Well that’s the end of that then

The National Assembly for Wales packed its bags and went canvassing last night. At least those seeking re-election did. The others who are standing down in May technically ceased to be representatives as of today, or so we understand.

This is first time since it was formed that the Assembly has thought it necessary to have a pre-election dissolution. Such formality has prompted some observers to ponder whether the ‘institution’ might not be taking itself just a little too seriously. Then again, it’s hard to imagine what kind of practical work could have been done in the Senedd in coming weeks or even in committees where partisan point scoring is a slightly less de rigueur.

The impression to be gained by a few commentators is that Plaid should look back fondly at its time in power since the experience is unlikely to be repeated given Labour’s projected majority. Not only is such thinking more than a bit presumptuous however, it also underestimates the public’s appetite for plurality in politics and a perception that coalitions, even the ConDem variety, operate along more considered policy lines than single monolithic governments who drive through legislation regardless.   

This may be anathema from a Labour perspective, especially for those who have never really worked & played well with others (including their own group), but the fourth Assembly has a tough five years ahead. The loss of key players due to a combination of retirement and/or the ballot box will put pressure on an already very limited pool of ministerial talent.

As for the quadrennail rainbow option, and whilst it’s understandable that most observers quickly dismiss the possibility in light of present poll standings, a four week campaign could raise a few interesting scenarios – especially if Welsh Lib Dems and Conservatives are seen to be lip-synching the same chorus, if not reading from an actual hymn sheet.

One safe prediction, whatever the outcome and regardless of composition, is that a new government of Wales, equipped with streamlined law-making powers, will take up office to find itself presiding over an underperforming economy along with a culture of mediocre service delivery in a public sector which desperately needs someone to lead by example.

The key question is not so much whether a new administration can address this shortcoming but whether they are willing to acknowledge its existence. If they can demonstrate that single quality then they can take themselves seriously with some justification.

Energy statement leaves officials incandescent

There are some very irritated government officials in Mexico tonight. The reason for their undisguised ire is the perceived damage caused by Nick Clegg’s unauthorised briefing to journalists that UK energy policy requires a radical rethink following events at nuclear plants in Japan.

His insistence that there would be no extra government money to meet additional safety costs has caused uproar among government departments charged with coaxing the private sector into taking up options for a series of ‘energy franchise’ deals. The suggestion that anything has changed is being debunked by Treasury and energy department officials in selective briefings to potential investors.

Civil servants and business aides accompanying the deputy PM are reported to be severely embarrassed by his off-message and opportunistic statements but the fury awaiting him on his return will be something else.

A generally shared view is that the Lib Dem leader can expect to have the rug pulled from under him over several key platforms he was hoping to exploit before May’s elections. Pissing off the tories with populist soundbites in an attempt to be ‘distinctive’ is one thing, getting on the wrong side of the civil service could prove catastrophic for the junior coalition partner.

UKIP ahead of Lib Dems in polls

The latest YouGov / ITV Wales survey results (28-30 March) make familiar grim reading for Welsh Lib Dems. Predicted voting figures for both constituency and regional contests in South Wales West have the party languishing around the 5% mark - well behind UKIP who register 9% support according to the pollsters. Labour comes in with 54% whilst Conservatives and Plaid claim 16% apiece.

The figures were published a day after the local fund-raising dinner held for Peter Black at which armed forces minister Nick Harvey assured diners that locals would continue to serve as cannon-fodder for their country.

Peers delay dismantling of youth justice system

A small but significant setback for the ConDem government which has received surprisingly little public acknowledgement was the recent House of Lords decision to reject the abolition of the much valued and respected Youth Justice Board.

Peers voted by a majority of 63 to back an amendment to the Public Bodies Bill that would urge ministers to remove the body from a list of quangos facing a cull.

