Friday, February 29, 2008

And a Happy St David's Day to you too!

According to the latest BBC Wales ICM Poll:
A total of 37% said they wanted a Welsh parliament with law-making and taxation powers;

and:
Some 8% wanted Wales independent of the UK but in the European Union, and 5% backed Wales independent of both the UK and EU.

Those figures are very good news, but this statement from the the Welsh Conservative leader Nick Bourne puzzled me:
"substantial body of opinion" that wanted more powers for the assembly,

How "substantial" exactly is "substantial"?
92% want Wales to remain a part of the UK- now 92%, that's what I'd define as a "substantial"...
A referendum on turning the Welsh assembly into a Scottish-style parliament would be too close to call, an opinion poll for BBC Wales suggests.
Asked how they would vote on whether to create a fully law-making Welsh parliament, 49% were for, 42% against and 9% said they were undecided.

49% v 42% with 9% don't knows, hardly a "substantial body of opinion" either way there and bearing in mind that the four main parties are all singing from the same hymn-book on this question, I think that 51% "opposed" or "don't know" figure is a much more relevant one.

Another piece of interesting data, 20% are in favour of Assembly abolition, would it not make more sense politically for Mr Bourne and the Conservative (and Unionist) party to start representing this disenfranchised group's interests?

Finally, a bit early I know, but here's wishing a very Happy St David's Day for (all 7 of) my Welsh readers!

2 comments:

Damon Lord said...

Merry St. David's Day to you too!

Damon Lord said...

And thanks for the link.