Cambria launches new political blog

A new political blog has been launched by Cambria Wales' National Magazine.

The main editor and contributor to this blog is Clive Betts who is based daily in the Cardiff Assembly building in the Bay and so is well placed to report on all the news, rumours and gossip.

Clive has been for many years Wales' foremost political journalist. Previously with the Western Mail and now a freelancer, entering the 'blogosphere' gives him much more flexibility and independence from London based editorial interference.

The people of Wales deserve better scrutiny of Assembly politicians, what they get up to with tax payers money and whose 'snouts are in the trough'. We only have to look at the recent example of how Peter Hain's political career was destroyed by bloggers to understand that the Internet and blogs can make or break the political landscape. The so-called 'Dead Trees Press' like the Western Mail are totally reliant on Assembly advertising revenue to survive and so cannot be trusted to provide impartial or investigative reporting or the intelligent scrutiny that is needed to keep people informed.

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Editor's Letter

editorial,cambria

IT SEEMS RATHER LATE NOW to be wishing you all a very happy 2008 but perhaps with all the gloom and doom that seems to have accompanied this January maybe we need good wishes more than ever. If you are flying Aer Arann - welcome aboard!

For us, 2008 got off to a flying start with the news that Aer Arann will be carrying Cambria on all their flights in and out of Cardiff International Airport. They have picked up several of Air Wales old routes and are looking to expand their operations further in Britain and Europe.
The St. David’s Day Parade falls on a Saturday this year, so hopefully it will mean that many more can attend than in past years. It will certainly provide spectacle this year: a bagad – Bagad Penhars one of the finest Breton pipe bands and already well known to the people of north Pembrokeshire - is coming over from our sister nation Brittany, the Welsh Horse, the acclaimed Cambria Band and plenty of costumes, flags, banners, dancers and musicians.

This year it sets off from the steps of the National Museums and Galleries at 1.15pm, and will then go down to the Bay to end on the steps of the Senedd with an address by Lord Elis-Thomas. If you have the chance, get there early and spend a couple of hours touring the Origins exhibition, a condensation of 40,000 years of Welsh history and how we came to be.
The Welsh must be the perfect immigrants to any country. Our talent for blending in and integrating in newly adopted homelands has, however, meant that we are not as well recognised abroad as are the Scots and the Irish. Perhaps this ability comes from centuries of subjugation, from the threat of having one’s head removed if found in the wrong place, not being allowed to speak ones own language etcetera - all encouragements’ not to stand out but to blend in. Despite all efforts to stamp it out on a number of levels, the survival of the Welsh language makes us the envy of every other Celtic nation.

This year is the Year of Wales at the Interceltic Festival at Lorient in Brittany. Unfortunately it clashes with the Eisteddfod, but if you haven’t experienced it, it is well worth while doing so, and since it lasts for ten days it is quite possible with a bit of juggling to do both. Last year 850,000 people from all over Europe converged on the town for ten days of song, music and dance, culture, wine and food, so accommodation needs to be booked well in advance. That it has not been consistently well supported by, in particular, Welsh officialdom, unlike those of the other Celtic nations who embrace it with enthusiasm, has not gone without notice, and is interpreted by many in Brittany and elsewhere as a lamentable lack of interest and commitment. This despite the existence of an ambitious and impressive Memorandum of Understanding promising close cultural co-operation between the Welsh and Breton governments. The Bretons might rightly ask ‘Where’s the beef?’ It did not go unnoticed either, that this magazine was the sole representative of the entire Welsh media at the event. The festival is covered live by all the major European television networks, except, sadly, our own. 2007 was the Year of Scotland, and the Scottish government entered into the spirit of Lorient with customary zeal, taking full advantage of all the festival offers in terms of cultural and economic co-operation.

Lastly, the petition we launched for the Ray Gravell Cup has well exceeded 5000 signatures. Many have added comments and personal memories, heart-warming evidence of the love and respect which was felt for him. Those collected so far have been bound and will be presented to his wife and family by David Gravell at the Cofio Grav concert which is being held on 2nd March at the Lyric, Carmarthen. David Gravell and Mansel Thomas first organised the concert with the backing of Ray himself, at that time called Cyngerdd Grav, to raise awareness of diabetes. After his death it was decided that the concert should go ahead anyway and that all monies raised should go to charity. All those asked to participate have agreed and will do so for nothing. The line up promises to be astounding.

