Nick Clegg put in quite a robust and combative performance in this interview he gave to BBC Wales. He points out the obvious: Welsh Labour has been shifting blame for its dire performance in government in Wales to anybody else but itself.
Clegg points out that Carwin Jones (Welsh Labour), who has not even managed to put together a legislative programme worth mentioning for this Welsh Assembly in 2011, has played the anti-English card for the last year and got away with it. However the fact is Labour has been in power in Wales since 1999 and under successive Labour led governments the Welsh education system has dropped ever lower in the rankings, NHS performance is poor and schools are notoriously underfunded by the Labour government to the tune of about £400 per pupil per annum compared to England. Where does all the money go that the Labour government under Carwin Jones gets every year to run this country (after all that's about £15 billion)?
We now have a hint where some of this money ends up: the BBC reported about widespread corruption apparently countenanced by the Welsh Government documented in a Wales Audit Office report just this week. More than £1.5 million of public money disappeared as it changed hands from the Welsh Government to some of its contractors in North Wales. The Audit Office makes clear that the money was never recovered and may now be in the hands of some people who appear to be suspiciously close to some influential figures in the Welsh Government. No surprise then: it seems Labour and Carwin Jones still have their hands in the till!
Do we know who they are?
ReplyDeleteHi Evan, that's an interesting question. The official has not been named in the WAO report. Under 2.2. it simply says: '2.22 Given the interest that had been declared by
ReplyDeletethe Welsh Government official who had been
responsible for negotiating the purchase of
the River Lodge, one of her colleagues was
given the responsibility for representing the
Welsh Government’s interests in the lease
negotiations. However, despite the conflict
of interest, the official continued to make
representations on behalf of Powys Fadog
during this period. In doing so, she made
extensive use of her Welsh Government
e-mail account, albeit with the knowledge of
her line managers.' And it goes on to recommend disciplinary procedures which, so far, have not taken place. That does not sound as if the Welsh Government is interested in going to the heart of the matter really, does it? What do you think?
Sorry, forgot to say, you can find the full WAO report HERE
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wao.gov.uk/news/news_4708.asp