The Party of Social Justice

There was a piece in last week’s Wales on Sunday which suggested that there is little chance of Ogmore going Blue at the next General Election. Ok, fair enough – the likelihood of that happening is very slim.

However, the “prevailing anti-Tory sentiment” of which they speak is gradually being eroded. My task at the next General Election will be to support the Conservative candidate in asking the Ogmore electorate to consider today’s Conservatives on today’s merits rather than vote against us based on the past.

When knocking on doors and I hear people use Margaret Thatcher’s name as a reason not to vote for the Conservatives, I always point out that Margaret Thatcher isn’t running in this election, that I was 6 when she left office and was 1 when the last pit closed in the Ogmore constituency.

The Conservatives’ pre-1997 legacy has been used by Labour too much to justify their continued right to govern. By the time of the next General Election, they would have had 13 years to address the social injustic which still exists in constituencies like Ogmore. They can’t keep blaming us for their inadequacies.

I passionately believe in social justice and in helping the most vulnerable and least well off in my community. I use it as a litmus test for every one of our policies – will this have a positive impact on the most vulnerable people in my community.

 Sadly, Labour’s top-down focus on the symptoms rather than the causes of poverty have done very little for social mobility and very little to advance social justice.

 They have ultimately let down those who they claim to stand up for the most – those deprived communities in Ogmore. Incredibly, social inequality has increased under Labour and youth unemployment has risen.

So, as Jonathan Morgan AM has said, the values of social justice are not the “glorious preserve” of the Left. If we succeed in winning the trust of the electorate and actually show that we are a progressive party with social justice at our core when in Government, the Labour Party’s hold on its traditional strongholds like Ogmore may not be unshakeable in the future.

Carwyn Jones is confident of victory!

The Western Mail is reporting that the Counsel General and bookies’ favourite to succeed Rhodri Morgan as First Minister, Carwyn Jones, is “very confident” of victory. Well maybe he is but is he as confident of retaining his Bridgend seat at the next Assembly Election in 2011. He may have a broad base of support from Labour MPs, Labour AMs, Labour Members and Labour-affiliated trade unions but does he command the commensurate support among his less tribal constituents? 

He has a slim majority (2,556) in his Bridgend constituency and could very well lose his seat at the next election to the Welsh Conservatives. According to bookmakers, he has only an evens chance of retaining his seat in 2011. The Conservatives are 8-11 favourites to take the seat. It would be extremely embarrassing for Welsh Labour if the First Minister were to be toppled – meltdown in fact.

UKIP’s Mandate

At UKIP’s Annual Conference in Southport, UKIP’s John Bufton MEP has said that “only one in four people actually voted for the Welsh Assembly. What kind of mandate is that?”

Just thought I would point out that at this year’s European Election, only 12.8% of people voted for him. What kind of mandate is that?

Positive Discrimination: Am I Antediluvian and Noachic?

On Saturday, Jonathan Morgan AM added his support to Nick Bourne’s proposals of positive discrimination in an essay on the Wales Home website.

As I have said previously, I am in favour of encouraging more women to come forward for selection and agree that a male dominated Assembly Group needs to be addressed. However, I am strongly opposed to discrimination in any form (positive or negative) and feel that it is the wrong approach. We should be putting forward new policies which motivate more women to come forward to be representatives of our Party and not discriminate against the many excellent male candidates who have worked tirelessly for the Party for many years.

In some cases, positive discrimination may mean that we get the best candidate but there is always a possibility that this may not be the case and that the best candidate is defeated on the basis of his gender.

It is easy to add your support to these proposals when one is an incumbent AM and there is very little chance of you facing de-selection. I wonder whether the AMs who are proposing these measures would be so supportive if they were yet to find a seat?

Am I presenting an “antediluvian” or “noachic” viewpoint here. No, I’m presenting a strictly meritocratic view – one which means that the best candidates are selected without reference to their race or gender.

Jane Hutt – First Minister?

In an interview in today’s Western Mail, Jane Hutt AM, the Education Minister, has set out her vision of an equal Wales in what is widely seen as a bid for the top job. Whilst I think it would be great to see a number of Cabinet Ministers throw their hat into the ring, I don’t think Labour Party Members can possibly take the risk of selecting Jane Hutt.

At the last Assembly Election in 2007, Carwyn Jones had a majority of ca. 2500 and Edwina Hart had a majority of only ca. 1200 over the Welsh Conservatives. These marginal seats should be enough to make Labour Party Members wonder whether they are certain to hold on in 2011.

Jane Hutt held on to her seat by the slimmest of margins (83) largely thanks to a significant 2000+ showing from UKIP.

Imagine the embarrassment of selecting a First Minister and then finding he/she loses her seat at the next election. When one considers that, I suppose Huw Lewis and others in safer seats who are yet to confirm their intentions become significant contenders in spite of not holding a Cabinet position.

South Wales Police Funding Crisis? What Funding Crisis?

It’s been reported in the South Wales Echo that David Hanson, the Home Office Minister, has said that South Wales Police is properly funded. Clearly he is ignorant to the concerns of our Chief Constable,
Barbara Wilding, who, earlier in the year, said that her Force faces a funding crisis.

Instead, he fudged an answer saying that “there has been growth [in Home Office funding] at a time when inflation is falling”.

In reality, South Wales Police has been woefully underfunded for years. The average increase in funding since 2000 – 2001 for Forces across the UK is 37%. South Wales’ increase is just 15%.

If one takes time to speak to Neigbourhood Policing Teams around the borough, they will say they suffer from a funding gap and that so much more could be done if they had the financial resources and personnel to tackle anti-social and disorderly behaviour.

