Rugby Stars says Yes / Sêr Rygbi yn dweud Ie
10 reasons why Wales must say ‘Yes’ on March 3
1. A ‘Yes’ vote would end the cumbersome system under which the Assembly has to seek permission from MPs and peers at Westminster to make laws in specified policy areas.
This involves huge duplication and waste, with groups giving evidence to AMs in Cardiff and MPs in London. Delays of up to three years have occurred, making it very difficult to get a new law passed and institutionalising what we describe as slow-motion politics.
At a time when many people are disengaged from politics, such a system seems almost designed to create alienation and apathy.
2. Despite being the first legislature in the UK to pass a resolution backing a smoking ban in public places, the Assembly could do nothing for years because it did not have the power to implement a ban in Wales.
Eventually the ban was brought in, but only because an enabling Bill was passed at Westminster.
Because of the delay, the beneficial health impact of the ban was not available as quickly as it should have been, and thousands of people will have continued to suffer unnecessarily.
3. The current arrangements were not brought in because they were seen as the best way forward.
They were the uneasy result of a political compromise designed to paper over a split in Welsh Labour.
For years the party was torn between those who wanted the Assembly to have full law- making powers and those who were opposed.
Many of the opponents were Labour MPs who resented the creation of the Assembly because it took the spotlight off their political activities at Westminster, and because they feared that if the Assembly’s powers were increased, pressure would mount for a reduction in the number of MPs representing Wales.
4. Experts say the present system breaks from the usual constitutional practice of allowing a legislature to have responsibility for all its own functions.
Forcing one body to seek permission from another before it can make laws blurs accountability and makes it more difficult for voters to understand the political process.
For that reason, the system currently used in Wales has nothing comparable to it anywhere in the world.
The only rough historical parallel was an arrangement known as Poynings’ Law dating from 1494 under which the Parliament of Ireland sought permission to make laws from the English Parliament.
It was scrapped in 1782 when the Irish Parliament was granted legislative independence.
5. Many campaigners for a ‘No’ vote are simply revisiting the debates that occurred before the 1979 and 1997 referendums on whether a Welsh Assembly should be established at all.
The Assembly is not going to be abolished and it is fruitless to argue that it should be.
Instead of adopting a wholly negative attitude towards devolution, the focus should be on streamlining procedures to make sure the Assembly can be as effective as possible.
The current arrangements are hampering the Assembly as an institution and the Assembly Government as an executive.
6. ‘No’ campaigners claim granting the Assembly primary law-making powers would constitute a “reward” for politicians whose performance they criticise. This misses the point. The purpose of granting the Assembly full law-making powers is not akin to AMs winning a prize, but to their being given the tools they need to do their job more effectively.
Withholding from them the ability to make laws when it is appropriate to do so will entrench their status as second- rate politicians regarded as incapable of performing at a high level.
7. The referendum is not the occasion to make judgements about the performance of successive Assembly Governments or individual AMs.
The occasion to do that will be the election on May 5. It is wholly consistent to be a trenchant critic of perceived Assembly Government failings while strongly supporting a move to full law-making powers for the Assembly. It would be ridiculous to argue that the Westminster Parliament should be stripped of law-making powers because of the scale of the budget deficit or because some MPs made false expense claims.
Equally, it would be absurd to vote ‘No’ in the referendum because one is not wholly satisfied with the Assembly Government’s record.
8. An Assembly Government with primary law-making powers at its disposal would be more accountable and would find it more difficult to argue that its ability to deliver on its promises was hampered by Westminster.
It would force politicians to put forward a legislative programme with innovative and imaginative ideas that would capture the imagination of voters. Interest groups and individual citizens will know exactly where the responsibility lies when they want to lobby for legislative change – and they won’t have to duplicate their efforts.
9. A major plank of the ‘No’ campaign is that a ‘Yes’ vote will take Wales on the slippery slope to independence.
Such a campaigning tactic is inherently dishonest. The referendum question is wholly related to the issue of primary law-making powers in fields of policy that have already been devolved.
Independence simply is not on the agenda – and if at any hypothetical stage in the future it was on the agenda, it could not be progressed without a ‘Yes’ vote in a further referendum. Primary law-making powers of the kind on offer are already enjoyed in both Scotland and Northern Ireland, where they are supported by all parties, including successive Democratic Unionist Party First Ministers Ian Paisley and Peter Robinson.
10. Wales is currently at a disadvantage within the UK because it does not have primary law-making powers.
The other two devolved nations do, and the UK Parliament now acts as a de facto English Parliament too. Our Assembly’s inferior status in comparison with its counterparts gives Wales less influence at Whitehall and within the UK political establishment.
A ‘Yes’ vote on March 3 will go a long way to putting Wales on an equal footing with the rest of the UK.
Our Campaign Schedule – Get involved!
Here is our campaign timetable for the last few weeks of our campaign. Come along and join us!
Saturday 12th – Lliedi Ward, Llanelli – 10:20am for 10:30 – meeting at Llanerch Hall, Heol Nant-y-Felin, Llanerch, Llanelli SA15 3PA
Saturday 12th – Town Centre Stall from 10:30am
Thursday 17th – Leafletting Swiss Valley – 1:30pm opposite Calsonic Social Club, Llethri Rd, Llanelli, SA14 8HU
Saturday 19th – Leafletting Pontyberem – 10:20am for 10:30 at the Car Park near the Memorial Hall, Coalbrook Road, Pontyberem, Llanelli, SA15 5HU
Saturday 19th – Town Centre Stall from 10:30am
Monday 14th – Coordinating Meeting – 7pm – Thomas Arms, Thomas St, Llanelli, SA15 3JF
Thurday 24th – Glanymor, Llanelli – 1:30pm at the Wesleyan Hall, Cambell Street, Llanelli, SA15 2BW
Saturday 26th – Bigyn, Llanelli – 10:20am for 10:30 meeting at the Plaid Cymru Office, Bres Road, Llanelli, SA15 1UA
Saturday 26th – Town Centre stall from 10:30am
Wednesday 2nd March – Get out the vote – TBA on a ward by ward basis
Thursday 3rd March (Polling Day!) – Get out the vote – TBA on a ward by ward basis
If you’d like more information please get in touch crosspartycoalition@hotmail.com.
