I have a confession to make- i've got a soft spot for the Communist party. While there are a multitude of far-left parties in Wales and the UK, the Communist Party is almost alone in understanding devolution and that Wales is a nation, due to their policy for a federation of socialist republics in the British Isles. They aren't part of the electoral scenery in Wales, but it would be churlish to write off their intellectual history, which included a period when the great Gwyn Alf Williams* was a member.
By now you can read all of the evidence from various parties and organisations to the UK Government's Silk Commission. I've taken a look at the submission of the Communist Party.
Why would anyone bother, doubters might ask? In most of the European countries there is political space to the left of social democracy for quite large communist and democratic socialist parties to exist like in Greece, the Spanish state, Portugal, France, Germany (and arguably Ireland) etc. In Wales with two big left parties in Labour and Plaid there is no such space and the Communist Party here simply doesn't scratch the surface in elections. Then again, neither does True Wales. How come the official media never reports that there are plenty of non-establishment voices that also want much further devolution and self-government for Wales?
I also wanted to contrast it with Labour's submission because both parties originate in class politics rather than nationalism; but there isn't an official Labour submission, only a Welsh Government one.
Seeing as True Wales claims a link to old-style labourism, I thought it was quite interesting also to compare their message with the Communist Party which probably has more members than True Wales anyway, and being Marxists have done far more detailed political analysis than True Wales ever would.
It follows that the Communist Party states that "Public Finance for Wales should be based on three elements. Tax raising powers, a needs based UK equalisation grant (to replace the current block grant administered as per the Barnett formula) and powers to raise funds through borrowing".
Their analysis is that this is necessary "because UK economic policies have actively deconstructed Welsh industry and have allowed Wales to develop at a slower rate than other areas of the UK". This is completely true. They go on to conclude that "we believe in the concept of ‘devolution as a process rather than and event’" and they are relaxed about the effects of that on the Union, saying that "this may well lead to a change in the nature or structure of the Union but we believe this should be allowed to proceed on a democratic basis".
With regards to the rest of their evidence the Communist Party calls for greater tax devolution than Plaid Cymru does. But this is because Plaid Cymru, being in a position of responsibility and having won a seat at the table discussing this process, has stuck to the actual remit of the Silk Commission which is a UK Government Commission and ultimately quite a strait-jacketed, unionist device. Plaid has done this quite rightly because this means their proposals are workable within the current remit that has been laid down by the ruling UK parties.
But my point really isn't about Plaid, its about the non-Welsh-establishment forces and how they have responded to this challenge.
Ultimately both True Wales and the Communist Party are from outside of the Welsh political establishment, claim descendancy from Wales' leftist heritage, and are not well-resourced or professionalised organisations. You do not have to be from the establishment to support increasing Wales' self-government and self-reliance, and in this case the Communists in the context of this Commission would go even further than the nationalists!
I post this on the 164th anniversary of Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto. A document that truly transformed the world and which contained principles that are still relevant today.
* Gwyn Alf Williams left the Communist Party due to disillusionment with the Soviet Union and its criticism of Tito's reforms in Yugoslavia, later joining the Labour party and then eventually Plaid Cymru. Raymond Williams also undertook a similar party journey (identical, as far as I can tell).
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13 comments:
It's not often you get a post like this on the now dying Welsh blogosphere. The main reason it's interesting is that one of the main arguments Labour would use is that fiscal autonomy is right-wing or a cover for cuts. The stance of the communist party defuses that somewhat. Take from that what you will!
Great post.
As someone who's made the same journey as Gwyn Alf and Raymond Williams (ideologically - without being a member of any of the parties) it's good to see the Communist Party still puffing away.
When I looked at the manifestos of the minor parties in the run up to the 2011 Welsh General Election, it was also interesting that the Socialist Party were the only ones calling for an independence referendum.
I'd hope that post-independence (or even with a new voting system) some of these small players will finally be able to get a foot in the Assembly. We're crying out for a bit of colour and it would be interesting to see how (theoretical) Welsh "Die Linke", Agrarian-Conservatives or Libertarian parties would fare.
They're not grassroorts they're just clueless. The welsh people don't care about the Silk Commission or any agendas in that direction. It's completely out of touch.
Rydd- I was thinking along those lines. I'm not claiming any kind of significance I just thought it was interesting to write about that ideological perspective.
Owen- my trajectory is similar although i've never dabbled with Labour. Plaid had changed enough by my time to become a replacement to Labour in an ideological sense.
I think a bit of pluralism would be nice, it certainly enriches democracy. I'm not sure a France/Germany/Ireland situation would emerge in Wales where you would have a load of different parties all in the mix, because of the history of the Labour party here. I think though we would have a situation closer to Scotland where a couple of parties to the left of Labour/SNP (Greens, SSP) have had on-off representation. I suppose we would have most of the typical European positions, centre-left and centre-right, the left, the far-left, ecology/greens, and right-populists.