A succession of former cabinet members and chief justices spoke against proposals to close down the YJB and transfer its powers to the Ministry of Justice. Among these was former Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf who observed that it would be “a real sacrilege if we took out of the criminal justice system something that works”

MPs will have an opportunity to debate the Public Bodies Bill and may well decide to overturn the views of their lordships. However, nearly 20 quangos have already been reprieved and ministers have been forced to drop proposals to abolish 150 more without parliamentary approval. In the meantime, and in advance of any vote, the government has decided that the YJB must close its website from 4 April.

Different ways of being Welsh?

The news that ex-chairman John Dixon has left the Party of Wales is not exactly surprising given the many doubts and disappointments he expressed on his blog yesterday.

It is not the first time that JD has lamented Plaid’s perceived lack of distinguishing features in the policy arena but it is first time he has implied that members might be better advised to “join the Welsh wings of the unionist parties” as an alternative means of evolving nationalist aims.

What would Saunders Lewis have made of that one?

Exceptions and proven rules

Earlier this month, we speculated whether UKIP can sufficiently capitalise on anti-ConDem sentiment and win seats in Wales at May’s assembly elections. Following Nigel Farage’s cringingly histrionic performance at yesterday’s campaign launch, we suspect the jury is probably now in hiding over that one.

Having said that, it has to be acknowledged that the perception of an “over-governed” Wales nation was effectively peddled by True Wales et al to the extent that the view resonated with a third of those who voted in the referendum.

Kevin Mahoney, South Wales West regional candidate, might also strike a populist chord with voters in stating that at all levels politicians are essentially “part-timers”. All he needs to do now is explain how he plans to be more gainfully employed if elected.

Tit for tat

A consequence of the over-compensatory nature of coalition politics at Westminster, and which lately seems to involve the partners polishing their respective credentials in public, is that they more often than not tend to learn of each other’s intentions through the press.

Having openly signalled their reluctance to support a number of tory deficit-busting measures, nervy Lib Dems will open today’s Telegraph to find that equally entrenched Conservative ministers are closing ranks to oppose the idea of a ‘Mansion Tax’.

According to the paper, Clegg’s suggestion of a new property tax was not cleared by the Treasury or Downing Street, both of whom regard the deputy’s PMs comments as an attempt to assert a more acceptable image "amid predictions that Lib Dems will perform very badly in the forthcoming local elections".

As regards a Mansion Tax, a senior government source last night said: “This is not going to happen – it is an academic discussion.” Seems like Nick has finally found something to disagree upon with Dave.

Softening up the scrutiny

Conspiracy theorists who have already been agitated by goings-on at a regional community health council will be nodding their heads furiously at the news of how the top two board members are both standing down for “personal reasons”. The departure of the chair and vice-chair of Abertawe Bro Morgannwg CHC follows the suspension of a whistle-blowing official earlier this month who allegedly breached confidentiality rules when he highlighted several patients’ complaints.

Could it all just be a coincidence - or is someone cleaning house in time for May?

How could you miss over 250,000 people?

It’s noticeable how Welsh Lib Dem blogs seem to be copying the stance of the party throughout the UK by making absolutely no mention of yesterday’s massive anti-cuts protest. Having been the habitual party of protest for so long – and clearly unable to assimilate the ‘right-on’ to ‘right-wing’ dynamic – such denial is probably  be expected. Yet we see that no-one is jumping to defend the stance taken by sorry old Vince Cable who told the BBC that the march would not change “the basic economic strategy”.

Indeed, the business secretary seemed a little out of touch with his party’s mainstream than usual. For while he was describing the ConDem coalition as “one of the strongest”, Jenny Willott, the Lib Dems' welfare spokesperson was putting the Downing Street’s flagship plan to cap family benefits into disarray – allegedly at Nick Clegg’s personal urging.

The Observer says Lib Dems are set to renege over previously agreed plans to cap benefits at £500 a week per family on the basis that the move would risk increases child poverty and homelessness. However cynics suggest that it is the advent of regional & local elections that is behind this dramatic ‘policy re-think’ – which might even see the see the party joining forces with charities & senior local authority figures to oppose the measures. Few expect the current Lib Dem concerns to last beyond 6th May or thereabouts.

