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(Ssh, whisper it) Ieuan's Confident

Posted by Tom Bodden on July 3, 2007 12:55 PM | 

Plaid leader Ieuan Wyn Jones is 'quietly confident' that his party will back the One Wales coalition deal with Labour on Saturday, paving the way for a new government next week.
And Labour leader Rhodri Morgan is feeling a 'tingle' too, ahead of his conference special on Friday.
What happens if Labour/Plaid delegates don't endorse the plan?
Ieuan's not playing that game.

The Ynys Mon AM also knows how may seats Plaid could expect in the coalition cabinet (I'd guess three) but refused to tell a Senedd news conference lest it distracted from the serious issues of policy to be negotiated first.
"I'm entirely satisfied that won't be a problem between us," his enigmatic reply.
Plaid's national council has set aside six hours for potential debate a the weekend although Mr Jones beleved that the matter would not take that long.
The Plaid leader has attended five out of seven scheduled meetings with activists over the deal and reported: "The feedback we have been getting at all those meetings is very positive and as a result of extensive discussions with party members up and down Wales I'm reasonably positive the vote will be positive at the national council."
He expected a 'stable government' in place next week.
But he added: "Between now and Saturday we have a job to sell this document to our members, both the Labour Party and Plaid."
Earlier, Labour business minister Jane Hutt, who met a party 'cluster group' in Carmarthen, said: "We are moving positively towards the weekend."
She too became evasive when asked about a scheduled meeting today between Welsh Labour MPs and the AMs executive officers, refusing at first to confirm who might attend.
"I'm sure it will be lively," she said.
UPDATE: Two North Wales Labour AMs have voiced fierce opposition to the coalition deal with Plaid.
Ann Jones, Vale of Clwyd, and Karen Sinclair, Clwyd South, were among other outspoken critics of the agreement, which is scheduled to be ratified at a special party conference on Friday.
Ms Jones, Ms Sinclair and Islwyn AM Irene James warned: “We have serious objections to a number of the Plaid Cymru inspired policies included in this agreement and believe the document represents a significant departure from what people voted for in the original devolution settlement in 1997."


 

Comments (1)

it's my party wrote...

Never mind all this. The big news today is that Conwy County leads the way in gay weddings. What will the lovely Darren Millar say about that?

Posted by: it's my party  | July 3, 2007 6:13 PM

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Welcome to ‘Gog in the Bay’, the occasional diary of a political journalist. My name is Tom Bodden, the Welsh Affairs Correspondent of The Daily Post, which is North Wales’ best selling newspaper. I am based full-time at the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff Bay.

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