Carwyn Jones came out with an amazing attack on the performance of his own party when they were in power at Westminster on Dragon's Eye last Thursday:
He was, if he'd stopped to think before openning his mouth, talking just as much about the fact that in 2007 the Labour government in Westminster had introduced regional pay scales in the Department for Constitutional Affairs before it became the Ministry of Justice. This is a taste of the outcry that greeted the proposal:
Welsh civil servants pay crisis
Union condemns court 'pay divide'
Yet despite all the protests, Labour went ahead and implemented the plan in August 2007. The quality isn't very good, but this is a map showing how it works.
It would be laughable if it weren't so tragic. I'm sure that Carwyn Jones had completely forgotten about what his own party had done less than five years ago, for it would be hard to imagine him making such a gaffe if he had been. He just gave the unthinking, standard knee-jerk reaction that any Labour politician gives to a proposal that comes from the Tories in Westminster, completely unaware of the double standards involved.
But he has got it half right: the actions of Westminster governments are the problem, it's just that the colour of the government is irrelevant; for either way—whether under Labour before or the Tories and LibDems now—Wales loses out. Standing up for Wales doesn't just mean standing up to what the Tories are now proposing, it must also mean standing up to what Labour not only proposed, but actually implemented.
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So yes, let's welcome the fact that Carwyn is at last prepared to consider the Welsh Government taking responsibility for negotiating and setting the terms and conditions for the public sector in Wales:
Welsh government 'could take over' public sector pay
The Welsh government might look at whether it can take responsibility for the pay and conditions of public sector workers, says First Minister Carwyn Jones.
Chancellor George Osborne has announced a review into regional pay adjustments for the public sector. Mr Jones said it could result in people in Wales being paid less to do the same work as people in south-east England.
"That's not acceptable," he said. "Ultimately we may have to look at taking over pay and conditions here in Wales. It's not as easy as it sounds. There are real issues in terms of how that's done. But if we're forced into that situation, better that than have people's pay cut by the UK government in London."
Regional pay was "code for cutting pay in Wales", he said.
But why leave it until "ultimately"? Isn't the writing on the wall clear enough? The Tories will do it, and will justify it by pointing to the fact that they are only doing what Labour did. Carwyn is just showing the same old passivity that has become his hallmark. Wake up, smell the coffee, and start pressing for public sector pay and conditions to be devolved to Wales now.
3 comments:
Will BBC Wales pick up on this or allow Labour to re-write history and bore us to death with their anti-Tory racism.
Labour doesn't have a plan nor a vision - it's embarrassingly obvious. Unfortunately, we're stuck with them for five years. Five crucial years. Wasted.
The devolution model we now have is one where the pain is devolved, but not the power.
I suspect the Tories are in favour of devolving more pain, whilst retaining the power at Westminster.
The Scots have finally woken up to that fact. Hopefully enough of them will place their cross in the right box in the referendum, so that their Parliament and Government will have all the powers they need.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=613235070
Leanne Wood to stand for Plaid Leader.
I think all the likely candidates have now declared themselves.
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