Unlike me, do you consider yourself part of 'the establishment' here in Wales? As thousands gather for the Eisteddfod in Mold this morning, they will, according to some social commentators, not be participating in the greatest cultural festivals of Europe. Instead, they will merely be bit-part players in one of the annual gatherings of the great and good of Wales. Unkindly, this set of the movers and shakers in Welsh society is known as 'the crachach' , and constitute a social class all of their own, dominating the educational, cultural and media sectors of Wales and allegedly looking down upon any outsider with new ideas, reinforcing mediocrity and failing to see beyond the limits of their own narrow experience. They are said to live in a comfort zone that awaits the expected invitation to the next glass of chilled chardonnay and canapés, forgetting that due to their lack of leadership and drive, Wales remains firmly rooted to the bottom of the UK prosperity league ...
Comments
A deal's a deal.
That remains to be seen. It certainly has little to do with the local election results, apart from which Plaid would lose all credibility in future assembly coalitions if it renegs on agreements as readily as you suggest
In terms of dumping the Assembly coalition, there may be justification in the future but there has been nothing to date to give such a decision any credibility. I will forgive you this bit of unrealistic opinion as you have every right to feel a little smug.
Labour is damaged and their focus will now be on themselves and the forthcoming leadership contest rather than running the country efficiently and effectively.
Ian - you could also be right about the Lib Dems, but where does that then leave the devolution settlement?
From my own economic point of view, I have yet to see any non-Labour policies coming through in the Assembly in the last nine months and it shows.
Even some major figures within your party have expressed their concerns to me that very little is being done and that the senior civil servants in the economic development team - all Labour appointments -are still pursuing old policies which bear little resemblance to your manifesto.