Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Quote of the day

Vote "yes" or you're an anti-Welsh monster who nicks votes from OAP heart-attack victims is the message now apparently:
If you support Welsh Self Determination – vote YES if you can; because if you don't, those monsters who hate Wales will claim your vote as their own in the same way that they claimed my patriotic mother in law's heart attack as a vote in favour of their hatred of Wales!
I do hope Miserable was drunk when he posted that.

8 comments:

Alwyn ap Huw said...

Why would I have to be drunk to note the fact that for the past 12 years opponents of Welsh self determination have consistently claimed that those of us who didn't vote, for whatever reason, were tacitly opposing devolution?

O'Neill said...

It was more the inclusion of the "anti-Welsh" jibe and your mother-in-law's hospitalisation that I saw as a bit, well, off.

I was giving you the benefit of the doubt.

O'Neill said...

Actually, upon rechecking, it wasn't "anti-Welsh" but that they actually "hate" Wales! Which makes it even worse.

Alwyn ap Huw said...

So what do you doubt?

That my mother in law's heart attack stopped me and my nearest and dearest from voting in 1997, or that our failure to vote has-been abused as a tacit No vote ever since?

O'Neill said...

I doubt that the lamentable turnout was due only to similar unfortunate situations such as your own- it may not suit your worldview but Joe Public has a much more cynical opinion regarding devolution than the Devocracy's Political and Media Establishment. That doesn't only apply to Wales, btw.

More importantly, I question your judgement/taste in labelling those fellow Welsh who just happen to disagree with your views on devolution as "monsters" and "hating" Wales. The country doesn't solely belong to you.

Hen Ferchetan said...

O'Neill - MOF had a fair point, the anti-devolutionists have always tried to claim that those who didn't vote were de facto No voters (e.g. "Only 26% wanted it).

You yourself are making suggestions that a low turnout shows dissaffection with the Assembly when that makes no sense. People who are disaffected with Assembly are the ones who vote No. Most of those who don't vote just don't care one way or another.

Joe Public seems to be ont he way to voting Yes by 2 to 1 over the No's. Quite hard for you to be claiming them as being on your side!

O'Neill said...

The point about those voting no being "Wales-hating" monsters was most definitely not a fair one.

If a large majority doesn't care about whether the Assembly has extra powers, that's hardly an endorsement of devolution surely?

Hen Ferchetan said...

But neither is it a condemnation of it.

Yesterday's polls even suggested that a majority of Welsh people want much bigger powers than those on offer (both police/judicial and tax altering received more than 50%).

There's no real additional powers on offer today - the vote is to tidy up the mess left over by the Labour compromise that is the GoW Act 2006.

It's certainly a much smaller issue than the setting up of the London Assembly and post of Mayor - a referendum that only got 35% turnout.

Rumours today are of a turnout slightly higher than the 30% predicted - but we'll have a better idea when the polls close in a few mins.