Independence

Scotland is going places. That was the over-riding mood at this weekend's SNP conference in Inverness.

Alex Salmond has every reason to be confident and optimistic. His speech reflected the confidence and optimism that will be needed on the part Scotland's people if the referendum on independence is to be successful.

It's hard to work out where the No campaign will come from. The Tories are in a terrible mess. Will they rely on their party bosses in London to put the case against?

Long time Labour supporters are starting to see independence as inevitable.

In her fraternal address from Plaid Cymru to the conference, Elin Jones AM said that we should now be thinking about the implications of all of this for Wales.

“As you, in the SNP and in Scotland, consider the real possibility of creating an independent Scotland, we are left to consider what would be left. A UK Government governing all English matters, and only some Welsh matters and even less Northern Irish matters. It is now time for a serious debate on the future constitutional relationship of the countries of the British islands. It is time to debate equality, not subservience and dependence. To us, the UK is currently a pretence of a country. After a Yes vote in your referendum, it could no longer pretend to anyone, not even itself.”

Can we in Wales emulate the enthusiasm, confidence and determination which was on show in abundance in Inverness this weekend? A glimpse of what is possible was seen in the build up to the rugby world cup semi-final. The nation was united in wanting success then. If that same drive could be dedicated to building and equalising Wales, there'd be 'nae limits' to what we could achieve.

Let's get cracking

It didn't take Scotland's First Minister long to set out a basic list of expectations to the UK government following national elections at the beginning of May. This week he's managed to secure £2.7 billion worth of borrowing powers while continuing to bang the drum for control over other taxes and the Scottish land and marine holdings of the Crown Estates.

Contrast this energy and dynamism with Wales's First Minister. We've had a few weeks of farcical First Minister's questions with no programme to scrutinise. Question Time has been little more than an opportunity for the First Minister to opposition-bash. A good from of entertainment, no doubt, but isn't it all really a bit pointless? No doubt, the best form of defence is attack when nothing is happening. There have been no committees. There have been no list of demands to Cameron, but it'll all be ok because says he's written a letter about the crisis in Welsh broadcasting, although he's against devolving it, indicating his belief the Welsh media is safer in Cameron/Hunt's hands.

We all know the Welsh economy is weak. Job creation through the creation of new, home-based markets as proposed in the Valleys Greenprint is what is urgently needed and is something we could be getting on with now. Some of the ideas would need legislation, others could be helped by the Assembly having borrowing and other powers. Instead, as Eurfyl ap Gwylim pointed out in the Guardian more than a year ago:

"Because the Welsh government has no taxation or borrowing powers, it will have to take the cuts imposed on them and decide where the axe will fall."

Instead of creating jobs, Wales is losing them fast in the public sector. Instead of planning to stimulate the Welsh economy and standing up for Wales in talks with the UK government, Wales's First Minister seems to be on go-slow.

The deflection strategy can work for only a limited amount of time. I hope in next week's Assembly questions we'll get a clearer picture as to how the Welsh government intends to handle the problems facing Wales over the coming five years, that we'll have a programme to scrutinise. I hope that members get some answers to our fair questions about the government programme, the economy and how Wales's case is being pushed forward with the UK government. I'm not holding too much of my breath.

Protective shield?

On the same day that the Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond was meeting senior members of the UK government to put the case for more financial powers to safeguard jobs, Wales gets confirmation that 150 jobs are to be lost at the Newport Passport Office.

Unemployment in Wales is higher than the UK average. In difficult economic times, Wales fairs worse. Higher than average unemployment levels in the late 1960s led to a "regional policy" which devolved civil service jobs out of London. The Passport Office, the DVLA in Swansea and the Mint in Llantrisant were set up in Wales as part of this regional policy, creating hundreds of jobs. And now, because of the ConDem's public spending cuts, many of those jobs are at risk.

Every single job in Wales is worth fighting for, especially jobs which pay more than the minimum wage. Every job lost means less money circulating in our already weak economy, leading to job losses in the private sector too. As the PCS Union have argued, it makes no sense during a recession to enforce more people to take benefits from the public purse instead of paying in to the taxation pot.

Dependence on a Westminster government to either give or take away jobs is unsustainable for Scotland and for Wales. With his demands for more fiscal autonomy, the Scottish First Minister aims to ensure a long term income stream. Cuts to the Scottish budget from Westminster will continue to be savage. More fiscal autonomy will provide an element of resilience, a buffer to Westminster's cuts. Income from excise duties, energy revenues and more borrowing powers will come in handy over the next few years.

Meanwhile, Wales's First Minister was yesterday reported to be open minded about the Assembly gaining financial powers, having been decidedly lukewarm before the election. The cuts in Wales are savage too, and Labour have just won an election on the back of a promise to protect people in Wales from the Tories cuts, to act as a shield against them. Without powers over finance, they can't.