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A Whisper from a Forgotten Nation [November 1997; International Viewpoint 294] In September voters in Wales approved the Labour government's plans for decentralisation. Despite its limited powers, the Welsh Assembly is a step forward for Britain's smallest nation. Conservative killjoys might suggest that the vote was only a half victory. The September 18 referendum on a Welsh Assembly was won by a margin of about 0.6 per cent. Only 51.3 per cent of the electorate bothered to vote at all. And the new Assembly will not have any powers of taxation. Support for decentralisation was stronger in Scotland. In the 11 September referendum an incredible 74 per cent voted in favour of a Scottish Parliament and 63 per cent in support of tax-varying powers. Indeed opinion polls taken a few days before the Scottish vote showed that a majority of Scots would vote to give the new Parliament tax-raising powers, fully expecting that the first Scottish administration will increase taxes. In 1977 only 52 per cent voted for a Scottish assembly. The Welsh Assembly is a much weaker body than that offered to Scotland. It will not be able to make laws or raise taxes. It will simply take over control of the existing budget of the Welsh Office which is the government department currently responsible for Welsh affairs. It will also be able to pass 'secondary legislation' in areas approved by the London Parliament. The proposals fall far short of the wide ranging autonomy that most socialists in Wales would support. But given a choice between the status quo and some measure of greater control over our politicians and the state - the need to campaign for a Yes vote was clear. The first results, from North Wales constituencies close to the English border showed significant majorities against. There was also a large No vote in the capital Cardiff. Then the results began to trickle in from the South Wales Valleys, Labour's working-class heartland. Neath and Port Talbot voted 2 to I in favour, Rhondda by a majority of 15,000 and Caerffili by a majority of 6,000 With only one result still to be announced, the No vote was still short of the winning post. That final result was from Carmarthen, an area which includes important working class areas like Llanelli, the Gwendraeth Valley, Ammanford and Carmarthen town itself. These areas registered a massive 65 per cent in favour, based on a high turnout, and the Yes vote scraped home by a majority of 6,721. What is most significant about these results is the pattern of support which they reveal. Unlike Scotland, support for a Welsh Assembly is very uneven. It is concentrated in the working class areas which suffered most under 18 years of Tory rule. Contrary to what the No campaigners claimed, it is not simply linguistically based, since the predominantly English-speaking South Wales valleys contributed as much to the victory as did Welsh speaking areas in the North and West. Indeed, Welsh speaking Ynys Môn (Isle of Anglesey) only narrowly voted in favour. Two areas of Labour support which did register significant No votes were the capital Cardiff and nearby Newport. This reflects the much lower level of Welsh national consciousness in these areas and, in Cardiff at least, a strong feeling that a Welsh Assembly would be a bloated version of the increasingly unpopular local Labour council. Another point comes through very clearly in the results. In every one of the areas in which rebel Labour MPs campaigned for a No vote, or cast doubts on the proposals, the vote was overwhelmingly in favour. The role of Llew Smith MP is particularly problematic. He is the only member of the left-wing Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs in Wales, and his stand against the Assembly has done a great deal to discredit the Labour left, allowing opponents to lump together all his radical positions as representing 'old-style state centralist socialism'. This could have particularly damaging consequences for any future socialist campaign against Maastricht and EMU. Both the Wales Labour Party and the left-nationalist Plaid Cymru have deep illusions about Wales' prospects in a Maastricht Europe. The mythical 'Europe of the Regions' is seen as a means of bringing power and prosperity to peripheral regions like Wales. The reality, of course, will be exactly the reverse. However, Llew Smith's stand on the Assembly will make it all the easier for people to dismiss his arguments against European Monetary Union as emanating simply from a London-centred, British nationalist perspective. But despite the closeness of the result and the problems for the left, the vote on September 18th was a massive step forward for the people and the politics of Wales. The creation of an Assembly gives socialists an exciting opportunity to reinvigorate and enliven political life in Wales. It will give us an elected body which can be both a forum for debate and a focus for demands and campaigns. The left must not squander this opportunity by confirming the fears of so many voters that the Assembly is simply about 'jobs for the boys'. Women must be equally represented in this Assembly and the voice of Black and Asian people must also be heard. If Wales deserves a full-time Assembly it also deserves the full-time attention of its Assembly members. Dual-membership, whereby people can be both London MPs, Euro MPs, Lords or local councillors and also members of the Assembly, makes a mockery of the whole process. Activists within the Wales Labour Party have proposed a number of key points in relation to the Assembly which we are confident enjoy broad popular support. We will continue to campaign for an Assembly which:
The narrow Yes vote presented all enormous challenge to radicals in the Labour Party, Plaid Cymru and beyond. People voted Yes for an Assembly that would break with the past and make a real difference to their lives - the left must fight to make that happen. |
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