Translastion of a post by Alun Ffred Jones AM
In August 1925 six men came together in a cafe in Pwllheli to establish Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru. One of them was my grandfather Ffred Jones, a minister in the Rhondda at the time. From him I inherited my name and, to a certain degree certainly, my political beliefs.
Although Ive dabbled with politics all my life, in 2003 I became a full time politician, and had the privilege of succeeding Dafydd Wigley as the Assembly Member for Caernarfon. By now of course the boundaries have changed, and I represent the new constituency of Arfon, which includes Bangor and the Ogwen Valley as well as Caernarfon and the Nantlle Valley. It was a great satisfaction for me to receive a fairly good majority in that seat, after a hard campaign, in the 2007 elections. As I promised at the time, I try to do my best for all of my constituents whatever their background and political beliefs.
There´s a lot of heated debate these days concerning Gwynedd Council´s plans to reorganize primary schools. I don´t want to add to the arguments here, but I´d like to make one appeal: good people, reflect for a moment and show some measure of respect for those who disagree with your views. Some of the wild things being said and being written do nobody any credit.
At the moment I´m part of team in Cardiff which is preparing the way for a real parliament for Wales. We´re already half way there, and before long, with prudence, wisdom and discipline, we´ll have the real right to pass laws, for the first time since the days of Hywel Dda.
One thing that has hindered the development of the nation over the centuries is our tendency to quarrel amongst ourselves, without seeing the bigger picture. Although reorganizing Gwynedd schools is so important, we shouldn´t let disagreement on the matter halt the growth of Plaid Cymru, an essential element in Wales´ journey towards the dream that drew my grandfather to Pwllheli in 1925.
15 opinions:
Growth of Plaid Cymru is not an essential requirement for the development of the Assembly. It could be argued that this growth increases scepticism in other parties - and the most important decisions will be taken at Westminster, where Plaid's influence in very small.
Well said, Alun Ffred!
My Welsh history may be a little rusty. Hywel Dda was King of Deheubarth in the 10th Century, and the last Welsh prince (Llewellyn ap Gruffudd) was killed in 1282 when welsh independence was extinguished. So QED Thats when Wales stopped passing laws.
Wales has waited more than 700 years for the right to formulate its own laws and justice system.
Wales is waiting....
and waiting.........
was his brother playing something symbolic in the background when he said this
Glyn,
You know very well that we would not have an Assembly without Plaid or even talk of a Parliament. I'm afraid that you are very much in the minortiy in your party, in terms of making Wales a priority. I look forward to you booting out Opik and being a Tory voice in London who does not forget his roots. It didn't take David Davies MP long to go back to type, did it?
Glyn, this is perhaps the way you should think about Toryism in Wales: I and many others might vote for you but not for your party, because your party remains anti-Welsh and anti-devolution. It remains pragmatic enough to put people like you in the shop window, as it were, and it may well peel off a few strands of the nationalist right at the ballot box, but it knows, as you do, that its main vote in Wales is right-wing, anti-welsh, and anti-devolutionist.
Right wing
Anti-Welsh
Anti-devolution
Apart from personality votes (e.g. Glyn D., how can Tories expect to make any headway in Wales?
It will be interesting to see if Glyn is still banging the same drum if elected. He won't be the first Welsh-man to go to London and forgett where he came from. Personal ambition/interests nearly always come out on top.
I'm prepared to give Glyn the benefit of the doubt. If Wales is going to have Tories representing the 20% or so that would not vote any other way, then he's the pick of the bunch.
Glyn's Welsh has come along very nicely. Excellent tuition.
Reading Alun Ffred comments sounds like a plea for people in Gwynedd to shut the f*ck up about the schools because they make Plaid Cymru look bad.
Glyn is a quick learner.
Not sure where I stand on all this - I live in Gwynedd, and I have to say that most of the really vicious stuff has come from Llais Gwynedd stooges - anonymous letters attacking Dafydd Iwan, a general smearing of all opponents, and a refusal to say - despite the fact that Seimon Glyn claims he *would* be prepared to close schools if he had to - exactly what they will cut and where.
It''s not that I wouldn't vote for them, just that I don;t know what I'd be voting for, except more shit down the line, more cuts, more internecine war, and that 3rd rate fence-sitting goon Eaglestone rubbing his glands (sorry - hands) with glee at the prospect of a nationalist split that might make his election bid 9th time lucky... .
Bugail Aberdyfi, I think you've just misunderstood the sentiment here. Most people - except Tony Blair, Mugabe, and thaat sort - respect and appreciate personal opinions and the right to oppose politicians.
What he is saying is that people need to consider methods. Dafydd Iwan and Richard Parry Hughes, and many other councillors, were spat on and sworn at as they made their way to the Council buildings on December 13th. I've tried to put across the point for federal schools in the papers - what I got back was mostly abuse, written and verbal.
There are strong opinions on both sides. Llais y Bobl seem to have no policy or ideas to back up their argument. We know what money Cardiff has to hand until 2011 an can make reasonable guesses until 2013, and from that we can say that councils probably won't see huge increases in funds available. So where will they find the money they need to keep schools open? And what are their plans outside small schools?
I am free to ask questions of them, as are they to ask about Plaid. What Alun Ffred is saying is that to abuse and spit at people doesn't help anybody.
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