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Thursday, 15 December 2016
Wednesday, 14 December 2016
Law to support Additional Learning Needs introduced
(Pic : Northampton College)
Having stood down the
"picket line", it's worth giving those of you who
might've laughed it off a friendly reminder of how much work's done here - just under two hours for this post; no pay, very little if any coverage of this topic anywhere other than the BBC. It's also what's going to be lost...
Tuesday, 13 December 2016
FMQs: On Strike
The final
First Ministers Questions of 2016 takes place this afternoon, but you won't be getting anything from m...
Monday, 12 December 2016
National Ass. sucked into own rectum
We really, really could be calling our AMs "Ass-sucks" in the future - not joking. Read on.
As suggested yesterday, it's becoming harder to tell where reality ends and satire start...
Friday, 9 December 2016
Committees Bite Size #1: December 2016
Like First Minister's Questions, this is an experiment in improving Oggy Bloggy Ogwr's
depth of coverage. As some of you might've seen from my fifth anniversary post last March, I only cover about a third of the
Assembly's committee work. This move will enable me to push closer to
80-100...
Thursday, 8 December 2016
Senedd busts a gut
(Pic : oeko-travel.org)
We're all living
longer, but that doesn't necessarily mean we're any healthier. We
also all know that obesity and lack of regular exercise are two of
the most significant public health crises facing Wales. There's
no single root cause and no single solution. The one thing that can
be said is that...
Wednesday, 7 December 2016
PISA: Denial to Anger to Depression
(Pic : E)
Climb into
your bath, track your arteries with a razor blade and bring on The
Smiths.It's PISA time and there's
nothing the Welsh enjoy more than a good moan, revelling in the doom
as we all – once again - rubber neck the slow motion car crash that
is the Welsh education syst........like Glyn over at National...
Tuesday, 6 December 2016
FMQs: PISA, Article 50 & Bank Closures
Obviously
the big story today is the OECD's PISA 2015 results – I'm pushing
to get something done for tomorrow but I'm currently unwell 😰. In the meantime, there's the penultimate FMQs of 2016 with PISA featuring heavily as you might expec...
Monday, 5 December 2016
Arfon Jones & Legalising Drugs
(Pic : Daily Post)
Gwynedd county
councillor, Cllr. Sion Jones (Lab, Bethel), has called for the resignation of PCC Arfon Jones (Plaid, North Wales Police) - who
recently called for drugs to be "legalised", and offered
his support to the idea of clean "fix rooms" for drug
addicts who use injectable drugs after a man was...
Friday, 2 December 2016
Reshaping the Senedd
(Pic : viewpictures.co.uk)
There's been a fair bit
of discussion for several years on how many Assembly Members we need.
The general consensus within the "Bay Bubble" is that 60 AMs
is too few to meet the growing demands of the legislature – which
will have tax-varying powers from 2018 and, at some indeterminate
post-Brexit...
Thursday, 1 December 2016
Law replacing landfill tax introduced
(Pic : South Wales Argus)
Earlier this week,
Finance & Local Government Secretary, Mark Drakeford (Lab,
Cardiff West), introduced the second Bill to establishes a new Welsh
tax. It followed hot on the
heels from the law to replace stamp duty – which was introduced in Septembe...
Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Senedd Watch - November 2016
On
November 3rd,
the UK High Court ruled the UK Parliament must vote to trigger
Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to start the Brexit process, and the
powers are not held under royal prerogative by the Prime Minister.
The UK Government appealed to the Supreme Court....
Tuesday, 29 November 2016
FMQs : Sepsis, Letting Fees & Sport Wales
Sometimes
AMs discuss stuff that only matters to themselves or those who lobby
them. Sometimes they concentrate on things that have more topical
relevance – as they did toda...
Thursday, 24 November 2016
Assembly backs "Smart Farming"
(Pic : Emirates Business)
As someone who loathes
buzzwords, I'm sceptical of the current trend of sticking "smart"
in front of everything, but as such technologies have become more
commonplace it's playing a part in all walks of lif...
Tuesday, 22 November 2016
FMQs : Circuit of Wales, Water & Tolls
The big story this afternoon is the emergence of a potential "cash for access" scandal. I stress "potential...
Thursday, 17 November 2016
Who are "The Establishment"?
Is the idea of a single monolithic Establishment a myth?
