down in movie reference books as a US-UK co-production. But that's wrong. Both are utterly and uncompromisingly English and that is what makes their astonishing success so interesting.

Friday, October 14, 2005

Windbag's at it again.

Rhodri 'Windbag' Morgan said on Dragon's Eye last night that all Welsh assembly politicians face "disgrace and humiliation" if they fail to agree a budget.

His comments came after Plaid Cymru, The Conservatives, The Lib Dems, John Marek and Peter Law united to force Labour to re-think its financial plans. They want the Brit Nat Labour Party to put more money in to education, council tax and rail.

Rhodri Morgan warned:

"In the end if the assembly politicians can't set the budget, and this is the ultimate disgrace and humiliation that falls on all of us if we can't, the permanent secretary has to... And what's the public in Wales going to think of that?

"And what are they going to say in the House of Commons when we are asking for more legislative powers if we've had to sub-contract the process of setting the budget because the politicians can't make a fist of it?"

Basically, Rhodri's saying that if you do not agree with the Brit Nat Labour Party and their spending plans, then you're a disgrace. Instead of doing the honourable thing, as the leader of a minority Government, of discussing these important issues with the opposition parties, and reaching a compromise, Rhodri won't budge!

Rhodri, you're the disgrace, and it's about time you realised that the Brit Nat Labour Party haven't got a divine right to rule in Wales!

Thursday, October 13, 2005

BlogCymru.com: Blog Aggregator for Wales

Found this on the Smiling under Buses blog. Keep up the good work.



BlogCymru.com is a blog aggregator for English language blogs from Wales or about Wales. The creator Aran Jones has already set up Blogiadur.com which is an aggregator of Welsh language blogs. If your blog fits the bill, and you'd like it included then e-mail you blog's name, url and feed to: aran AT sgwarnog.com

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

F***ing Welshgate III

This story just won't go away, even though Labour Spin masters in london are doing everything possible to get rid of it. Yesterday it was reported in the Daily Post that Tony "F***ing Welsh" Blair may be under investigation for a "hate crime".

Today, BBC Correspondent David Cornock blogged about the issue.

David Cornock reports that Tony "F***ing Welsh" Blair offered his own advice on whether he should be charged for inciting racial hatred. Asked at a news conference if he thought it was a good use of police time and resources to investigate the comments, he said, "no".

David reports that this is unlikely to dissuade North Wales Police from doing their duty. Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom said recently in The Sunday Times:

"The government has given us laws and I think they are good laws and we must deal with that. We have to balance resources but we have definitely put more effort into hate crime. There is almost no way we could not investigate what is being reported (about Blair). It is not trivial."

Try and squirm your way out of this one Bliar!

Sunday, October 09, 2005

'Top Cat' could be suspended from Assembly

It was reported on today's BBC Wales 'The Politics Show', that Brit Nat Tory AM/MP David 'Top Cat' Davies could be suspended from the Welsh Assembly, after breaching the statutory duty to promote equality of opportunity and good community relations.

Helen Mary Jones AC referred 'Top Cat' to the Welsh Assembly's standards committee after he claimed that "a significant number" of Gypsies' behaviour fell "significantly below the accepted norm". He also hinted that Gypsies had no respect for property rights or planning regulations, never cleared up their own rubbish and drove vehicles without a tax disc.

Since Then 'Top Cat' has announced plans to register himself as a "gypsy traveller" so that he can not be accused of racism when criticising Gypsies, and their way of life.

Speaking on 'The Politics Show on Sunday', Plaid AM Helen Mary Jones accused Mr Davies of giving "support and comfort to people who behave appallingly towards gypsies and travellers".

A spokesman for the Gypsy Council described Mr 'Top Cat's' comments as "distasteful", while the council's secretary, Ann Bagehot, said she considered them to be "just schoolboy thoughtlessness". She added that 'Top Cat' was "making a mockery of attempts to build bridges between gypsies and non-gypsies".

Chris Myant, director for the Commission for Racial Equality Wales, told BBC Wales:

"He’s trying to play on people’s prejudices. He’s playing games which isn’t really the way serious politicians should engage in public debate."

Brit Nat Tory David Davies criticised for 'totally ignorant' remarks.
Thursday, September 08, 2005

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Constitutional mess!

Like most Welshmen, we here at Britnatwatch are overjoyed after a wonderful Welsh football win over Northern Ireland today, but we read with interest the dilemma that faced Labour British Nationalist Neath MP Peter Hain, and Delyn MP David Hanson.