Anon 9:09- I think that's unfair but my understanding is that this is a UK Government exercise and is not targeted at ordinary people or workers, its a constitutional debate. As such it isn't really supposed to be "in touch", and its not as if the normal business of government has ground to a halt to accommodate it taking place...
The thing is when people say about how devolution or constitutional affairs are not what ordinary folk care about (step forward Paul Murphy and almost every Welsh Labour MP over the years) its pretty insulting because the insinuation is that government can only ever concentrate on one thing at a time. Why set such a limit? Can't we have governments that hold commissions on one hand, but also run a coherent economic policy on the other? Is it too much to ask? I'm fed up of these endless commissions as well though. They seem so routine and there's no real debate. Short of independence, they end up agreeing usually with what Plaid (or people within Plaid) have said about a given issue. Isn't Silk just a re-run of the Holtham commission?
I remember Gwyn Alf used to tell of being inspired as a boy by Niclas y Glais, the great communist minister of religion, to go straight for soldiers for the Spanish civil war, and ask to sign up. The man looked him up and down, shook his head and said "Come back when we're desperate".
anon to be fair makes a reasonable point about the ‘commission syndrome’ which seems to be a feature of politics in wales these past few years. But the responsibility for this really lies with welsh labour and its faliure to take on board the recommendations of the richard commission, which was taking its findings at meetings right across wales almost a decade ago now. The conclusions of the richard commission effectively gathered dust while an internal battle took place within welsh labour as to how far devolution in wales should be ‘allowed to go’ so to speak. Eventually even welsh labour figures traditionally hostile to devolution - such as paul murphy - came to accept that the then existing settlement for wales was unworkable and unpopular, hence the 2011 referendum conferring primary legislative powers on the assembly.
But even this positive development in the ‘process’ of welsh devolution leaves wales well behind scotland...and even behind northern ireland..in the degree of power Wales enjoys in being able to make its own economic decisions.So sadly after almost 15 years of devolved government in wales the welsh government still has less fiscal powers than the myriad of tiny community councils across wales. Its an extraordinary state of affairs that a community council can vary taxes yet a nation’s government cannot!
Hopefullly the silk commission in its final recommendations should rectify this glaring absence of fiscal powers currently hampering the assembly. However a commissions findings are just that....they have to be implemented and there’s no guarantee that whatever positive proposals silk comes up with for improving the governance of wales that these will be implemented! Not when the largest political party in wales and the ruling welsh govt refuses to countenance the assembly gaining important financial levers such as tax varying powers and the powers to vary corporation tax.
So sadly it cannot be ruled out that we will be having this same debate in another ten years time - unless people in wales start to put their trust in political organisations and parties more at ease with and committed to the process of devolution for wales!
the repositioning of the marxist left in wales on the issue of welsh self government is an interesting and welcome development...even if such organisations are relatively small in wales at present. As with the exception of the communist party and a handful of prominent trade unionists like dai francis and george wright..the marxist left in wales was almost wholly hostile to devolution in 1979...and the situation hadnt improved that much by 1997.
But as WR indicates this was probably more to do with the fact that much of the ‘british left’ in wales ie organisations which followed a political line made in london...simply didnt grasp the ‘national question’ where wales was concerned.
Ive lost count over the years of the number of times ive chatted with some paper seller or other on marches and demos who would proudly proclaim their support for self determination for the palestinian people - and rightly so of course - but who’d react with a blank stare..or even a hostile one..when the issue of self determination for the welsh people would be raised. It is a strange kind of ‘internationalism’ ive always thought that seems to support self determination for every people on the earth...except the welsh.
It will be interesting to see what impact the election of a committed socialist like leanne wood as plaid leader would have on political developments in wales. Hopefully it could help bring socialist ideas to the welsh political centre stage.
Leigh Richards
swansea
Good comments Leigh. Even the police authorities arguably have more fiscal autonomy than our national government. The biggest obstacle I can see to economic development is the inability to borrow money by bond issuance and on the capital markets. Wales could run and service an affordable, sensible deficit in order to invest money in infrastructure projects. I understand that there would need to be a trade-off involving taking responsibility for taxes, but that would be acceptable and democratic.
I share your concerns Leigh that the Commission's output will be "too good to be true" and will be left to gather dust on a shelf. By the time we get around to having even modest fiscal autonomy there will be completely new settlements for Scotland and the north of Ireland. Yet unionist politicians here will no doubt tell us how great they are at "delivering devolution"- when actually they're really good at delaying devolution.
