Random Stuff!!

[JENNYJET]

If people consider the official title, 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, it should become clear. And Northern Ireland indicates not British as a land mass although it is territorial to the kingdom. The remaining elements were forged by history and Westminster preceded Great Britain thus became England's Parliament and has fallen into abeyance since England has not enforced independence from itself.

Brexit was tough to crack and that was only 48 years, the United Kingdom has centuries of law, precedents and liabilities and wealth to untangle so I ask, Why would Wales Scotland and Cornwall seek
to be independent from England?

 

[Jerry]

To take up on or two, many people in England especially in peripheral areas don't regard the Westminster government always sensitive to their needs either, and not just the current government. England is stuck with Westminster unless the other home nations do become independent and England can then look at Westminster as a true English government as there will be nowhere else for Westminster to govern. At the moment England is stuck with Westminster by default

That is the problem with the UK as a whole, way too much power centralised in one place which is unlikely to change anytime soon.

Does that make it more difficult for politicians and others in Wales to complain too loudly about any type of Brexit deal?

Not about the deal itself, i do feel that they are entitled to flight for the best possible deal for Wales that is possible and not get a deal that isn't any good for Wales itself.

Why would Wales Scotland and Cornwall seek
to be independent from England?

Many of the same reasons as Brexit, bringing back sovereignty, to make our laws, control our own finances, control our own borders, have decisions made in Wales/Scotland/Cornwall by people in Wales/Scotland/Cornwall. For me with Wales it's about finally being a normal independent country and join and contribute to the international community and to be able to develop and grow Wales as a country to benefit it's people and make their lives better. My own view on Scotland is that they've outgrown the relationship with England and are becoming a european nation again. As for Cornwall their independence does rarely get mentioned and i don't know what it's polling at but i'd expect that they just want to make their own decisions to benefit their people.

 

[Jerry]

The Welsh Affairs Committee in Westminster are conducting an inquiry into Railway Infrastructure in Wales.

Railway Infrastructure in Wales - Committees - UK Parliament

<p>We will look at where responsibility lies for the management of rail infrastructure in Wales, how funding is allocated to rail infrastructure projects across the UK and the share of investment Wales has received since 1994. We will also look at the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the rail...

committees.parliament.uk

Written evidence submitted by Mark Barry, Professor of Practice in Connectivity at Cardiff University’s School of Geography & Planning is an interesting read!

https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/19482/html/

 

[Jerry]

Big chunk of financial responsibility taken away from the devolved administrations here.

Wales to lose big chunk of spending power as UK Government replaces EU money with central pot

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are set to lose a large part of their spending power as European structural funds are replaced with a UK Government controlled resource. The Shared Prosperity Fund will replace European Commission development and social fund grants, which were spent by the...

nation.cymru

 

[geoff]

The Welsh Government intend taking the Westminster Government to court over the shared Prosperity Fund, as they claim previous promises made have already been broken.

 

[Jerry]

The Welsh Government intend taking the Westminster Government to court over the shared Prosperity Fund, as they claim previous promises made have already been broken.

Didn't know that. I know that they are taking them to court over the Internal Market Bill. How far they pursue it only time will tell.

 

[geoff]

I think their intention is to combine both elements into one court case, unless I have a misunderstanding of what has been said.

 

[Jerry]

I think their intention is to combine both elements into one court case, unless I have a misunderstanding of what has been said.

Makes sense to try and just have the one court case i suppose, especially with something that's more constitutional.

 

[Jerry]

It's amazing to think that YesCymru this time last year had 2000 members and now has 17,000 members making it the second largest political organisation in Wales. Also it's head Sion Jobbins being interviewed on the BBC shows how much more mainstream a the independence debate and conversation has become.

Yes Cymru: Independence 'not possible' without political change

The campaign group, which has seen an up swelling of support, says the status quo is not an option.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Which system would the WG prefer to replace the previous EU funding? An equivalent amount added to the Westminster block grant that the WG could decide where and how it was spent?

I don't watch a lot of tv but I did see this evening's BBC 1's Countryfile part of which was devoted to how the former EU support for farmers (CAP) would be replaced. Lots of farmers aren't happy with the Westminster plans.

Incidentally, another item in the programme was a visit to the two small farms near Llanelli belonging to Nigel Owens the recently-retired top rugby union international referee. He said that he's sunk all his savings into them. Fascinating stuff and I really hope it works well for him.

 

[Jerry]

Which system would the WG prefer to replace the previous EU funding? An equivalent amount added to the Westminster block grant that the WG could decide where and how it was spent?

