Drinking in the Last Chance Saloon

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There's still time to get out and vote before the polling booths close ... and then to reward yourself with a pint in your local hostelry.

     
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Posted by MH at 21:25

6 comments:

Cibwr said...

Too late now, lets hope for good news tomorrow...

3 March 2011 at 22:00
Anonymous said...

Is there an exit poll tonight?

3 March 2011 at 22:09
Lyndon said...

I think the Beeb is too stingy to cough up for one just for the Taffs, the licence payers aren't interested y'know.

3 March 2011 at 22:12
MH said...

Well, it's over! Nothing any of us can do about it now.

I'm sticking with 65% to 35% with a turnout of 38%. As the polls have closed, I think I can say that I had heard talk that the postal votes that had come in over the last week or so were running at about that percentage. I don't think there's anything to be worried about. It's a large margin and there's room to be wrong.

But whatever the turnout and whatever the margin of victory, we know full well that the No campaigners are going to say it wasn't enough. It could never be enough to satisfy them. And equally, I think we'll find that the "reluctant Yes campaigners" will say that the mandate isn't emphatic enough to justify any further devolution.

But I think the main reason for a low turnout is simply because of the vote being on a narrow technical issue which was hard for many to understand, and which could never arouse any degree of passion. We've only had this referendum because Labour MPs wanted to put an obstacle in the way of further devolution. Now that obstacle has been cleared, we can move on.

If we've learned anything, it's that we should only have referendums for important constitutional changes, not more minor issues. That's the whole point of representative democracy.

3 March 2011 at 22:18
Cibwr said...

I would agree, it should only be on important and significant constitutional issues. The blame for the turn out lies with True Wales and Peter Hain - a Labour tribalist to the core...

Just look what he has on his website on the referendum...

Vital to get a YES vote on March 3rd
20 February 2011
Voting YES on March 3rd means voting to protect Wales from right-wing dogma; voting NO means inviting even more of it to be dumped upon Wales by Westminster.

That’s why I am proud to have been the Labour Secretary of State for Wales who legislated in 2006, with the active support of all Welsh Labour MPs, to enable more powers to be devolved to the Assembly – make no mistake, we wouldn’t be having a referendum if it was up to the Tories.

Tories the anti-devolution, anti-Wales Party. Plaid Cymru the anti-English, anti-British party. Lib-Dems – the ‘God-only-knows-what-they-are-anymore’ Party. Labour the pro-devolution, pro-Britain, pro European Party – the real Party of Wales.

3 March 2011 at 22:31
Alwyn ap Huw said...

If we lose by one vote it's all your fault!

The polling station was next door to the pub in your picture.

You tempted me down to the village, and I remembered that that picture was on a good Welsh blog, so having one pint was patriotic; but one went to two, and two went to three – and then the polling station had closed!

I crawled home in distress, full of contrition; apologising to my wife and children for having betrayed Wales for a pint!

Then the wife reminded me we had voted Yes by post 2 weeks ago – so it all ended happily ever after!

4 March 2011 at 02:17

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