Well I hope the rather provocative headline on this blog entry caught your attention.
It follows from a media gathering held recently at the Assembly's offices in Colwyn Bay and hosted by Claire Clancy, chief executive and clerk of the assembly and presiding office Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas.
The "us" of the headline refers to North Wales. The case for the Assembly as a unifying force for Wales was offered by Dafydd and contrasted with some of the views expressed in, and occasionally by, the Daily Post,which argue that North Wales is getting a relatively poor deal.
It's not a simple question to answer in many respects. For one, this is not just a North versus South debate. For example, ask the good folk of Pembrokeshire how they feel they are faring and I expect you'll get a variety of responses.
So in the spirit of Monty Python’s Life of Brian (“What have the Romans ever done for us?”) I suggested we ask the same of the Assembly?
But this is not intended as an adversarial trial. The aim is to audit the changes brought about by the work of the Assembly and their relative impact – for better or worse – on each part of Wales.
I shall be giving the matter serious consideration as I drive for four hours across another country to get to the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. I’d fly but there are no services to Cardiff from Anglesey at the weekend and my blood pressure can’t cope with sitting behind tractors and caravans on the A470.
Mind you, after last weekend, I’d crawl over broken glass to see the Wales v Scotland game.
So don’t be shy you lurkers on my blog. Tell me now – what’s the Assembly ever done for us?
Penyberth wrote...
For me the Assembly has given us pride and a greater self esteem, a devolved Wales is a vastly different place now to pre 1999...more people now identify themselves as Welsh with a sense of pride. We however have a long way to go to match the pride that the Scots and Irish have. The Assembly may not in itself appeared to have achieved a lot but it has achieved within the limited framework in which it was set up and will achieve greater things with the additional powers the 2006 Government of Wales Act has provided.
Posted by: Penyberth | February 5, 2008 3:09 PM