This morning, I picked up on a BBC News / Wales Politics tweet saying that “Alun Davies has defended his decision to transfer 15% of EU Common Agricultural Policy funding from Pillar 1 to Pillar 2”. If you’ve got the stomach for it, you can find a video of the presentation here. Note especially how the two 
civil servants flanking him watch Alun Davies, fearful he’s going to say the wrong thing; and how he often flounders, his voice cracking and his body language suggesting he doesn’t really believe what he’s saying. Very sad, because Alun Davies is one of the few genuinely Welsh members of the English-Irish Labour Party Wales has suffered for over a century.
So what’s it all about, these ‘Pillars’, and this Agricultural Policy? Well, according to the BBC Democracy Live site, “It means some of the money that would have gone to farmers in Wales as direct payments will instead be spent on rural development projects.” Which, in translation, means that money is being taken from hard-working Welsh farmers to fund the schemes of hippies, Greens and other charlatans involved in ‘rural development projects’.
In recent posts I have dealt with the Housing (Wales) Bill, one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation ever to pass through the Notional Assembly. It’s dangerous because it seeks to enshrine in law the ‘rights’ of criminals in London, problem families in Manchester, and Travellers who haven’t yet left County Mayo, to accommodation in Wales, and superior rights to us Welsh. The deadline for consultations passed last Friday. Here’s the list of those who made representations.
In the main, these are vested interests and those hoping to make money from the proposed legislation, or fearful of losing money by it: the Third Sector, local authorities, housebuilders, even British Gas and the RSPCA! Plus organisations not even based in Wales, such as South West Law. Also academics who, like others who made submissions, seem to see Wales as a laboratory for putting into practice socialistic theories of housing all those downtrodden by a heartless capitalist system. Gypsies and Travellers, armies of the homeless, victims of domestic violence, ethnic minorities, etc., et fucking cetera. Just about every everybody except us, the Welsh; we go to the back of the queue or, in this case, the bottom of the waiting list.
What struck me most going through the submissions was the almost total absence of Welsh input. Admittedly the Language Commissioner responded . . . but failed to note that in its 85 pages the Bill makes not one reference to the Welsh language! Yet there were a few who could see the dangers inherent in the Bill. One being Abergele town council, asking for two years local residence before anyone was able to access the housing waiting list. Because if this Bill becomes law then someone who qualifies for accommodation anywhere in England automatically qualifies for accommodation in Wales. Someone could be accepted for social housing in Middlesborough one week and be moving in in Maentwrog or Maesteg the following week. And as England has many more people than Wales seeking social housing, many more ‘homeless’ than Wales, many more ‘vulnerable’ people, many more ex-convicts, then you don’t need to be Merlin to predict the future.
When you consider these two pieces of legislation, and add them to the growing mountain of evidence, what they expose is a colonialist system. Laws are now being passed in the name of ‘Wales’ that deliberately work against the interests of the indigenous population and encourage members of the State’s dominant ethno-cultural group to move to Wales with the intention of ‘overlaying’ and absorbing the indigenous minority. The sort of thing the Chinese do in Tibet or the Turks in Kurdistan. No wonder Alun Davies’ voice and body language betrayed his unease. So what’s the answer?
For a start, stop being distracted by, or worse, believing in, that puppet show down Cardiff docks. For as I have repeatedly pointed out, those weaklings have surrendered all authority to London, leaving Wales to be run by civil servants. In return London allows the ‘Welsh’ Government freedom to announce publicity-grabbing, but ultimately unimportant, initiatives – free prescriptions, 5p on supermarket bags, plain packaging for fags, organ harvesting (in partnership with the Kosovo Liberation Army). Consequently, anyone believing we have devolved government in Wales is a fool. It is devolved only in the sense that the civil servants telling our politicians what to say and do have transferred from London to Wales.
Wales today is more integrated with England than at any time in our history. We are becoming a minority in our own country. The process of integration continues day on day, with legislation such as the Housing Bill. Ultimately, this will result in Wales being assimilated into England. What are you going to do about it?
Jac – “Plaid Cymru is saying and doing nothing, just playing along as part of the charade. Though perhaps worse than the rest in that they pretend they care about Wales.”
Jac – “Llŷr not only knew what he was talking about, he had obviously spoken with those directly affected, who had explained to him that this legislation had consequences beyond those admitted on the packaging.”
Jac – “realise that Plaid Cymru is no part of the solution.”
So Plaid Cymru do nothing and are not part of the solution, yet Plaid Cymru know what they’re talking about and talk with the peopl. Which is it?
My dear fellow, are you unable to differentiate between the party as a whole and individuals within that party dealing with specific issues? In human history there is no example of every person within a party being wrong all of the time on every issue. Somebody has to be right some of the time.
I think some sort of protest is in order perhaps a hunger strike? It will hopefully generate (English) press attention which is the only way issues like this can be debated in the public eye and shown for what it really another shit on the Welsh. A hunger strike is extreme but it needs to catch the attention of the media and be on a mass scale (ideally) Follow Gwynfor Evans and stand for what is right. I suggest on Owain Glyndwr Day September 16. All of this shit would never happen to any other neighbouring EU country! I don’t understand any one who still votes for those labour Muppets, perhaps they are content at being at the bottom and worried if they don’t vote Labour it may get worse for them….How can life for the poorest in Wales ever get any worse?!!! We are at the bottom of most EU economic, living standards and fucked up the ass pole that has ever existed!
