Merthyr musings
Posted on Saturday, December 27, 2008 at 11:00pm
one response
I thought you might appreciate this picture that I took yesterday of the view of Aberdare from the top of Heolgerrig mountain in Merthyr. It was a glorious day, and despite being dismayed at the amount of fly tipping that was on the road as I walked up the mountain, the views were spectacular. It shows that there’s real beauty in the valleys, despite the negativity!
I’ve been taking it easy for the last few days. I hope you’ve all enjoyed the festivities.
There has been devastating news today regarding the Israeli air attack on the Gaza strip. The fatalities are now said to be over 200 people. The attack was aimed at Hamas, although Times online reports that one attack hit the Hamas controlled police station, but that a school close to the police station was also affected. With Hamas threatening revenge, it does not look like an end to violence will be forthcoming.
In other news that I discovered via my twitter feeds, it seems that the Tories are criticising Labour for wasting public money on buying pot plants and furniture for the DWP and the Department for Transport. Seems a bit rich for them to continue taking the moral high ground on this issue after the stories on allowances of late, doesn’t it? But I do think that Welsh Ramblings’ prediction that ‘i-pod gate’ would fall off the political agenda when the likes of Vaughan Roderick went on holiday has come true to a large extent. Well, apart from David Williamson’s article today on the music us AMs listen to, with the reasoning for writing it being the link to Nick Bourne’s i-pod scandal…..
The other article of note in today’s Western Mail is the one following on from the interview in the paper’s Boxing Day edition with Rhodri Morgan- with specific reference to the referendum on a parliament for Wales. Morgan notes that ’some people want to start the crash-bang-wallop already’- aka speerheading a campaign on a yes vote while the All Wales Convention is underway(probably aimed at people like myself) But as I stated in the article, all I want is for us to be able to do is to prepare for setting up a yes campaign so that we can ‘hit the ground running’ when it has reported.
I do sense an air of cynicism and caution from some of the older politicians when discussing the referendum- perhaps this is partly due to their experiences of failed referendums and negative campaigning, I do not know. But I sincerely believe that if we are not more positive about the fact that the Convention will come out showing support for a referendum, if we do not show leadership, show that a yes vote is possible, then of course, who can blame the Welsh public for voting no?
We are elected to lead, not to sit back and wait for people to go blindly to the ballot boxes. Of course I agree that Plaid would not want to set Wales back and dive head first into a situation where we will not progress the National question for 25 years, but if we do not want this to happen then we must work together to ensure that the people of Wales understand the issues, realise why it is important that we develop our democratic processes, and how it can affect their everyday lives. It is not some abstract concept, it is about making decisions in Wales for the people of Wales. In my opinion, there is nothing odd or complex about self determination.
That’s it for now. I’d vowed not to blog until the New Year. Look, I’ve already broken one resolution already….
