Borthlas has recently brought up the allusion - the "sinking ship", and as the days and weeks advance we cannot but feel that the fall from grace is endemic and terminal. It remains to send out the call to man the lifeboats, women and children first - if that courtesy still applies in this age of equality and uniformity. The question is: will the captain be the last to leave the sinking ship, or will he go down with it, as did the captain of the "Titanic"? It is interesting to contemplate the death pangs of a once-proud party, when socialism was a cause worth fighting for, and the class struggle was at its height, with marches in the valleys and speeches in the streets, with mounted police and batons raised to quell the demands of a desperate and down-trodden people.
Those days have gone, thankfully, and firebrand socialism has been replaced by apparent innocuous mediocrity. Labour cast aside its socialist past, describing the left as loonies, and politicians of the old school, such as Michael Foot and his religious comrade-in-arms Trevor Huddlestone, appealed only to the fringe of British political thought though their influence spread far and wide. It was calculated to win over the centre ground and so it did, but it was founded upon expediency rather than principle. There lay its eventual downfall following ten years of government under the charismatic leadership of Tony Blair. The situation could have been very different if Blair had not be there and it had fallen on Gordon Brown to take the helm.
Pride comes before a fall as we have all been told, and the saying is as true today as it has ever been. The captain is at the helm, but the ship is sinking fast and there must be many who are preparing to jump ship. The watered down socialism finally became indistinguishable from the centrist policies of the Conservatives and Liberals all striving to fill the middle ground of politics, and endeavouring to come up with proposals which might catch the public's attention - the abolition of inheritance tax for example.
There were mistakes - the cosy alliance with America and the adoption of its risky military strategy: "make the world safe for democracy" and invade other sovereign nations to impose it, without a plan or exit strategy; the placing of education as a priority, without considering the ramifications or teaching the pupils to be literate - claiming GCSE successes by allowing standards to fall; throwing money at the national health service without improving the quality of service; closing rural schools and post offices and withdrawing council services - wasting and squandering public money on prestige projects, starting with the Millenium Dome; cracking down on terrorism and external threats without paying attention to internal societal breakdown - anti-social behaviour, drugs and murder in the streets of major cities. The list goes on...and on.... a catalogue of errors and mismanagement!
In Wales, and in Scotland there are parties, socialist in background and philosophy, which are waiting in the wings. We know who they are. They are the future saviours of these islands, the beacons of hope, and they point the way ahead, if only public percipience will provide them with the support they need. They are waiting in the wings to take over where Labour has failed and they have youth on their side. Their appeal is to the perspicacious intellectual youth, who are growing up in a different age, an age of new challenges, as Europe develops into a powerful grouping of nations. Change is in the air and unless we can meet the challenges of the age we are doomed. As with nature, he who adapts survives. Is Labour on the point of extinction? Is this the end-game for Labour?
"The Nineteenth century saw a great Springtime of Nations as the revolutions of 1848 saw new countries created the length and breadth of Europe. In our world today we are now seeing our own Spring Awakening with people and cultures that have long been dormant and subdued asserting their right to exist, their right to dream." Adam Price MP
Thursday, 31 July 2008
Petition Time Again
.... but will it Make a Difference?
Please forward this onto a few more Cymry...
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to oppose the British Olympic Association's attempts to create a 'British' football team to take part in the 2012 Olympics in London."
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/NTOBFT/
(from Ray Bell the Scot)
Please forward this onto a few more Cymry...
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to oppose the British Olympic Association's attempts to create a 'British' football team to take part in the 2012 Olympics in London."
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/NTOBFT/
(from Ray Bell the Scot)
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Establishing Clear Water
Wales and England have become so inextricably linked in so many areas, not only by the bridges over the Severn, that I feel it is a necessity, for the sake of establishing a clear separate national identity for Wales, to distinguish the two countries apart. It is an affirmation of existence for both.
We are aware of the considerable differences in culture, in attitude and in mentality between the two nations, but it is important to make people aware, especially on the eastern side of the border that Wales is, and always has been a distinct entity, with its own customs and rituals, in social and cultural activities and in sport. It is not enough to say that there are separate policies in existence with regard to medical prescriptions and hospital car-parking charges. These are minor examples, and I am saying that we need to emphasise the real differences, and not to think of trifles. For too long, the people of Wales have suffered from an inferiority complex vis-a-vis its neighbour, and have doffed their hats to a perceived superior and gentrified society. This accounts for the migration of proud and highfalutin' Welsh gentry - we call them "crachach " - to the south-east of England in seek of fame, fortune and adulation. Furthermore, we can have no doubt about the fact that their haughty presence is still among us.
