Welsh
Secretary, Stephen Crabb, described the Welsh Government's rejection
of a referendum on income tax powers as “bizarre”, saying he
“moved mountains” to secure the St David's Day agreement on extra powers for Wales.
The
First Minister told the National Assembly the deal was “rushed,
incoherent and unsatisfactory” and was “no more than a staging
post” to a better devolution settlement. Labour also denied that
Shadow Welsh Secretary, Owen...
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Tuesday, 31 March 2015
Saturday, 28 March 2015
Westminster 2015 : How have the Coalition performed?
As of Monday, every MP will be unemployed and scrounging for votes. So it's fitting
to kick them when they're down, as the Cameron administration know all about that.
(Pic : millenniumhotels.co.uk)
With the formal
dissolution of the UK parliament coming on Monday, the time's come to
kick-start my coverage of the 2015...
Friday, 27 March 2015
Rust in Peace....Trident?
What should the UK spend a potential £80billion+ on?
(Pic : Greenpeace)
Back to back coverage
from the Assembly. Yes, I do regret it. If yesterday was a
little dry, this one was more livel...
Thursday, 26 March 2015
Assembly takes a ride on Heavy Metal
Heavy metal? Or no metal at all?
(Pic : Paul Webb via pickledimages.co.uk)
The last plenary
session before Easter recess was held yesterday, and I've picked out two debates to cover. Today, I'll look at a members debate on the steel industry,
while the Assembly also went south of heaven - I'll (hopefully) return to
that...
Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Gissa Job : Assisting Young People Into Work
An Assembly committee has investigated the barriers facing young people as they enter the
world of work, as well as assessing Welsh Government actions to reduce youth unemployment.
(Pic : The Guardian)
Another tome, I'm
afraid. All part of the service.Last week, the Enterprise & Business Committee published their report...
Saturday, 21 March 2015
Legally High
Earlier this week, the
National Assembly's Health & Social Care Committee published
their inquiry report (pdf) into new psychoactive substances (aka.
NPS, "legal highs"). It was an extensive and wide-ranging
inquiry which took evidence from a huge list of witnesses and focus
groups around Wales....
Thursday, 19 March 2015
Senedd Goes For Broke
Fixed-odds gaming terminals and online gambling were in the sights of
AMs during the latest members debate at the National Assembly.
(Pic : The Mirror)
There will be no Casino
Royale jokes. Hopefully that "row" has burned itself out at
last. It was light-hearted at first, but watching AMs
and the media scramble over each...
Wednesday, 18 March 2015
The Green, Green Glas of Home
The National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee have said that while the Glastir
scheme is well-intentioned, there are problems with how it's been managed.
(Pic : Nanhoron Estate)
I don't normally cover farming issues, mainly because such posts often go unread and I
don't know anything about farming in the first
plac...
Wednesday, 11 March 2015
Third Sector "bullying" criticised by AMs
Third Sector lobbying at the National Assembly is nothing new and has become a key
part of Welsh civic life. However, over the past week things took an unpalatable turn.
(Pic : The Women's Institute)
Following last week's Stage 3 debate on the Violence Against Women, Domestic Violence &
Sexual Violence Bill, the National...
Monday, 9 March 2015
Mo' money, mo' problems
They asked the audience....then completely ignored them.
Last year, the
Independent Remuneration Panel for the National Assembly proposed a
change in AMs' and ministers' pay (The £64,000 Question)....
Saturday, 7 March 2015
Smack My Senedd Up
AMs have tried for the second time in a year to introduce an amendment to a Bill
that outlaws "smacking" in Wales. This is how the debate panned out.
(Pic : The Sunday Times)
On Tuesday, the
(re-titled) Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual
Violence Bill (more here) was debated at Stage 3 in the National As...
Tuesday, 3 March 2015
AMs demand action to close education gap
Up to 74% of children who are eligible to receive free school meals in Wales won't
get 5 A*-C grades (including English and maths) at GCSE.
(Pic : alexdonohue.co.uk)
Last week, the National
Assembly's Children & Young People's Committee reported back on
their inquiry into the educational attainment of pupils from
low-income...
Monday, 2 March 2015
A St David's Day Deposit
Legend says the ground beneath St David rose so all of his audience could see and hear him.
Like his namesake, the ground beneath David Cameron rose too, but it was a steaming mound of dung.
Most people don't care about the constitution, what powers the
Assembly has or the intricacies of how devolution works. They're...
