Labour leadership lost

Plaid Cymru must show that they can do this to take the whole of Wales into an optimistic future. It is happening in the rest of the UK, the old liberals with other progressives have transformed themselves into the Liberal Democrats and have recently won 4 by-elections in England by large swings. They have an inclusive reforming package including real political reform and transformation to an egalitarian form of capitalism where all people can all have shares and the associated dividends. Plaid Cymru needs to take this as an inspiration as it quest id building an independent Wales as an open liberal democracy. Leave behind the older Lenin model of socialism and party families - that failed ! The USSR is no more.

The hour long flagship UK political programme, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg didn't mention the Labour leadership result. Too much to ask of the BBC I suppose with Hunt's budget and Hester's donations to cover and the programme having to devote over a quarter of an hour to the abusive treatment experienced by an aristocrat in the public school he attended fifty years ago. We were told an extended version of him being interviewed on the experiences he describes in his book is available on BBC iPlayer.

This article is about as tired as the Welsh Labour brand it seeks to critique. "Wales needs a new party, a new movement". Who will this be? By implication, it's surely not Plaid. A party that lost a seat in Bridgend recently because it couldn't find a candidate and has been riven with misogyny, bullying and sexual harassment. We may need a new party, but it won't be one that sees itself as Labour's little helper content to tolerate dreadful public services because devolution equals nationhood no matter how bad things are. And, of course, supports the worst kind of electoral reform imaginable. As for the hilarious, cliche-ridden conclusion, it predictably ends with the one billionth quote of Dylan Thomas: "Do not go gentle into that good night". An article that calls for bold ideas once again returns to the industrial revolution and the founding of the NHS in 1948. Gwyn Alf Williams nailed this mythical nostalgia back in 1985 as a "Celebration of an Historic Past which seems rarely to be brought to bear on vulgarly contemporary problems except in terms of a merely rhetorical style which absolves its fortunate possessors of the necessity of thought" How about some new thinking - harnessing the power of AI, a shorter working week, sorting out social care, reforming the Welsh public sector, and real devolution to local communities? Most of all, tackling the non-existent public sphere, where Welsh government ministers are completely unrestrained by any form of accountability and backed by a fawning Cardiff Bay lobby made up of painfully average politicians, a national broadcaster who would put Pravda to shame, failed special advisors and third sector journeymen. The women of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru have done more to hold Welsh Labour to account than any Senedd opposition party. Why should people see independence as the promised land when a self-serving elite has hijacked devolution and is, by any delivery or performance standard, an abject failure? Wales needs a Government that is concerned with the here and now. If it does nothing else, it focuses on education, economy and the NHS. No more commissions led by Cardiff Bay's favourite academics; stop blaming Westminster for all our ills. Stick to the knitting and deliver.

People need to quit sniping a Plaid from the sidelines. Roll up your sleeves, wade in and get your hands dirty. Make Plaid the Party Wales Needs. I'm in Plaid purely because I want to build a Democratic and prosperous Welsh State. Unless we organise and act at the ballot box, nothing will change. Criticism where it is merited with the purpose of making progress is very much needed. But I see irrational and personal umbrage. We need to grow up politically speaking. ALL progressives who believe in Welsh Democratic Statehood, who are laser-focused on building prosperity and equality, BELONG IN PLAID. Anything else is a waste. Get Plaid fit for government, get Plaid in government and THEN we have our mandate. I'm sick of the divisions. We're miles off winning our Statehood precisely because we are like rats in a sack.

You are certainly right that Labour has become complacent and self-serving. Recently, I wrote to the Education Minister with concerns about the funding of education in north Wales. I received justification for their unfair funding of local government and an avoidance of the questions I asked. I also wrote to the 4 Aelodau Senedd for north Wales about the issue. I received very helpful replies from Plaid Cymru and the Tories, but not so much as an acknowledgement from the Labour AS. Sadly, Labour have been in power for so long, they have become complacent and even contemptuous towards people with concerns. I have often voted for Labour in the past. How can I now, when they treated me with such contempt? Wales deserves better than this.

Wow. Great article and couldnt agree more

Politics on the UK is old and tired, needs freshening up, a kick up the arse. To many it appears there is only division and self-serving greed on offer at the moment. The only way to change things in Cymru is to work together, all the little progressive fractions (and even some liberal leaning Welsh conservatives, the door must be open for everyone)putting aside their differences for the sake of the country. Building a creditable, trusted organisation/party which will be believed by the public as a solid alternative to labour. Plaid could be that vehicle, after all it has an electoral base already, but it would have to be reformed and rebranded. When the public see we've put aside our differences they'll back us. If there is anywhere in the UK this could happen, it's here in Cymru, we, as a people, have what it takes.