As it happens, the majority of commentators believe Clegg is trailing (via Willott and others) an already done deal to introduce necessary transitional arrangements which he can present to his own side and the outside world as further evidence that Lib Dems are a moderating force within the coalition.

The final nail?

The latest pre-electoral niggle to emerge in recent days is that ballot papers for regional Assembly contests will not bear the names of candidates. This rather late ‘discovery’ has reportedly raised consternation among Conservative & Lib Dem hopefuls eager to distance themselves from their respective toxic party brands, in the flimsy hope that there might possibly be a personal vote for some of them.

Among these is Peter Black, who publicly agonised last June over his decision to go for a regional candidacy instead of the Swansea West seat. His contention now is that the move to de-personalise ballot papers places “more power in the hands of the party machines” and reduces the status of regional list AMs to being “purely representatives of their party”.

Yet such uncharacteristically clumsy obfuscation, possibly linked to increasing level of desperation, cannot change the in-your-face reality that the regional list mechanism is all about party votes. Even the Assembly’s own explanatory notes state the Additional Member system is about “ensuring that the overall number of seats held by each political party reflects the share of the vote that the party receives”.

Besides being a rather disingenuous portrayal of circumstances, and regardless of any amazement expressed by Shipton of the Mail, the idea that regional elections are personal popularity contests begs the question of just how many voters had even heard of Bethan Jenkins before she became a Plaid AM. Similarly, would South Wales West electors actually recognise Suzy Davies, who is tipped to replace Alun Cairns as tory regional representative?

The fallacy that Black is attempting to float has however already been effectively holed by revelations that the matter was previously considered without protest by the Wales Elections Planning Group and then the Electoral Commission. It also transpires, according to a Wales Office spokeswoman, that the changes were made following discussions with the main political parties and with no objections raised. These talks were presumably held before the present anti-ConDem sentiment took its grip among the voting public, but those are the breaks.

What will be depressing news for Lib Dems in South Wales West however, is that most pollsters maintain that the effect of ‘anonymous’ ballot papers will be probably prove minimal as electors very seldom know who is standing – even in constituency elections – and that an inclination to cast a party vote most often prevails.

Update: We had not seen Black's own post at the time of publishing but nothing changes.

Must have seemed like a good idea at the time

Eagle-eyed observers (and possibly even the local press) will have spotted that something is missing from next week’s meeting agenda of Swansea Council.

Conservative group leader & accomplished self-publicist, Rene Kinzett, was supposed to be tabling a motion that called on the council to organise consultation in advance of moves to introduce the post of an elected mayor.

Kinzett told the local paper that his proposal was to ask citizens on whether they generally liked the idea – although it would actually take a full scale referendum before the present leader & cattle cabinet arrangement could be dumped in favour of one that involves a mandated first citizen. The phrasing employed in the tory's motion is seen by several detractors as a sneaky but plausible sounding device intended to avoid the more arduous task of a stonking great petition bearing the signatures of at least 10% of the city’s registered electors.

Some betting is that council legal officers came to the same kind of conclusion and advised that the motion could not be accepted. Another theory doing the rounds however is that Kinzett could not even convince his own group to back the idea.

Just a few million more

David Cameron has proved a man of his word. He promised last December that he would “sort out Ipsa” and from next month, MPs will be able to claim for the costs of accommodating their children at a second home – plus several thousands of pounds extra for staffing costs.

The relaxation of expenses rules announced today by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) follows what the media describes as “an aggressive campaign” by MPs against the hapless regulator.

The Telegraph claims that David Cameron had threatened to abolish the new regulator if it did not agree to water down the rules.

But an Ipsa spokesman denied that any bullying had been involved and described the changes as part of an “evolutionary process”. The official line is that the new eligibility rules will cost just "a few million” pounds and should be seen in context compared to the £18m that the new system had already saved in its first ten months.

He unwisely added that Ipsa had resisted pressure from MPs to allow them to claim again for mortgage interest on second homes. So even we mortals can make a fair guess at the next evolutionary step in prime ministerial largesse.

