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WRITTEN RESPONSE FROM Patrick McGuinness
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| I moved to Wales 2 years ago from England.
Initially sceptical about devolution, I now believe most
strongly in it, and in increasing the Welsh Assembly's
powers. By and large (I'm a Labour member), the Assembly
has made a positive difference. I have no respect for
those who want to abolish it, or who are too obtuse to
see the difference it has made. However, I think the calibre
of Assembly members is too low: in all parties (especially
Labour, frankly), too many glorified local councillors,
with no perspective on the world, or even on Wales beyond
their ward. It is the triumph of the local over the national.
I also have no time for those who say that because of
low voter turnout, the Assembly is irrelevant - low voter
turnout in local or national elections does not mean that
local councils or national govts are irrelevant, so why
should it be any diffferent for the Assembly. I believe
in more powers , a more distinctively Welsh approach to
policy, and real policies towards a distinctive bilingual
Wales for our children. In spite of all the redneck propaganda
by 'unionist' tories and the Labour likes of Llew Smith
and the 'Welsh' Mirror (prepared to expose a powerless
Wales to another Tory govt at Westminster), the Assembly
has performed ok. The answer is to keep going, and not
to stall any longer. |
| Patrick McGuinness |
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