Both men hold a Welsh seat but Peter Hain is also the 'Northern Ireland Secretary' and David Hanson is the 'Northern Ireland sports minister'.

This just shows once again what a complete constitutional mess we have on these Isles. Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland should have their own full Independent Parliaments.

Maybe then we would see a Northern Irish 'Northern Ireland sports minister'? It would make sense wouldn't it!

Friday, October 07, 2005

Watchdog slams change that would hand an unacceptable advantage to Labour

It was reported in the Western Mail today that the Electoral Commission is very unhappy about British Nationalist Nu Labour's plans to change Welsh Assembly election rules. Peter Hain and his Labour pals want to exclude candidates from fighting both a constituency and the list at the next Assembly elections.

In a submission responding to Labour's devolution White Paper, the Electoral Commission states:

"this may impact adversely on the quality of some constituency contests, where opposition candidates may be perceived to be 'second string'. This in turn is likely to favour sitting candidates... the change proposed favours incumbency and the current party of Assembly Government that holds the large majority of constituency seats."

They also state:

"...we would caution against any change that is perceived to be partisan and could add to the prevailing distrust of politicians."

Tory Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach, a strong supporter of devolution, said:

"Coming from an independent watchdog, this is a damning indictment of the proposal to ban candidates from standing in both sections of the ballot. The Government must be shamed into withdrawing it... it's not a matter of public policy, it's about giving an advantage to one political party."

Our website has strongly criticised this proposed change of rules. On the 25th of September we criticised the bill saying that it proposed to:

"change the electorate system, not for the benefit of Wales and democracy, but for the benefit of the Brit Nat Labour party."

We hope that this is the beginning of the end of this unjust clause, and that Peter Hain will be man enough to accept that he was wrong, and scrap it.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Cheers Blair Watch.

Our blog has received hundreds of extra hits today, after one of our stories was featured on the superb 'Blair Watch' website.







The story goes under the headline:


Was it Leighton 'Scum' Andrews' Researcher Who Ordered the Assault on Walter Wolfgang?

There is mutual hate between Blair Watch and Leighton Andrews. In July, Brit nat AM Leighton Andrews called the Blair Watch gang 'Sick Bastards' and 'Scum', after they made the obvious connection between the illegal war in Iraq, and the disgraceful acts of violence in London on the 7th of July. Dan from Blair Watch then commented on Leighton's Blog:

"'Scum' eh! From a New Labour lackey that's a compliment. Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Grahib, extraordinary rendition, state sanctioned torture, prejudice, house arrest, detention without trial, the blatant disregard for international law, refusing to count the civilian dead in our bloody wars and unflinching support for the idiot son and his neo conservative agenda etc etc. These obviously have nothing to do with what happened yesterday!? On planet New Labour, anyway..."

The Blair Watch gang probably believe that the alleged antics of Leighton's researcher - David Taylor - in the Walter Wolfgang scandal was also 'Scum', but fortunately, Blair Watch's level of debate is much higher and more constructive than Leighton Andrews and Nu Labour.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Confused Tories.

There was a very interesting article in the Western Mail today, regarding a spat that's broken out within the 'Welsh' Conservatives. The row surrounds who should succeed David Davies AM/MP as the next Tory candidate in Monmouthshire at the next Assembly elections in 2007.

The Western Mail claims that British Nationalist Conservatives in Wales leader, Nick Bourne AM, wants the Tories to become more 'Welsh' and push for greater powers for the Welsh Assembly. He favours devolution sympathiser Nick Ramsay as the Conservative candidate.

On the other hand, David Davies AM/MP, who currently holds the seat, wants to abolish the Welsh Assembly and favours devolution sceptic - South Wales East AM - Laura Anne Jones as their candidate.

This story shows, yet again, how confused the Conservatives are in Wales. After years of dissappointment, some Tories like Nick Bourne and David Melding, have finally realised that the only way to get more votes in Wales is by becoming more Welsh, and less British. But unfortunately, the vast majority of their colleagues would still prefer to see the Welsh Assembly abolished.

The Conservatives aren't the only Party confused on this issue. The British Nationalist Labour Party have recently drawn up the 'Government of Wales Bill' as an attempt to hide the divisions that exist within their Party. Some high profile members such as Carwyn Jones AM are strong supporters of devolution, while others, like Neil Kinnock, have stated that they would campaign against further devolution for Wales.

If the Tories and Labour cannot even keep their own house in order, and reach an agreement within their own party on such an important issue, what chance have they got in leading Wales out of poverty?

