Wednesday 9 July 2014

Alun Davies, I doubt that sorry will be enough this time.


Les than a week ago this Blog commented on  Martin Shipton of the Wasting Mule ,speculating that former minister Alun Davies,  could be  the next First Minister?

He is clearly a man of intelligence and capability, but like many politicians has an inclination to be arrogant. I once saw him offend a group of campaigners by telling them directly to their faces that he took no notice of duplicate letters sent to him in support of a particular cause. He clearly relished winding them up. In one way his honesty was admirable, but there was a dismissive element to his approach that smacked of arrogance and did not sit well with his status as a representative of the people.


Covering his basis perhaps  but I suppose Shipton, never thought less than a week later he would be writing what maybe is Alun Davies 's political obituary.

Here we have a Minister judged by Wales’ top civil servant to have broken the Ministerial Code, then reprieved by the First Minister on what many have seen as flimsy grounds, and finally forced out of the Cabinet ignominiously after being reported for further unministerial conduct by his own Private Secretary.If his original offence showed a considerable degree of arrogance, his attempt to find out personal details about farming grants made to opposition AMs manifests sheer stupidity.He cannot have been seeking the information for anything other than party political reasons – a clear breach of the Code.

I can't see how anyplace can have any other idea than Alun Davies   facing a vote of no confidence  in the Assembly was seeking to smear political opponents.

From his Bunker position he maybe thought such an attack would scupper any atempt to remove him from his position as a government minister  which eas being muted after First Minister Carwyn Jones  spared the Blaenau Gwent AM the axe, despite a report from the Permanent Secretary Sir Derek Jones finding he had breached the Ministerial Code in lobbying Natural Resources Wales (NRW) over a planned racetrack in Ebbw Vale, in his constituency.

Davies who seems to have never moved on from the sort of behaviour  of student politics which I remember him invoking at Aber nearly 30 years ago and which disillusioned me from party politics.clearly believed he could use such information against the five. Although it looks like that there's nothing really there anyway.

Bet Carwyn wishes he had been more decisive 
The email Alun Davies sent to the civil service:
"A couple of things -
"Could I have a P1 and P2 payment schedules associated with the following people please?
Antoinette Sandbach
Andrew RT Davies
William Powell
Kirsty Williams
Llyr Gryffudd (sic)
"Could I have a report back from the beef summit held by Defra yesterday? I understand that HCC attended?
Thanks,
Alun"
In yesterdays First Ministers Questions  Carwyn Jones hardly carried himself in glory and disgraced himself  when he tried to counter attack Tory leader Andrew R.T. Davies,  by accusing him of not turning  up to a Prince of Wales visit...provoking a furious response when 
Mr Davies says he extended apologies to organisers saying Mr Davies' father had a stroke the night before.

It is also clear with the haphazard way Carwyn reorganised Alun Davies portfolio that he never considers the possibility of sacking the latter 
Edwina Hart has been confirmed as taking overall responsibility for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Labour backbencher Rebecca Evans promoted to Deputy Minister with responsibility for those areas.
Culture and Sport Minister John Griffiths - a former Environment Minister himself - will reassume responsibility for that area.
The Question must be asked is Alun Davies actions that of a Lone Wolf  or symptom  endemic within his chosen party . The sought of   contempt for Labour's "gangsters" who misrule his country as he once  professedas  Plaid Wrecsam show so clearly watch the video on their blog.

There seems to be some talk in Blaneau Gwent  Labour Party of deselecting Alun Davies we can only ask, if there was a method of recall for Assembly Members who  disgrace that institutions would Alun Davies now bee facing such a call.






1 comment:

Anonymous said...

for those of us who aren't Labour supporters yesterday was a good day, it wont last but watching First Minister Carwyn Jones, one of his more entitled Minister's and the Mule's Chief Reporter who is a big Labour supporter look so petulant, arrogant and out of touch was a joy to be hold.

As for the behavior it's more common than you would believe, Leighton Andrews is another who thought he was untouchable and ended up with egg on his face like Alun Davies, Wales deserves more than these bully boys and a comatose First Minister.