Carwyn goes live
Labour leadership race — By Adam Higgitt on October 4, 2009 6:11 pm
No formal declaration has been made, but a few minutes ago www.carwyn4labour.com went live, providing the first official confirmation that the Bridgend AM and Counsel General will stand for the Labour leadership.
In his introductory video, Jones says “I want to make a real difference to the lives of people in Wales, certainly for the next five to ten years.” Invoking his time as Agriculture Minister, he describes the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak of 2001 as his “greatest test”, adding “I felt that I came through that strongly”.
Unlike either Huw Lewis or Edwina Jones, Carwyn takes on the constitutional question in his opening address, declaring “We’ve shown it’s possible to have devolution without it leading to independence. There’s no reason for us to be independent; we’d be worse off, and also we’d be cutting our ties with friends and family elsewhere in the United Kingdom”.
A formal declaration is anticipated tomorrow.
Tags: Carwyn Jones, Labour leadership race, Welsh Labour
Tweet This
Share on Facebook
Digg This
Bookmark
Stumble
5 Comments
Re foot and mouth – Edwina’s shoes put her in the foot camp. Huw’s all mouth and no policies. Carwyn can’t be bothered to tell us he’s gone live. In fact, to paraphrase some wag, “how can you tell?”
Carwyn also gets “Absurd comment of the campaign” so far – in what way does independence “cut our ties with friends and family”? If my family lives in Ireland or Spain am I “cutting my ties” with them?
Addressing the constitutional question or just emphasising that he’s not a Plaidie? Last time I checked Independence has yet to form part of the Welsh “constitutional question” outside the rhetoric of Welsh Labour electioneering and Plaid conferences. Or is Carwyn’s message “For Wales see Scotland”?
Sorry Simon but independence is part of the constitutional question as long as your party continue to argue for it.
So Rhys, Labour defines the constitutional question by what Plaid has to say about it?
All three candidates are pro-devolution. All three are anti-independence. The argument today is no longer about the principle of devolution, but how to make it deliver. Sadly none of the three are able to do so acknowledging the elephant in the living room, which is that the Tories are poised to regain power in Westminster. Carwyn is the “business as usual” figure who starts as favourite. He can’t be expected to start the debate since he wins by default without one. Constitutional masturbation is of zero interest to the rank and file Labour member or Trades Union levy payer and the Hart/Lewis camps must be well aware of the fact.