slippery slope

This week, the Electoral Commission took a decision which will almost inevitably lead to a low turnout on March 3rd. The rules governing referendums mean that two sides have to be designated by the Electoral Commission to be the official Yes and No campaigns.

True Wales, the group which have been campaigning for a No vote for at least two years and who were the only people likely to get official designation, chose not to apply. Under the rules, if there is no official 'No' campaign, there cannot be an official 'Yes' campaign.

With designation, both sides would have been able to send a leaflet to every house explaining the case, with free delivery by the Royal Mail. They would have had free TV and radio time to put the arguments across. Not so now.

The latest polls, while positive for the 'Yes' side, show a very high number of people who are still undecided. My experience on the streets so far is that levels of knowledge and understanding are low.

The question is far from straightforward. We will be asked if we want the Assembly's law-making process to change so that laws can be made in the 20 devolved areas, without first having to ask Westminster for the powers. There will be no radical transformation with a 'yes' vote, but a 'no' vote could have devastating consequences, beginning the slippery slope which will lead to the end of Welsh devolution. A low turn out with those currently undecided persuaded to vote 'No' could make for a close result. On a low turnout, anything could happen.

Those who ultimately want to abolish the Assembly are using simple messages about the Assembly being a 'waste' with 'incapable politicians' presiding over an under-performing economy. These messages will undoubtedly hit home with people who have every right to be cynical about mainstream politics. However, these points could be equally made about Westminster. Politicians there have been shown to be corrupt money-wasters, who presided over a catastrophic economic failure which will have a long and lasting impact on health, education and other public services used by 60 million people. Yet do we conclude that it's the fault of the system, that the solution lies in the abolition of both Houses of the UK Parliament? No, we call for a change in the politicians or the party in power if we don't like thier policies. So why is it different in Wales?

Wales loses out to the tune of £300 million every year because of the inbuilt unfairness of the outdated Barnett Formula, is it any wonder Wales's economy is under-performing? Although this referendum is not about funding arrangements, no-one seriously thinks there is any chance of positive reform unless there is a strong 'Yes' vote in the powers referendum. And as for saving money, so far the system whereby Wales has to persuade London to pass over the powers to make laws has cost 3,000 hours and £2 million in civil servants and legal experts.

And claims that people in Wales don't have the ability to make laws should be treated as a joke.

It now falls to the Yes campaign to make sure the real issues are explained to as many people as possible over the next month. We have hundreds of committed volunteers in every part of the country and so we should be able to reach hundreds of thousands of people. If you've not signed up to the yes campaign yet, you can do so here.

Surveillance Society

Protestors in Cardiff and around have been left shocked and bewildered to hear that a Cardiff Anarchist group was infiltrated by an undercover police officer for four years.

'Marco' was the third infiltrator to be uncovered. The first, Mark Kennedy was outed after the trial of six environmententalists collapsed.

Kennedy, selling his story to the Mail on Sunday, claims he knows of another 15 undercover police officers among protest groups. At an estimated cost to the public purse of £250,000 per undercover officer, per year, I find it very difficult to see how this expenditure can be justifed, particularly when the groups covertly investigated are hardly, by their own admission, public enemy number one.

Kennedy and Marco slept with women activists, gaining their trust in the most intimate of ways, for information. All those who trusted these men must feel betrayed and violated, but the women activists who were close to them will no doubt be feeling it the hardest. Who sanctioned such a tactic? Were the government of the time happy for this abuse of women's rights to take place? These questions deserve to be answered.

I have had concerns about the way protestors in Wales are policed for some time. These latest revelations only strengthen calls for policing to be devolved to Wales, where policy decisions like this would be able to be scutinised more closely.

Old rivals join forces for Wales

Assembly Members Leighton Andrews and Leanne Wood joined forces this morning to hand out leaflets for the Yes campaign in Tonypandy Market in the Rhondda.

It is the first time that Mr Andrews, the Labour Minister for Education and Rhondda AM, and Ms Wood, Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales Central since 2003, have ever campaigned together.

Mr Andrews said: “The cross-party Yes for Wales campaign is now up and running and taking the message to the people of the Rhondda. We had a great reception in Tonypandy today despite the weather.”

Ms Wood added: “Over the years Leighton and I have not always seen eye-to-eye on a range of political issues so I wouldn’t be surprised if our presence on the streets together in Tonypandy surprised a few people.

“Although we have our differences, when it comes to securing a stronger voice for Wales, we are in full agreement. We had a positive response from the shoppers and I hope the message is getting across to people that this is a positive step.”

From the Yes for Wales website (IeDros Gymru yn Gymraeg).
Rhondda Says Yes is now on Facebook here.

Food prices on the rise

December saw world food prices increase. The cost of food is now higher than it was in 2008, when price rises sparked riots in some countries.

A loaf of bread in my home town of Penygraig in the Rhondda has gone up 10% from 90p to 99p.

Meanwhile, demand for Foodbanks: the modern day equivalent of the soup kitechen, continues to grow.

We continue to waste staggering amounts of food.

It doesn't have to be this way. In Fife, Scotland, 'One Planet Fife' are working to ensure Fife's communities are resilient to food price increases. A co-ordinated plan helps community food groups co-operate with producers to source local and low input food, organising local deliveries, as well as community growing projects. Public bodies work together to agree 'sustainable food procurement' policies, enabling groups of local farmers to develop the capacity to supply what's needed, creating new jobs and reducing transport and packaging. Communities and businesses work together to reduce avoidable food waste and to use unavoidable food waste to generate energy and fertiliser. Agricultural advisors help farmers and growers to reduce the environmental impact of their businesses through changes in land management, better use of the fertiliser and renewable energy production. At national and international level, developing a food sovereignty approach which gives people and communities more control over local and regional food production and distribution and leads to a fairer and more sustainable global food system.

There's no reason why we can't do the same here in Wales.

Wales wins praise for waste law

"We bin 10 Wembleys full of food a year – what a waste of energy" says the headline in today's Independent on Sunday in an article by Kate Youde. "Wales has shown the way by collecting and reusing kitchen rubbish, but most UK councils lag behind"

Its not mentioned in the article, but Wales's success on this front is down to the Environment and Waste measure which set Welsh waste targets. The measure came about after a wait of almost three years for the Environment Legislative Competence Order which had to be granted by Westminster before the Assembly was free to legislate.

The referendum on the Assembly's law-making powers which takes place on March 3rd will get rid of the costly and cumbersome LCO system, which requires us to ask Westminster's permission before laws which only affect Wales can be made. Why not make it your new year's resolution to vote YES for Wales in March?