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FOR WALES, READ SCOTLAND?

David Cameron made good his promise to visit Scotland within a week of becoming Prime Minister today and seems to have forged a good relationship with Alex Salmond.

According to Sky News,

“Cameron, clearly, came here on a charm offensive. Salmond welcomed his pledge to appear before the Scottish Parliament once a year, answering questions from MSPs, and for ministers from Edinburgh to be quizzed by MPs at Westminster"

So, whilst David Cameron is welcome in Scotland, the same cannot be true of Wales.

Back in 2009, it was reported that, for Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas,

“The prospect of a UK Prime Minister fielding questions in the Senedd’s debating chamber alarms him…not only does he believe it would result in constitutional confusion, he fears it would encourage the type of party political fire-fights for which Westminster is famed".

Such a critique is not limited to Plaid Cymru's senior politicians.

On Wednesday, in an article in the Western Mail, First Minister Carwyn Jones suggested that the new Prime Minister would not be welcome in the Senedd’s debating chamber.

“I don’t think that would be appropriate. He’s answerable to the House of Commons. He’s not answerable to the National Assembly…”

Sometimes, the petty tribalism of politics in Wales defies belief.

If Scottish MEPs are happy to have the Prime Minister appear before them in Edinburgh, then surely our leading politicians in the Assembly will not be so churlish as to refuse to extend the same courtesy when he visits Cardiff?

Comments

Anonymous said…
I agree and he is the Prime Minister ,what ever you feel about his politics.
Tribalism is our curse
May 14, 2010 6:30 pm
Anonymous said…
That is why it such a bloody relief that the hypocrite Hain is gone. This man basically destroyed any consensus politics in wales and for him to call for a progressive approach to government was laughable
May 14, 2010 6:58 pm
Valleys Labour said…
Listen here butty, Wales is a Labour fiefdom, and as long as we in Welsh Labour keep Wales poorer than every other part of the Uk then they'll stick with us. We in Labour hate to see people get on and better themselves, they might get ideas above their station like voting for other parties. Labour knows what's best for Wales, butty.
May 14, 2010 10:53 pm
Rob said…
It's petty and small of the Assembly, he is offering them the opportunity to raise any concerns they have over decisions at Westminster directly with him. The reason that Plaid and Labour don't is they don't want to be seen to legitimise the tories politically in Wales. They've successfully leapfrogged Plaid at the european and Westminster level and have made inroads into all but the staunchest labour territory. There will probably be similar outcomes in the next assembly elections and both partys are desperate to stop this rise.

Our people are proving to have less of a chip on our shoulders than the Scots...sadly the same cannot be said for our politicians.
May 15, 2010 12:02 pm
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