Nick Bourne takes a cool view

Pierhead - Welsh Politics
Tory leader Nick Bourne takes a cool view of the latest stream of ravings produced by one of the most extreme right-wing Tories in Westminster after their usual uncritical reproduction by an organ of the Welsh press.

David Davies, once AM for Monmouth, is regarded as a blast from the past, whom leaders of the Tory Party in both Cardiff and London would gladly be rid of as an unwitting agent for Gordon Brown's re-election.
Welsh Tories are rapidly moving on from the Thatcherite era, with the Welsh party being praised from London for its success in rebuilding. Asked for evidence of a change, Mr Bourne lists the team who fought last May's election without being returned, such as Glyn Davies and Guto Bebb.
While admitting that Mr Davies's two Westminster colleagues - both chosen much closer the days of Mrs Thatcher -are also devolution sceptics, he points to the mass of newer candidates. Figures such as Susie Davies, seen as a strong hope for winning Brecon and Radnor - she voted 'Yes' for devolution as long ago as 1979.
Within days, Angela Burns, newly-elected for Carmarthen West and South Pembroke, was out-devolving Labour's arch-devolutionist Carwyn Jones. She asked what discussions he had had widi London on Wales having its own High Court. None, he replied, at which she blurted out her amazement. A more balanced view of the Tory party would occasionally highlight Mrs Burns, rather than always concentrating on the friend of lost Thatcherite causes and a possible aid to another Labourite victory.

Three cheers for Lib Dem Peter Black

Pierhead Welsh Politics
Three cheers for Lib Dem Peter Black for ridiculing the Commission for Racial Equality for proposing to prosecute a local resident for petitioning Swansea council objecting to a possible travellers' site near his home. The CRE, using Marxist double-talk, justified prosecution because the petition was preventing people "understanding how proper solutions to gypsy accommodation needs are to the benefit of all."
Mr Black, South West, said such action against legitimate democratic action "will set a dangerous and unwelcome precedent." "This is a fundamental freedom of speech issue."
The commission argues diat any use of the word "travellers" means "gypsies", and is therefore racial. But travellers are not necessarily gypsies. Apparently it is all right to complain about setting up a "dirty" caravan site. Which begs a question as to whether "dirt" is synonymous with gypsies in the eyes of the commission.
Establishing new sites for gypsies is a problem which has exercised the Assembly - not much has happened beyond proposals to adopt the solution designed for England - where it has not worked. Difficulties certainly exist, but the wrong way to sort them out is by use of the current legal sledge-hammer. That way democracy is down-graded - which could lead to the adoption of illegal methods, which presumably the CRE's successor would hardly favour.

It is dangerous to pigeon-hole Huw Lewis

Pierhead Welsh Politics
It is dangerous to pigeon-hole Huw Lewis, the leader of the five Labour rebels who are the strongest opponents of the current coalition with Plaid Cymru.
Sure, Irene James, of Islwyn, hails from the Nationalist-hating wing of the party; Huw's wife, Lynne Neagle, (Torfaen), seems to be keeping too close an eye on ensuring the Assembly mimics Whitehall policies; Karen Sinclair (Clwyd South), wants to keep local planning policies lined up with what's happening in Cheshire, while, both she and neighbour Ann Jones managed to stretch Assembly patience with their apparent inability to ensure their fingers delivered the voting result they had intended from their voting machines.
Hopes of a full-scale rebellion against the coalition seem doomed after the party conference's strong vote. But Mr Lewis has spent much of his life campaigning as, eventually, Welsh Labour's Assistant General Secretary, and you can be sure his campaigning won't cease. "We are the conscience of the One Wales Agreement," he told CAMBRIA. Mr Lewis's main work will be behind the scenes, ensuring that the group's pet projects don't suffer in the budget-making.
Topics such as the dualling of the Heads of the Valleys Road (work has still to be fully timetabled); the eradication of child poverty; and investment in deprived areas. Yet Mr Lewis's favoured topics do not derive entirely from the hard-Left. He has been a strident critic of Labour-run Merthyr council's failure either to fund an arts centre or resurrect the Victorian theatre at Pontmorlais. And when it comes to the forthcoming Welsh-language daily, he doesn't object to an annual one-million subsidy, fearing only that such cash may hobble criticism of Cardiff Bay!

