Why we need to burst the Cardiff Bay bubble

I've yet to work out how 'elites' are democratically elected every 5 years, as our AMs are - perhaps paul davies doesnt understand the definition of 'elites'? And he'll also know its been agreed AMs wont be getting a pay rise for 5 years after 2021 - perhaps he can point me to a parliament anywhere else in the world where its elected members will be doing anything comparable?

To me it is Conservative Government, Westminster and Brexit that are the problems, all to the detriment of Wales.

The thing about bubbles is that when you are in one you don't know it. You can only recognize you were in a bubble after you escape it. ... And it's not just Cardiff Bay that is a self-reinforcing bubble. All political parties are in their bubbles by their very nature and design. Whether you belong to the Communist, Anarchist party, or anything in between, you are in an ideological bubble that maintains itself through plugging its ears and shutting down ideas and opinions that question or undermine their ideology. ... Here's a fact that no political party will want to entertain: New technology can now facilitate direct participatory democracy rendering political parties obsolete. Why choose a 'least worse' gang of politicians to make all the decisions for you when you can have a voice and vote in decisions that effect you yourself? Genuine democracy is now feasible. Are we ready for it?

No doubt Davies won't read any of the comments, cos like nigh on all politicians they want to speak at us, but as he mentions "gravytrains", Senedd costs etc shouldn't he address some of the points brought up in the below article by nation.cymru. https://nation.cymru/news/tories-promising-to-end-assembly-gravy-train-cost-taxpayers-more-than-ams-from-other-parties/

Good to see Paul Davies posting on here, good to see all sides of the debate!

Well sorry Paul I don't believe it would have been any better or would be any better now under your party, in fact it would probably be worse. I agree power needs to be spread across the country but I doubt very much that your party would be the party to accomplish it. I don't like this rhetoric about 'elites' - them and us - it's caused division across the country and anyway is abit rich coming from the party that has stood for those who are considered 'elites' for years. We really need tax raising powers if we are to tackle the issues here and once again I can't see Wales ever achieving that while there is a Tory government in Westminster. This may sound like Tory bashing and it is - Welsh communities devastated upon mine closures in the 80s and recently 10years of what seems now like unnecessary austerity after today's budget. Yes, time for change in Cardif and London but not through Tories policies.

Full marks to Paul Davies for taking the trouble to write on this site, and to Ifan and Mark for publishing the piece. And Paul is perfectly right to say "it is two decades of Labour that has failed Wales – not devolution". Spot on. But that being the case, why is it the institution that he attacked on Saturday, and not the Labour Party? Is his confidence in his own party's ability to run it properly so slight, that he'd rather close half of it down than show how it can be used properly? Labour are a Socialist, Unionist party. It will always be in their interests to keep Wales poor so they can justify their existence, and bind Wales closer to the UK. Plaid Cymru are so fatally compromised by the closeness of their relationship with Labour that no-one believes they can really turn Wales around, or have any ideas how to do so. That leaves the Tories, Gwlad and the WNP. Paul Davies's speech at the weekend indicated that the Tories would rather just sabotage the institution than use it for Wales's benefit. It's time for a sea-change in Welsh politics, but none of the legacy parties are up to the challenge.

The only way you can break the so called elites is to bring power and the economy closer to the people. Shrinking the Welsh parliament will have the opposite effect in placing too much power in the London elite. The best way would be for Wales to become have a federal system of empowered regional assemblies electing a delegates to sit in the 2nd chamber of parliament (House of the Welsh regions) at Cardiff Bay to reviews all national motions from the current 1st house with veto. A similar idea was mentioned as a reform to the Westminster system as a reform to the House of Lords. I believe it originated from Charles Kennedy when he was LD leader. In both cases it will not result in an enlarged government as it involves removing bureaucracy from the centre and devolving power to the regions of the federal system. Income tax, corporation tax, VAT etc can also be devolved to the states such as Wales, Scotland, Mercia, Anglia, and Wessex, etc. Justice and Immigration must also be devolved. I will strongly advise Paul Davis and his Tory team to careful consider these reforms if you want any hope to keep the UK together. Otherwise, once Scotland holds its independence referendum the breakaways will become rapid. We are not islands the world is becoming more connected, is why our Plaid Cymru will press for Welsh membership of the EU. But again this EU must never become centralised because we know what happened to the USSR and Yugoslavia.

It's very hard to take seriously the views of someone who wants to become part of "The Bubble", but realises that he has no chance. It's also fine to blame Labour for the woes of the Welsh NHS, but it's a bit cheap not to admit that it's his own Westminster government that isn't giving Wales the funding it desperately needs.

It is very welcome to have seen articles from all hues of the political spectrum in Wales on Nation.Cymru of late. A sign perhaps of the growing maturity of the site and of the profile of the debate about Welsh Governance. I must take issue with Paul Davies here however. He has made a very one sided pitch for votes. He would obviously like to win over socially conservative and of course right wing voters but he is being disingenuous in the manner in which he is attacking Labour. Whilst I am certainly no champion of the Labour Welsh Government who have certainly failed on a number of counts, Paul Davies' Conservatives in Wales share a rather fatal flaw with Drakeford's Labour Party. They both ascribe to a policy model that supports the centralisation of fiscal power and economic growth at London and laud the fiscal transfers to the rest of the UK. It is precisely that economic model that is doing so much harm to Wales. As the recent Welsh Governance Centre report stated "compensation for impotence." When Paul Davies and his band of Welsh Tories put Wales first and foremost and produce credible plans for proper governance and economic growth for our Cambrian Nation, then I will pay attention.