Random Stuff!!

[Jerry]

vaughan being a lot younger, may bring some more energy and drive to the job. despite my dislike for Labour, I wouldn’t be against giving him a shot as FM.

If he did get it I'm sure he would be the first BAME head of government in the UK and Wales could potentially have its and maybe the UK openly gay person as head of government in Adam Price.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Wales is certain to have one team, possibly two, in the EFL Championship play-offs, in which the last round of matches takes place tomorow evening.

Cardiff City are currently in sixth position (the lowest play-off qualifying position) with Swansea City in seventh place.The teams below Swansea cannot reach the play-offs.

Nottingham Forest are in fifth place with 70 points and a goal difference of eleven.
Cardiff City are in sixth place with 70 points and a goal difference of seven.
Swansea City are in seventh place with 67 points and a goal difference of six.

If Forest and the Bluebirds both gain at least a draw in their matches tomorrow Swansea will be unable to catch them. However, other combinations of results could see Cardiff and Swansea in the play-offs at the expense of Forest, with Cardiff finishing in either fifth or six position. For those who don't follow football closely teams are awarded three points for a win and one point for a draw.

Goal difference could be the decider in all these possible scenarios. If two teams in play-off positions finish the season with the same number of points and identical goal difference the next deciding factor is the higher number of goals scored, with Cardiff currently having a total of 65, Swansea 58 and Forest 57.

The likeliest scenario is Cardiff and Forest reaching the play-offs along with two of the clubs above them in the league.

Tomorrow's matches see Cardiff at home to bottom club Hull City, Forest at home to Stoke City and Swansea at Reading. On paper Cardiff have the easiest fixture but the Championship can be very tight with, on their day, any club capable of beating any other.

If the Bluebirds or the Swans can get back into the Premier League it will represent a boost to CWL as most Prem clubs fly to away matches, unless they are local fixtures.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Wales is certain to have one team, possibly two, in the EFL Championship play-offs, in which the last round of matches takes place tomorow evening.

Cardiff City are currently in sixth position (the lowest play-off qualifying position) with Swansea City in seventh place.The teams below Swansea cannot reach the play-offs.

Nottingham Forest are in fifth place with 70 points and a goal difference of eleven.
Cardiff City are in sixth place with 70 points and a goal difference of seven.
Swansea City are in seventh place with 67 points and a goal difference of six.

If Forest and the Bluebirds both gain at least a draw in their matches tomorrow Swansea will be unable to catch them. However, other combinations of results could see Cardiff and Swansea in the play-offs at the expense of Forest, with Cardiff finishing in either fifth or six position. For those who don't follow football closely teams are awarded three points for a win and one point for a draw.

Goal difference could be the decider in all these possible scenarios. If two teams in play-off positions finish the season with the same number of points and identical goal difference the next deciding factor is the higher number of goals scored, with Cardiff currently having a total of 65, Swansea 58 and Forest 57.

The likeliest scenario is Cardiff and Forest reaching the play-offs along with two of the clubs above them in the league.

Tomorrow's matches see Cardiff at home to bottom club Hull City, Forest at home to Stoke City and Swansea at Reading. On paper Cardiff have the easiest fixture but the Championship can be very tight with, on their day, any club capable of beating any other.

If the Bluebirds or the Swans can get back into the Premier League it will represent a boost to CWL as most Prem clubs fly to away matches, unless they are local fixtures.

Remarkable scores in the final round of the Championship this evening. Nottingham Forest lost 1-4 at home to Stoke City and Swansea City won 4-1 at Reading. This means that Swansea slipped into sixth place and will join Cardiff City in the play-offs who beat Hull City 3-0 at home to end the season in fifth place.

Swansea had a final points total identical to Nottingham Forest but the huge turnaround in goal difference between the two clubs this evening means that the Swans reach the play-offs through having a superior goal difference (one goal better).

So Wales has two of the four play-off contenders with Cardiff facing Fulham and Swansea playing Brentford to decide which two teams reach the play-off final. The matches will be played over two legs between 26 and 30 July with the final held at Wembley on Tuesday 4 August. The final is reckoned to be the most valuable single sporting event in the world with winning worth £170 million to the victorious club.

Both Cardiff and Swansea have had successful runs since the season restarted behind closed doors. Brentford and Fulham have stuttered a bit of late.