ConDems deliver "severe blow" to Welsh manufacturing

ConDem claims of being “pro-growth” started to unravel yesterday as the damaging effects of Wednesday’s budget on Welsh manufacturing became apparent. Steel giant Tata has warned that a new carbon tax announced in the Budget dealt the industry "a potentially severe blow to the sustainability of UK steelmaking."

Welsh Lib Dems who have been crowing over how much they influenced the chancellors tax plans, including a carbon floor price (CFP) of £16 per tonne from 2013, rising to £30 a tonne by 2020, now have to face up to being jointly responsible for what an industry spokesman described as an "exceptionally unhelpful and potentially damaging measure.”

Tata Steel employs around 7,500 people in Wales with its biggest plant at Port Talbot. Other sites include rolling plants in Newport and steel coating plants in Shotton and Trostre.

Last week, Welsh Lib Dems were calling for a “proper manufacturing strategy” for Wales in order to achieve “growth, jobs and prosperity”. This week, the view among industry analysts is that more expensive UK steel production prices will represent an inbuilt cost disadvantage in world markets, putting investment and jobs at risk.  

Still joining the dots

Members of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee found themselves with more questions than they had started after listening to Acting Deputy Commissioner John Yates today. He told MPs that Labour’s Chris Bryant had been "materially wrong" by alluding to a police conspiracy linked with the News of the World to shield journalists from phone-hacking allegations.

Mr Yates insisted that a prosecutors' advice had been that interception of a voicemail message was only an offence if the true recipient had not yet listened to it. On that basis, he contended, only "a very small number of cases" could be proven.

However the Crown Prosecution Service has denied this was the guidance given. A spokeswoman for the CPS referred all press enquiries to a letter written by the director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer, (Ripa and the phone-hacking investigation) published in the Guardian last week and which criticises John Yates for quoting guidelines out of context.

The former Labour junior minister claims he was a victim of phone hacking and says the Met failed to "join up the dots" of their original inquiry. Yates’ appearance before MPs was scheduled following his request for an opportunity to rebut Bryant's allegations. The general view is that the high-profile cop achieved nothing of the sort but simply entrenched already widely held views that police & prosecutors have misled parliament

Another ConDem government success

From the Telegraph

Elderly lose up to £100 from winter fuel allowance

Pensioners will lose up to £100 in winter fuel payments this year, despite gas and electricity bills continuing to rise.

The Treasury has confirmed that the over-60s will lose additional payments, which were introduced in 2008 and designed to help them heat their homes while domestic fuel bills are rising.

The payments have been renewed in every Budget since, in the face of high oil prices. The elderly have been able to claim £250 towards winter fuel bills, while those aged 80 or over could claim £400. This year the payments will be reduced to £200 and £300 per household.

Since the start of 2008, the cost of domestic fuel bills has risen by 38 per cent, according to the latest figures from Uswitch.com, the price comparison website. The average dual fuel bill, which includes gas and electricity, is £1,132.

Michelle Mitchell, the charity director of Age UK, said: “We appreciate that the winter fuel payment has been retained in the face of huge financial pressures, but with energy prices continuing to escalate, many older people will find it strange that they will receive less this winter than last.”

This week Ofgem, the energy regulator, criticised the major energy providers for putting up bills when wholesale prices rise, but failing to cut them as quickly when prices fall.

Minority view

One of the more pointless bits of public broadcasting to be heard this morning was a “debate” on BBC Radio Wales as Lib Dem Peter Black and Plaid’s Helen Mary Jones gave their respective erudite but ultimately irrelevant takes on Mr Osborne’s budget.

It may have been the ghastly hour involved which prevented the appearance of parliamentary big-hitters but it seemed almost as if the only function served by the slot was a time-filler on the producer’s schedule. The same could probably be said of the later interview with finance minister Jane Hut which came across as an exercise in sheer inanity.

