tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post6121139954642941387..comments2024-03-26T09:38:39.888+00:00Comments on Borthlas: Different circumstances require different responsesJohn Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447224248021209852noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-74420953354405695062020-04-16T08:15:20.996+01:002020-04-16T08:15:20.996+01:00Anon,
Thank you for intentionally reminding us, y...Anon,<br /><br />Thank you for intentionally reminding us, yet again, how stupid all Welsh people are, and unintentionally reminding us how dangerous English nationalism and exceptionalism can be. It must be hard for you, having to continually remind we Welsh how incapable we are and how superior everyone else is, but in future, please find somewhere else to do it. I prefer not to censor comments on this blog, but I'm prepared to make an exception in your case. If you want to seriously engage with the issues under discussion, you'll still be welcome, but future sweeping assertions about the inferior Welsh will be treated with the 'respect' which they deserve.John Dixonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07447224248021209852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-55632865000377663042020-04-15T18:37:52.617+01:002020-04-15T18:37:52.617+01:00Dafis, I'm a great believer in regional power ...Dafis, I'm a great believer in regional power and stimulating competition between competing regions in the public sector. This would help to improve the NHS, local government, state education, air, roads and rail transport, environmental concerns and so on.<br /><br />Devolution got it entirely wrong, we've just been allowed to get poorer and poorer and our kids thicker and thicker (educationally and health wise). What we surely do not need in Wales is a Welshman or Welshwoman telling us how to do things for the better. How the hell would she or he know?<br /><br />We need to look to our closest neighbour and ask for help. Or we can ask the Irish or the Scots for help if we think they are in a better position to offer it. For we really do need help, it's as plain as day!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-19108060218828389902020-04-15T13:38:22.750+01:002020-04-15T13:38:22.750+01:00Anon should read closely some of the sentiments be...Anon should read closely some of the sentiments being expressed by folk in places like Cumbria and Cornwall. Indeed look closely at the range of Covid experience at regional levels and then dig further into the experiences within large metropolitan areas compared with the less densely cramped areas of England. Instead of carping about the limited freedom offered by devolution in Wales and Scotland he/she should be pressing for greater powers for the nations and some real separation of powers for the regions of England. <br /> dafishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04216920242825385976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-23999567544673812112020-04-15T13:23:39.198+01:002020-04-15T13:23:39.198+01:00Anon,
”As for Wales doing better than England on t...Anon,<br /><i>”As for Wales doing better than England on the death rates, you really do make me laugh. Strip London out and then review again.”</i> It really would help if you could be bothered to read and understand what has been written before allowing your prejudices and preconceptions to overcome you. I specifically made the point that not all areas (even within Wales) are moving at the same rate, and therefore that not all parts should be treated the same, and for clarity I’ll add here that if that applies to Wales it also applies to England, but even more so. And I also made the point that such differences as exist are due less to different policies being pursued than to different rates of progress of the virus – not only did I make no claim that Wales was doing better, I pointed out that such a simplistic conclusion is unwarranted. What should be driving policy on ending or easing lockdown restrictions is the actual situation with the spread of the virus, and that will be different in different parts of the country (and that applies whether we consider the ‘country’ to be Wales, England, or the UK as a whole). Is that really so hard to grasp? The difference is that in Wales we do have a local administration which is empowered to take decisions specifically responding to Welsh needs rather than being driven by what is happening in one part of England – sadly, most of England is not so lucky. Those parts which need a different response to that which is sensible in London will find their needs overridden and ignored. The centralist approach of treating the whole of any territory as a unit which must only move together is potentially a very dangerous one, and I have never argued that devolution of the power to act should stop at any particular boundary line.<br /><br /><i>”We've all seen the disastrous effects 'do things differently' has done for education in both territories, same for local government and the NHS”</i> Statements that you can only make by doing precisely what you incorrectly accused me of doing, namely comparing ‘whole of England’ outcomes with ‘whole of Wales’ outcomes. As an example, in the real world which I inhabit, there are schools in Wales which do better than most schools in England, and there are schools in England which do worse than most schools in Wales if we use a simple comparison of exam results (a measure which in any event raises many other questions which I’ll not go into here). Demographics and relative levels of affluence are just two of the factors which mean that simplistic overall comparisons based on national averages are invalid, and I make that point not to defend the current Welsh government and its policies but merely to emphasise that your statement is effectively based on the sort of assumption that considers apples to be the same as oranges. That’s not to say that Wales doesn’t have some problems with education and health – but comparing averages shouldn’t blind you to the fact that England also has some very serious challenges which a comparison of overall averages brushes over.<br /><br /><i>”It's time we had a new referendum on Welsh devolution, surely we can all agree on this!”</i> Actually, and this may come as a surprise to you, no it isn’t something on which we can all agree. When or whether there will be a further referendum on devolution depends on when or whether there will be a majority of elected representatives arguing for such a proposition. At the moment (and for the same reason) it’s as far off as a referendum on independence. Just like me (the same rules apply to both of us here) you need to convince people first. But I don’t really expect an English nationalist like yourself to consider that the views of people in Wales do or should count for anything. After all, you’ve made it pretty clear previously that you think we’re all too stupid and uneducated to make any decisions ourselves.John Dixonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07447224248021209852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-4577991264120440832020-04-15T12:32:57.250+01:002020-04-15T12:32:57.250+01:00I really can't wait for Scotland and Wales to ...I really can't wait for Scotland and Wales to start to do 'things differently'. We've all seen the disastrous effects 'do things differently' has done for education in both territories, same for local government and the NHS and now you want to 'do something differently' with this Covid virus business. Well, bring it on, devolution has been shown to be a busted flush, and this would surely be the death nail it needs.<br /><br />As for Wales doing better than England on the death rates, you really do make me laugh. Strip London out and then review again. Sometimes you find it convenient to include London as part of your ramblings on all things England, at other times you don't. This is one of those times when you shouldn't include it! <br /><br />It's time we had a new referendum on Welsh devolution, surely we can all agree on this!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-71976988312267962802020-04-15T12:09:54.551+01:002020-04-15T12:09:54.551+01:00Spot on there John. Regional experience ( to use U...Spot on there John. Regional experience ( to use UK centralist parlance) should be used rather than lumping into one cloudy National(UK)picture. It would mightily peev our 2ND home and caravan visitors if Boris eased lockdown in England yet Drakeford insisted on keeping things under wraps here in Wales. That would put our resolve to the test though I fancy there might be plenty of willingness here to treat any tourist invasion to some good old Fishguard 1797 style responses. dafishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04216920242825385976noreply@blogger.com