Bethan Jenkins AC/AM Blog

I think the Western Mail went a little over board with the ‘crisis talks’ headline over the weekend that described the alleged fraught relationship between Plaid and Labour in government at the moment. Naturally, with two different parties working together in government, there will be tensions from time to time. In this case, most of the tensions that we have are with Labour MPs. Suprprise surprise!  We seem to work on a consensus relatively smoothly until the likes of Hain and Murphy put their oar in and tell us off like naughty children in the playground.

I’ve said on this blog before that I am concerned that the way in which the Housing LCO has been treated by the Welsh Affairs Select Committee does not bode well for the Welsh Language LCO. I say this as I would be lying if I said otherwise! We know that there are those in Labour who are anti legislation in the realm of the Welsh language, yet when it comes to equal rights in other areas they are first in line to promote it. I understand that the Welsh Language LCO has nearly been finalised, but like other LCOs,  Alun Ffred and his colleagues in the Bay are keeping it broad in nature, as we believe that this is what is required of us at the LCO stage.  Some Labour MPs may disagree of course.

Anyway, I will say with my hand on my heart that if we are deterred from fulfilling the policies in One Wales that we have promised to fulfil then we will be forced to consider our future in the coalition. For now, I don’t see that this is the case, and that work is progressing within the coalition.

 Of course Plaid members want to be reassured that we are working in their interest, and we have opportunities in conference and at National Council to discuss issues arising from our programme of government, but I do not see that we should panic. We are not fools. We won’t be taken up to the next Assembly election on some sort of false hope that our commitments can be somehow carried over to the next Assembly term or ignored even. After all, there is no guarantee what will happen in the next election. For those in the Labour party who like that idea, well you are wrong to think that Plaid will sit down and accept that some of our main policies and core beliefs will be put to one side.

Of course, it is frustrating sometimes to work in coalition as some Labour Ministers are more ready to work with us than others, and sometimes there are power struggles (especially when the press is involved) but there are no major problems. I think the more pressing issue is finding out who will take over from Rhodri Morgan, and preparing a smooth takeover ( if the new leader does not ditch One Wales and go for a Lib Lab deal that is) as at the moment there seems to be a lack of energy in Labour for the position of leader.

You’d think with Obama mania etc there would be some in the Labour party passionate enough to get their campaigning socks on again… or maybe they are just expecting Rhodri Morgan to carry on. I don’t know for sure, but what I do hope is that Rhodri Morgan is thinking about his legacy, and how history remember him. Leading a referendum on a parliament for Wales would definitely mark his leadership. Constant squabbling between the Bay and Westminster will not, that’s for sure.