There's been an interesting exchange overnight on Twitter between Vaughan Roderick (@vaughanroderick) and others about the Conservatives rapidly unravelling budget policy. Apparently within 24 hours we've been treated to three different versions of how the health budget will be protected. Now you might think that the difference between the GDP deflator and RPI is so minimal that it wouldn't make much of an impact - but actually the difference by the end of the next Assembly term would be £200 million every year - an enormous chunk of the Welsh budget.
There is a very serious underlying point here about the Conservatives in Wales. They have worked hard to present themselves as the acceptable face of Conservatism - and it seemed they were making some progress. The UK Government's cuts programme has taken us right back to the 1980s, and therefore they have been desperate to regain the initiative in the Welsh context and present themselves in a positive light. But rather than look in detail at the challenges facing the Welsh budget, I suspect the headline chasing instincts of Andrew RT Davies, overruled the more rational and careful members of the Conservative team in Wales.
The Conservatives are now left with a very real dilemma, the 'policy' was clearly ill-thought through and if anyone is any doubt, just listen to Andrew Davies trying to defend it yesterday on Good Morning Wales. The detail of the policy needs to be worked through very rapidly and effectively - and be clear that this will be painful - every school in Pembrokeshire, the Vale, Denbighshire etc that will be closed by the Tory spending plans will I'm sure be identified! But the Tories have to do their homework, and explain their cuts; because it is one scale of problem to adopt bad policy - to adopt an incredible policy which every journalist knows isn't worth the paper is written on is fatal.
Showing posts with label Conservatives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Conservatives. Show all posts
Friday, 19 November 2010
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Our Colonial Government ... the end of Britishness?
The last week or so has seen a cascade of announcements from the UK Government about Wales with potentially more to come. So for we have:
* the demise of S4C
* the closure of the passport office in Newport
* the scrapping of the Severn Barrage without any commitment to invest in renewable tidal power (e.g.lagoons) in the Severn estuary
* going back to the drawing board in St Athan
and to cap it all today in all likelihood the ditching of the electrification of the South Wales to London mainline
I think what marks out these announcements in particular is a callous disregard for the people of Wales - based on a shared Conservative and Liberal Democrat zeal for cutting public services.
Now the more cynical might think - would you expect anything else?
However for the most part successive Conservative and Labour UK Government's and their Secretaries of State in Wales have pursued a largely common approach. While they may not have done much good, for the most part they didn't do much harm either (with the notable exception of John Redwood). Now, this may have been implicit, but there always seems to have been an underlying 'understanding' with the Welsh people. The British Government will invest e.g. the Royal Mint, Steel Mills, attempts to attract foreign direct investment, the ONS in Newport etc - in order at least in part to maintain the cohesiveness of the UK.
Put somewhat less positively though Wales is on its knees, the British Government has in the past agreed to provide some assistance, as long as we listened to their whispered counsel that if we were to try and stand on our own two feet we would inevitably fall flat on our face!
How times have changed - the new English Conservative - Liberal Democrat government is heedless of the historical approach, and seems destined, whipped up into a right wing ideological fury, to kick Wales hard and to grind our face into the ground.
With devolution now here to stay things I'm convinced that things will never be the same again - decent Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in Wales (and there are some) will face a major choice over the next few months. Will they revel in their Government's attack on Wales or will the join the fight back and join those of us that have long believed that we could and would do far better standing on our own two feet as a country and a people? We shall see, but I have little doubt that the vast majority of the people of Wales will never again trust an English Government to benignly look after their interests.
* the demise of S4C
* the closure of the passport office in Newport
* the scrapping of the Severn Barrage without any commitment to invest in renewable tidal power (e.g.lagoons) in the Severn estuary
* going back to the drawing board in St Athan
and to cap it all today in all likelihood the ditching of the electrification of the South Wales to London mainline
I think what marks out these announcements in particular is a callous disregard for the people of Wales - based on a shared Conservative and Liberal Democrat zeal for cutting public services.
Now the more cynical might think - would you expect anything else?
However for the most part successive Conservative and Labour UK Government's and their Secretaries of State in Wales have pursued a largely common approach. While they may not have done much good, for the most part they didn't do much harm either (with the notable exception of John Redwood). Now, this may have been implicit, but there always seems to have been an underlying 'understanding' with the Welsh people. The British Government will invest e.g. the Royal Mint, Steel Mills, attempts to attract foreign direct investment, the ONS in Newport etc - in order at least in part to maintain the cohesiveness of the UK.
Put somewhat less positively though Wales is on its knees, the British Government has in the past agreed to provide some assistance, as long as we listened to their whispered counsel that if we were to try and stand on our own two feet we would inevitably fall flat on our face!
How times have changed - the new English Conservative - Liberal Democrat government is heedless of the historical approach, and seems destined, whipped up into a right wing ideological fury, to kick Wales hard and to grind our face into the ground.
With devolution now here to stay things I'm convinced that things will never be the same again - decent Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in Wales (and there are some) will face a major choice over the next few months. Will they revel in their Government's attack on Wales or will the join the fight back and join those of us that have long believed that we could and would do far better standing on our own two feet as a country and a people? We shall see, but I have little doubt that the vast majority of the people of Wales will never again trust an English Government to benignly look after their interests.
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