Regardless of referendum outcomes, we’d suggest that the Beeb need to keep things in perspective and recognise that Parliament still has a significant role - as do it’s members.

Snow job

Of course, it depends on who you ask but the objective view is that former senior auditor Anthony Snow did an effective number on the Public Accounts Committee during this morning’s questioning.

The ex-WAO guy had clearly wrong-footed the committee by firstly turning up and then further unsettled matters by agreeing to answer questions. And whilst it’s acknowledged that few of the members have ever demonstrated the same tenacity as Leanne Wood in pursuing Mr Snow, or rather the cash contained in his separation deal, the questioning was non-aggressive to the point of meekness.

In the end, the best they could do was to attempt to elicit an acknowledgement from the smiling ex-chief operating officer that going on a training course a few months prior to leaving his post might have been inappropriate. However, his response to this point, as with others, was a definitive statement that amounted to an invitation to the members to go take a flying fiscal projection.

Whatever the PAC had originally intended from this “showcase” event, the view among observers is that what they managed to do was highlight their own inadequacies rather than those of third parties.

The scheme that never was

It’s difficult to get all that worked up about the proprietary spat between Plaid and Labour over economic innovation. Even the Lib Dems see little point in seizing upon the suggestion that Labour is now dissing plans which were earlier submitted to the Treasury in the name of the One Wales Government.

Labour deny the charge, saying that the Plaid scheme is a “quantum leap” further down the road than what was originally proposed. But Plaid insist that the peremptory dismissal of their solution "raises questions about the integrity of the Labour Party in Wales". A mischievous tory spokesman posed the theory that Plaid had repackaged the idea and then tried to pass it off as one of their own.

Ho, hum. Let’s hope things liven up a bit from now on.

Mayoral moves afoot

The chatter at Calamity Hall is over a motion tabled by Rockin’ Rene Kinzett which calls for a mayoral referendum - although it should be said that most of the chatter is about his possible motives. The tory group leader contends that a directly elected first citizen would be “a visible and accountable decision maker unable to hide behind bureaucrats or anonymous councillors".

He told the local paper, "I am proposing a motion to action the chief executive to get the ball rolling on consulting the people of Swansea about the authority's governance structures with a view to holding a referendum on moving from the leader and cabinet model to the elected mayor option."

Opinion is divided as to whether the Mayals councillor is seeking the post for himself, having experienced a series of political setbacks, or if the hat has been thrown into the ring on behalf of a ‘prominent’ individual in the 'business community'. Whatever the truth of it, Rene will make the ensuing process entertaining, if nothing else.

ex BNP man brands party "toxic"

Based on several reports of resignations, it’s starting to feel like the former BNP members now outnumber the active ones. Among the many disaffected individuals is ex-National Communications Officer Paul Golding who reckons that the trend is set to continue.

Golding resigned as a paid official in November 2010 under very acrimonious circumstances and has recently issued a detailed briefing on the state of the party. He writes that the party BNP is now “utterly insolvent” with estimated debts of around £500,000 and further “crippling court cases” pending.

The ex-spin manager lays the blame squarely with leader Nick Griffin for employing “miscreants, buffoons and pornographers” to run the party’s affairs at “ridiculously high salaries”. Golding claims to have evidence that the party hierarchy has no intention of settling with its creditors and adds that fundraising is “shambolic” with the effect that “once thriving branches are closing down around the country.”

His statement concludes: “Our election results are disastrous. Enforcement proceedings will soon make the Chairman bankrupt. Resignations pour in almost every day. Suspensions are handed out to members for even mild dissidence.

The party's administration is a mess. Branches are dissolving. The BNP brand is now completely "toxic". Fundraising has almost ceased and the party survives only on dribbles which are funnelled directly into the pockets of a small despicable clique. The party is disintegrating, slowly but surely.”

Excellent news all round, then.

That nice Mr Osborne

Critics and commentators agree that George Osborne has done an impressive softening up job with promises of “no more tax rises and no more spending cuts”.

