Plaid Cymru would not prop up a Conservative government at Westminster

Yesterday Plaid Cymru confirmed what we all knew. We will not prop up a Conservative government at Westminster following May's General Election. 

When asked what Plaid would do in such circumstances, the party’s Hywel Williams, MP for Arfon, said: “Propping up a damaging Tory government will not be among Plaid Cymru’s commitments for the election.

"Neither will there be a commitment to prop up a Labour government committed to Tory spending plans, cruel welfare caps or concentrating wealth in the City of London."

He went on to say, "Plaid Cymru will work for Wales before and after the election as we always do. In the event of Plaid Cymru MPs holding the balance of power at Westminster, we’ll deliver a rebalancing of power and wealth throughout the UK, bringing our government home to Wales and securing the resources for Wales to flourish.”

On the other side of the coin we have Labour, who cosy up to the Tories whenever it suits them, Plaid Cymru has never been in any deal with the Tories at any level of government. In stark contrast, during 2009 – 13 Labour was not just in a deal with but in coalition with the Tories in Cumbria County Council.  

Here locally, on Labour-led Carmarthenshire County Council they are in coalition with the Independents who in Peter Hain's own words are 'Closet Tories'!

Working together, TORY AND LABOUR activists.

They are currently in coalition with the Tories in no fewer than 7 Scottish County Councils, two of which are straight Tory – Labour coalitions (Stirling and East Lothian).  As such “will Labour rule out any future deal with the Tories at any level of government?” is a fair question.  

Labour working with the Conservatives is a very common occurrence, there is no difference between them anymore both are committed to the destructive austerity agenda being forced upon our communities. 

Moreover, will Labour politicians and parliamentary candidates now campaign for Labour to disengage from all its current governing coalitions with the Tories in Britain?  Or are they happy with Labour – Tory coalitions?   

 

Yn cefnogi'n LLWYR ymgyrch Stonewall Cymru gwrth-fwlio

Yn cefnogi'r ymgyrch yn Llanelli.

Yr wythnos hon rwyf yn falch iawn o gefnogi ymgyrch Stonewall Cymru gwrth-fwlio. Ewch i http://nobystanders.org.uk am ragor o wybodaeth.

Mae hon yn ymgyrch mor bwysig ac yn ymgyrch y dylen ni gyd fod yn rhan ohoni. Cefais fy synnu wrth ddysgu a darllen fod 75,000 o bobl ifanc yn mynd i gael eu bwlian eleni oherwydd eu rhywioldeb a bydd oddeutu 21,000 yn ceisio cyflawni hunanladdiad. Mae'r ffigyrau hyn yn frawychus dros ben ac mae'n rhaid i ni gyd gwneud mwy i sicrhau cydraddoldeb i'r cymunedau hoyw, lesbian, deurywiol a trawsrywiol - rhaid i ni fynnu tegwch i bawb.

Felly, rwyf yn ymbil ar gymaint o bobl a phosibl i gefnogi'r ymgyrch hanfodol hon ac yn gofyn i ni oll ddiolch i Stonewall Cymru am yr holl waith di-flino yma wrth iddynt amddiffyn ein pobl ifanc rhag niwed.

Yn ddiffuant, dymuniadau gorau wrtha i yn bersonol ac o ran Plaid Cymru yma nhref Llanelli hefyd.

"Rydym yn dod i mewn i'r byd yn gyfartal, rydym yn gadael y byd yn gyfartal."

In FULL support of Stonewall Cymru's anti-bullying campaign

Signing the pledge in Llanelli.

This week I am delighted to take part in Stonewall Cymru’s anti-bullying week. Please visit http://nobystanders.org.uk/ for more information.

This is such an important campaign and one in which we should all play and active part. I was stunned and indeed saddened to discover that this year 75,000 young people will be bullied because they’re gay. 21,000 will attempt suicide. These figures are truly shocking and show that much needs to be done to ensure equality for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual communities – we must strive for equality for all.

