As the editor of Welsh Icons I have always striven to keep the websites ‘politically agnostic’. I have never made a secret of my affiliation with the Federation of Conservative Student’s in the mid 1980s and other members of the team have always been able to express their diverse political leanings freely.
During the run-up to the forthcoming referendum on March 3, I asked the rest of the team where they stood on the issue of more powers for the Assembly. To a man (and woman) they all told me that they would be voting yes but would abide by our neutral stance.
I was there for the count in Cardiff City Hall for the 1997 referendum and have to say that I was disappointed with the result. I never thought that the Assembly would work and that it would just become a ‘talking-shop’ at great expense to both the Welsh and English tax payers.
I have to admit I was wrong. They have made some decisions that I disagreed with but on the whole they have acted in the best interests of Wales without some of the grand-standing we see at Westminster.
This referendum is not about total Welsh devolution, but whether or not the Assembly should be given more powers to make decisions on the areas of responsibility that they already have some control over. These include health, education and transport.
Of course the usual suspects lined up to support the Yes campaign and I have to admit that I was slightly annoyed by certain people who in my opinion should not be voicing a partisan position on this issue (yes Rowan and Barry – this means you). I must admit to being surprised by the amount of support from all four of the major political parties in Wales.
On the other hand the ‘True Wales’ (no campaign) supporters have repeatedly refused to engage with us.
I understand why they chose not to apply for funding from the electoral commission, denying both sides funding from the public purse but I have been shocked by their harping about how they do not have any money or support from major players unlike their opponents.
Some of their supporters have made outrageous claims and statements during the campaign with one Councillor referring to an Assembly Minister’s friends as ‘bum chums’ and another suggesting that the people of Wales were not capable of making their own decisions.
The final straw came yesterday when I heard that the BNP would be backing the No campaign.
With this in mind, I urge you all to vote YES on Thursday and so does every member of the Welsh Icons team.
Dom
Editor – Welsh Icons
PS I know that not everyone will agree with our stance. We lose a few readers every time we run a LGBT article, but this is how we all feel so publish and be damned as a wise man once said.
