Wednesday 7 October 2009

More important - or more urgent?

The response given by Carwyn Jones to a question put to him yesterday suggests to me that he is a little confused about the difference between 'important' and 'urgent'.

In saying that "I don’t think we can really make a judgement" (about how important it was for the National Assembly to get primary lawmaking powers) "until we know the result of the general election", he effectively suggests that Wales only needs a law-making Assembly if Labour are not in control in London.

I can certainly understand how a change of government might make the matter more urgent, given the likely Tory agenda at Westminster. But I don't see how it makes any real difference to the underlying justification for those powers.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Labour have got their heads in the sand once again.

A part of me wants them to get a good kicking at the UK election to teach them a lesson.

Can't they see that a proper Welsh parliament is their get out of jail card. I always believed that Labour just look after what's best for Labour but Welsh labour don't seem to be doing in a strategic way any more.

Are they really so dull that they can't see the writing on the wall.

I'll leave you to answer that John!

John - I understand even when we do have a referendum that the powers proposed won't be as strong as Scotlands? Can we strengthen this before a referendum?

Macsen

Unknown said...

True to form, as Carwyn Jones is a Unionist and Anglophile while straddling the fence between Wales and Westminster. If they are not with us they are against us. The question today is not Labour v Plaid v Conservative. It is between Nationalist and Unionist with clear lines drawn.
Playing the Welsh card in a British context is incompatible and futile.
(see my blog entry).

Anonymous said...

Agreed and why is taking a steer from Leighton Andrews
His comments so far are not helpful

John Dixon said...

Macsen,

Any referendum held under the terms of the Government of Wales Act 2006 will only deal with the matters contained in that Act, and you are right, it will still leave us far behind Scotland. But putting that right would require further primary legislation in London, which is why, at a purely pragmatic level, I think we have to accept that the next step is rather more limited than you or I might like.

Alan,

"If they are not with us they are against us" is a nice slogan, but I think we need rather more than that. Your analysis that the future is a choice between Nationalism and Unionism is a bit over simplistic for me as well, I'm afraid.

Sweet and Tender Hooligan said...

"Your analysis that the future is a choice between Nationalism and Unionism is a bit over simplistic for me as well, I'm afraid."

Indeed, i actually think eventually Wales will become independent largely because of incremental (and welcome) change.