In Pencoed, we should be thankful that we have such a dedicated Neighbourhood Policing Team who are innovative enough to come up with new crime fighting initiatives in spite of the funding squeeze.

Positive Discrimination (Update)

Angela Burns AM says in today’s Western Mail that “we remain a society riven by issues of class, gender and inequality”. She goes on to echo Abraham Lincoln by saying that “all men are created equal”.

However, she then goes on to support the priority list for candidates which has been advocated by my Party – the Welsh Conservatives. Surely this is contradictory.

I agree with Angela that Welsh Conservatives should be doing more to encourage more women and ethnic minorities to become AMs.

However, do the unequal means justify the potentially more equal ends. Surely, we can find more innovative and meritocratic ways in which we can encourage women and ethnic minority candidates to come forward without excluding the many excellent male candidates who would like to play a part in public life and contribute to a successful Welsh Conservative Party.

Positive Discrimination Wrong

It has emerged that Nick Bourne, the Leader of my Party, the Welsh Conservatives, plans to put forward a priority list of candidates for target seats which will place more emphasis on women and ethnic minority candidates. It appears that, without taking into account the merit of the candidates, half of the hopefuls put forward for final selection would have to be women or ethnic minority candidates. So, even if the six best candidates are white men, three of those candidates would miss out based on their race and gender.

I understand the Party’s reasons for doing this but entirely disagree with the approach. Like Nick, I regret that we don’t have a more representative Assembly Group. But surely we should be doing more to encourage women and ethnic minority candidates to come forward as Conservative candidates rather than imposing arbitrary rules which do not necessarily take merit into account. It didn’t work for Labour in Blaenau Gwent did it!

Of course, you may just think I’m saying this because I’m a white male. No, a number of prominent women have previously spoken out against this positive discrimination. Ann Widdecombe MP, one of the doyenne’s of the Conservative Party has said that it creates a second class of politician and is “profoundly demeaning to women” because they have not been elected on the same basis as their male contemporaries. She said that she would prefer to beat a man fair and square in a selection based on merit rather than be elevated based on her gender.

This issue has already caused controversy when the Party imposed a rule that the top of the candidates’ list for the European Election had to be a woman (unless the incumbent MEP chose to seek re-election). We were lucky – we had a whole host of excellent women candidates who I firmly believe would have been selected on merit. Our new MEP, Kay Swinburne, is superb and would have probably come out on top in spite of the imposed rule.

Sorry Nick, on most things I think you’re right but on this I respectfully disagree.

Bold move from Carwyn Jones on assisted suicide

Whether you’re for or against assisted suicide for the terminally ill, you have surely got to applaud Carwyn Jones (AM for Bridgend) for broaching this sensitive subject. Too many politicians shy away from debating sensitive issues or pushing the establishment beyond its comfort zone.

On his blog, he said “I’ve always taken the view that people who are terminally ill and in pain should be able to take heir own lives if they want to and be helped to do so. I’ve never understood why people should be forced to be in pain. There have to be rules to guard against abuse however.”

On this issue, I am entirely in agreement with him and as Wales’ most senior law officer, I congratulate him for contributing to the debate on such an important subject. Whilst he may be criticised for his remarks from some quarters, he will also win a lot of support for not being afraid to speak his mind.

Just been accused of “scaremongering”

I’ve just been accused of “scaremongering” in the Glamorgan Gazette by Cllr. Carol Davies for setting up a petition to save Heol-y-Cyw Primary School. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here is my response which I hope will be printed next week to address some of the inaccuracies:-

I refer to your article and comment on pages 2 and 28 respectively (Glamorgan Gazette, 16/07/09), regarding Heol-y-Cyw Primary School and would like to address some of the points raised.

I have to say I find it curious that Cllr. Davies and the Head Teacher, Ms Lynne Bowen-Jones, are so opposed to what is, at the moment, merely a collection of signatures which seeks to gauge public opinion. It is not a fully-fledged campaign in any way and there is no need to blow the issue out of all proportion by attacking well-intentioned members of the community through the pages of the Glamorgan Gazette.

This petition is a grassroots initiative which I happen to be coordinating. This kind of approach has a precedent and has been successful in the past in saving village schools.

If or when a campaign becomes necessary, this repository of signatures could be a powerful tool. Surely, the Education Department will find it difficult to ignore hundreds of voices – from parents and the community.

Cllr. Davies’ accusations of scaremongering and the suggestion that I am engaging in political point scoring is completely wide of the mark.

It is also inaccurate to suggest that the campaign did not inform the school’s management of the proposed petition. I wrote to the Head on 11th July to express my support for the school and indicated that I look forward to working with her to save the school from closure. I also informed Cllr. Davies, Coychurch Higher Community Council, Janice Gregory AM and Huw Irranca-Davies MP.

Thus far, the breadth of community support for the petition has been considerable. Over 300 people have already signed the petition – this includes almost all of the children’s parents. For a small community like Heol-y-Cyw, this is a significant number. Incidentally, not one person has refused to sign it or has suggested that it is premature or the wrong approach.

I have also been careful to explain to residents that no final decision has yet been made. I realise that there would have to be a statutory consultation period in advance of any proposed closure and have been communicating this message to residents. This doesn’t smack of scaremongering to me.

In my view, there is no reason why the parents and residents of Heol-y-Cyw have to wait for a decision to be made to start gathering support for the school. Forewarned is forearmed and we do not see how a mere collection of signatures can engender such vehement opposition from the school’s management – their reaction is akin to what I would expect if we were mounting a campaign to close the school, not SAVE it! Parents should have a choice on whether they send their children to the new school in Pencoed and not have the decision foisted upon them.

Alex Williams