There was of course a strong chance of him being lynched if he had attempted such a move anyway, but leaving aside such obvious repercussions, his talk of a rise in income tax thresholds and heavy hints about postponing the 1p increase in fuel duty scheduled for April 1 ensured that he could at least leave the BBC’s studios in one piece - and might even get him to his seat in the Commons on Wednesday unscathed.

After that, it’s a question of MPs deciding whether the Chancellor can afford such uncharacteristic largesse because reality is catching up with the perception that taxation rises & public spending cuts to date have been too much, too soon.

In the meantime, Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander is telling the press that there is “nothing more fundamentally liberal than saying those who work but receive least reward should pay no tax.”

Pity the same fundamentals don't apply to housing benefit.

Payback?

Wales on Sunday seems intent on ensuring that anyone googling “Nick Griffin” will get a perspective they possibly weren’t expecting. No doubt the paper is betting that the cash-strapped BNP and its embattled leader will be unlikely to take legal action over a potentially misleading headline that already appears on several online news feeds.

Such provocative phrasing couldn’t possibly be linked to events of a year ago when WoS had to cough up cash to the fascists over a copyright infringement ...could it?

So much for team building

We hear that Swansea West Assembly hopeful Rob Speht has sent out another batch of unsolicited e-mails to various people – many of whom have never heard of the guy - to ask for their help in his dysfunctional campaign.

A similar identity challenge seems to be afflicting the part-time eastside Swansea councillor however. For whilst he reportedly writes that Lib Dems are fielding “a very strong team this time round”, and refers to Gower candidate Peter May and regional nominee Peter Black by name, there is unfortunately no mention at all of Swansea East contender Sam Samuel.

Speht shows himself equally muddled about local political history in his missive by insisting that the tories “always come third” in Swansea West despite the fact that they held second spot in 2001, 1997 & 1992 general elections.

Use it or lose it

It’s a mantra pounded into the brain cells of every civil servant from probation to their retirement that you always, ALWAYS over-commit the budgets so that there are absolutely no underspends that can be clawed back by the Treasury.

Consequently, the Plaid whinging about the Assembly being ‘mugged’ for £385 million of unallocated spend carries little weight among those who know that the “stupid rules” that don’t allow funds to be carried over without special dispensation have probably been in existence since the crusades.

Portraying treasury officials as evil gnomes may tick a few party political boxes but we suggest that if Dafydd Wigley does come across a “shaft of light” then it should be directed at Assembly officials, and their political masters, to enquire why they appear to have less than firm grip on the Assembly’s finances.

Devolution as a soft option

On the face of it, it is quite an endorsement of the devolution process in Wales that an ex-high ranking officer should argue in favour of placing policing powers in the hands of the Welsh Assembly. The proposals by former acting chief constable of North Wales Police, Clive Wolfendale to have the four Welsh forces merged and managed from Cardiff Bay will doubtlessly be welcomed by politicos eager to find additional responsibilities for a newly empowered Welsh government.

However, it should be noted that the underlying motive for this suggestion seems to have little to do with the creation of a distinct Welsh police force to serve as a single crime-fighting organisation. Nor is it about achieving operational efficiency through economies of scale. When you read between the lines, the message is that the Senedd is seen as a potentially softer touch than the Home Office in the wake of an independent pay review which could result in 40 percent of officers being £4,000-a-year worse off.

Pickles sideswipes Thatcher legacy

Speculation in Whitehall is that a recent ministerial announcement over Business Rates signifies either an ideological shift or a poor memory on the part of Communities Secretary Eric Pickles who described the local taxation method a "disincentive to growth".

Mr Pickles is currently reviewing council resources in England and has expressed a view that allowing councils to keep their own business rates will be an incentive to encourage private sector growth & regeneration by providing them with a "direct stake in the future of their area".

Business rates were introduced in England and Wales in 1990 and was one of the last actions steered through by Margaret Hilda Thatcher. Although it caused a minor furore among tory ranks at the time, mostly because of centralised collection and redistribution according to need, a number of right-wingers are already said to be outraged at this implied condemnation of a revered party icon.

