Archive for June, 2008
26th June 2008
Digalondid Llafur
Mae ysbryd Aelodau Seneddol Llafur – o leiaf y rhai o Loegr sydd yn fodlon bod yn agored gyda fi – yn isel iawn. Mae rhai yn rhagweld y Blaid Lafur yn parhau ar 25% neu lai yn yr arolygon barn. Go brin, medde nhw, y bydd modd dod nôl wedyn o’r ymyl. Mae Frank Field, y ddraenen wnaeth dynnu gwaed dros y dreth 10 ceiniog, yn proffwydo dirywiad terfynol y blaid, ac yntau yn gwneud cymhariaethau gyda cwymp y Blaid Ryddfrydol wedi’r Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf.
Y tro diwethaf taflwyd y Blaid Lafur i’r anialwch gwleidyddol roedd yna dri math o ymateb gan eu haelodau blaenllaw: gadael (i ymuno a’r SDP), ymladd yn fewnol (yn erbyn Militant) neu cymreigio (a chefnogi datganoli). Ond nawr mae datganoli wedi digwydd mae senario newydd yn cynnig ei hun: Llafur allan o rym yn Lloegr ond mewn grym yng Nghymru diolch i genedlaetholdeb Cymreig. Yr ymtaeb mywaf synhwyrol fyddai croesawu bendithion y ddimensiwn cenedlaethol a datgan annibynniaeth fel Plaid Lafur Gymreig (yn debyg i’r Blaid Sosialaidd yng Nghatalunya neu’r SDLP yng ngogledd Iwerddon) ac ethol aelod o adain ‘cenedlaethol’y Blaid Lafur yn arweinydd. O dan y fath senario mae’n bosib gweld Cymru’n Un yn troi yn Cymru’n Un Dau a’r glymblaid yn arwain am genhedlaeth.
Mae’r opsiwn arall ond yn rhy amlwg – adain Unolaethol y Blaid yn glynu at y ffantasi o ail-gipio grym yn Llundain (fel rhyw fath o Duduriaid modern), yn ethol gwrth-genedlaetholwr i’w harwain a chytundeb Cymru’n Un yn cael ei hadnabod mewn hanes Cymreig fel rhyw fath o gytundeb Molotov-Ribbentrop wnaeth ond gohirio’r frwydr anochel rhwng gelynion pennaf.
Wrth fynd yn ddiobaith ac wrth geisio dal eu gafael ar rym mae pleidiau weithiau yn ffyrnigo. Felly yn y Rhondda yn 2004, felly yng Nghastell Nedd eleni. Yng Nghwmgwrach fe deanwyd celwyddau am gyngorhwyr cymuned Plaid Cymru yn dwyn arian. Bygythiwyd Carolyn Edwards, cynghorydd Sir egniol ac effeithiol y Blaid yn lleol, yn ei chartref ac ar y stryd. Mae Peter Hain wedi annog y Blaid Lafur i fabwysiadu tactegau ymgyrchol ymosodol. Llafur Cymru, wrth gwrs, oedd ar fai am drafferthion diweddar Llafur – nid fe na Gordon Brown, yn yr un modd nad Tony Blair na fe, fel y trefnydd ymgyrch, oedd yn gyfrifol am gyflafan 1999. Rhowch eich ffydd yn rhain, cymrodyr Llafur, a byddwch marw.
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The spirit of Labour MPs – at least the ones from England prepared to talk to me – is very low. Some foresee the Labour Party continuing on 25% or less in the opinion polls. There is hardly any way of coming back from the fringes, they say.
Frank Field, the thorn which drew blood over the 10 pence tax, predicts the Party’s terminal degeneration, making comparisons with the fall of the Liberal Party after the First World War.
The last time the Labour Party was thrown into the political wilderness, its prominent members had three kinds of responses: leave (to join the SDP), fight internally (against Militant) or become Welsh (and support devolution).
But now that devolution has happened there is a new scenario on offer: Labour out of power in England but in power in Wales thanks to Welsh nationalism.
The most sensible response would be to welcome the blessings of the national dimension and declare independence as the Welsh Labour Party (similar to the Socialist Party in Catalonia or the SDLP in Northern Ireland) and elect a member from the ‘national’ wing of the Labour Party as leader. Under such a scenario it’s possible to see One Wales turning into One Wales 2 and the coalition leading for a generation.