 

[Jerry]

An all Wales final? Finger's crossed!

 

[mathers_wales_uk]

Would it still be £170m with the current restrictions?

without working it out one team gaining promotion should increase the number of football charters during the 2020/2021 season.

 

[Jerry]

Took my first post pandemic trip today. Wasn't planned but headed to Leeds to see my sister and pick up a car. Used Transport for Wales Manchester service and then transpennine express to Leeds.
Cardiff Central was really quiet it was a 11.56 departure but it did seem there was as any many staff as passengers.
Not many people on the train to Manchester and the train to Leeds so plenty of ability to social distance and they've blocked off every other seat and 3 on the table seats.
Was surprised by the Transport for Wales train as it was really a nice interior inside.
In all it was a nice journey which took 4 and a half hours but with a lot of stopping from Cardiff to Manchester!
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[mathers_wales_uk]

The as many staff as passengers is due to TFW taking this pandemic extremely seriously.

May I point out that Public Transport should be for essential travel only as they are operating at lower capacity due to social distancing.

Hoards of school children heading to Barry Island clogging up public transport too recently

 

[Jerry]

The as many staff as passengers is due to TFW taking this pandemic extremely seriously.

Yep I realise that was just surprised by how many little passengers there was expected it to be busier.
What I was surprised about as well is that not everyone was wearing a mask though I believe it's soon to be mandatory.

 

[aviatorconcorde]

Everyone who can is still working from home. Central may never be as busy on a week day again.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

An all Wales final? Finger's crossed!

Didn't work out that way in the end. Swansea City lost 1-3 at Brentford last night losing 2-3 over the two games, and Cardiff City did very well this evening to win 2-1 at Fulham but their 0-2 home defeat in the first match means they too lost 2-3 over the two games.

 

[Jerry]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1296736659367698433

 

[Jerry]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1296691770399563776

 

[Jerry]

Looks like Extinction rebellion will be coming to Cardiff again.

Extinction Rebellion planning to 'take over' Cardiff for a week

Demonstrations are planned across the city, with this weekend considered to be the warm-up period

www.walesonline.co.uk

 

[Jerry]

UK internal market bill has been realesed.
State aid rules will be under the jurisdiction of the UK as they are classing it as a reserved powers. This could have consequences for Cardiff Airports future especially with reference to marketing deals for Qatar Airways and any future airline's the airport wants to try and attract.
It also looks like the UK government will be able in the future to decide 'project's of national significance' and push them through even if a devolved administration has already rejected such project. No doubt the M4 will be such a project. I can only imagine the reaction if the EU had planned to do that!
This is being described as a power grab both devolved administrations and a rewrite of the devolution settlement by Jeremy Miles the WG counsel general.

UK Government could revive M4 relief road under new post-Brexit rules | ITV News

The UK Government prepares to publish its Internal Market Bill. Critics say is a 'power grab' that undermines devolution but ministers say it ensures a level playing field after Brexit | ITV News Wales

www.itv.com

 

[TheLocalYokel]

UK internal market bill has been realesed.
State aid rules will be under the jurisdiction of the UK as they are classing it as a reserved powers. This could have consequences for Cardiff Airports future especially with reference to marketing deals for Qatar Airways and any future airline's the airport wants to try and attract.
It also looks like the UK government will be able in the future to decide 'project's of national significance' and push them through even if a devolved administration has already rejected such project. No doubt the M4 will be such a project. I can only imagine the reaction if the EU had planned to do that!
This is being described as a power grab both devolved administrations and a rewrite of the devolution settlement by Jeremy Miles the WG counsel general.

UK Government could revive M4 relief road under new post-Brexit rules | ITV News

The UK Government prepares to publish its Internal Market Bill. Critics say is a 'power grab' that undermines devolution but ministers say it ensures a level playing field after Brexit | ITV News Wales

www.itv.com

Much of the controversy with this bill seems to relate to a departure from the recognition of international law, with the the Northern Ireland issue particularly in focus. Regulations created by the bill "are not to be regarded as unlawful on the grounds of any incompatibility or inconsistency with relevant international or domestic law …”

With regard to the devolved governments the Westminster Government says the proposed legislation will “enable the UK government to provide financial assistance to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland with new powers to spend taxpayers’ money previously administered by the EU”.

