Politics

The Catalan crisis and Cymru

Published

6 years ago

November 3, 2017

Rallying for independence: Some Catalans seek self-determination

THE CRISIS in Catalonia has made for some strange political bedfellows, with Plaid Cymru and UKIP – for different motivations – railing against those seeking to preserve the Spanish state intact, while the Conservatives remain equivocal and Labour – as in Brexit – prefer to keep their heads down and hope it will all go away without anyone asking them what their position actually is.

And the reasons for those contortions, at least in Welsh politics are not too difficult to establish. While a core text of young socialists always used to be George Orwell’s ‘Homage to Catalonia’, the establishment of an independent Catalan state would only serve to stoke the well-banked fires of Welsh independence from the UK. With the Labour Party in Wales not only fundamentally unionist in the sense of wishing to ensure the UK stays together but devoted to the idea of the European Union, it does not want to see other European regions assert their independence.

In addition, at least part of Labour’s opposition is borne out of the thought that Catalonia – one of the richest Spanish regions – is seeking its independence partly because it does not want to continue funding poorer Spanish regions: a bit like Surrey declaring UDI because it did not want taxes raised there to contribute to the building of schools in Llanelli.

UKIP’s position has the merit of being both robust and transparently intellectually dishonest. A party built around the recreation of an independent UK is all in favour of other member states of the EU splitting up, especially as – they argue – the conflict highlights the fundamentally autocratic and centralising impulse of the EU. However, UKIP’s anti-unionist and pro-democratic position is not translated to national politics in the particular, only to foreign affairs in the abstract

In that, it is at least consistent with the keenest Brexiteers on the Conservative side, who are all in favour of using the trials of the Spanish state to illustrate their own view of an over-mighty EU without for one minute advancing the logic of that argument to the UK’s status quo. Which is, perhaps, why they are so reluctant to talk about it.

Of more moment, perhaps is that the EU has turned its face against Catalan separatism on the principle that it does not want to see its Union subject to further division. That attitude should be causing raised eyebrows in Edinburgh, or at least giving campaigners for independence considerable pause for thought. A key notion floated at the time of the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 was that Scotland would be an independent nation within the EU. That position – provided of course that the EU is intellectually consistent, coherent, and not prone to dabbling in its members’ internal politics – appears to be shot full of holes by the EU’s current attitude towards Catalonia. And it is worth bearing in mind that SNP supporters supported leaving the EU by a significant majority, which suggests that at least some of its members are prepared to see the lunacy of seeking to leave one union only to join another straight away.

And for Plaid Cymru, or at least those within in it who seek independence for Wales, who believe in the right of the Catalans to self-determination, Welsh self-determination, and who want to remain within the EU – or at least closely tied to it – the position is even more intellectually contorted. The EU – as an institution – shows no appetite at all to allow the federated parts of republics or semi-autonomous regions to divide themselves from the nation states of which they are constituent members. Quite how the attitude of the EU towards the Catalans gives intellectual succour to Plaid Cymru for their own hopes for an independent Wales within the EU requires a leap of logic that suggests faith and not rationality.

News

Too many children in Wales living in poverty – Lib Dems want action

Published

1 day ago

April 25, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THIS week in the Senedd, the Welsh Liberal Democrats renewed their demands for the implementation of child poverty targets.

According to a report from the Bevan foundation, 29% of children living in Wales are currently experiencing poverty (an estimated 190,000 children).

The same report highlighted that the largest percentage of children living in poverty are from working households or in couple households.

The Welsh Lib Dems are now renewing calls for the Welsh Government to create a set of targets for reducing child poverty, which the party argues will allow for more accountability.

The party has previously called for the implementation of targets, citing recommendations from the Calling Time on Child Poverty Report published in November last year.

Commenting, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said: “The latest statistics on childhood poverty in Wales paints a very distressing image of families across the country struggling to make ends meet.

Over the course of the last six years, the proportion of children in poverty has skyrocketed. Fuelled by worsening economic conditions and a complete lack of action from both governments in Westminster and Cardiff Bay.

We cannot act complacent about these figures nor accept the clear lack of progress in fighting child poverty, behind each statistic is a child that the state has failed.

It remains painfully clear that the Welsh Government is failing to make any meaningful progress in this fight, which is why they must follow through with the implementation of clear set targets that will allow for further accountability.

We as a party have continuously called for the creation of these targets and we will not be silenced. For the sake of future generations we urge the Welsh Government to listen.”

Education

Conservative calls for academies and free schools rejected by Senedd

Published

1 day ago

April 25, 2024

Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter

THE SENEDD has rejected calls to introduce free schools and academies after a report found major challenges in Wales’ education system.