Jane Davidson normally had it easy

Pierhead - Welsh Politics
Jane Davidson normally had it easy when she was Education Minister. A former teacher, the Pontypridd AM knew the territory well, was a radical in belief, and was intensely involved. The education world loved her.
Now Minister for Sustainability and Housing - which includes planning - she has for years been intensely involved with parts of her new brief. For which she is more likely to receive brickbats than the praise she has been used to.
She is former vice-president of Ramblers Association Wales, which has coastal footpath demands which extend tar beyond past practice or farmers' wishes. And as planning minister, Plaid's Arfon member Alun Ffred Jones has handed her a challenge which Labour has successfully dodged for nine years.
Mr Jones asked her, "Technical Advice Note 20, on the Welsh language, has been under review for years - it feels more like decades. As far as I know, it has been used only once or twice. When will its review be completed?"
Ms Davidson gave a half-answer. Next year, she will commission a "research project". As this is an issue which is seriously undermining Welsh in its few remaining heartlands, will the Minister subsequently manage to discover the courage -which Labour has never previously possessed - to write tfie "guidance", whose lack leaves the TAN as a dead letter ?
The Minister has learnt Welsh to a very high standard. Let us hope that she realises that, without a heartland, that language has no future.

Land Grab?

I spent a couple of hours earlier today looking at The English Democrats website to see how the other half live. For those of you not familiar with The English Democrats, they are a 'political party' campaigning for an independent England.

Nothing wrong with that; why shouldn't the English have independence? Surely, we who support the concept of an independent Wales should welcome the rise of the English national consciousness, and the emergence of a political party to give it voice. Well, yes we should ... that is, until you read the small print.

For you see, The English Democrats are not a nationalist party in the mold of Plaid, or the SNP. It would seem (from the evidence of their website), that their agenda extends beyond national self-determination, and that they are plotting a Sudeten-style land grab of our border lands.

Don't believe it? The evidence is here:


NOTICE ~ Meeting in Monmouth in March!
_____________________________________________


The next General Meeting of EDP Members will be held on Saturday, the 10th of March 2007 in Monmouth which, historically, was a town in England until 1974.

Further details about times and the venue etc will be given in due course.

Members who wish to be considered for adoption as EDP candidates are invited to put their names forward to the National Secretary at Alan.England@EngDem.org



Challenge made to Welsh deniers!



Dear Editor
Re: Proposal for a public debate on Monmouthshire's true national identity
The English Democrats' campaign for a referendum to be held amongst the citizens of the original (pre-1974) county of Monmouthshire has been met with some ill considered and inaccurate flak, especially from individuals who really ought to know better. Consequently, an impression of anti Englishness, as distinct from principled opposition, has been conveyed.

The Conservative MP for Monmouth, David Davies, has been reported as pooh poohing the idea of a local referendum, and also as saying: "I don't believe it [Monmouthshire] ever has been or ever was [part of England], and I can explain why the mistaken view it was part of England has arisen.". His objections to letting the people democratically decide are consistent with earlier experiences of Conservatives' conduct when in office! Also, Mr Davies' mistaken beliefs about the history of Monmouthshire are debatable, and the English Democrats would be happy to give him the true historical facts.

The Liberal Democrat AM, Peter Black, was reported last September as having said: "I was certainly aware of the intention of the English Democrats to contest Monmouthshire at the next Welsh Assembly elections. Apparently, they believe that the county should be returned to England after 722 years of being erroneously placed on the wrong side of Offa's Dyke." Unfortunately, such irrelevant, historically inaccurate, remarks are all too typical of the Liberal Democrats who want 'all our petty nationalisms to be dissolved in the greater European whole'.

It is all very well for individuals who are prominent locally to make sweeping assertions about the actual status of Monmouthshire County prior to 1972 and to mock the English Democrats for wanting to give its citizens a say (albeit belatedly) but, if they have any sense of public responsibility, they would make known the evidence supporting their claims, and how access to any such evidence (if it exists) can be gained.

English Democrats think that it would be good, at last, to have a proper, open and democratic debate about the subject, and wondered whether your newspaper would like to act as host? If you did organise the debate, it should turn out be a lively debate with plenty of good copy for the Western Daily Press.
Yours sincerelyAlan EnglandNational SecretaryEnglish Democrats


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22 Jan 2007 by Harold
comments (0)






The deceitful transfer of Monmouthshire from England

Below is an outline of the constitutional position of Wales generally, and Monmouthshire in particular, from Edward 1's reign in the 13th Century to the late 20th Century, when it was arbitrarily made part of Wales.

