Bethan Jenkins AC/AM Blog

I was motivated to write this blog by a comment by a person on Facebook who stated that he ‘is appalled that London members of CWU have voted to abandon fund raising to the Labour Party. This will merely weaken the Labour left even further than it already is and give Brown even more of an excuse to distance himself further from the unions.’

The Camden New Journal reports that the CWU will officially poll opinion from members on whether it should continue funding the Labour Party. They plan to launch a  “consultative ballot” of members next week.

Tony Davis, regional CWU rep for north and north-west London, said:

“There will be a consultative ballot – it’s going to be announced next week. I think support for Labour is very, very low -– and I’m a party member,’ and Hampstead CWU rep John Coater said that ‘the Labour Party has instructed Post Com, which monitors our service, not to fine Royal Mail for failure. Normally, if Royal Mail failed to deliver post it would be would be fined. The cuts are Government-backed so I don’t see why we should support them.”

Considering that Union’s such as the CWU give the Labour party millions in financial backing every year, I commend the CWU for taking this action.  Gordon Brown and his cabinet colleagues are actively undermining the role of the public sector, especially in the  context of Post Officer reforms, therefore why shouldn’t the CWU protest?

What has Gordon Brown ever done to assist ‘the left’ in the Labour party on a UK level?  It seems to me that many of the Union leaders will talk the talk, but when it comes to challenging the government, they will remain quiet in their actions. Well done, therefore to the CWU for being bold. Perhaps they should consider switching their allegiance to Plaid Cymru, who has been consistent in opposing Post Office closures, and against privatising the Royal Mail?…It’s just a thought…Or even better, Plaid should set up our own Union of supporters…

The Government should not take the support of Union’s for granted, and neither should the Union’s become complacent. I can assure you, that if the Tories are elected to govern at Westminster, the Union’s will not hold back when the Tories make cuts to the public sector. Why should it be any different when it comes to Labour in London if they are proposing policies that undermine the members of their own political party? Allegiance for allegiance sake does not make for a strong political party, or for open and frank debate- something which desperately needs to happen within the Labour party.

 Union members should decide which party they affiliate to, and should not feel that if they are not members of Labour that they will be worse off in any way, or out of favour with Union leaders.  What is the worth of democracy, if they cannot act on their own democratic will? Yes there is strength in Union, but I believe that the Labour Government in Westminster disregarded that well know slogan, and its meaning, years ago.

So Rhodri Morgan didn’t announce that he was standing down at the weekend at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton. He said instead -

‘Wales’ worst kept secret – I’m not going to be with you next year as Welsh Labour Leader and I’ll be announcing, before too long, the exact details of how and when the election of my successor it going to take place.’

Some of the rumours before the Conference were that he would announce his departure yesterday, however, could he be waiting for a bigger occassion to announce it, I wonder?

Daran Hill over on Wales home states that ‘there would have been an outcry if he’d announced his departure from a platform in Sussex. It was probably the wisest thing he could have done.’  

That may be so, but it was the Celtic day of Conference ( for what I am told. I have, fortunately, never been to a Labour Conference:-)) and there would have been plenty of Welsh delegates present to justify Rhodri Morgan making such an announcement to members. Then again, perhaps he wants to do a Tony Blair, and announce his retirement to the local party faithful in Cardiff West, with a buffet of guacamole and mushy peas to accompany it! 

Nonetheless, Rhodri is set to make an announcement imminently and I sincerley hope his speech will have more depth than that of which he delivered at the Labour Conference. As I’ve said before on this blog, we are facing the stark reality of a Tory Government in Westminster.What more could Rhodri do for his legacy than to announce that he will play an active role in campaigning during a referendum on a parliament for Wales?- his legacy being that of delivering on a referendum for Wales, and leaving behind the shadow of his failure to implement the Richard Commission recommendations in full at a time when the main concern was to appease Labour party members. The issue is now too pressing to allow it to fall foul of internal squabbles, despite the fact that we are well aware of factions within Labour who are more concerned about preserving the jobs of MP’s in Westminster than delivering for Wales.

Yes, the outcome of the All Wales Convention is yet to be announced, but Rhodri Morgan is the First Minister, and it is expectant of him to show political leadership in this regard. There is no point in talking down the referendum, or assuming that people will not support it at this juncture.

Time is running out, what with an imminent General election, and Assembly elections to follow in 2011. Those of us who are campaigners are aware of the background work that needs to be done to ensure that a campaign of any sort is successful. Politicians from all parties cannot afford to waste time, especially given that a recent vote by AMs in the Senedd showed that we all want a referendum on legislative powers for Wales, that we acknowledge that the LCO system is unworkable, and that it cannot be sustained.

So Rhodri, if you are reading this, please make your retirement speech a hard hitting one, a strong message to the people of Wales that they are respected, that we deserve to have our own powers as a Nation, and that the referendum is on its way.