Local authority leaders are even less impressed. They see the minister’s stated aim of “freeing councils from their enslavement to government grants” as simply a device to cut them adrift from funding streams and force them into further service cuts.

None of the four main parties in Wales have so far mentioned similar plans to “reform” business rates in the run up to the Assembly elections - but there is still time.

Curb your enthusiasm

The pledge by Welsh Lib Dems to create 5000 training grants for youngsters appears to have distinctly underwhelmed the political press. Whilst most observers agree that the idea of providing a £2000 training package is not the worst proposal they have ever heard, the view is that the party so unlikely to make any headway in May's election that it is all rather academic.   

On the face of it, Lib Dems seem to agree since the manifesto proposal doesn’t even rate a mention on their own Freedom Central spin-site.

Update (19 March): FC catches up

Lots of cooks, no broth

It’s a confusing day for anyone trying to get a handle on the direction of future economic strategy in Wales with the only common point of agreement among various groupings is that the present approach is ineffective, if not actually broken.

Plaid Cymru declare themselves into bonds as a means of financing the large infrastructure projects that Wales can no longer afford. This is despite the fact that the Treasury has already rejected a similar Scottish government idea. Welsh Lib Dems call the plans "pie in the sky" but only because their own convoluted ideas have been greeted with similar culinary epithets.

Sir Terry Matthews favours the entrepreneurial model or recovery, which seemingly means we should all start up companies, sell out to conglomerates and then move to Canada. On the other hand, Professor Kevin Morgan and former Plaid MP Adam Price extol the social enterprise concept and claim this would help the recovery more effectively than shareholder-driven capitalism.

The Wales Manufacturing Forum feels is of the opinion that firms should be more ambitious and achieve "high performance status" but they surprisingly fail to list any strategic proposals on how this is to be done other than make a reference to a need for "leadership" (presumably from Cardiff Bay).

Yet the dispiriting reality is that the Assembly government can do very little to spur growth in the manufacturing sector now that it has abandoned the big carrot approach and muddied the waters with what was supposed to be a ‘simplified’ funding regime. Recent studies indicate that more firms appear to be deterred by the intricacies of an inflexible Single Investment Fund than those who have actually benefited.

And even the most optimistic minister would have to admit that smaller indigenous companies looking to expand or diversify need far more day-to-day support than their larger counterparts. Therefore it makes little practical sense to expect growth in this sector whilst further depleting regional DE&T regional offices.

One of the arguments often proffered on how Wales could ‘go it alone’, is the compact size of the nation and the closeness between the various tiers of government and the social & economic communities they serve. It will be instructive to see how much this vaunted philosophy remains to the fore during the election campaign and afterwards.

Bumpy ride on the bandwagon

Swansea West watchers think that Peter May, the man who failed to win the Lib Dem target seat in the general election, can expect a bumpy ride after jumping aboard the health bandwagon again. Having only been able to get a second string nomination in Gower, the Uplands councillor has decided to latch onto pre-publicity blurb for the BBC’s Week In, Week Out current affairs slot over an alleged culture of neglect affecting the elderly in Welsh hospitals.

Stating that he would not give up the "fight to improve care for the elderly", he had previously told the local paper that he regularly confers with Older People's commissioner Ruth Marks. Yet there is no record of the pair meeting in the last year.

More to the point, readers on the Beans on Toast website accuse May of “not raising a peep” when the Lib Dem controlled council closed the Earlsmoor respite home a few months back. They also say he has failed to intervene in moves to “market test” adult social services prior to backdoor privatisation by Swansea Council.

Few expect May to make any progress in Gower and it appeared that he shares their estimation when he told the local paper that, "As older people's champion, I will be reminding the relevant people once the furore of forming a new administration has passed". Clearly he expects to be still in that role after the election - rather than in the Senedd.

