Very depressingly I learnt today that the damage done to Swansea's magnificent Liberty Stadium, allegedly by away fans, during Saturday's football match amounts to "thousands of pounds".
The Swansea v Cardiff game (which resulted in a 3-2 win for Swansea City) saw fifteen people arrested and the South Wales Police are investigating the criminal damage occasioned to the Stadium.
After all the public money spent building this fantastic resource, this wanton destruction is a disappointing reminder that mindless acts of vandalism and violence have not yet been eradicated from the national game.
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Monday, 9 November 2009
Cameron Must Set Up a Cross-Party War Cabinet
Away from the details of the proposals, I was taken by the phrase he used in a pre-conference interview with the Sun:
"The military are fighting that war, but I want
Whilst Cameron is not suggesting that the nation should be placed on a "total war" footing, with factories being requisitioned, there is a big problem with fighting this war (and it should be properly classed as a war) in
Last week a House of Lords debate, including contributions from a number of former Chiefs of the Defence Staff, contained heavy criticism of Government policy and resourcing in the Afghan war. Lord Guthrie, in particular, attacked the Government on the lack of helicopters, an issue which Brown & Co have consistently (and outrageously) downplayed.
I want Cameron to go further than he has. I think the future of Government/Military relations are on a knife-edge. Never before has there been such a wedge between the soldiers, their commanders and the political masters. It is dangerous and needs to be tackled.
The war is in a mess. The politicians are unable to set out in any clear way what the objectives are. Military chiefs, serving and former, are openly critical of Government policy and we all know that resources for the operations are limited.
The current situation calls into question the basis of the Military Covenant. I addressed similar remarks to the current Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, Lt Gen Simon Mayall, when he attended the ceremony marking Freedom of the City of
I think nothing less than a War Cabinet, with cross-party representation, will ensure that the current Afghan War will be given the priority it needs and turn
From what I heard about Lord Guthrie's remarks during his speech at the Oxford Union this evening, the cross-party War Cabinet proposal has certainly caught his imagination.
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Local Government & Local Communities
Tory blogger OxfordSpring gives his thoughts on how the finery and pomp of the local Service of Remembrance today inspired him to think on the nature of local government and localism.
Whilst I have a lot of sympathy with his view that local government should mean just that - government at the local level. Sounds like a simple statement of the bleeding obvious, but I think that his view is a sound one: that local authorities should be more than mere administrative centres, given local accent to Whitehall or Brussles-formulated policies, but bodies making real decisions.
I do genuinely think, however, that many of the areas listed in the article are already well within the powers of local councils. I also think that local government needs a great deal of reform before more powers should be handed to them.
This issue also links in with the points I've made in my review of the Daniel Hannan/Douglas Carswell book "The Plan".
Whilst I have a lot of sympathy with his view that local government should mean just that - government at the local level. Sounds like a simple statement of the bleeding obvious, but I think that his view is a sound one: that local authorities should be more than mere administrative centres, given local accent to Whitehall or Brussles-formulated policies, but bodies making real decisions.
I do genuinely think, however, that many of the areas listed in the article are already well within the powers of local councils. I also think that local government needs a great deal of reform before more powers should be handed to them.
This issue also links in with the points I've made in my review of the Daniel Hannan/Douglas Carswell book "The Plan".
Monday, 2 November 2009
Less is more
The soon-to-be-former First Minister of Wales Rhodri Morgan has used his regular press conference, sitting alongside Welsh Secretary Peter Hain, to warn of the dangers of reducing the number of Members of Parliament representing Wales in the House of Commons.
The duo make an absurd claim that plans, set out by David Cameron, to reduce the number of Westminster MPs throughout the UK, would lead to a reduction in the ability of the National Assembly of Wales to do its job properly.
This is utter nonsense. First, the Government of Wales Act may link the number of Westminster Constituencies directly to the number of Assembly Members, but such details in legislation can be amended. Second, Cameron hasn't outlined in any detail what his plans for an overall UK reduction in the number of MPs would mean for Wales. Third, I find it bizarre to claim that a reduction in the number of Assembly Members would actually lead to the kind of gridlock and paralysis in Cardiff Bay painted by Morgan and Hain.