A similar phenomenon occurred in Scotland with the absconding of the Scottish gentry south to London, not a question of "I'll be in Scotland afore ye..." but "I'll be in London afore ye....". Since then talented Scots have roamed the world far and wide and set up Scottish Societies in foreign capitals overseas. In Indonesia, when I was there in the Eighties there was a thriving Scottish Society which organised an annual Highland Gathering in Jakarta, a hugely spectacular event. The Scottish gentry forsook Scotland, as did the Welsh, and left the nation to its own devices, and to suffer the field enclosures which deprived the ordinary country folk of their sustenance and condemned them to poverty. They were even banned from wearing the tartan of their clan, unless they were perhaps from the defecting clans which threw in their lot with the English. Their natural leaders had disappeared, seduced by the high life of the English capital.
It is interesting to note that even today many Scots make up the UK Labour government, and to a man they are unionist in their convictions, starting at the very top and working down through the ranks. The difference between them and the growing nationalist sentiment in their own native country cannot be over-emphasised.
The loyal Scots at home are from a different ilk and they bear allegiance to an Alex and not a Gordon. It is encouraging that support is growing for them across the land and the old guard are being rejected, and hopefully ejected, as were the Scottish Labour leaders in the Scottish Parliament in very recent times.
Without a doubt Scotland has distanced itself from England (or Britain) in many ways, and the Union flag is now flown on only 18 occasions in the year. In the Irish Republic it has been banished entirely, and not without reason. Let us make an effort in Wales to establish this clear water so that people henceforth will not be confused between what is Britain, what is England, and more than anything, let them know of CYMRU.
We are aware of the considerable differences in culture, in attitude and in mentality between the two nations, but it is important to make people aware, especially on the eastern side of the border that Wales is, and always has been a distinct entity, with its own customs and rituals, in social and cultural activities and in sport. It is not enough to say that there are separate policies in existence with regard to medical prescriptions and hospital car-parking charges. These are minor examples, and I am saying that we need to emphasise the real differences, and not to think of trifles. For too long, the people of Wales have suffered from an inferiority complex vis-a-vis its neighbour, and have doffed their hats to a perceived superior and gentrified society. This accounts for the migration of proud and highfalutin' Welsh gentry - we call them "crachach " - to the south-east of England in seek of fame, fortune and adulation. Furthermore, we can have no doubt about the fact that their haughty presence is still among us.
A similar phenomenon occurred in Scotland with the absconding of the Scottish gentry south to London, not a question of "I'll be in Scotland afore ye..." but "I'll be in London afore ye....". Since then talented Scots have roamed the world far and wide and set up Scottish Societies in foreign capitals overseas. In Indonesia, when I was there in the Eighties there was a thriving Scottish Society which organised an annual Highland Gathering in Jakarta, a hugely spectacular event. The Scottish gentry forsook Scotland, as did the Welsh, and left the nation to its own devices, and to suffer the field enclosures which deprived the ordinary country folk of their sustenance and condemned them to poverty. They were even banned from wearing the tartan of their clan, unless they were perhaps from the defecting clans which threw in their lot with the English. Their natural leaders had disappeared, seduced by the high life of the English capital.
It is interesting to note that even today many Scots make up the UK Labour government, and to a man they are unionist in their convictions, starting at the very top and working down through the ranks. The difference between them and the growing nationalist sentiment in their own native country cannot be over-emphasised.
The loyal Scots at home are from a different ilk and they bear allegiance to an Alex and not a Gordon. It is encouraging that support is growing for them across the land and the old guard are being rejected, and hopefully ejected, as were the Scottish Labour leaders in the Scottish Parliament in very recent times.
Without a doubt Scotland has distanced itself from England (or Britain) in many ways, and the Union flag is now flown on only 18 occasions in the year. In the Irish Republic it has been banished entirely, and not without reason. Let us make an effort in Wales to establish this clear water so that people henceforth will not be confused between what is Britain, what is England, and more than anything, let them know of CYMRU.
Dafydd or Elfyn, or Both?