1 million ‘Yes for Wales’ leaflets are on the presses
One Million leaflets urging people to vote Yes for Wales in the referendum on March 3rd will be flying off the printing presses in the coming days.
The cross-party ‘Yes for Wales’ campaign has raised £16,000 in small donations from supporters across Wales to pay for leaflets to help inform voters. But more is needed.
“Now we need an army of volunteers in every community to come forward to make sure we can get the message out”, ’Yes for Wales’ Chair Roger Lewis said.
“If you can help spread the word that laws that only affect Wales should be made in Wales please go to our website www.yesforwales.com and we’ll put you in touch with local volunteers”, he added.
The newspaper-style leaflet features Welsh Rugby star Shane Williams under the banner headline “Shane says Yes for Wales”.
“We’ve got to come together as a team in this referendum to show we want Wales to have a stronger voice”, Shane says in the campaign newspaper.
“We’ve come a long way as a country in the last decade. By leading the way on free bus passes and tackling climate change, the Assembly has shown it is up to the job. But it hasn’t got all the tools it needs”, the Welsh wing added.
“Instead of having to ask permission every time we want to do something different from England, a ‘Yes’ vote will let the Assembly get on with the job. This vote is not about independence, or even giving AMs extra powers. It’s about making what we’ve got work better”, Shane said, and adding: “We’ve got to show we’ve got confidence in ourselves.”
Why vote Yes?
- To give Wales a stronger more confident voice.
- To continue building on the successes of the past 10 years.
- To make laws that only apply in Wales made in Wales.
- For quicker, cheaper and better decision making
- Make Welsh Government more accountable to the Welsh people
Llanelli Launch Success
Speakers address a packed meeting at the Yes for Wales launch in Llanelli
The Llanelli says Yes campaign for law-making powers for the National Assembly for Wales launches last night (January 10th) at the Selwyn Samuel Centre with a packed meeting with speakers including the Archbishop of Wales, the Rev. Barry Morgan.
Over a hundred people turned up to the meeting to show their support for the campaign.
If you would like to get involved with the Llanelli campaign please contact us at crosspartycoalition@hotmail.com.
Lawnsiad Ie dros Gymru
Mae pobl o bob cwr o Gymru wedi dod at ei gilydd heddiw i lansio’r ymgyrch dros bleidlais Ie yn y refferendwm ar ddyfodol Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru.
Bore ma lansiwyd ymgyrch swyddogol ‘Ie dros Gymru’ yng Nghanolfan Astudiaethau Creadigol a Diwylliannol Prifysgol Morgannwg yng Nghaerdydd, yr ATRiuM, mewn cynhadledd i’r wasg.
Dywedodd Roger Lewis yn y lansiad, Cadeirydd yr ymgyrch rhyngbleidiol: “Y bore hwn mae pobl o bob cwr o’n gwlad yn dod at ei gilydd i uno dros un egwyddor syml. Rydym o’r farn mai yng Nghymru dylai cyfreithiau sydd ond yn effeithio ar Gymru gael ei wneud. Dyna brif hanfod yr ymgyrch hwn. Mae pobl o bob plaid, ac yn fwy pwysig, pobl nad ydynt ag unrhyw gysylltiad â gwleidyddiaeth yn rhoi’u gwahaniaethau i’r neilltu, i ddod at ei gilydd i sicrhau pleidlais Ie’.
Yn ymuno a Roger ar y platfform oedd Adrian Curtis, sydd yn rhedeg y Banc Bwyd yng Nglynebwy; Rhiannon Wade, 21 mlwydd oed sydd wedi graddio o Brifysgol Aberystwyth; a Prifathrawes Ysgol Gynradd Ynys y Bari, Janet Hayward.
Heno mi fydd lawnsiad ffurfiol yr ymgyrch yn digwydd yn yr un lleoliad am 5.30 o’r gloch. Croeso i gefnogwyr yr ymgyrch ddod.
Mae lansiad cenedlaethol yr ymgyrch Ie dros Gymru heddiw yn cael ei ddilyn gan gyfres o lansiadau cydlynol rhanbarthol ar draws Gymru, yn dechrau yfory.
Yes for Wales is launched
People from across Wales have come together today to launch the campaign for a Yes vote in the referendum on the future of the National Assembly for Wales.
This morning the official ‘Yes for Wales’ campaign at the University of Glamorgan’s centre for Creative and Cultural studies in Cardiff, the ATRiuM, was launched in a press conference.
Roger Lewis, the Chair of the cross-party campaign, told supporters at the launch: ‘This morning people from across our country are coming together to unite behind a simple principle. We believe laws that only apply in Wales, should be made in Wales. That’s what this campaign is all about. People from all parties, and more importantly, people who are not involved in politics are putting aside their differences to come together to secure a Yes vote’.
Joining Roger on the platform were Adrian Curtis, who runs a Food Bank in Ebbw Vale; Rhiannon Wade, who’s 21 years old and has graduated from Aberystwyth University; and the Head of Barry Island Primary School, Janet Hayward.
Tonight the formal launch of the campaign will take place in the same venue at 5.30pm. A welcome is extended to all Yes campaigners.
Today’s national launch of Yes for Wales campaign is being followed tomorrow by a series of co-ordinated regional launches across Wales, starting tomorrow.