Elwin Jones' account culminates in the shabby episode (yet another!) in which the people of England, and those especially in Monmouthshire, were deceived and let down by those elected to represent their interests in the British Parliament in Westminster.

Some of those connected with this debacle are well known names, or were some twenty years ago: Leo Abse, Michael Foot, Neil Kinnock and George Thomas (later Speaker in the Commons). Others remain in the obscurity which, in varying degrees, enveloped them at the time.

Ironically, this event was a forerunner of a similar manoeuvre the next year, when the Bill which slid the UK into the then EEC, was adopted by means of an ambush in which Labour 'rebels' were led by yet another Welshman, Roy Jenkins. On this latter occasion, Michael Foot - leading opposition to the Bill - was a victim! However, the EU is another sad subject in its own right.

Elwin Jones' investigation of what occurred in 1972 does not enhance the reputation of British Parliament. Finally, for those in Wales who dispute the validity of the status of Wales (and Monmouthshire), it should be remembered that the union of England and Wales in 1536 was effected by a monarch of Welsh stock, Henry VIII, for the Tudors/Tudwrs were Welsh. Henry VIII was the son of Henry, Earl of Richmond (born in Pembroke in 1457), the Welsh usurper who seized the English crown at Bosworth Field in 1485.

For those who insist upon going back further, the question arises about whether, prior to 1282 (when Edward 1 seized control of it), Wales was ever a truly sovereign state rather than a number of small independent kingdoms. Almost certainly, Hywel Dda (who ruled three hundred years earlier during the first half of the 10th Century) ruled most of Wales, but that is unlikely to have included Monmouthshire on the eastern side. Just how far back does one have to go with one's anti-Englishness to establish a claim, which is at best dubious?_________________________________________
A history of Monmouthshire by Elwin Jones English Democrats Abergavenny, Monmouthshire (Born an Englishman in Monmouthshire in 1931)Ambiguity over Welsh status? Monmouthshire's Welsh status was widely viewed as being ambiguous until relatively recently, with it often being thought of as part of England. The entirety of Wales was made part of the Kingdom of England by the Statute of Rhuddlan 1284, but it did not adopt the same civil governance system, the area of Monmouthshire being under the control of Marcher Lords.

The Laws in Wales Act 1535 integrated Wales directly into the English legal system, and divided it into several counties. Monmouthshire, as part of England, was created by this Act, which gave it two knights of the shire rather than just one as in the other Welsh counties. However, the Laws in Wales Act 1542 specifically enumerates the Welsh counties as twelve in number, excluding Monmouthshire.

Despite this integration of Wales with England, the word "England" was still taken to exclude Wales in many contexts. The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 ensured that, in legislation passed subsequently, Berwick-upon-Tweed and Wales were included in "England".

Despite this, Monmouthshire was often associated with Wales. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica unambigiously described the county as part of England, but notes that 'whenever an act [...] is intended to apply to [Wales] alone, then Wales is always coupled with Monmouthshire'.

Most Acts of Parliament actually included Monmouthshire as part of England. For example, the Local Government Act 1933 listed both the administrative county of Monmouth and county borough of Newport as being part of England but, in the rare event that an Act of Parliament was restricted to Wales, Monmouthshire was usually included. For example, the creation of the Welsh Office in 1964 explicitly included Monmouthshire.

Another typical example was the division of England and Wales into registration areas in the 19th century ­ one of which, the "Welsh Division", was defined as including "Monmouthshire, South Wales and North Wales". Being a part of the diocese of Llandaff, Monmouthshire was included in the area in which the Church of England was disestablished in 1920 to become the Church in Wales. The question of Monmouthshire's status continued to be a matter of debate, especially as Welsh nationalism and devolution climbed the political agenda in the 20th century. The Wales and Berwick Act was repealed in respect of Wales in 1967 under the Welsh Language Act 1967. The Interpretation Act 1978 provides that, in legislation passed between 1967 and 1974, "a reference to England includes Berwick upon Tweed and Monmouthshire".

