Monday 7 September 2009

'Lord' Wigley .... a tale of indecision and incompetence

Rarely do I venture to broader politics on this blog, but today I've been sufficiently annoyed to pen a few words on Dafydd Wigley's withdrawl of his nomination for the Lords. Wherever one sits in politics in Wales, it is impossible not to acknowledge the enormous contribution that Dafydd Wigley has made to Welsh politics over the past decades. Not only has he played a leading role in moving Plaid from a marginal party to a party of government, but has been a passionate advocate on a range of social and economic issues. His work on disability issues is known across the UK and further afield.

It is therefore shameful in my view that his nomination to the House of Lords has been dealt with in such an inept fashion by the UK Government. The nomination was presented almost two years ago - and yet there has been no clear response from the Government. Had the Prime Minister said clearly, I reject this nomination - then he would have been entirely within his rights. He is the Prime Minister and he is entitled to make nominations to the Queen for peerages. Though I would have disagreed fundamentally with such a decision, at least the nominees would have been clear where they stood.

So, far all we have is 'active consideration' - whatever that means. What an appalling way to treat three serious nominees who could (and may yet in the case of two of the nominees) have made a significant contribution to the House of Lords! Sadly I suspect the "Lords affair' has more to with the ineptitude and indecision at the heart of government than any consideration of the merits of Wigley's nomination.

Friends more familiar with Downing St report that this is par for the course for Gordon Brown - a strange mixture of indecision married to almost pathological control freakery. One of these elements would be bad enough, but the two together create the conditions for this poor excuse of a government lurching from one failure to another.

Indecision, ineptitude, incompetence - a very shabby response to a Welsh statesman.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Mae'r ffaith i'r Prif Weinidog allu enwebu Alan Sugar a Glenys Kinnock ar amrantiad yn dangos gwendid sylfaenol y gyfundrefn - mae hi yn ddibynnol ar nawdd y Prif Weinidog

The fact that the Prime Minister could nominate Alan Sugar and GLenys Kinncok at the drop of a hat shows the key element of the system - the patronage of the Prime Minster