Therefore, I urge as many people as possible to support this important campaign and to commend the important and tireless work undertaken by Stonewall Cymru in protecting our young people from harm.

Genuinely, best wishes from me personally and from the whole Plaid Cymru team here in Llanelli!

“We came equals into this world, and equals shall we go out of it.”

LABOUR-RUN, Merthyr Tydfil council to 'sack and re-hire 1,000 staff'

Merthyr nightmare

Do you remember Old Labour or just Labour? For those who don’t they were once a party of the working man – a people’s party even. Modern Labour of course is New Labour as well all know well.

One of the most famous Labour figures is Kier Hardie, Hardie was in 1900, elected as the junior MP for the dual-member constituency of Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare. 

Merthyr Tydfil – a bastion of the Labour Party – a place, like many where you could once weigh the Labour vote.

I wonder how Keir Hardie would view Labour today in Merthyr Tydfil? I wonder if he would be proud of what the Labour-run council are doing? If only we could ask him – but as of yet, time travel is beyond us.

What are Labour doing you ask?

Merthyr Tydfil council to 'sack and re-hire 1,000 staff' 

A council plans to sack and re-hire more than 1,000 staff on worse terms, two unions claim.

Unison and GMB have written to Merthyr Tydfil council leader Brendan Toomey after the notices were issued to council staff.

They say they are "disappointed" the council has begun a 45-day consultation on changes to terms and conditions without talking to them first.

Mr Toomey said the council needs to cut costs.

The council faces a £13m deficit between 2015 and 2018 and Mr Toomey said if negotiations with the unions failed, then formal notifications about redundancy talks would be issued immediately.

If an agreement cannot be reached on new terms and conditions, the council will start sacking and re-hiring staff from 19 January 2015.

The process is expected to be finished by 13 April.

'Difficult' 

In a joint statement, the unions said: "We find it disappointing that a Labour council should consider it acceptable to propose dismissal and re-engagement of staff on worse terms and conditions and demand the council finds an alternative to this measure."

The unions have asked for the matter to be referred to the joint secretaries of the National Joint Council for Wales.

A Welsh government spokeswoman said staffing decisions were up to local authorities, adding: "Funding reductions do not necessarily mean withdrawing services or making redundancies."

Jeff Jones, a local government consultant and former leader of Bridgend council, said: "For a Labour-controlled authority to go down this route shows how difficult it is.

"The problem for Merthyr is that it's so small and it has little room for manoeuvre."

Unions claim an early merger with neighbouring Rhondda Cynon Taff council would help relieve some of the council's financial problems and should be considered as a priority.

The council planned a similar move in October but backed down.

The reality is, Labour (New Labour, Modern Labour or the RedTories have turned their backs on the working man and woman). Once we lose sight of the value of our workers, we go blind to the truth. 

Why not scrap the renewal of Trident and ensure Wales is fairly funded? Let’s move Wales forward not backward.

Labour's selective amnesia - tuition fees

Labour’s selective amnesia

Whilst relaxing after a long day at work, I put on the TV and made myself a cup of tea. The TV announced in the background, the news of the day.

I was struck by a comment made by Douglas Alexander MP (Labour, Paisley South) – who amongst other things voted for the Iraq War, against the Real Recall Bill and for the benefit cap. He also repaid more than £12,000 after claiming taxpayers' cash for his constituency home whilst receiving rent on it from a tenant living in an annex.

Anyway, I digress (apologies). The LABOUR MP was (rightly) criticising the Liberal Democrats regarding their spectacular u-turn regarding the tuition fees pledge. I don’t want to be rude to the LABOUR MP but it was the LABOUR PARTY that INTRODUCED TUITION FEES in the first instance. So in a nutshell tuition were first introduced across the entire United Kingdom in September 1998 under the Labour Government.   

EDUCATION SHOULD REFLECT THE ABILITY TO LEARN AND NEVER THE ABILITY TO PAY!