NHS lies attack Wales

 

Plaid Cymru's new leader has ended the row that was wrecking her party. She surrendered to avoid a prolonged nightmare fight between her embryo leadership and party veteran giant Dafydd El. In the circumstances it was a smart move after a foolish expulsion.

The party is damaged-branded by the the accurate barb that Plaid poodles are playing second violin to the Tories.  It's an unforgettable insult. Poodles rarely play fiddles. We await the cartoon. Where is Mumph when we need him? The most damaging attacks against Wales are David Cameron's weekly fiction on the Welsh NHS. It's a lie that the NHS service here is second class. In some aspect it's weaker than in England in a greater number it's stronger.

The Welsh Tory MP  are snarling corgis eagerly re-yelping the lies. It's not Labour that is damaged by Cameron's repeated calumnies, It's Wales. Our attraction as a home for footloose industries and their workers is damaged by an illusion of a poor NHS. 

Plaid Cymru MPs in the Commons do not run down our own country. So why did Plaid in the Assembly follow the Tory stunt and try to undermine faith in the Welsh NHS? This is playing games, coarse politics at its vulgar worst. Dafydd El was correct to flee to Bangor and denounce infantile posturing that  will do nothing but damage Welsh politics and Welsh interests.

A high point in the Welsh Assembly Government's short life was the coalition with Plaid Cymru.  Wales is served best when the two parties are working together not playing party games.

 

Comments

[CO Jones]

Paul, you're a fine politician and I admire you immensely, in fact I wish there were more like you within politics as a whole, not just the Labour party, but in this case you're either missing the point completely or your just trying to make cheap political points scoring which, frankly, I don't expect from someone of your calibre.

Regardless of the merits or otherwise of the NHS reconfiguration your OPINION is that these changes will benefit health service users and it is Plaid's opinion that it will prove to be detrimental.

But Labour made a hash of it. This is a policy decision by Labour not a decision based entirely on scientific or health care grounds. In their attempt to push their policy through the Labour party set-up a so-called independent expert to write a report then leaned on him to produce a report that suited their political policy.

That in itself is bad enough.

But then to say that Plaid are 'poodles' to the Tories simply because Plaid oppose this policy is patently absurd! They disagree with you. Get over it! If they supported you, would that make them Labour poodles? This isn't a two party state you know.

And saying that speaking out about problems in the health survive is undermining the NHS is simply laughable!
Yes, the NHS here might be better than the Tory lead English NHS (the little of it that's left). But does that mean that people shouldn't point out the weaknesses?
This is, unfortunately, the argument of an arrogant, stale party that's been in Government for far too long and just cannot accept that they get things wrong occasionally.

I hoped that you would rise above this sort of risible politics.

[Paul Flynn]

The comments are entirely fair. It's east cheap politics to play on fears that the replacement of small hospitals will endanger the service. It's the reverse of the truth. Re-onfiguration is a practical way of improving care. If Plaid was the Government they would be reconfiguring.

[CO Jones]

You can do better tahn that Paul.
So the Welsh NHS might be better than the mess that the Tories are making in England.
Does that mean that the Welsh Government should not be held to account? Does that mean that they shouldn't be challenged over 'misleading' (synonym for 'lie') the electorate and producing a dodgy dossier? Does that mean that they should have carte blanche to do as they want, and centralise health care and close some hospitals?
Remember Plaid Cymru warned that Labour would close hospitals and centralise services, and all your folk did was accuse Plaid of spreading lies; we then warned people that Labour were going to use healthcare professionals to sell their plans, and your lot said that this too was a lie. In both cases it has been proven right. Shouldn't the Welsh public get to know this? Your argument is weak, and simply partisan. Disapointed.