Well we got through the big day yesterday, went down quite late to vote and cause a bit of a sensation. Turn out had been low so three people arriving together counted as a "surge" as far as the electoral officer was concerned.
I am rewriting this post as it struck me, after I posted that half the world might not have the blindest idea what I was on about. For a very long time people have been campaigning for greater autonomy in the "principality" of Wales. This dates back to the 50's but key dates have been referendums in 1979 which voted no and one in 1997 which voted yes but by a whisker.
I have always been part of the campaign for greater power to Wales and it was odd to think that I had been campaigning at her age for what Bethan was voting on yesterday.
The clever bit of the campaign has been the no vote, people "real Wales" it was clear at the beginning they were unlikely to win it so they did not register a campaign which meant that the government sponsored TV ads and posters and broadcasts the yes campaign should have been able to screen were not allowed to go ahead.
I think they rightly worked out that a full on campaign would have increased turnout and they would have got an ever bigger drubbing than the one they collected. Lets remind ourselves voters voted nearly 2 - 1 for increased powers.
Now of course you have the likes of UKIP saying that the 70 percent who did not vote were all no voters. Really? It had been on the news all along that there was likely to be a comfortable majority voting yes. So people really were that keen they would have made a point of getting out to vote no.
If anything the low turnout might be indicative of people thickening it's in the bag anyway.
But anyway, we are at the stage where we have won, Wales gets to make it's own law in many areas.
The white paper on social care is a completely different animal to the English plans and the NHS will not be recognisable to English people in a couple of years.
I think we must give thanks to Cameron and Clegg too, people are so fed up of the coalition there was an element not so much as sticking 2 fingers up to Westminster as dropping their jeans and mooning at them too....
R
I am rewriting this post as it struck me, after I posted that half the world might not have the blindest idea what I was on about. For a very long time people have been campaigning for greater autonomy in the "principality" of Wales. This dates back to the 50's but key dates have been referendums in 1979 which voted no and one in 1997 which voted yes but by a whisker.
I have always been part of the campaign for greater power to Wales and it was odd to think that I had been campaigning at her age for what Bethan was voting on yesterday.
The clever bit of the campaign has been the no vote, people "real Wales" it was clear at the beginning they were unlikely to win it so they did not register a campaign which meant that the government sponsored TV ads and posters and broadcasts the yes campaign should have been able to screen were not allowed to go ahead.
I think they rightly worked out that a full on campaign would have increased turnout and they would have got an ever bigger drubbing than the one they collected. Lets remind ourselves voters voted nearly 2 - 1 for increased powers.
Now of course you have the likes of UKIP saying that the 70 percent who did not vote were all no voters. Really? It had been on the news all along that there was likely to be a comfortable majority voting yes. So people really were that keen they would have made a point of getting out to vote no.
If anything the low turnout might be indicative of people thickening it's in the bag anyway.
But anyway, we are at the stage where we have won, Wales gets to make it's own law in many areas.
The white paper on social care is a completely different animal to the English plans and the NHS will not be recognisable to English people in a couple of years.
I think we must give thanks to Cameron and Clegg too, people are so fed up of the coalition there was an element not so much as sticking 2 fingers up to Westminster as dropping their jeans and mooning at them too....
R
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3 comments:
Thats it, go on, desert the sinking ship!
What's the house prices like in Wales???? it could be nearer worcester!
There is a level where people should go back to the general election and look at what they voted for and look at what they are getting.
if there is a big gap between the two it's time to go chat to your MP.
Take bricks and sticks in case they are hard of hearing.
That presupposes you don't live in a tory heartland where if they put up a perfoming chimp they'd still get in. Congratualations on the result of the vote. Definetly long overdue.
K
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