Of course, Assembly Members will cry out that they are so busy and that they couldn't possibly do another hour's more work a week and that a reduction in their number would be catastrophic and an end to all the wonderfully good things that the Assembly does for education, health and the economy in Wales (ahem!).
As Boris might say, what piffle!
The duo make an absurd claim that plans, set out by David Cameron, to reduce the number of Westminster MPs throughout the UK, would lead to a reduction in the ability of the National Assembly of Wales to do its job properly.
This is utter nonsense. First, the Government of Wales Act may link the number of Westminster Constituencies directly to the number of Assembly Members, but such details in legislation can be amended. Second, Cameron hasn't outlined in any detail what his plans for an overall UK reduction in the number of MPs would mean for Wales. Third, I find it bizarre to claim that a reduction in the number of Assembly Members would actually lead to the kind of gridlock and paralysis in Cardiff Bay painted by Morgan and Hain.
Of course, Assembly Members will cry out that they are so busy and that they couldn't possibly do another hour's more work a week and that a reduction in their number would be catastrophic and an end to all the wonderfully good things that the Assembly does for education, health and the economy in Wales (ahem!).
As Boris might say, what piffle!
Saturday, 31 October 2009
Experts v Knee-jerks
Professor Nutt knows more about the issues concerning drug misuse that I, the Home Secretary or the Prime Minister. Yet, the Government has forced him to resign as Chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs for daring to put forward scientific arguments against the proposals to reclassify cannabis as a more serious substance (from its current classification as “C” to the more serious “Class B” definition).
Yes, I accept that some people will come at this from a moral perspective, given whatever experience one may have had of observing those who have abused drugs. But the scientific evidence has, for some time now, given a clear picture of cannabis and ecstasy being no more harmful MEDICALLY speaking than either alcohol or smoking tobacco.
But, the issues are far more complex than those who suggest it’s simply a matter of “zero tolerance” to drug taking. What should we have a zero tolerance attitude towards and how would this be manifested? I agree, the illegal trade in drugs is harmful to national security and international relations. Drugs wars spill over into the streets of the world's major cities, blighting lives. But what comes first? The criminality or the illegality? IF the drugs were not illegal, then there would not be a criminal trade it in, running up billions in profits for international criminal companies.
However, that's even before we consider WHY people take up drug taking. Should we have a zero tolerance on poverty, hopelessness, the most dire housing conditions, poor education and lack of opportunity? For the people using drugs as an escape route or as a route into the glamour of a lifestyle celebrated in pop culture, then help and support is needed, not criminalisation. I have supported the local drugs project in Swansea which looks at practical ways to help drug users and the police have been very supportive, too.
Then there is the question of recreational "middle-class" drug use and clubbing culture. How much better would it be for drugs to be regulated, like other harmful goods such as alcohol and nicotine? Or should the police waste their time raiding nightclubs and apartments in Hoxton?
Yes, let's deal with criminal behaviour, but for heaven's sakes let’s have a rational debate based on scientific expert opinion and not make policy based on whether the Daily Mail or the Sun will support it.
Yes, I accept that some people will come at this from a moral perspective, given whatever experience one may have had of observing those who have abused drugs. But the scientific evidence has, for some time now, given a clear picture of cannabis and ecstasy being no more harmful MEDICALLY speaking than either alcohol or smoking tobacco.
But, the issues are far more complex than those who suggest it’s simply a matter of “zero tolerance” to drug taking. What should we have a zero tolerance attitude towards and how would this be manifested? I agree, the illegal trade in drugs is harmful to national security and international relations. Drugs wars spill over into the streets of the world's major cities, blighting lives. But what comes first? The criminality or the illegality? IF the drugs were not illegal, then there would not be a criminal trade it in, running up billions in profits for international criminal companies.