I don't watch a lot of tv but I did see this evening's BBC 1's Countryfile part of which was devoted to how the former EU support for farmers (CAP) would be replaced. Lots of farmers aren't happy with the Westminster plans.

Incidentally, another item in the programme was a visit to the two small farms near Llanelli belonging to Nigel Owens the recently-retired top rugby union international referee. He said that he's sunk all his savings into them. Fascinating stuff and I really hope it works well for him.

From what i've remember it was said that Wales wouldn't lose a penny so i expect that they would want the former EU money as some sort of fund or grant to be drawn on and for them to decide which projects to allocate the money to. From what i understand the new Westminster system involves some sort of bidding system.
The problem with Westminster being in control rather than the EU is that the EU thinks in a more longer term when it comes to this sort of thing and isn't politically motivated where Westminster will be and doesn't think ahead a lot of the time. UKs rail infrastructure is an example of that.
Farmers and the fishing industry do seem to feel that they've been hard done by with the Brexit deal.
Nigel Owens will no doubt have a TV career as well ahead of him to help keep his farms going!

 

[Jerry]

I don't understand the relevance to airports being devolved. Doesn't the WG have a role in the transport infrastructure of Wales?

Probably better off answering it here.
I can only assume that he means that UK government have control over aviation regulation and of course APD. I expect he feels they should be acting as the UK government in this regard. Wales has control of roads but only certain bits of rail infrastructure.
Looking at a second tweet it looks like he's using it to criticise the Conservatives, calling them English nationalists.
I can see the point he's making about how the UK government should be including all UK airports but in the end the WG does own Cardiff so that no doubt makes it more secure than some of the smaller private owned airports.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Probably better off answering it here.
I can only assume that he means that UK government have control over aviation regulation and of course APD. I expect he feels they should be acting as the UK government in this regard. Wales has control of roads but only certain bits of rail infrastructure.
Looking at a second tweet it looks like he's using it to criticise the Conservatives, calling them English nationalists.
I can see the point he's making about how the UK government should be including all UK airports but in the end the WG does own Cardiff so that no doubt makes it more secure than some of the smaller private owned airports.

It's just another example of the ridiculous quasi federal system of government with which the UK is saddled. Westminster wears two hats: one when it's acting as the UK government and the other when standing in for a non-existent English government. It's sometimes difficult to see which hat it is wearing at any particular time. I wonder if it knows itself.

If all the home nations had its own devolved government this and many other inequitable examples that have been discussed in these forums down the years would not have arisen.

 

[Jerry]

Westminster wears two hats: one when it's acting as the UK government and the other when standing in for a non-existent English government. It's sometimes difficult to see which hat it is wearing at any particular time. I wonder if it knows itself.

I think as well that the Welsh Conservatives rhetoric over Cardiff Airport attacking the Labour government over wasting money on it might have tied UK government hands a bit. Would've looked a bit hypocritical if they'd given the airport money. With the elections in May a bit of lost pr for the UK government there.

 

[superking]

On breakfast reports this morning a few of the senedd members have had their knuckles rapped for drinking alchohal in the seneed. Drinks have been banned in the senedd for a temporary time while this covid 19 is around.

 

[Jerry]

On breakfast reports this morning a few of the senedd members have had their knuckles rapped for drinking alchohal in the seneed. Drinks have been banned in the senedd for a temporary time while this covid 19 is around.

The Labour MS has been suspended pending an investigation. I believe the Tory ones haven't had any action taken against them. One of them is Paul Davies the Conservatives group leader. What action the Senedd commission will take is unknown.

 

[Jerry]

Just one of the 30 Build Back Better Council members is based in the north of England, two are in the Midlands, one in Cambridge and one in Scotland. None work for firms headquartered in Wales or Northern Ireland. Twenty-two are in London and three in commuter towns within 25 miles of the capital.

Johnson's 'levelling up' council criticised as most members based in London | Boris Johnson | The Guardian

Of 30 Build Back Better Council members, 22 are in London, but none are from Wales or Northern Ireland

amp.theguardian.com

 

[Jerry]

Very rare mainstream news coverage of Welsh independence
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/yes-cymru-calls-grow-for-welsh-independence-wzf2hlc06

 

[superking]

I see that 2 of the tory party members in Wales have resigned. 1 to resign is the Welsh tory party leader.and 1 other has resigned as well' I dont know if this will be the end of the matter or the other parties want to make a meal out of it.

 

[Nigel B]

So they should resign,and i must say it should have been a lot earlier.
Imagine if it was a Labour leader who had done a similar thing, four days after the ban came into force,there would have been tories frothing at the mouth to oust that person!!
Once again (Dominic Cummings etc) one rule for them and another for the rest of us. Hypocrites.