The jibes of March

Labour put their Eds together yesterday to tell assembled disbelievers press how they hope to pressure the chancellor into shelving the VAT rise on fuel by pushing a vote on the issue on Wednesday. They believe that it will force tory and Lib Dem backbenchers into a corner over who is on the side of beleaguered motorists and hauliers.

The pair want the ConDem government to halt the planned VAT rise for fuel claiming it would add a further 3p per litre. They went on to set out how they would fund the missing tax revenue by a further bank levy and begin stimulating UK economic activity with ideas on how to create 115,000 jobs.

The Conservative response was to release a dossier of Labour's spending commitments which included £12bn worth of un-costed proposals. Ball’s reaction was that the allegations were "total utter garbage and claptrap" – prompting one broadsheet journalist with tenuous links to the previous regime to express a hope that the shadow chancellor’s policies were more original than his invective. Bitchy.

Will the hand that signed a paper fell the city?

Concerned cultural bodies are pressing Swansea Council to say whether time has set its maggot on their track regarding the waterfront home of an exhibition celebrating the city’s most famous literary son.

The elusive non-response elicted from a spokesman talks of an "intention to create a 21st Century hub of culture, academia and business at the Dylan Thomas Centre while saving Swansea taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds in the long-term."

Translation: We plan to sell it off to the local university, boyo.

It is sadly typical that, when the rest of Wales and the UK is marking tourism week in recognition of the huge contribution the industry makes to local economies, Swansea’s short-sighted and artistically challenged cabinet is seriously considering dismantling one of the city’s few visitor attractions which is capable of sustaining international appeal. Indeed, a more astute local authority would be looking to see how this factor could be properly exploited when 2014 comes around – which is the 100^th anniversary of the poet’s birth.

But in Swansea, as the great man once said, the function of posterity is to look after itself – simply because council isn’t up to it.

*The hand that signed the paper – Dylan Thomas 1914-1953

Who is failing who in Ynys Mon?

Whatever your views on the on-going events at Ynys Mon, the planted suggestion that Carl Sergeant is about to send in the gauleiters indicates that he and his advisors are not so much out of patience as out of ideas.

Central government in Wales, pre and post devolution, is used to having compliant local authorities run by competent officers who corral advise members in accordance with the relevant legislation and allow them an absolute minimum of discretion. There is nothing in the civil service manual on how to deal with a political culture which allows officers to morph into councillors and back again. Nor will you find a guideline telling you how to tackle a situation whereby leaked information is deemed a form of currency and planning permission has become an internal tradable commodity.

The reported exasperation at Cathay’s Park is no doubt linked to suggestions that the earlier idea of merging the troubled island with a neighbouring authority has stalled. This is said to be because Gwynedd is seeking a ‘carer’s allowance’ for taking on the challenge of accommodating new colleagues who too often confuse pushing the envelope with passing it.

The local government minister’s problem is that a chronic inability to ‘reboot’ Ynys Mon into something halfway acceptable remains exclusively his problem. But a much larger worry for him and the WLGA should be the extent to which the ‘improvement agenda’, 'connections' and all the attendant public sector bean-counter industry has patently failed its own critical test. We of course do not know the remit of the recently completed Wales Audit Office review into the authority. But the fact that it reportedly lacks any recommendations speaks volumes.

Consensus event is cancelled

If the Guardian is to be believed, AV stood for 'acrimonious veto' last night as the pro-reform campaign saw plans for a joint Lib Dem-Labour event evaporate with both sides blaming each other.

The Clegg camp maintains the issue was entirely over who got top billing and that Labour did not want to share the podium. Labour on the other hand cited advice from yes campaign organisers of how Clegg's involvement would set back their cause.

A Labour spokesman told the paper: "Nick is not the right poster boy for this campaign. If this is supposed to be beyond party politics, Clegg needs to be nowhere. We are still willing to share a platform with a Liberal Democrat figure like Paddy Ashdown or Kennedy at some point."

Miliband will now take part in a separate launch of the Labour yes campaign on Wednesday with Neil Kinnock and Peter Hain – who?