However, that's even before we consider WHY people take up drug taking. Should we have a zero tolerance on poverty, hopelessness, the most dire housing conditions, poor education and lack of opportunity? For the people using drugs as an escape route or as a route into the glamour of a lifestyle celebrated in pop culture, then help and support is needed, not criminalisation. I have supported the local drugs project in Swansea which looks at practical ways to help drug users and the police have been very supportive, too.
Then there is the question of recreational "middle-class" drug use and clubbing culture. How much better would it be for drugs to be regulated, like other harmful goods such as alcohol and nicotine? Or should the police waste their time raiding nightclubs and apartments in Hoxton?
Yes, let's deal with criminal behaviour, but for heaven's sakes let’s have a rational debate based on scientific expert opinion and not make policy based on whether the Daily Mail or the Sun will support it.
UK Youth Parliament Meets in Commons – good job, too!
I was very pleased to see that the UK Youth Parliament got their day in the Chamber of the House of Commons on Friday.
At a time when interest and trust in politics is on the slide, it is heartening to see so many young people taking part in a series of interesting, serious and topical debates in the heart of our Parliamentary democracy.
The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, true to his word as a modern and reforming Speaker, welcomed the Youth Parliament from the Speaker's Chair.
This year's event follows on from the Youth Parliament's Annual Sitting last year in the House of Lords.
I have seen some, frankly, childish, snobbish and (mostly) jealous comments from people who were unhappy about the Youth Parliament meeting in the Commons Chamber. Comments have ranged from criticism about the attire of some of the MYPs (which display a lack of awareness of some of the backgrounds of the Members...indeed, I didn't own a suit until I was 21 years old!) to claims that somehow the democratic "spell" over the Commons would be broken if a bunch of kids were allowed to sit on the green leather. Seeing as the Chamber is a hastily built 1950's room doesn't seem to dawn on some people.
The Commons is a body of people, not a room, not a building. It is as much a concept as a physical thing. The Commons represents the nation, the people and its current home being used as a place of debate for the nation's Youth Parliament seems highly appropriate and desirable.
In fact, the Commons soon needs to go through a major refurbishment. This work will take years to complete. So, the body of the House of Commons will need to decamp elsewhere...in the Second World War, after an incendiary device destroyed the Victorian Commons Chamber, the House moved down to the other end of the building and squatted in the Lords Chamber (their Lordships, in turn, meeting down the road in Church House). Cromwell held meetings of the Commons in Oxford University during the Civil War.
Perhaps, as a quid pro quo with the UK Youth Parliament, the Commons could find a perfectly decent school hall in which to debate the nation's issues during the rebuilding of their main home?
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Goodbye Welsh Labour
A poll published in today's Western Mail delivers a huge blow to Welsh Labour, putting them only 3 points ahead of the Conservatives.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/10/27/poll-predicts-labour-trouncing-91466-25020815/
With Labour placed on 34% and the Welsh Conservatives just behind on 31%, the General Election result in Wales could see Labour slip to holding just 20 out of Wales' 40 Westminster Constituencies. Plaid Cymru and the LibDems currently trail with 15% and 12% respectively.
Labour are certainly facing their biggest challenge in Wales and across the UK since their 1983 debacle and this poll would see them sink to their lowest ebb in Wales since 1918.
The great thing about this poll is that it reflects not only what we are hearing on the doorstep, but it's also in line with the rise in Tory support as evidenced in June's Euro elections, which saw the Conservatives beat Labour in Wales.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/10/27/poll-predicts-labour-trouncing-91466-25020815/
With Labour placed on 34% and the Welsh Conservatives just behind on 31%, the General Election result in Wales could see Labour slip to holding just 20 out of Wales' 40 Westminster Constituencies. Plaid Cymru and the LibDems currently trail with 15% and 12% respectively.
Labour are certainly facing their biggest challenge in Wales and across the UK since their 1983 debacle and this poll would see them sink to their lowest ebb in Wales since 1918.
The great thing about this poll is that it reflects not only what we are hearing on the doorstep, but it's also in line with the rise in Tory support as evidenced in June's Euro elections, which saw the Conservatives beat Labour in Wales.
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