Cameron is Prime Minister
Posted on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 10:40pm
2 responses
I’M DRIVING home from a meeting, and I hear on the radio that David Cameron has now become Prime Minister. Talks were moving so slowly, and then it all happened so suddenly. Brown resigning, going to see the Queen, Cameron arriving at 10 Downing Street…
Already on Twitter and Facebook, the Labour party is warning against the savage cuts from the Tories.I think this is mighty fine coming from them at this stage, given that the Labour-Lib Dem – or progressive – coalition with Plaid and the SNP fell at the first hurdle. It’s clear that they were putting party priorities of a new leader before that of governing.
The strategy employed by Brown of standing down to facilitate the Lib-Lab talks clearly did not work. Now he is jobless, and will go down as a failed Prime Minister in the history books ( or at least he should be remembered as such) There could have been an opportunity to discuss a fair funding deal for Wales, but all of this is now up in the air. The Tories say the will not cut the Welsh budget in the first year, but will they actually keep to this? And if not, will we experience double the cuts the following year?
Of course, if the Tory-Lib Dem coalition takes place then that dynamic in itself will be very interesting indeed. It was being reported last night that former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown is going to be joining the Cabinet, perhaps as National Security Advisor, even though he no longer holds a seat in the Commons. Who will be Secretary of State for Wales? Will they keep the role, or have one post for the devolved nations?
One thing is certain – the relationship between the Plaid-Labour coalition in Cardiff Bay, and a Tory- Lib Dem coalition in London will be intriguing. One Labour AM has already told me today that Plaid can carry on criticising the UK Government decisions, and now Labour will join us in that criticism of Westminster. Some Tory AMs were hoping for a Lib-Lab pact for the very reason that they did not want to be delivering on the cuts agenda, even though I mentioned that surely they would like to be in government after being in the dark for so long. Clearly not, it seems.
I sincerely hope that we still can push forward with a referendum on more powers for Wales nonetheless. But again, everything is now up in the air.
As I’ve said before, I will certainly let the Welsh electorate know if the Tories decide to defer cut for a year to cushion the blow in the Assembly elections next year. They are in government now, and must not take people for fools. One thing I know for sure, though, is that Kirsty Williams will not be happy about this decision. Time will tell if this coalition lasts.
Duw helpa ni nawr mae’r ceidwadwyr mewn pwer! yr unig peth i roi cysur, yw falle bydd e’n cynyddu’r galw am fwy o pwerau i Gymru.
God help us naw that the Tories are in power! the only thing that can give some comfort is maybe it will increase the call for more powers to Wales.
I have said from before the election I would support a liberal democrat-conservative coalition in Westminster but become quite wary over the Tories reluctance for a voting reform. If you look back at the beginning of the talks it was Labour that snubbed the idea of having a traffic light coalition. The SNP originally approached saying they would be willing to begin talks with labour the lib dems plaid cymru and themselves. I was completely for this idea as I think it would have given a fair representation in Westminster with scotland and wales unable to say that they are not fairly represented at that level of UK Governance.
I have no idea to why labour where reluctant to talk with plaid and the SNP but they clearly snubbed the idea without giving it any thought. I think that was the reason it eventually fell through. The lib dems would not have been able to hold realistic talks with labour without talking with smaller parties as well because they wouldnt have formed a stable government falling way below majority levels. It could have worked with Labour as bad as that sounds but fair representation could have changed the face of British politics. In all fairness this coalition was in the end the only realistic option even if it does mean we have a conservative prime minister. Hopefully Nick Clegg will ensure there is no corruption though and we are not forced into a top down nation through tory rule.