The Western Mail has more on Dafydd El's gesture politics.
Oh, and this old blogger says:
Had I received Dafydd El's email as well, I would have cancelled any other engagement to make sure I could attend, hopefully the cancelled meeting being one with the Presiding Officer himself.
I forgot to post this, from last week's Assembly proceedings:
The Presiding Officer: Order. That was not guidance; it was a ruling. The reason for the ruling, which I have stuck to throughout my period of presidency so far, is to ensure the independence of local government. Ministers can answer questions on their relationship with local authorities, but we should not be second-guessing what local authorities do any more than MPs in Westminster should try to second-guess what we do........
......Leighton Andrews: Llywydd, or perhaps I should say 'El Presidente’—[Laughter.]
The Presiding Officer: Order. For the avoidance of doubt, I meant to say 'during my presiding period’. The Welsh word Llywyddu covers both.
Leighton Andrews: And 'El Presidente’ is a translation of Llywydd into Spanish, I think.
I have received a nice email back from Mohammad Asghar AM which reads as follows:
Your comments are perfect, encouraging and helpful Kind Regards Asghar
It's been reported in a few places that the Presiding Officer has summarily announced he will be boycotting the visit of the Israeli Ambassador in two weeks time. The Ambassador is being invited by the Plaid Cymru AM Mohammad Asghar.
I cannot be at the event because of a prior commitment, but I have emailed Mohammad as follows:
I am unlikely to be able to attend the meeting with the Ambassador as I will be travelling to an evening engagement in West Wales.
However, I do not want my absence to be seen in any way as part of the juvenile gesture politics provoked by the Presiding Officer. I think his response to the invitation to the Israeli Ambassador is discourteous to you, insulting to the people of Israel, and demeaning to the National Assembly.
UK Government policy recognises the role of Israel as a liberal democracy and also recognises the need to safeguard Israel’s security, as well as seeking to achieve justice for the Palestinian people. As the Foreign Secretary said yesterday ‘There is evidence of the possibility of reaching a solution to the situation between the Israelis and the Palestinians based on the two-state idea….the solution lies in achieving justice for the Palestinians and guaranteeing security for the Israelis.’
Were I able to attend the event, I would want to convey to the Ambassador my concern about the situation faced by the Palestinian people.
I have supported the rights of the Palestinians for decades. Thirty years ago I attended the funeral of the assassinated PLO Representative in London, Said Hammami, at the invitation of Palestinian friends who were students with me at Bangor University, one of whom is now the Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and was involved in the drafting of the Oslo Accords in 1993.
I believe that we will only see peace in the Middle East if there is a viable Palestinian state based on the boundaries of 1967 – and equally an Israeli state free from terror, recognised by the Arab world. That means dialogue, not pointless gestures.
Regards
Leighton
I want the Democrats to win the US election - no surprise there - and though I am alarmed about the number of pro-Obama Conservatives in the National Assembly, I am glad that the contest is finally settled.
Justin Webb points to a campaign to get Hillary as Vice-President, and also draws attention to Andrew Stephen's analysis on the New Statesman blog.
I am still awaiting the legal advice on the Assembly Commission's rules on websites, so in the interim I am adding a new tag to my posts. 'Likely to be censored ' means I think that the Assembly Commission rules would not allow me to post a specific item on this site.