The other option is all too obvious – the Party’s Unionist wing clinging to the fantasy of regaining power in London (like some kind of modern Tudorists), electing an anti-nationalist to lead them and One Wales becoming known historically as some kind of Molotov-Ribbentrop pact which only delayed the inevitable struggle between major enemies.
By becoming desperate and by trying to hold onto power parties sometimes go mad. So it was in the Rhondda in 2004, so it was in Neath this year. In Cwmgwrach lies were spread about Plaid Cymru community councillors stealing money. Carolyn Edwards, the Party’s energetic and effective county councillor, was threatened in her home and on the street.
Peter Hain has urged the Labour Party to adopt confrontational campaign tactics. Welsh Labour, of course, was to blame for Labour’s recent troubles – not him or Gordon Brown. In the same way, neither he nor Tony Blair, as the campaign manager, were responsible for the 1999 massacre. Put your faith in these, Labour comrades, and you will die.
Go West
Just asked a question about Wales at “innovation, universities and skills” questions in Parliament which always confuses the Minister. But IUS as far as Wales is concerned is only partially devolved. I asked the Minister about the ’science gap’ in the UK with Wales having, per capita, less than half the number of scientists and engineers wworking in world-class university departments as England and less than a third of the comparable figure for Scotland. I didn’t get much of a reply but it’s vitally important we keep the pressure up as Wales gets a raw deal from the Government on Research Council funding, Government Research Establishment work, direct Government-funded R&D and much else besides. This has a huge knock-on effect on our economic performance as study after study has shown.
Where we are doing better is collaborative research with industry. Swansea University is powering ahead and was recently ranked third among all UK universities for private sector research income driven in large part by its world class Institute for Life Sciences. The exciting proposal for a new business-facing ‘innovation campus’ offers a great opportunity for Wales to create the National Science Academy envisaged in the One Wales Agreement. The university is already thinking of a formal link-up with Bangor University so Wales could follow the Danish Technological Institutes’s model of a twin-campus Academy with a base in the north and a base in the south. Though, for me, West is Best and the Academy has to be based in Carmarthenshire at Llanelli’s Delta Lakes development. Imagine the transformational effect this could have on the economy of this part of Wales.
19th June 2008
Y Gemau I Bawb (Colfon Golwg)
Llundeindod? Llundeinigrwydd? Llundeindra? Mae angen gair Cymraeg ar gyfer London-centricity, nid dim ond ar gyfer y BBC – sydd yn dioddef yn enbyd o hynny yn ôl eu ymgynghorwyr eu hunain – ond hefyd er mwyn disgrifio’r gofeb fwayf gostus erioed i eilun-addoli metropolitanaidd sydd yn dwyn y teitl London 2012. Mae’r Llywodraeth yn honni bod hyn yn annheg gan ddadlau y bydd yn gyfle i Brydain benbaladr gan na fydd y cystadleuaethau ddim yn Llundain i gyd p’run bynnag. Wel, ie, mae’r rhwyfo yng nghanolfan Coleg Eton, mae’r canwio ar yr Afon Lee a’r hwylio yn Weymouth. Ond go brin bod Berkshire, Swydd Hertford a Dorset yn cynrychioli balans daearyddol. Fe fydd yna gemau pel-droed yn Stadiwm y Mileniwm, Hampden Park ac ati, digon teg – ond eto yn Wembley fydd y gemau pwysig i gyd. Pa well symbol o gyfoeth a grym anwastad y Deyrnas Anghyfunol hon na’r ffaith na fydd na’r un podiwm tu fas i Ddeheudir Lloegr?
Mae’r Llywodraeth yn eu tro yn rhoi’r bai ar y Pwyllgor Olympaidd Rhynglawdol (yr IOC). Ac, ie, mae’r bobl pwysig hynny – unai allan o gyfleustra i’r athletwyr neu iddyn nhw eu hunain, duw a wyr - yn ewyllysio cynnal cymaint o’r gemau a sydd yn bosibl o fewn y brif ddinas. Ac eto, ble cynhelir cystadleuaethau marchogaeth Beijing ond yn Hong Kong sydd hanner cyfandir i ffwrdd - sef 1222 o filltiroedd i’r De-orllewin. Yn wir, pan gynhaliwyd y Gemau yn Los Angeles ym 1984 – y Gemau mwyaf llwyddiannus yn ariannol erioed – taenwyd y digwyddiadau dros dair talaith, naw sir a 27 dinas. Dywedodd un o drefnwyr y Gemau hynny wrtha i yn ddiweddar y byddai modd i drefnwyr Gemau Llundain fod yr un mor hy gyda’r IOC. Ar ol cael eich dewis yn gartref i’r gemau, meddai, does dim llawer y gallen nhw wneud.