Paste and read:
http://www.dafydd4president.blogspot.com/
Here, the case is put for Dafydd Iwan and Elfyn Llwyd to remain in their respective roles, one as Party President and the other as Leader of Plaid in Parliament.
Prospective Plaid Parliamentary candidates and up-and-coming leaders support both.
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Today's Compelling Reading...
Read and reflect on this :
http://cambriapolitico.com/2008/07/29/sarika-singh-one-in-the-eye-for-labours-%e2%80%98british-union/
Paste it into your browser window and look in..."Miss Singh’s case was championed by South Wales Central AM Leanne Wood, and Liberty, an organisation campaigning for the protection of civil liberties and human rights."
http://cambriapolitico.com/2008/07/29/sarika-singh-one-in-the-eye-for-labours-%e2%80%98british-union/
Paste it into your browser window and look in..."Miss Singh’s case was championed by South Wales Central AM Leanne Wood, and Liberty, an organisation campaigning for the protection of civil liberties and human rights."
Monday, 28 July 2008
The European Free Alliance
Check it out here: (paste into browser window)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Free_Alliance
and here:
http://www.e-f-a.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Free_Alliance
and here:
http://www.e-f-a.org
A Boon for Bloggers
The new style bloglist from www.blogger.com is undoubtedly a boon for bloggers in that one can view at a glance the topics being aired on recent blogs. It saves a great deal of time as there is no need to go trawling through the Welsh blogosphere to find out what is going on in other areas. Furthermore, it also indicates which blogs are most alive and active, which are dilatory, and which are practically defunct. I recommend that my fellow bloggers in the blogging fraternity display this new-style bloglist on their blog page, so that we all can see at any time what everyone is reporting.
In addition, blogs appear to reflect the physical condition of political parties, as a number of Labour supporting blogs have disappeared off the scene and a number of Plaid blogs have emerged, indicating that Labour is well and truly on the decline and Plaid is on the ascendant and is enjoying a rosy and robust state of health.
Meanwhile Glyn Davies and Peter Black are unceasing in their prolific postings, the former including weddings, grandchildren, birdsong, flower shows and gardening to add to the mix of political rhetoric.
In addition, blogs appear to reflect the physical condition of political parties, as a number of Labour supporting blogs have disappeared off the scene and a number of Plaid blogs have emerged, indicating that Labour is well and truly on the decline and Plaid is on the ascendant and is enjoying a rosy and robust state of health.
Meanwhile Glyn Davies and Peter Black are unceasing in their prolific postings, the former including weddings, grandchildren, birdsong, flower shows and gardening to add to the mix of political rhetoric.
Sunday, 27 July 2008
The Way to Independence
Independence doesn't come by itself. If you really want to be free you have to earn your freedom. You have to dedicate yourself to bringing it about. You have to talk to others about it whenever you get the opportunity, to the point of exhaustion. The good news will be spread throughout the land if you mention the word "independence" at least once a day in your daily life and in your social contacts. It will be infectious, and will become ingrained in the minds of those who never considered it important or worth thinking about. At first you will surely meet with resistance. It is inevitable as a result of the years of conditioning which has formed the minds of those who accepted the status quo unthinkingly, without considering and giving credence to other possibilities and alternative points of view. Nothing is impossible, with the right degree of inspiration, purpose and will. Dreams can change to realities and before you know it you are living a free life in a free land.
There is power in the will to create, to change and make a difference. The time to start is now, is always now.... and "independence" will be on the lips of all.
There is power in the will to create, to change and make a difference. The time to start is now, is always now.... and "independence" will be on the lips of all.
The Wales Office v. A Welsh Parliament
Wales Office is facing the axe
Jul 27 2008 by Matt Withers, Wales On Sunday
THE Wales Office is set to be scrapped as part of Gordon Brown’s long-awaited autumn reshuffle and merged into a new “super-department” for the UK’s nations and regions.....
Nothing is changed - the Wales Office will merely be merged with other national offices into the "super-department". It is purely cosmetic and LCOs will continue to be passed through the department on their tortuous journey into enactment as a law. The government is fond of making these cosmetic changes, which make no difference, drawing attention away from their sorry state it would appear.
Gordon Brown is obviously still hanging on to the belief that Britain is in charge and that the devolved areas of Britain can be administered through a unified department. It is back-tracking on devolution in a vain attempt to retain British identity and not separate national identities. He still refers to Britain as "a nation" and "this country of ours".
