national assembly - whats your view?

tobykim

I don't think most people wanted the Assembly as they only got it by the skin of their teeth, also what exactly is it, I live in the North you see and don't know much about it, as everything seems to happen down South. We seem to have been forgotten here, we even have to go to England for health treatment, operations etc. No special hospitals or anything for us, we have the equipment but no funds to use it. Great isn't it

fairenoughclough

It's just yet another example of Tony Blair wanting things both ways.
If it works it was his idea, if it doesn't, well you voted for it and it's out of my control.
Best example Bank of England and interest rates, how many more times will they brag about how they've kept inflation under control ?

From the outside (England), it looks like power has already devolved to Brussels and Wales/Scotland have got special assistance status, maybe it's a very subtle repatriation plan to tempt all the Celts back to their homelands by stealth.

But the cynic in me thinks it's to give them somebody else to blame when it all goes wrong.

Backbiter

I voted for it and am glad it's there, and it has done some good things, as mentioned above. Overall, though, I've been underwhelmed by its achievements and the general quality of debate, and can understand the views of those who see it as an unnecessary tier of government (without agreeing with them).
I am very much in favour of local democracy, although it's depressing that the turnout in elections is low, and yet people still complain about their views not being represented.

Wig

I voted against it, total waste of money just more politicians in a big expensive and otherwise useless building.

Voted for by 25% of the people 75% voted no or abstained. It should never have been allowed there should have been either a requirement that 50% or more of the electorate vote 'yes' or that there should be a clear majoriy of at least 10%.

I'll tell you what the assembly has done for me...... increased my council tax bill by 30% !!! that's what, (used to be band B now band C )

jb1964

Originally Posted by divadee
Im not from wales, but i feel (and i am probably going to get shouted at for this) that they should just be a completely seperate government and i feel scotland should be the same. These countries wanted devolution but still take tax payers money from england. They get a lot of extras that we in England dont get but still take a load of money from whitehall.

I'm sure it was less than 50% of this country actually voted for devolution - I didn't. As for the benefits such as under 25 free prescription - many under 25's at the moment have benefited from a good further education and earn far more than the textile industries in the valleys. Some of the poorer communities in Wales remain forgotten, whilst tonnes of taxpayers money has been spent on this extra layer of 'government'!!

The north and south divide continues, those that speak Welsh and those that don't - Tony Blair's tactics were obvious to all - but none see it because he flys the labour flag and after all they are the 'working-man's party'!!!

Hunnymonster

divadee wrote:

Im not from wales, but i feel (and i am probably going to get shouted at for this) that they should just be a completely seperate government and i feel scotland should be the same. These countries wanted devolution but still take tax payers money from england. They get a lot of extras that we in England dont get but still take a load of money from whitehall.




retreats to safe distance

A shame Scotland didn't get true devolution/independence in the 1970s - because with all of the oil in the Scottish sector of the North Sea, we'd perhaps have the highest standard of living in the world here, second only to maybe Norway..... as it is, the English (masquerading as the British) Government stole the oil, and p"££$d it up the wall in unsustainable income tax cuts.

Oh, and I'm speaking as a recent immigrant to Scotland (from England).

jonesMUFCforever

divadee wrote:

Im not from wales, but i feel (and i am probably going to get shouted at for this) that they should just be a completely seperate government and i feel scotland should be the same. These countries wanted devolution but still take tax payers money from england. They get a lot of extras that we in England dont get but still take a load of money from whitehall.




retreats to safe distance

So Scotland get to keep what's left of the North Sea Oil and gas then????
I am from Wales and have been disapointed in the WAG (Welsh Assembly Government), third rate politicians totally out of their depth, and they have totally buggered up the out of hours doctor/emergency service!
If you get near a member to criticise they all speal from the same hymn sheet (Well we are doing better than this and that than in England' !!!!!!!
The Labour party despite all this will almost certainly get a majority of seats, Plaid Cymru have more leaders than members, Liberal Democrats have a nice yellow symbol but no practical policies and the Conservatives have hardly any members at all,so Labour do what London tell them and there is insufficent opposition to defeat them.
I was all for it at the begining but now if I had another vote I would kick them all out!
Eric

Dudog

The only thing they achieved is giving themselves a 40% payrise and pension increase.Jobs for the boys and money wasters!

Mark7799

I voted in favour of it at the time - my thinking was that decisions affecting Wales should not be taken by the member of parlaiment for Wokingham (or any other similar person) but at least by people that the people of Wales could call to account.

With regard to the low turnout and narrow vote, all this proves is that the majority of the electorate were apathetic about it in the first place. It's taken a while but there are now some differences starting to come through between Wales and England (remember the WAG's powers are still limited compared with the Scottish parliament). It still however has the problem of the North/South divide to address - I can't see how that can be solved until there are decent transport links between them and the Cardiff-centric bias poerceived by many (can't really comment on this as I live close to Cardiff so can't experience the other side of the coin) although by moving operations out of the capital they are at least trying to address some issues.

There are interesting times ahead......

twpsin

I voted against the national assembly as I thought it would be a total waste of money and they lived up to my expectations, it is just a money pit.

I live in the north; the health service is terrible, according to NHS direct, my out of hours doctor would have to be called from a hour and half drive away. There are virtually no dentists within a 50mile radius, your lucky if you get on a waiting list, to get on a dentist list with the few that are here.

The roads are terrible in some places, dangerous in others. Most of the schools are virtually bankrupt and the divide between welsh speaking and non welsh speaking is vast. the north south divide is still as strong as ever.

One thing that I can be thankful for is my one prescription before I turned 25, and because of the welsh assembly I saved £6.