The issue was eventually clarified in law by the Local Government Act 1972, which provided that in legislation after 1974 the definition of "Wales" would include the area of Monmouthshire.

The English Democrats Party have expressed an intention to stand in the 2007 Welsh Assembly Elections in Monmouthshire with a view to 'Letting Monmouthshire Decide' whether it wishes to be part of Wales or England.

The Murky Transfer from England to Wales Monmouthshire did not exist before 1535.

However Monmouth the town did exist and was documented in the Domesday Book as being part of England.

The 1535 Act (during the Reign of Henry VIII) was passed because of the lack of law and order in the Welsh border areas from Mold to Chepstow, which were ruled by the “Marcher Lords” – basically this area between Wales and England was no-man’s land.

That Act created the counties of Monmouth, Brecknock, Radnor, Montgomery, and Denbigh and annexed the remaining border area to the counties of Shropshire, Gloucester and Hereford; hence the Welsh place names there. So it is therefore not surprising that the Welsh language was in use in the border country.

In that Act, Section 3 (Notes four, five and six) and all of Section 4 (especially Note six) refer to everything in the county of Monmouthshire being done according to this ‘Realm of England’ and for the subjects and inhabitants of Monmouthshire to be ‘bound and obedient to the King, Justices, Council, laws, customs ordinances and statutes of this Realm of England, in like manner and form as all King’s subjects within every shire of this Realm of England’.

Sections 5, 6, 7 and 8 respectively refer to Brecknock, Radnor, Montgomery and Denhigh as parts of the country of Wales. However, Section 36 states that until three years after the end of that Parliament, the King shall have the power to ‘repeal, revoke and abrogate’ the whole, or any part of the Act.

Section 2 of the 1542 Act, states that Wales will comprise twelve counties: the eight old counties of Glamorgan, Carmarthen, Pembroke, Cardigan, Flint, Caernarvon, Anglesey and Merioneth plus four new ones: Radnor, Brecknock, Montgomery and Denbigh, over and besides the county of Monmouth and the other parts of Wales annexed to Shropshire, Gloucester, and Hereford.

Section 5 of the Act, states that sessions will be held in every of the shires of Wales and then names the above twelve, but not Monmouthshire. The 1933 Local Government Act lists the English and Welsh counties and the county boroughs, and places Monmouthshire in the English county list with Newport in the English borough list. Pre 1974 Ordnance Survey maps also place Monmouthshire in England, and the Ordnance Survey Department gave written confirmation of this. Furthermore, the Welsh Office confirmed in writing that Monmouthshire was part of England prior to 1974.Confusion over this matter has been caused over generations by misleading statements made and repeated by prominent statesmen and politicians for reasons known only to them, taking advantage of the fact that many residents of Monmouthshire were unable to read and write.

When the 1972 Local Government Act was being dealt with in Committee, three MPs not elected to represent the constituents in Monmouthshire, namely Mr Brynmor John (Member for Pontypridd), Mr George Thomas (Cardiff West), (later Mr Speaker Thomas) and Mr David Gibson-Watt (Hereford), drafted a paragraph on the 14 March 1972 that would effect the transfer of Monmouthshire to Wales with the words “including the areas of Monmouthshire and Newport in the new counties of Wales.” ie. the twelve old counties would be replaced by eight new counties: South Glamorgan, Mid Glamorgan, West Glamorgan, Dyfed, Powys, Gwynledd, Clwyd and Gwent. They omitted to reveal that Gwent was almost entirely the English county of Monmouthshire. The Committee comprised thirty six MPs, but excluded the MPs representing Monmouthshire and Newport.

The effect of that sentence was revealed to Parliament four months later, at five minutes to midnight on 20th July 1972, by George Thomas, Gibson-Watt and Ray Gower (Barry). The”debate” was over in less than one minute including Gerald Kaufman's (Manchester Ardwick) statement “Am I to take it that an Act of annexation of such magnitude is to be carried though a sparsely attended House of Commons on the nod at five minutes to midnight on the same basis as Europe has annexed England, I wish to voice my protest.” The Bill had its Third reading less than eighteen hours later, before going to the Lords and subsequently receiving the Royal Assent.

