Unhappy 10th Anniversary

Professor Kevin Morgan, who chaired the "Yes" campaign, speaking at a conference to mark the forthcoming 10th anniversary of Welsh devolution:

"That for me is the reason for the biggest disappointment of all, namely the low calibre of AMs,"

Raising concerns that Wales’ economy had not improved in the way he had argued it would, he said: "I’ve spent a long time over the last 10 years thinking with intensity about that missing dividend."

Describing the absence of a link between prosperity and autonomy as "devolution’s dirty little secret", he said: "On the basis of the economic trends over the last 10 years, it is at least arguable that we have been devolving our way to relative economic decline."

I somehow can't imagine then he'll be at the forefront of the campaign for more powers for the Welsh Assembly.

The opinions of his fellow academics on the effect devolution has had on education and health provision within Wales are also worth noting;
David Reynolds, Professor of Education at Plymouth University:

"Speaking personally, I would never have voted twice for devolution if I had thought that Wales would disadvantage educational expenditure by more than the other constituent parts of the UK – an extraordinary act of policy folly, frankly,"

Professor Brian Morgan of Uwic’s Cardiff School of Management:

"what we have in WAG is a complete logjam of decision-making."

Not much to celebrate by the looks of it.