"The arms that you wield now are not such as your forefathers wielded; but they are infinitely more effective, and infinitely more irresistable" ~ Cymru Fydd leaflet, 1890

Tuesday 5 May 2015

If you're still undecided

I don't know about you but for me the most important thing for an MP representing a Welsh constituency to do is to actually turn up at their place of work when they are discussing Wales in order to vote on matters concerning Wales and the people of Wales.

I used the website theyworkforyou.com in order to look at the three MPs in the Plaid Cymru target seats of Llanelli, Ynys Môn and Ceredigion. I've then looked at the three MPs who held seats for Plaid Cymru at the last election in order to see what the difference was.

The difference is stark - Click to enlarge
The Labour MPs of Llanelli and Ynys Môn are very similar, both voted against devolving energy and The Crown Estate, both voted for tax raising powers and apart from one other vote that Nia could be bothered to turn up for they both decided they had better things to do for the vast majority. Let's remember that these two had no problems turning up to vote through Tory austerity cuts or the Tory welfare cap.

The Lib Dem MP of Ceredigion voted for a number of bills but also voted against a number of them too. Unlike his Labour friends he missed four bills as opposed to Nia's eight and Albert's nine. He appears to want some things devolved but despite the Liberal's claiming to be federalists he was clearly keen to keep his Tory coalition partners happy. In the end, despite their claims the Liberals have always chosen London over Wales. Just ask T E Ellis or Lloyd George.

Then we come to the Plaid Cymru trio representing Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Arfon, and Carmarthen East and Dinefwr. All three missed only one or two of the least important issues but voted in favour of all the rest. These bills could have given Wales powers over water, energy generation and the assets of The Crown Estate so that Wales and its people benefit from our natural resources instead of having them stolen from us and, in many cases, sold back to us at a profit and higher rate than across the border. Air Passenger Duty powers are something the Labour run Welsh Government is keen to have so it can help boost Cardiff Airport which is now owned by us, the people of Wales.

It's worth noting that Air Passenger Duty is devolved to one of the three devolved nations. I'll give you a clue as to which one, it's the one that doesn't share a border with England.


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Updated table to show the Labour held seats of Llanelli, Ynys Mon and the Liberal held seat of Ceredigion. Also as a...
Posted by Welsh not British on Tuesday, 5 May 2015

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