The Welsh Government

Cymru X submitted a motion to this year's Plaid Cymru Conference, calling for the party to refer to the administration in Wales as the Welsh Government in all of its communications. The term 'Welsh Assembly Government' is unnecessary and causes confusion amongst the public who will equate the legislative and administrative arm of devolution with the National Assembly itself. This might seem like a minor issue, but in the past it has had a steady political effect on election results, with Plaid doing badly when people thought the Assembly as a whole was to blame for a bad administration (with the early devolution settlement not being a help there either). The WAG term also relegates the Welsh Government to being a lesser beast than the UK Government. While this might be true in terms of powers, it holds back aspiration and the confidence of the people of Wales in their own government.

While not calling for a formal rebranding of the Government during a time of economic recession, it is obvious that people in Wales will generally refer to their government as the Welsh Government, and when they talk about the Assembly they will be talking about the institution at the Senedd composed of 60 Assembly Members of varying parties. The distinction between the two is important to furthering a public understanding of how devolution works.

Our motion was not included in the end, perhaps understandably because it is not the most pressing issue for Plaid Cymru to be addressing, and in any case our Assembly Members, MPs and supporters routinely use the term Welsh Government, emphasising that since Plaid Cymru has entered government we have had a genuinely and independently Welsh administration for the first time since antiquity. We should be proud of this and should not have to muddle things up by talking about a second class 'Assembly Government' as if they cannot ever do the same job as Westminster. It's not as if the UK Government calls itself the 'British Parliamentary Government' is it?!

Nonetheless, it is positive that the new Annual Report by the National Assembly recognises this distinction and refers only to the Welsh Government. It shows that Cymru X is on the ball on this. The report itself also makes interesting reading and Cymru X is particularly pleased with the moves the Assembly has made to accommodate young people in Welsh democracy. You can read the report here:

http://www.cynulliadcymru.org/abthome/abt-nafw/abt-commission/annual-report-2008-2009.htm

http://www.assemblywales.org/abthome/abt-nafw/abt-commission/annual-report-2008-2009.htm

Team GB own goal

by Luke James

It’s summer 2012; Wales have qualified for their first major football tournament since 1968 and thousands of proud Welsh men and women are sunning themselves in Poland and Ukraine.

Meanwhile in London England’s Under 21 team have been dressed up in union rags and will be playing in the most underwhelming football tournament since Vale of Glamorgan Schools Cup 1975, which I hear got rained off.

Decide for yourselves which of these events will capture the imagination of the Welsh nation.

What great news it is that Westminster politicians have scored an own goal for Team GB before a ball has even been kicked.

It was announced today that a Team GB football side will take part in the 2012 London Olympics and it will made up entirely of English players.

This team is the perfect representation of what Britain really is. In the words of the great Gwynfor Evans “Britishness is a political synonym for Englishness which extends English culture over the Scots, the Welsh, and the Irish.”

This Team GB saga has run for so long and been a hot news topic and long may it continue so that it hits home to the majority of Welsh citizens that Wales is severely misrepresented as part of the UK.

Our proud, vibrant and diverse nation cannot continue this way so let’s make it clear – we are Welsh and not British, we value our culture and respect our neighbours and we want our voice to be heard in Europe, by the World, in the UN and not forgetting at Eurovision.

I will leave you with some lyrics of a song by famous English singer Billy Bragg: “Britain isn't cool you know, it’s really not that great. It's not a proper country; it doesn't even have a patron saint. It’s just an economic union that’s past its sell by date."

Below: A cash point in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan advertising Nationwide's support for the English football team, despite the fact they also sponsor Wales.