That's what it's all about.
Addendum:
Plaid Cymru in the Assemby could condemn the whole unworkable system of LCOs. I don't know who dreamed up the idea but inevitably it causes problems in the speed and efficiency of getting Welsh laws enacted and ratified. I don't know if this was the hidden intention, but it works against devolution and not with it.
The answer is undoubtedly a Welsh Parliament and Labour should understand this and if not Plaid should confront them with some cogent and indisputable arguments.
Alan in Dyfed
Jul 27 2008 by Matt Withers, Wales On Sunday
THE Wales Office is set to be scrapped as part of Gordon Brown’s long-awaited autumn reshuffle and merged into a new “super-department” for the UK’s nations and regions.....
Nothing is changed - the Wales Office will merely be merged with other national offices into the "super-department". It is purely cosmetic and LCOs will continue to be passed through the department on their tortuous journey into enactment as a law. The government is fond of making these cosmetic changes, which make no difference, drawing attention away from their sorry state it would appear.
Gordon Brown is obviously still hanging on to the belief that Britain is in charge and that the devolved areas of Britain can be administered through a unified department. It is back-tracking on devolution in a vain attempt to retain British identity and not separate national identities. He still refers to Britain as "a nation" and "this country of ours".
That's what it's all about.
Addendum:
Plaid Cymru in the Assemby could condemn the whole unworkable system of LCOs. I don't know who dreamed up the idea but inevitably it causes problems in the speed and efficiency of getting Welsh laws enacted and ratified. I don't know if this was the hidden intention, but it works against devolution and not with it.
The answer is undoubtedly a Welsh Parliament and Labour should understand this and if not Plaid should confront them with some cogent and indisputable arguments.
Alan in Dyfed
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Politics in the 21st Century
Why is it that there are so many politicians who are out-of-touch with the world of today? Their thoughts are still in a 20th Century time-warp and they cannot see that the times are changing very rapidly, along with the wishes and desires of the public they claim to represent.
They are attempting use use the past to deal with present matters and their thinking is not forward-looking but retrogressive. The obvious direction of European politics is for small nations which have a long-standing grievance against their more dominant neighbours, notably England, France and Spain, to assert themselves through the promotion of their native cultures and languages and become fully-fledged nation-states within Europe. This entails giving them a parliament which sends representatives to the European Parliament in Brussels. It also recognises their separate identities, their cultures and their languages, their right to govern themselves as part of the wider European federation.
This is devolution but not regionalism. It recognises the unique identity of nations such as Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, Euskadia(Basque) and others, and provides the means whereby the people of these nations can express themselves and make their voices heard in the European community. It makes more sense and is far more democratic, by allowing the people to have a say in their own national affairs. Thus, there would be no question about arguing for a national holiday (St David's Day) or recognising lost battle sites or building monuments or restoring historic buildings. These matters would be dealt with as a national issue.
A parliament would pass laws far more efficiently than an Assembly creating LCOs which then have to be sent to another parliament for approval. Whoever thought up this system of law-making either intended to slow down the whole process, or was thinking with antediluvian mentality. This is not creative, radical forward-thinking.
It belongs to a different age.
Here's a thought: why not give the bloggers the job of running the country?
They are attempting use use the past to deal with present matters and their thinking is not forward-looking but retrogressive. The obvious direction of European politics is for small nations which have a long-standing grievance against their more dominant neighbours, notably England, France and Spain, to assert themselves through the promotion of their native cultures and languages and become fully-fledged nation-states within Europe. This entails giving them a parliament which sends representatives to the European Parliament in Brussels. It also recognises their separate identities, their cultures and their languages, their right to govern themselves as part of the wider European federation.
This is devolution but not regionalism. It recognises the unique identity of nations such as Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, Euskadia(Basque) and others, and provides the means whereby the people of these nations can express themselves and make their voices heard in the European community. It makes more sense and is far more democratic, by allowing the people to have a say in their own national affairs. Thus, there would be no question about arguing for a national holiday (St David's Day) or recognising lost battle sites or building monuments or restoring historic buildings. These matters would be dealt with as a national issue.
A parliament would pass laws far more efficiently than an Assembly creating LCOs which then have to be sent to another parliament for approval. Whoever thought up this system of law-making either intended to slow down the whole process, or was thinking with antediluvian mentality. This is not creative, radical forward-thinking.