Dydi hi ddim yn rhy hwyr felly i’r Llywodraeth Brydeining wneud y Gemau yn Gemau i bawb, a phob rhan o Brydain. Fe gafodd Weald Country Park yn Essex ei ddewis yn 2006 fel lleoliad ar gyfer y gystadleuaeth beicio mynydd ond mae’r ffederasiwn seiclo rhyngwladol ers hynny wedi mynegi amheuon. Yn fras, sut ellwch chi gael beicio mynydd heb fynyddoedd? Mae ateb amlwg i’r dilema i’r gorllewin ym Mharc Margam, un o’r cyrsiau beicio traws-gwlad gorau yn y byd. Ni ddylid gadael i ragfarnau Llundeinig y Pwyllgor Olympaidd Prydeinig na’r Llywodraeth benderfynu ar hyn. Os ydi’n harian ni yn ddigon da iddyn nhw, mae hawl ganddo ni i weld yr aur a’r efydd hefyd, ynghyd a gweld prydferthwch Cymru yn disgleirio ar lwyfan byd.
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London-centricity is something which is becoming more and more apparent within the United Kindgom today. Not only does the BBC suffer from it (as was confirmed by its own advisors in a recent report), but it also aptly describes the most expensive monument ever built to idol-worship a capital city - London 2012. The UK Government argues that this is an unfair view to take, and that every corner of Britain will benefit from the games as not every competition will be held in London. That’s true enough. Rowing will take place at Eton College, canooing will take place on the River Lee and there will be sailing at Weymouth. However, I don’t think Berkshire, Hertford and Dorset are representative of a geographical balance. We will also see football matches being played at the Millenium Stadium, Hampden Park and so on, but all the important games will be played at Wembley. What better symbol of the wealth and the unbalanced power of this Disunited Kindgdom than the fact that there will be no podium outside of England during the Games?
The Government blames the International Olympics Committee for this fact. And, yes, these important people - either out of convenience for the athletes or for themselves, god knows - wish to hold as much of the Games as possible within the capital city. But yet, where are the horse-riding competitions in Beijing being held but in Hong Kong, which is half a continent away - 1222 miles to the South-West to be precise. Indeed, when the Games were held in Los Angeles in 1984 - the most financially successful games ever held - the events were spread over three states, nine counties and twenty-seven cities. One of the organisers of those Games told me recently that the organisers of the Games in London could be just as bold with the IOC. Indeed, he told me that after you have been selected as a home for the Games, there’s not much they can do about the arrangements.
Its, therefore, not too late for the British Government to make the Games an event for all, and every part of Britain. Weald Country Park in Essex was selected in 2006 as the location for the mountain biking competition, but the International Cycling Federation has expressed doubts about its suitability since then. After all, how can you have mountain biking without mountains? There’s an obvious solution to this dilemma if we look to the West - Margam Park, one of the best cross-country biking courses in the world. We shouldn’t let the London biases of the British Olympics Committee or the Government decide on this matter. Surely, if our money is good enough to be spent by them on the Games, then we should also have the right to reap some financial benefits as well as seeing the beauty of Wales taking a deserved prominent place on the world stage.
Angen mudiad newydd o fewn y Blaid (Colofn Golwg)
Siom yn hytrach na sioc oedd darllen mai dim ond chwarter o gefnogwyr Plaid Cymru wnaeth enwi annibyniaeth fel eu dyhead i Gymru. Dyw’r Blaid ddim wedi cenhadu ar fater hunanlywodraeth ers bron i genhedlaeth. Yn wir, dim ond ers pum mlynedd mae’r Blaid wedi arddel y term ‘annibyniaeth’ o gwbl. Mae hyn yn adlewyrchu natur ansicr cenedligrwydd Cymreig. Serch hynny, credaf mai arwain nid dilyn ydi priod waith cenedlaetholwyr.