(Pic : The Spectator)
2016 will be marked by
a revolt against the status quo in liberal democracies. In Wales
we've seen the election of UKIP AMs for the first time, followed by
Brexit. Earlier this year there was an inconclusive Irish general
election. There's also...
Tuesday, 15 November 2016
FMQs : GPs, Chainsaws & Trump
There were
a number of exchanges relating to the new President-Elect of the US this afternoon ( as you might expect) but the staple topic of health
dominated discussion overal...
Saturday, 12 November 2016
Carmarthenshire's Roll of Dishonour
This weekend, people will
gather near monuments which, in some cases, will list the names of
those who willingly and unwillingly sacrificed their lives in
conflict....
Thursday, 10 November 2016
Woodpeckers, Tits & Choughs
(Pic : Centre for Ecology & Hydrology)
In the last few weeks
an alliance of environmental, conservation and ecology groups
published a State of Nature report for 2016 (pdf). It didn't make
good reading when it comes to protecting native Welsh species, with some spots of hope.
There's more from the Assembly's Research...
Wednesday, 9 November 2016
Public Health Bill (Re)Introduced
(Pic : BBC)
As you probably all
know, the Fourth Assembly's Public Health Bill was
troubled at several points, mainly because it proposed to ban
"vaping" in public places in line with tobacc...
Tuesday, 8 November 2016
FMQs : Veterans, USA & Article 50
It's
a long one this week as I've decided to tack on the Assembly's
response to the Article 50 judgement. There's also a sense of deja vu
from recent FMQs as you'll probably see for yourselve...
Thursday, 3 November 2016
Election 2016 : Where are they now?
It's six months
since the Assembly election, so it's worth catching up with some of
those who lost their seats to find out what they're up to now...
Wednesday, 2 November 2016
FMQs Extra : Pembrokeshire, Heathrow & Orgreave
First Minister's Questions....without the First Minister.
(Pic : Wales Online)
As promised, I'm going
to return to yesterday's plenary session and cover the four urgent
questions asked following FMQ...
Tuesday, 1 November 2016
Monday, 31 October 2016
Senedd Watch - October 2016
UK
Prime Minister, Theresa May, announced a “Great Repeal Bill”
would be introduced to repeal the European Communities Act 1973 and
end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. She also
confirmed Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty will be triggered by the
end of March 2017, starting a two-year EU withdrawal pro...
Wednesday, 26 October 2016
What type of Brexit suits Wales?
Soft Brexit vs Hard Brexit - the same process but different end results.
(Pic : buzzfeed.com)
I said I wouldn't return to Brexit until something concrete happens. Now that we have
a timetable for the activation of Article 50 , a recent ministerial meeting involving the devolved administrations and hints at what
sort of...
Wednesday, 19 October 2016
Welsh Budget 2017-18
(Pic : BBC Wales)
The Welsh Government's
spending plans for the next financial year were tabled in the Senedd
on Tuesday by Local Government & Finance Secretary, Mark
Drakeford (Lab, Cardiff West...
Tuesday, 18 October 2016
FMQs : Trains, Cash & Arts
AMs donned windbreakers and proverbially hung around platforms as the
future of rail services dominated proceedings this week. It's also a
week that marks the 50th
anniversary of the Aberfan disaster on Friday – with commemorations
due at the Senedd tomorrow. It's budget week too and I hope to have
something on that for...
Saturday, 15 October 2016
Dic Siôn Dafydd?
Traitor? Following his conscience? Legitimately disgruntled?
(Pic : Wales Online)
The timing's a bit of a
shock, but the news isn't. This was going to be a more jocular post,
but that's been shunted as there's only one story today and that's
Dafydd Elis-Thomas' announcement last night that he's left Plaid Cymru and will...
Thursday, 13 October 2016
Senedd rallies to get Wales moving
Only a third of Welsh schoolchildren get their recommended hour of physical activity a day.
Pic : Road Safety GB)
The latest backbench
members debate was on the subject of physical activity, in particular
walking and cyclin...
Tuesday, 11 October 2016
FMQs : Curious Tales, Cwmbran Hospital & Ireland
There
was a varied FMQs today, with questions ranging from the M4, average
earnings, the planning system and also a polite warning from the
Llywyd...
Monday, 10 October 2016
Assembly Committee Slams Wales Bill
(Pic : BBC Wales)
Last Thursday, the
National Assembly's Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee
published its report into the latest draft of the Wales Bill, which
is now in the unelected House of Lords (pdf...