It belongs to a different age.
Here's a thought: why not give the bloggers the job of running the country?
Friday, 25 July 2008
The Left Marches to a Different Tune
New Labour (Blue Labour?) is crumbling and falling apart in all directions, but the Left in politics marches on, to a different tune. In the forefront are the pipers, with their skirling melodies, followed by the drummers, beating out their vibrant rhythms, and following them march the men of the new millenium, inspired with a radical, progressive and libertarian vision for a future Cymru, Alba and Kernow. It remains for England to awaken from its slumber of 400 years and realise its potential as a nation among nations, and not a lost land submerged under its cloak of "Britishness". It is time to heed the clarion call and awaken: to "England and St George!"
To the unions : can you really continue to support Labour, whose policies are like the hydrangea changing its colours from pink to blue according to the soil it finds itself planted in? Does Labour put the ordinary working man and woman first, or it is an organism bred purely for survival, concerned only with its continued existence in the halls and corridors of power?
Paste to browser window:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jul/25/glasgoweast.labour
To the unions : can you really continue to support Labour, whose policies are like the hydrangea changing its colours from pink to blue according to the soil it finds itself planted in? Does Labour put the ordinary working man and woman first, or it is an organism bred purely for survival, concerned only with its continued existence in the halls and corridors of power?
Paste to browser window:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jul/25/glasgoweast.labour
A Scottish National Anthem
Here is an authorised Gaelic translation
FLOWER OF SCOTLAND
(translation by John Angus Macleod)
O Fhlu\ir na h-Albann,
cuin a chi\ sinn
an seo\rsa laoich
a sheas gu ba\s 'son
am bileag feo\ir is fraoich,
a sheas an aghaidh
feachd uailleil Iomhair
's a ruaig e dhachaidh
air chaochladh smaoin?
Na cnuic tha lomnochd
's tha duilleach Foghair
mar bhrat air la\r,
am fearann caillte
dan tug na seo\id ud gra\dh,
a sheas an aghaidh
feachd uailleil Iomhair
's a ruaig e dhachaigh
air chaochladh smaoin.
Tha 'n eachdraidh du\inte
ach air di\ochuimhne
chan fheum i bhith,
is faodaidh sinn e\irigh
gu bhith nar Ri\oghachd a-ri\s
a sheas an aghaidh
feachd uailleil Iomhair
's a ruaig e dhachaidh
air chaochladh smaoin.
FLOWER OF SCOTLAND
(translation by John Angus Macleod)
O Fhlu\ir na h-Albann,
cuin a chi\ sinn
an seo\rsa laoich
a sheas gu ba\s 'son
am bileag feo\ir is fraoich,
a sheas an aghaidh
feachd uailleil Iomhair
's a ruaig e dhachaidh
air chaochladh smaoin?
Na cnuic tha lomnochd
's tha duilleach Foghair
mar bhrat air la\r,
am fearann caillte
dan tug na seo\id ud gra\dh,
a sheas an aghaidh
feachd uailleil Iomhair
's a ruaig e dhachaigh
air chaochladh smaoin.
Tha 'n eachdraidh du\inte
ach air di\ochuimhne
chan fheum i bhith,
is faodaidh sinn e\irigh
gu bhith nar Ri\oghachd a-ri\s
a sheas an aghaidh
feachd uailleil Iomhair
's a ruaig e dhachaidh
air chaochladh smaoin.
Newsflash : Earthquake in Scotland!
Scotland is not prone to earthquakes, but yesterday in Glasgow East the earth moved. Moreover, if the earth moved in Glasgow East, which was the third safest Labour seat in the country, how much more would the earth have moved if there had been a general election? The Scots Nationalists would have gained 50 seats. Imagine..... 50+ Scots Nat. MPs in Westminster. Independence would have been granted on the spot, without more shilly-shallying one would suppose. The people of Scotland have spoken and the message they send to their compatriot (?) Gordon Brown cannot be ignored. We must be thankful for the 365 votes, one for every day of the year, that carried the day.
Scotland will never be the same again, and neither will the British constitution. Yesterday's earthquake has rocked it to its very foundations.
Paste to browser window....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/25/glasgoweast.gordonbrown
Scotland will never be the same again, and neither will the British constitution. Yesterday's earthquake has rocked it to its very foundations.
Paste to browser window....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/25/glasgoweast.gordonbrown
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)