There will also probably have to be another referendum, which would be such a complicated and pointless question we will have another low turn out. It isn't a major problem and would be won, but suggests a massive lack of confidence on the part of the unionist parties. Even though fiscal autonomy would be linked to creating jobs, the jargon that would have to be used would be quite off-putting, and the question itself would unfairly be held hostage to developments in other parts of the state.
yes you are almost certainly right WR in that if silk does conclude that wales should be given tax varying and any other meaningful fiscal powers it will almost certainly mean a further referendum...and while im very confident that such a referendum could and would be won....there is really little prospect of any such referendum taking place anytime soon....given the fact that we had a devolution referendum only last year and......more crucially....given welsh labour's repeated opposition to further meaningful devolution for wales.
i suspect that only a long period in opposition in westminister - coupled with the full impact of the cuts to MPs numbers in Wales - will sufficiently concentrate welsh labour minds to the extent where they will be willing to support a devolution settlemnt Wales needs and certainly deserves.
Such a shift within welsh labour on further devolution for wales will be crucial as - unless there's a seismic and sudden shift in political allegiances among voters in wales to parties more progressive on devolution - its difficult to see a referendum on further devolution for wales being won without welsh labour support.
so - and i really hope im wrong on this - we may be in for a further extended period of devolution in wales standing still ....for a decade at least in all probability.....only a surge in support for plaid is likely to change this.....and thats why the leadership election currently taking place in plaid is so important....and why its vital that plaid members make the right choice as their next leader....ie leanne wood.....the only candidate who can appeal to voters right across wales and the only candidate who is likely to be able to attract a significant propertion of the large and hugely important welsh labour vote to plaid.
Leigh Richards
Leigh - as always a perceptive analysis, but I have to take issue with your phraseology when you say "It will be interesting to see what impact the election of a committed socialist like leanne wood as plaid leader would have on political developments in wales."
I was at the hustings last night, and poor Elin had a sad and defeated air about her. The good Lord seemed determined to eviscerate himself publicly by bigging up Prince Charles as the Prince of Wales, and also by denying that water was a valuable resource for Wales. Leanne, as always, was measured and masterful. Not at all the hot-headed firebrand of a few years ago, who used to frighten the horses so much, though she still has that cutting edge to her!
Some undecideds sitting near me admitted at the end that they had decided she was the one!
Carwyn is coming round (late) to fiscal responsibility, just as he came round late to reforming the Barnett formula (after his party had ignored the issue for 13 years!).
But all this, including the silk committee is rather irrelevant. Scotland in the driving seat, and we are mere passengers. By 2015 the UK will either be in the course of dissolution, or at the very least a Federal arrangement for britain will be in the making. There is no status quo to defend any more, which gives the rabid rulebrittanniaists a bit of a problem. What do they stand for?
Wales will need a visionary imaginative leader to see us through these torrid times, and only Leanne fits the bill, in my opinion. Carwyn is weak and wants to be nice to everybody - including his evil neo-liberal London masters. That is not good enough for Plaid, and it is not good enough for Cymru! YMLAEN!
I for one have enjoyed not stating any opinion using Welsh Ramblings on the Plaid leadership. You are all welcome to state your opinions here, whatever your colours.
Even though the contest is clearly of ultimate importance to Welsh politics. I decided not to use this blog to comment on internal goings on in the party as my aim is to broaden the blog into commenting on left-nationalist politics in Wales from a more general basis, rather than a partyist basis.
With that said I have enjoyed following the contest online and would welcome supporters of all candidates putting their views across. I also think the party strategy in opening up the contest to outside people has been effective. It interests me that they could recruit so many new members even though they had gone through an electoral reverse. That suggests that while electorally there is still more to be done, the general direction of developments in Wales is favourable for the party, and the cause itself is as valid as ever.
A pleasure to read. The Communists in Wales (not always necessarily 'Welsh Communists') have an interesting history. In the 1930s the old CPGB had a pamphlet called 'make Cardiff a capital city' which was quite before its time. Rob Griffiths, one time Plaid researcher, now head of the CPB across the whole UK, has written on S.O Davies and the crossover and indeed contradiction between national identity and socialism. Without Communists there would not be a Plaid Cymru left or a 'Welsh' faction within the Labour movement in the same way as you have.
I know all of those things Anon and also Idris Cox the CP's Welsh wartime organiser tried to get them to play a role in the late 1940s 'Parliament for Wales' campaign but members apparently were disillusioned and saw the campaign as being bourgeois and religious. Gwyn Alf Williams would later suggest that Cox was stripped of the Welsh organising post by CP chiefs because he had moved too close to Welsh nationalism.
The relationship between the Marxist left and Welsh nationalism has many other fascinating features and it would be interesting if historians would look at whether the claims Anon 12:00 makes about the Plaid and Welsh labour lefts are true.
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