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Effing Bill Wiggin

In today's Western Mail, British Nationalist Tory Shadow Secretary of State for Wales - Bill Wiggin - blames Labour for Wales' problems, and insists that the Conservative Party is ready to take on Labour, and be the major opposition in Wales after the 2007 Assembly elections. He says:

"Devolution was supposed to help Wales, but it's not the way Labour are doing it. Welsh patients wait 11 days longer than patients from England for treatment; twice as many hospital consultant vacancies; 64 schools closed... It's not the effing Welsh that's the problem, Tony, it's the effing Labour Party."

We agree with him that the Labour Party have made a mess of running Wales since '97 both in Westminster and later the Welsh Assembly; but what about the 18 years prior to that? Who was in charge then Bill?


And what's Bill's answer to the 'Wales Problem'? Abolishing the Welsh Assembly!

The British Parties have let Wales down badly over the years, and
as a consequence, we are now one of the poorest regions in the EU! We need a strong Welsh Parliament. Only then will we be equipped to deal with the problems that face Wales today.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

F***ing Welshgate II

We are amazed at the incompetence of the Brit Nat Labour Party in Wales. It seems Tony 'f***ing Welsh' Blair can do absolutely anything, and the Brit Nat Welsh Labour Party will go back to him like a whipped dog - just wanting a little cwtch and a pat on the head. What Blair is to Bush, Rhodri 'windbag' Morgan is to Blair. A yapping little dog that just wants to be loved by its owner!

Don't the Brit Nat Welsh Labour members get it? They're just there to make up the numbers - the British Nationalist Labour Party don't give a damn about you and treat you with contempt. England is essentially a Christian Democrat country; Labour just needs the votes from Scotland and Wales to stay in power. That's it. Period!

And still, they keep on going back for more. What kind of deep Freudian psychology is there in the Brit Nat Welsh Labour Party that creates this condition of self-hate? They're communally insulted, but don't ever complain.

What kind of deep psychological problem makes grown men and women allow themselves to be treated so humiliatingly - and yes, even make excuses on behalf of the bully? Oh, yes, of course it's called British Nationalism. After all, even being called f***ing Welsh is better, and more acceptable, than being called a Welsh Nat!

Saturday, October 01, 2005

F***ing Welshgate I

We're still thinking here at Brit-nat-watch about the f***ing Welshgate rant by the Leader of the British Nationalist Labour Party.

The Western Mail printed Labour’s ‘truth’ about the incident, and it seems Brit Nat Labourites are trying to fob it off saying that it was Blair’s frustration with Welsh Labour rather than the Welsh nation that led to the outburst.

Some may think it's harsh to accuse Blair of being anti-Welsh or inciting racial hatred. But then, is Dafydd Iwan anti Pakistani, was he condoning white-flight? No, but that didn't stop the Brit Nats at the Labour Party from making out his speech at the Meifod Eisteddfod was a speech in favour of the white-flighters.

I don’t think Blair is racist or anti Welsh; as long as that Welshness is the Wales Labour music-hall Welshness and as long as the Welsh keep on being voting fodder to Labour in London. As one correspondent to the Western Mail said about Blair’s moment of madness, it was like shouting a similar obscenity at a rugby match – and who hasn’t done that?

There’s an element of truth in this Labour spin and I can’t imagine that Blair is the only high ranking Labour member who thinks the Wales Labour Party are incompetent. But one thing stands out, and is the reason so many people are incensed by the f***ing Welshgate.

What if a Plaid Cymru member had said f***ing English? Yes, I’m sure Brit Nat Labour AMs and MPs would have been so understanding. Funny, where are Alun Pugh, Huw Lewis, Leighton Andrews, Martyn Jones, David Hanson, Don Touhig, Carl Sargeant and all the other Brit Nats now – why aren’t they attacking Blair?

Where is the union jack waving CRE? After all if Welsh nationalists can be accused of fermenting discord or racism, then can’t the same be said of Blair’s tantrum as well? Or is it one rule for the Welsh and another against the Welsh?

These members of the Labour Party, show no remorse in misquoting or quoting out of context and playing the Welsh equivalent of the orange card when any Welsh nationalists say anything that hasn’t been vetted by the expected colonialist orthodoxy of Wales Labour.

If Labour hadn’t been so dirty and mischievous then maybe the ‘frustration with Welsh Labour’ would be accepted by others outside the party. But that isn’t the case. So, good on Cymuned for reporting Blair to the Metropolitan Police.

Some may complain that Welsh politics is sliding into a swamp of mud slinging. But if so it’s all down to the Brit Nat Labour’s strategy of dirty tricks, newspeak and misquotation.