Pissed off 20 something patriot
hard-working Welsh farmers? Yes I suppose they have been; takes some effort to decimate the hedgerows, poison the rivers, slash the rural bird population, earn a load of EU dosh for setaside, contaminate our food supply by turning herbivores into carnivores, get to know the new gadgets on the latest 100k Range Rover, cut some lucrative deals with the big supermarket chains to shift chickens that eat their own shit for £2.50 a pop….I could go on, but I’ve a feeling I’m at the wrong party…..
Time to let the hippies have a go.
Oooh! You are bitter!
also couldnt help but notice there’s a lot of mention of ‘sustainability’ and ‘diversity’ among the submissions – just so long it seems as that sustainability doesnt involve ‘sustaining’ the welsh language and that ‘diversity’ doesnt include welsh people!
I have just noticed the RCT council submission about powers to increase council tax on empty homes …
“although this proposal is supported, it must be recognised that there could be some barriers to its effectiveness, as some areas are in low demand or stigmatised and even if owners and landlords actively market their empty property, it may not be easy to let or sell. In this situation, owners would still have to pay the extra council tax even though the factors contributing to it being empty are outside of their control.”
Why is a Labour council arguing for a massive increase in new houses to cope with a professed increase in demand, while at the same time saying that one of the issues they face is a situation of a large number of existing empty properties for which there is no demand ?
“What are you going to do about it?”
Join Plaid Glyndwr in the defence of the Welsh nationhood by initially confronting colonialism.
many thanks for all your dedicated research on this matter jac, and also for posting a list of those making representations to the welsh government on the said housing bill, on the point of the submissions im afraid i had to give up perusing them by the time i’d stumbled across about the sixth organisation arguing for the retention of ‘prison leavers’ on the list of those who should be considered a ‘priority need’ for housing. so bash some grannies head in to get her pension money or sell drugs to schoolchildren and when you’ve done your porridge you’ll still be considered a priority for social housing in wales – and as you shrewdly point out jac welsh social housing will apparently be on offer to granny bashers and drug pushers and the like from England too, which is somewhat odd when you take into account the fact that prison leavers are not listed as a priority for social housing in england itself.
That about sums up the Bill – it’s for everybody except the Welsh.
Sitting to Alun Davies’ left in the Assembly committee meeting video you refer to is Andrew Slade – the banal harmless face of the EU civil service in Wales ( just enough facial hair to help him blend in in rural Wales as a slightly more well to do land owner amongst the feral peasants perhaps) Whilst being otherwise unknown to the people of Wales and without being elected in Wales he is somehow Director of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Group at the Welsh Government. His past positions include Director of EU Policy and Funding & Head of European Programmes Group at the Welsh Government,Head of National Delivery and Rural Development Programme for England at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and also Executive Director at the South West Regional Development Agency. As an EU and UK state employee his job is to liquidate the traditional agricultural backbone of Wales and implement the green communism that is otherwise known as Sustainable Development and Agenda 21 in to every single nook and cranny of Wales until Wales is fully at the mercy of the EU Soviet Union and its UK subsidiary. Allegedly
We are in a nightmare. Wales is run by people we haven’t voted for and, in most cases, don’t even know exist. From the officers in local government to the appointees on health boards to the shadowy civil servants like Slade, and those deciding how many new homes will be forced on us to accommodate yet more English colonisation.
This system is so corrupt and discredited that it is beyond saving. This is why I argue that a fresh start is needed. One that prioritises the needs of the Welsh people, those who belong here, those whose country this is.
I sent them an email too after you put up their adress but I cannot see it there. Admittedly, it wasn’t a great work of art, and was basically just a short email but it’s as relevant as anybody else’s submission.
I can’t believe some of the submissions. When I saw them, I just thought, ‘What’s it got to do with them?’
“What are you going to do about it?”
What would you suggest?
For a start, accept that devolution is an utter failure. Worse, a deception. Then, realise that Plaid Cymru is no part of the solution. Which leaves a blank sheet. So, decide what sort of Wales you want, what your priorities are. For me, the priority has to be the defence of Welsh nationhood. For if Welsh nationhood can not be saved then the reason for treating Wales as anything other than a region of England vanishes. For you cannot argue that Wales survives simply because people live here. Unless a clear majority of those living here are Welsh, by ancestry, then ‘Wales’ is nothing more than a geographical expression. Without the Welsh there is no Wales.
Jac, what is Plaid Cymru saying and doing about this? are they part of the civil cervants dressed up as nationalists?, Diolch.
Plaid Cymru is saying and doing nothing, just playing along as part of the charade. Though perhaps worse than the rest in that they pretend they care about Wales.
I thought Llŷr Gruffydd AM (Plaid) spoke very well and at length opposition in the video you linked to. Interestingly, the civil servant had to fend off almost all interventions from Llŷr, as it was quite evident the minister, Alun, hadn’t a clue.
Exactly. Llŷr not only knew what he was talking about, he had obviously spoken with those directly affected, who had explained to him that this legislation had consequences beyond those admitted on the packaging. By contrast, Alun Davies had been ‘briefed’ on what to say and what not to say, but he obviously didn’t understand the nuts and bolts of these measures. That’s why he looked so uncomfortable. He had been hoping for a relatively easy ride because he knew he could do no more than repeat a few platitudes in the manner of a parrot.
The lesson – as I will never tire of telling people – is that, apart from a tiny number of undoubtedly talented individuals (like DET) the AMs are of a very poor quality, in terms of both intellect and industry. This makes it all the easier for civil servants, taking orders from London or Brussels, to run Wales.