Counsel General and Leader of the House Carwyn Jones found himself in an embarrassing spot about extending the Assembly's timetable yesterday. A hardcore of Labour AMs - said to have north-Walian origins - were opposed to more Thursday afternoon committee meetings.
Following harsh words from the opposition, and tricky questions for Mr Jones at the Cabinet's weekly press briefing, Labour decided to back down at a group meeting yesterday morning.
Thursday afternoon sessions needed a unanimous agreement at the Assembly's Business Committee. Other party whips, business managers and the Presiding Officer were happy with the idea, but Mr Jones could not agree because of the opposed Labour AMs.
It is extraordinary that Labour found itself in this position. AMs are very hard working and may have good reasons to oppose Thursday afternoon meetings. But there is no way politicians can win sympathy from the public on an issue like this, especially in the present climate.
One wonders whether Mr Jones would have similar difficulty delivering his group if he was its leader. Meanwhile, Andrew Davies answered First Minister's questions while Rhodri Morgan was away.
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3 comments:
Your right about AM's wanting to scrap the sessions so why the hell don't they sort the transport system out so we get better North south links?
as for Andrew Davies he was so terminally boring yesterday, he made Rhodri Morgan's First Minister session look as inspirational as a Barack Obama stump speech.
I forgot to mention that all this happened in the week that a review of AMs' salaries is due to be announced.
Carwyn really isn't popular amongst many Labour (and indeed oposition) AMs.
Andrew Davies however is seen as a safe pair of hands - one to watch here I think.
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