There is no record of the five MPs representing Monmouthshire and Newport (Neil Kinnock, Michael Foot, Leo Abse, Roy Hughes and John Stradling Thomas) speaking one word for or against, if they were present. The paragraph was drafted four months earlier and a copy will have been placed in the House of Commons Library as a matter of course. There is evidence that indicates they knew about the paragraph. Therefore, during those months they could have informed electors of what was being proposed. They could have held public meetings to consult their constituents and called for a referendum, but they did not, and have never given any explanation for their inaction. There is no trace in Hansard of any protest having been recorded by these MPs that they were unaware of and had not been informed about that paragraph prior to 20 July 1972.

Being transferred to Wales was the most momentous constitutional event in Monmouthshire’s history for some 430 years, and the most important thing presided over during their careers as MPs by the five MPs involved. The fact that they spoke not one word in Parliament either for or against the transfer, and that they took no active steps to make the electorate aware of what was about to happen, constitutes a grave abuse of the trust that should exist between MPs and their constituents, and a gross dereliction of duty.

Some fifteen years later, when Welsh devolution was proposed in the county, there were repeated visits from the Prime Minister, his Deputy, senior members of all political parties, MPs, and trade union leaders, accompanied by months of radio and television interviews, plus numerous articles in national and local newspapers. All that, merely to transfer a few administrative powers from the UK to Wales, but when it was proposed to transfer an English county, with its population of 400,000 to Wales, there was not a whisper from any of the constituency MPs involved or Parliament. What can be said to justify the actions of four MPs with no particular political connections to Monmouthshire and Newport being allowed to override all democratic conventions with misleading statements in Committee and in the Commons, culminating in the arbitrary transfer of Monmouthshire and Newport.

In marked contrast, the people of Northern Ireland, the Falklands, the Channel Isles and Gibraltar have all been promised that they will not be transferred without a referendum. The fact of the 1972 Act of Parliament being required to effect the transfer Monmouthshire to Wales itself constitutes evidence that it was an English county. If Monmouthshire was already truly part of Wales, an Act of Parliament effecting a transfer would have been unnecessary._______________________________________________

Conservatives against democracy in Monmouthshire


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Despite professing to the contrary, Conservatives do not really believe in democracy, as evidenced by the deliberate avoidance by the Heath Government of consulting the people of Monmouthshire in 1972 about whether they wished to remain in England or to become part of Wales.

This arrogance was exercised on a wider scale when, without conducting a referendum, that Conservative Government made the UK a member of the EEC, as it was then.

The EDP has mounted a campaign to create an opportunity for the voters of the traditional county of Monmouthshire say whether they wish to have English or Welsh nationality, and what is the reaction of David Davies, the Conservative MP for Monmouth, this 'servant of the people'?

He is reported as saying:

"I don't believe it [Monmouthshire] ever has been or ever was, and I can explain why the mistaken view it was part of England has arisen.
"It's not part of England now so I don't really understand why the English Democrats are trying to get involved in this.
"It's a tiny issue for a very small number of people living in my constituency and, frankly, I think they're wasting their time completely in raising this matter."
So there you have it, straight out of the horse's mouth, so to speak! Mr Davies, who was barely two years old when the dirty deed was done, does not "believe" that Monmouthshire "ever has been or ever was" part of England!
He claims to be able to explain why what he describes as "a mistaken view has arisen", but we have yet to discover his explanation!
Even so, he confesses that he doesn't really understand why the English Democrats are pressing for a referendum in Monmouthshire on the question, but dismisses it as being "a tiny issue for a very small number of people living in Monmouth".
If the subject is so inconsequential, one wonders why Mr Davies has deigned to even comment on it; certainly his reaction has been negative?
However, the fact is that once again the Conservatives have exposed their resistance to true democracy and their anti-Englishness!
A less than impartial report by a Welshman of this matter is reproduced below. Some inconvenient facts: The English Democrats are a registered political party Mr Williams, not merely a group, and the campaign is actually for a referendum!
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Move Monmouthshire into England, says referendum campaign
Jan 6 2007
Tryst Williams, Western Mail