Saturday, 8 October 2016
Plaid's Infrastructure Commission
(Pic : Plaid Cymru)
(Owen : It's funny how things turn out. I'm sure that counts as three correct predictions in a row. As for the recent controversial episode of Question Time this sums up what happens in pretty much every episode and why I don't watch political programmes. "Don't feed the trolls.")On Monday, the Shadow
Ministers...
Wednesday, 5 October 2016
Local Government Reform : Mergers Ditched
In case you were wondering, it's in reference to this.
Yesterday, Finance &
Local Government Secretary, Mark Drakeford (Lab, Cardiff West),
unveiled the Welsh Government's latest proposals for local government
refor...
Tuesday, 4 October 2016
FMQs : Breakfast, Food & Cadw Merger
Another
Tuesday, another FMQs and, as usual, there was plenty up for
discussio...
Sunday, 2 October 2016
A Polished Diamond?
(Pic : Wales Online)
A major review into
tuition fees and student finance reported back earlier this week,
authored by the Vice Chancellor of Aberdeen University, Prof. Ian
Diamond....
Friday, 30 September 2016
Senedd Watch - September 2016
Education
Secretary, Kirsty Williams (Lib Dem, Brecon & Radnor), announced
government funding for Techniquest – a science education charity
with sites in Cardiff and Wrexham – would end from 2021. Around a
third of its £3.3million annual income is from government
grants....
Thursday, 29 September 2016
AMs press for "decisive action" on Bovine TB
(Pic : The Guardian)
The issue of precisely
how to deal with Bovine tuberculosis is one of the longest-running
sagas in post-devolution Wales, and something that has become a
serious threat to the livelihoods of dairy and beef farmers, even if
they're compensated for the loss of livestoc...
Wednesday, 28 September 2016
Senedd debates draft BBC Charter
(Pic : BBC Wales)
Yesterday, the National
Assembly discussed the draft version of the BBC's new Royal Charter,
which will set out operating conditions and public service remit for
the broadcaster (and also has a knock-on impact on S4C). It comes
amidst long-standing concerns over how the BBC portrays and serves
Welsh a...
Tuesday, 27 September 2016
FMQs : Mindfulness, Tourism & Winter is Coming
Health dominated today's FMQs, with questions on plenty of other matters too.
It's going to be a busy week, with more on the Diamond Review, BBC
Draft charter and Bovine TB in the next few posts....but there wasn't
a mention of Brexit!...
Saturday, 24 September 2016
The Big Brexit To Do List
Before Brexit can happen, we need to know what needs to be done beforehand.
I'm getting as fed up
with the endless hot air surrounding Brexit as much as you probably are. This will be my final post on Brexit for the foreseeable future. I'm also considering ignoring any future statements/questions on this in the Senedd as...
Thursday, 22 September 2016
Bad Grammar?
(Pic : BBC)
There's been a lot of
discussion in the UK press over the proposed expansion of grammar schools in England and Cornwall. Judging by the initial reaction the idea isn't as popular as some people might like to think it is, but
it was inevitable it would be debated in the Sened...
Tuesday, 20 September 2016
FMQs : Refugees, Vetoes & Bloody Brexit
The weekly theatre of
Carwyn Jones' questioning by AMs rolls into town yet
agai...
Saturday, 17 September 2016
Boundary Commission Carves-Up Wales
Would you like a slice of De Clwyd a Gogledd Sir Faldwyn?
(Pic : iceandtime.net)
Earlier this week, the
Boundary Commission for Wales unveiled their draft proposals for a
reorganisation of the 40 Westminister constituencies in Wale...
Thursday, 15 September 2016
Law to replace stamp duty introduced
(Pic : policyexpert.co.uk)
The first piece of
legislation of the Fifth Assembly was introduced on Tuesday (13th
September) by Finance & Local Government Secretary, Mark
Drakeford (Lab, Cardiff West) – the snappily-titled Land
Transaction Tax & Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes Bil...
Tuesday, 13 September 2016
FMQs : Back to the Grind
Summer recess is over.
AMs have returned to take their seats in the Senedd....
Thursday, 8 September 2016
A Guide to the Welsh Third Sector
(Pic : Barnardo's)
I'm going to guess most
people reading this know what the Third Sector is as it's been in and
out of the headlines – directly and indirectly – for many years,
having become a friendlier face of private involvement in public
services and alternative to top-down state planning....
