The continuing ability of some Plaid bloggers to piss on their party’s parade can be little short of breathtaking. As IWJ receives plaudits for his performance in the Sky Welsh leader debate, he is dismissed as a non-entity on the Syniadau blog.
In a post intended to highlight the fact that Labour and Conservatives have their own inconsistent policy positions when it comes to nuclear power, blog author MH restates the Plaid stance from their manifesto :
“We reaffirm our opposition to the construction of any new nuclear power stations in Wales [and] we would create green electricity through renewable energy projects”.
Not content at achieving clarity however, MH rather unhelpfully adds, “Now it's true that a small minority in Plaid Cymru do not share this view. Ieuan Wyn Jones may well be personally in favour of nuclear power in Môn ... but that doesn't make any difference to Plaid's policy. Thankfully, he was outvoted by the rest of us.”
Hmmm. Are you supposed to speak about your leader like that during an election campaign?
Hmmm. Are you supposed to speak about your leader like that during an election campaign?
5 Comments:
Turn your post around, could it be the fact that Plaid Bloggers write what they think, not what the party think?
I suppose you would prefer if we all stayed on message?
I actually think it is a sign of maturity you can have differences of opinion with a party, rather than stamp on it like other parties do.
Your opinion though, fair enough.
Try reading what I wrote again, Jaxx. Disagreeing with Plaid's policy in one area doesn't mean IWJ can't speak for the party. Nor does it make him a "non-entity".
That may be difficult for people used to the policies of the other three parties to understand. In those parties, policy is decided from the top, so it would be almost unthinkable for the party to adopt a policy that the leader didn't personally approve of (... and that of course is why the media puts such emphasis on the personality of the leaders of those three parties.) It is precisely this hierarchical structure of top-down decision making that enables Labour in Westminster to impose a nuclear policy on Wales even though Labour in the Assembly do not agree with it.
And I didn't say that the Tory position was inconsistent, either. I only said that of the difference between Labour in the Assembly and Labour at Westminster. The Tories' position is that they support nuclear power, provided it receives no public subsidy. If they are part of the next UK government, those of us opposed to nuclear power can hold them to that pledge ... for, if they stick to it, it will be just about the best way to ensure no new nuclear power station gets built.
I believe the point the Jaxxlanders attempting to make in their prolix fashion is that there is a time and a place for a party to polish its until the flaws show. I would contend that this is not the time and also offer the observation that the trait of a politically mature outfit is to recognise that you do not hand your opponents an advantage to beat you over the head just a few weeks before a pivotal general election.
Do you think I would have written the post had I not thought it would be to Plaid's advantage, ap William?
I'm proud of Plaid's opposition to nuclear power in Wales, and I believe it will win us many more votes than could be lost by not drawing people's attention to it. The title of this post seems to suggest that the writer was in some doubt over what Plaid's policy on the issue is ... and that might well reflect an uncertainty shared by others in Wales. That was one of the reasons why I thought it was important to highlight the issue and present Plaid's position as clearly as I could.
I think MH should do a quick poll of Plaid candidates to find out just how much they appreciate him clearing up the point of nuclear power - or just raising it.
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