Yn hyn o beth mae angen newid ‘cenhedlaethol’ o fewn y mudiad cenedlaethol. Mae’r to ifanc o aelodau’r Blaid – pawb dweder o dan 45 – yn credu mewn annibyniaeth yn glir ac yn groyw. Mae angen mudiad o fewn y mudiad nawr i greu rhagor o genedlaetholwyr darbwylliedig ar lawr gwlad. Mae arweinyddiaeth presennol y Blaid yn amheus o ddoethineb codi’r cwestiwn o annibyniaeth yng nghyd-destun etholiad, yn enwedig gydag ymgyrch refferendwm ar y gorwel. Ond o beidio diffinio ein nod tymor hir ein hunain – a chyflwyno dadleuon drosti – yr ydym yn gadael i’n gwrth-wynebwyr ei ddiffinio ar ein rhan.
Mae’r dadleuon sydd gennym ni yn rhai cryfion. Efallai bod Cymru ar waelod y tabl perfformiad economaidd o fewn y DU, ond fe fyddai pethe yn gwbl wahanol pe byddai Cymru yn rhydd. Mae ffigurau’r IMF ar GDP y pen yn dangos bod gan bedwar mas o’r pum gwlad cyfoethocaf yn y byd gyda poblogaethau o lai na phum miliwn. Ac mae mynegai cystadleurwydd y World Economic Forum yn dangos bod pump mas o’r saith wlad mwyaf llwyddiannus yn wledydd gyda llai na deg miliwn.
Yn wir, mae llwyddiant gwledydd bach annibynnol yn ymestyn tu hwnt i’r economi. Mae’r Mynegai Datblygiad Dynol sydd yn cynnwys pethau fel hyd bywyd ac addysg ond yn cynnwys un gwlad fawr, sef Siapan. Mae’r Mynegai Heddwch Byd-eang yn mesur pethau fel llofruddiaethau a phoblogaeth carchar ayyb. Y wlad mwyaf heddychlon ydi Norwy, ac mae wyth mas o’r deg uchaf yn wledydd bychain.
‘Roedd maint, ar un adeg, yn bwysig er mwyn sicrhau mynediad i farchnad fawr a’r lluoedd arfog i’w gwarchod. Ond y dyddie hyn mae gwledydd bach, o Singapore i’r Swisdir, yn gallu masnachu yn fyd-eang, ac mae Lwcsembwrg yr un mor ddiogel ag unrhyw aelod arall o NATO, ac Iwerddon yr un fath sydd ddim yn aelod o gwbl. Ym 1945, 45 o aelodau oedd yn rhan o’r Cenhedloedd Unedig. Erbyn hyn mae yna 192. A fydd Cymru yno cyn y 200ganfed? Mae e i fyny i chi. Yn llythrennol.
18th June 2008
power to power
Just spent my day debating energy with Welsh MPs in the rather self-admiringly termed Welsh Grand Committee. I said there were three salient points to make about Wales place in the great global energy debate. First, of all, we are a net exporter of electricity to England and have been (at least) since Gwynfor Evans was asking questions of the CEGB back in the 60s. We currently produce 8.8% of the UK’s electricity and will start exporting to Ireland in 2012 when the new inter-connector is completed. Even the decommissioning of Wylfa’s twin turbine 980MW reactor will not dent Wales energy export success as five new power stations with a total generating capacity of well over 4000 MW are due to come on stream.
The second point is that we have vast potential for renewables. We are, as Paul Allen of the Centre for Alternative Technology has said, the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy. We can boast the world’s largest biomass plant and soon the world’s largest energy wave converter off the coast of Milfor Haven. We are still well placed to create the world’s first tidal lagoon. And, yes, (though personally I have my doubts) there is the Severn Barrage. Add to this the significant potential of offshore-wind and genuine clean coal technologies like underground coal gasification and coal bed methane with in situ carbon capture and storage, then Wales looks as if it’s won the natural lottery.
My third point, was that energy policy in Wales is sadly not dictated by the needs of Wales but the needs of England. Power stations are being built to plug the English power generation gap rather than as part of a sustainable energy policy for Wales. It’s great to see Wales developing a successful energy sector and we could turn Wales into a renewable energy exporter like Denmark. But why didn’t the planning consents for these new power stations insist that their waste heat - in the case of RWEs Pembroke mega-plant, equivalent to half Wales entire electricity output - was used to heat local homes through combined-heat-and power systems. This is largely because the decision was made in London and was more about powering-up the UK grid than meeting Welsh demand. That has to change if we are to move Wales forward.