Making UKIP unelectable in Wales? Tick.New MEP’s Welsh faux pas
WITH the UK Independence Party meeting for its annual conference in Southport this weekend, we’ve had our first insight into the thinking of our new MEP, John Bufton.
You could be forgiven for wishing he had stayed quiet.
Confidently predicting that Ukip would win seats in the National Assembly at the next general election, he described it as “a system of regionalisation forced upon us by Brussels”.
Right you are, then – the Assembly was forced on us by evil foreigners, rather than, say, being voted for in a referendum.
Paranoid? Tick.
“The ‘yes’ vote won with the narrowest of majorities. Only one in four people actually voted for the Welsh Assembly.
“What kind of a mandate is that?”
Well, it depends. It’s certainly a much bigger mandate than that of, say, John Bufton, who gained 12.8% of the vote in this year’s election on a 30.4% turnout.
Hypocritical? Tick.
He opposed the building of three new Assembly Government offices in Merthyr Tydfil, Aberystwyth and Llandudno Junction, describing them as “mini parliaments”.
They’re not mini parliaments – they’re civil service offices, built to decentralise government work from Cardiff. Mr Bufton shows he doesn’t know the difference between the National Assembly and the Assembly Government.
Uninformed? Tick.
Given that one of Ukip’s two councillors in Wales is still under investigation for allegedly posting inappropriate messages on web forums, it’s not been the brightest of starts for the party’s push into Wales.
Like I said yesterday (and several times before), UKIP's devolution policy is out of step with public opinion and is costing us votes. Devolution was brought to Wales following a referendum in which only 25% of the population bothered to vote and only 51% of them voted for it. It was, however, a binding national referendum and the majority voted for devolution. The referendum in 1997 might not have been an overwhelming vote for Welsh home rule but contesting the next election in Wales on a policy of abolishing it will be a referendum on UKIP's devolution policy.
wonkotsane is an author at Bloggers4UKIP.
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7 comments:
I think you're missing the point. The Welsh Assembly is only a form of regional government from Brussels. Once more people realise this, they will also start to understand that what they need is proper local democracy - not regional government from the EU masquerading as devolution of power. THEN they will want to abolish it and return to locally elected representatives having responsibility for local decision making.
No, you're wrong. Wales is a euroregion but it's also a nation. The EU didn't impose the Welsh Assembly as regional government, it was a British government initiative allowed by the European Empire because it fits in with their euroregions but it wasn't down to them. There was a referendum on Welsh devolution back in 1979 way before the European Empire started trying to impose regional government in the UK.
What the Welsh people want is a devolved Welsh government with Welsh politicians elected by Welsh people to run Welsh domestic affairs. The Welsh government has already decentralised a damn sight more than the British government has. It's not a case of convincing them they want something else because you and a few other UKIPpers don't agree with that, it's a case of you accepting the fact that what you want and what most of the population wants are two different things. Isn't that what we keep telling the LibLabCon?
What the Welsh people want (I assume) is to be able to get rid of whoever is representing them if they don't like the decisions they're making. Because of EU regionalisation, far too many decisions are handed down from Brussels, curtailing the local decision making process, especially planning. I don't really care what it is called. It can be called an Assembly, a local government council or a state. What matters is what it can achieve for the local people. I think by opening the debate, John Bufton will be able to get this point across.
What the Welsh people want (I assume) is to be able to get rid of whoever is representing them if they don't like the decisions they're making.
I think your assumption is correct and what an excellent advertisement for devolution you've put across. The Welsh can't vote out Gordon Brown, the same as us, but then Gordon Brown and the rest of the British government is only responsible for about a quarter of legislation in Wales that doesn't originate in the European Empire so it doesn't matter so much because domestic affairs are handled by a government they can vote out if they want to. Not like in England where 100% of non-EU legislation originates from Gordon Brown and his British government who we can't vote out.
The EU will continue to hand down directives whether devolution happens or not. The Welsh Assembly is a directly elected devolved government, don't confuse it with unelected EU regional quangos imposed on England by the British government.
I have to politely disagree with you on this one as I think UKIP are leading on this issue. I know you are pushing for an English Parliament but just because there are Scottish and Welsh Parliaments stuffed with arseholes that ruin our lives, doesn't mean that we have to copy them.
UKIP are better than that and the solution they propose is simple, elegant and fair to the whole of the UK without costing an arm and a leg. It also stops another empire building exercise from taking hold. We need less politicians and bureaucrats not more.
A lot of support for the Scottish Parliament is a media perpetuated myth, you only have to ask most Scots what they think really about it.
I agree totally with ukipwebmaster. Devolved Government has been created as a divisive tool. England would always win any vote on the future of Britain, if the vote was done on a National basis. The EU wishes to ensure that the other three Nations can in effect opt to stay with the EU as separate entities.
Wontotsane, your obsession with an English Parliament blinds you to this reality.
Wonko's views are more in tune with that of the ordinary voter. I think all English nationalists should coalesce around one party - a new one probably. Called ENP perhaps? Wonko's language is more down to earth than the flowery language UKIPers employ when talking about devolution.
p.s. Andreason's resignation worries me a lot....
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