That suggests to me that Westminster wants to provide money to the devolved governments in respect of matters of which it approves or even mandates (the M4 for instance?) rather than provide the devolved governments with an equivalent sum within an expanded block grant to spend as they wish. In other words Westminster will be the arbiter much like the EC is at the moment, albeit the European Court of Justice has an appellant function.

As I understand it the devolved governments will continue to receive their block grants that can used as they wish but anything that the EU might have provided on top of that in the past will be controlled by Westminster from the end of this year. Obvious points of conflict would be something like the M4 that has been rejected by the Welsh Government but which Westminster might reinstate against the WG's wishes.

Inevitably this will be seen as England controlling the other Home nations which to an extent is true because England has so many more MPs and members of the Cabinet, although there are Cabinet ministers who currently represent Welsh and Scottish constituencies. Westminster's responsibility for England's pandemic provisions helps to foster the idea that Westminster is the 'English Government' even amongst some ordinary people who normally would not give the matter any thought.

This is yet another example of the problems that occur with the UK's crazy quasi-federal system of government with only three of the four constituent countries having its own government, with the fourth and easily the largest governed from the centre.

There are three ways that this can be overcome: set up an English Government alongside the other devolved governments or abolish the current devolved governments or break up the UK so that the four countries become independent states, although how the latter would work with Northern Ireland is a conundrum that I'm glad I would not have to solve.

 

[JENNYJET]

If the UK is dissolved, NI would either become independent as the Unionists would have no union to be part of or they are rejoined to the Republic. The current set up is a EU balls up helped along by Sen. Mitchell of the US hence the angst in Congress about a future trade agreement with UK being dependent upon the current arrangement locally and with Europe. Whatever the end result, the EU has a big part to play regardless of what the Big Boris wants. The Good Friday Agreement is an international treaty with appropriate weight in law and changing it to fit into UK Brexit politics will not sit well at the United Nations.

EU Law is bad news for nations seeking any autonomy without withdrawing
and worse for those that choose exit to go rogue. This is my understanding and interpretation of existing situation.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

If the UK is dissolved, NI would either become independent as the Unionists would have no union to be part of or they are rejoined to the Republic. The current set up is a EU balls up helped along by Sen. Mitchell of the US hence the angst in Congress about a future trade agreement with UK being dependent upon the current arrangement locally and with Europe. Whatever the end result, the EU has a big part to play regardless of what the Big Boris wants. The Good Friday Agreement is an international treaty with appropriate weight in law and changing it to fit into UK Brexit politics will not sit well at the United Nations.

EU Law is bad news for nations seeking any autonomy without withdrawing
and worse for those that choose exit to go rogue. This is my understanding and interpretation of existing situation.

When I mentioned the Northern Ireland conundrum vis-a-vis independence I was really alluding to the practical aspects 'on the ground' with the dissidents on both sides prepared to use violence.

At least there is not that likelihood in Wales, although of course some nationalists did attack holiday homes in Wales towards the end of the last century.

 

[JENNYJET]

Because of family connections I am aware of both the historical and current tensions between the communities and I very much doubt it will ever be resolved to everyone's satisfaction. I only know that the Americans were big players during the negotiations leading to the agreement that has held the peace and that is at risk of collapse possibly because of some impasse over future status of the respective nations within both UK and EU.

 

[Jerry]

As I understand it the devolved governments will continue to receive their block grants that can used as they wish but anything that the EU might have provided on top of that in the past will be controlled by Westminster from the end of this year. Obvious points of conflict would be something like the M4 that has been rejected by the Welsh Government but which Westminster might reinstate against the WG's wishes.

The big contention is that the Bill means that the UK government could overrule the devolved administrations on things like the M4 and food standards in a trade deal. The reality is that the devolved administrations just don't trust the UK government. With reference to Northern Ireland there's the fact that there's already an international agreement in place that they are breaking and t11 e ehe EU have said that they'll take the UK government to court if they proceed with the Bill. Personally I don't know what the UK government are thinking as they are just speeding up the break up of the UK with this bill.

 

[Jerry]

If the UK is dissolved, NI would either become independent as the Unionists would have no union to be part of or they are rejoined to the Republic.

I believe polling for a United Ireland in Northern Ireland is around the 46 to 51% mark. Obviously it's a tricky situation but as time goes on support for it will no doubt become a majority consistently and a poll says yes. Obviously then something will have to be negotiated for an arrangement that suits both sides.