Tom Giffard led a Conservative debate on educational attainment, warning that Wales is consistently at the bottom of UK-wide league tables.

The party’s new shadow education secretary pointed to an Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report on education in Wales which found low outcomes and high levels of inequality.

Mr Giffard told the Senedd the IFS report highlights the pitfalls of the Welsh Government putting all its eggs in the basket of a skills-based approach.

Criticising a failure to measure skills inequalities and pupil progress, he stressed that Wales’ lower performance is due to policy and approach rather than funding or the pandemic.

He said: “It seems the Welsh Government relies on Pisa results to tell the story but then, when those same results are all too disappointing, they are dismissed in equal measure.”

Mr Giffard, who previously worked in a primary school, said declines in Pisa results can be observed in almost every country that has adopted a skills-based approach.

Raising concerns about disappointing Pisa results, the South Wales West MS pointed out that Wales saw the lowest scores in the UK for every subject.

Heledd Fychan, Plaid Cymru’s shadow education secretary, warned that Wales’ schools are understaffed and facing difficult decisions due to budgets being at breaking point.

She criticised implementation of the Welsh Government’s additional learning needs (ALN) reforms, saying schools cannot realise the aims without the budget to bring them to life.

Ms Fychan said Plaid Cymru agreed with much of the Tory motion but her party would not support calls for free schools and academies.

Sam Rowlands described the IFS report as damning, warning that the Welsh Government’s education reforms have been disastrous and have widened inequality.

The Tory MS claimed the reforms are systematically holding back disadvantaged children, saying: “The most remarkable fact is that the performance of disadvantaged children in England is either above or similar to the average for all children in Wales.”

Mr Rowlands added: “The poorest in England’s schools are doing the same or better than the Welsh average, thanks to ambition, the academies and free schools.”

Samuel Kurtz, a fellow Tory, said free schools and academies have driven up standards in England as he argued a Wales roll-out provides an opportunity to improve outcomes.

James Evans, the Conservative MS for Brecon and Radnorshire, highlighted the party’s pledge to get 5,000 more teachers into Wales’ classrooms.

Buffy Williams, the newly elected chair of the Senedd’s education committee, said Wales is undergoing a profound transformation propelled by ALN and curriculum reforms.

The Labour MS for Rhondda stressed the importance of listening to teachers and allowing ample time for the reforms to take root in classrooms across Wales.

Altaf Hussain recounted a conversation he had this week with a headteacher at one of the largest schools in his South Wales West region.

The Conservative said: “The major improvements they have been delivering to attainment and addressing behavioural issues are all at risk because of cuts to funding.

“Vital work undertaken to improve the lives of young people with additional needs could be halted because they cannot afford to continue employing the support workers.”

Lynne Neagle recognised the scale and seriousness of work still ahead to improve Wales’ education system, stressing: “I am not, in any way, complacent about that task.”

Wales’ newly appointed education secretary, who takes over from Jeremy Miles, said sustained improvement in attainment will be among her top priorities.

She told the chamber: “My early focus has been to listen closely to schools and where it is clear that schools seek more scaffolding.”

Ms Neagle said the Welsh Government will work with trade unions and employers to reduce workload and eliminate unnecessary red tape.

The Conservative motion was voted down, 14-35, following the debate on April 24. The motion as amended by the Welsh Government was agreed, 26-23.

Climate

£1m turbine application to be decided by all councillors at County Hall

Published

1 day ago

April 25, 2024

Bruce Sinclair Local Democracy Reporter

A TWICE-BACKED £1m scheme for a “20-storey-high” wind turbine at a Pembrokeshire mansion will have to be decided by all councillors.

Mr and Mrs Glen Peters of Western Solar Ltd are seeking permission for a single turbine on land near the Grade II-listed Rhosygilwen Mansion, which includes an arts and functions building known as Neuaddydderwen.

Members of the April meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee were recommended to refuse the scheme, despite backing it at their March meeting.

This backing meant the application returned to the April meeting for ratification after a ‘cooling off’ period; the application having been deferred at the January meeting pending a site visit.

It was initially recommended for refusal in January for several reasons, including potential harm to the setting of the Grade-II-listed house and grounds, and fears of threats to the safe operation of West Wales Airport at Aberporth in neighbouring Ceredigion, some 9.5 kilometres away.

The last concern was later withdrawn.

In papers ahead of the April meeting, officers, again recommending refusal, have said the scheme “would not protect or enhance the setting [of Rhosygilwen] but rather would result in significant harm to this interest of acknowledged importance”.

They have also warned any backing of the scheme against policy recommendations could set a precedent for similar developments.