A CAMPAIGN to move Monmouthshire to England has been officially launched.
A political group calling themselves The English Democrats was yesterday planning to start a mass leafleting campaign pushing for a referendum to bring the county within England's borders.
The group claims Monmouthshire was undemocratically brought under Welsh control under the local government changes of 1974.
They also plan to put up candidates for the National Assembly elections in May.
Robin Tilbrook, chairman of The English Democrats, said, "Our campaign is for a referendum for the people of the traditional county of Monmouthshire to be able democratically to vote on the question of whether they wish their nationality to be Welsh or English."
He added, "The people of Monmouthshire were robbed and for 34 years the self-interest of all the British national parties has denied Monmouthshire its right of self-determination.
"Of the 50% in Monmouthshire who voiced their opinion in 1997 [in the devolution referendum], 68% voted against the setting up of a Welsh Assembly.
"In other words 82% either voted against or were not convinced that Wales should devolve from England.
"So, despite intense political and media pressure, less than one in six were convinced by the unequal argument to say yes.
"The English Democrats take the view that this is because large numbers of people in Monmouthshire still think of themselves as being English."
They further claim that a 1972 parliamentary move to place Monmouthshire in the new county of Gwent, in a bid to dilute the Welsh nationalist vote, was only revealed by the then-Conservative Government at the 11th hour to a quiet House of Commons.
The English Democrats' leaflets state, "It is said that Edward Heath's motives were to dilute the nationalist vote in Wales by putting 40,000 English people into the voting population of Wales knowing full well that the English would not vote for a Welsh National Party.
"In 1997, the people of Monmouthshire proved his instinct correct by voting overwhelmingly against devolution in Wales; thus displaying a massive reluctance to leave their Mother Country."
Their arguments come against a long history of debate over whether Monmouthshire was ever properly a part of Wales or England.
Among the party's high-profile supporters are TV critic and broadcaster Garry Bushell.
Monmouthshire MP David Davies gave their local campaign short shrift last night.
He said, "The English Democrats, as I understand it, were set up to campaign for a parliament in England.
"That's a perfectly legitimate and rational political view or campaign to have.
"I'm very surprised, however, that they have got involved in this argument about whether or not Monmouthshire is, or ever was, part of England.
"I don't believe it ever has been or ever was, and I can explain why the mistaken view it was part of England has arisen.
"It's not part of England now so I don't really understand why the English Democrats are trying to get involved in this.
"It's a tiny issue for a very small number of people living in my constituency and, frankly, I think they're wasting their time completely in raising this matter."
Move move Monmouthshire into England says referendum campaign
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06 Jan 2007 by Harold
comments (0)


Letting Monmouthshire decide!


Press Release

"Letting Monmouthshire decide!"


4th January 2007

The English Democrats today are starting their campaign to claw back democracy for the people of Monmouthshire. They will be starting a mass leafleting campaign to tell the electorate what they should have been democratically consulted about 34 years ago.

Fred Bishop, one of the campaign organisers for the English Democrats, said:-

"The people of Monmouthshire were robbed, and for 34 years the self-interest of all the British national parties has denied Monmouthshire its right of self-determination.

Of the 50% in Monmouthshire who voiced their opinion in 1997, 68% voted against the setting up of a Welsh Assembly. In other words 82% either voted against or were not convinced that Wales should devolve from England.

So, despite intense political and media pressure, less than 1 in 6 were convinced by the unequal argument to say yes.

The English Democrats take the view that this is because large numbers of people in Monmouthshire still think of themselves as being English."

Fred Bishop also said:-

"In 1974, when Monmouthshire was secretly and undemocratically ceded to Wales, the electorate was deliberately kept in ignorance. Those involved recognised that, had the word gone out, there would have been such massive protest that their ambitions would have been dashed and Monmouthshire would have remained in England.

The people of Monmouthshire were callously dismissed from the decision making process, and justice now demands that they must have the democratic opportunity of righting that wrong."


Robin Tilbrook, Chairman of the English Democrats, added:-

"The English Democrats will be putting up candidates in the coming Welsh Assembly elections in May.

Our campaign is for a referendum for the people of the traditional County of Monmouthshire to be able democratically to vote on the question of whether they wish their nationality to be Welsh or English."

______________________________________
Contact Details:-Robin TilbrookChairman,The English Democrats,Quires Green, Willingale, Ongar, Essex, CM5 0QPTel: 01277 896000Fax: 01277 896050Mobile: 07778 553395
robintilbrook@aol.com
http://www.englishdemocrats.org.uk/

Fred Bishop
Organizer
"Letting Monmouthshire Decide!" Campaign
Avonbrook, Bridge Street,
Lower Moor,
Worcestershire
WR10 2PL

Not right, Not left, Just English!


...you've got to love that small print!!