Blog Profile / Betsan Powys
| URL : | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/correspondents/betsanpowys/ | |
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| Filed Under: | Politics / UK Politics | |
| Posts on Regator: | 209 | |
| Posts / Week: | 2.1 | |
| Archived Since: | July 6, 2011 | |
Blog Post Archive
On the road with the Silk Commission
What's a girl to do on a Wednesday afternoon in Abertillery? A haircut at Scissorz? A visit to Conqueror Tattoos? Or perhaps a chat about the future of devolution? You'll be glad to hear (particularly on the tattoo front I suspect) that yesterday I opted for the last of those. Show More Summary
End of the three-country consensus?
What's Michael Gove's letter to the Education Ministers of Wales and Northern Ireland all about? In a sense, you could argue it's about - well, stating the obvious. As differences grow between the exam system and qualifications offered...Show More Summary
Devolution inquiry hits the road
The commission's already come up with answers to one key question - how should Wales be financed in future? It's still waiting to find out whether the UK government thinks it got that right. But it is already tackling the next part of...Show More Summary
Wales in Europe - via Griffithstown
What's your definition of Wales in Europe? If your answer is Bonnie in Malmö, then I'd probably stop reading now. If it's 'net beneficiary' or 'best out' then you're in the right place. Read on. The First Minister has used just about every available opportunity this week to repeat his message on Wales in Europe. Show More Summary
Long road to improved global ranking
I was there, back in 2010, when the Education Minister Leighton Andrews, took a long, hard look at Wales' standing in world league tables and said that enough is enough. The Programme for International Student Assessment - or PISA tests - had found Wales' fifteen year old pupils wanting. Everyone involved, he said, should be "alarmed". Show More Summary
A bucket with holes, or a whole lot?
I'm leaving the reporting on the Queen's Speech to my colleagues in Westminster - but I'll just add two overheard conversations to the debate. What exactly, came the question first thing this morning, is the status of the draft Wales...Show More Summary
Warning: Mr Ruthless on the warpath
There are, a colleague and old hand once told me, just two areas of Welsh politics I've never been able to crack - the politics of Welsh choirs and the politics of Anglesey. Both complex, both bloody-minded - both pretty impenetrable. Now as an alto who turns up to choir practice most Thursdays, don't get me started on the former. Show More Summary
Lobbyist register ruled out in Wales
Lobbyists say that what they do helps improve policy and legislation. Their critics dismiss them as parasites. But the standards committee in Cardiff Bay has decided that while some rules around contact between AMs and lobbyists need...Show More Summary
Full implementation, full explanation
I know what you're going to say. Please can you stop banging on in this blog about the Silk Commission, about who's saying what to whom about constitutional reform and devolving tax and borrowing powers. Can't you go back to writingShow More Summary
Carwyn and George: the odd couple
You've heard of George and Mildred, and Gilbert and George perhaps. I give you another partnership - a short-term collaborative duo with a common purpose: George and Carwyn, or Carwyn and George, take your pick. The common purpose? To...Show More Summary
Tories take on Labour in Cardiff Bay
Last year they gave it a miss. This year they gave it some welly. The Welsh Conservative conference was less short and sweet than brief and brutal. This was a one day conference packed with ministerial speeches that left the faithful...Show More Summary
Six of the best from the Chief Whip
Back from Anglesey - the mother of Wales, and in the past at least, the naughty child of Welsh local government. I admit I was going to make that metaphor work hard in today's blog entry, weave in naughty steps, slap downs and so on....Show More Summary
Mystery creases in the Silk road?
I don't know how closely Welsh Government ministers normally watch Welsh Liberal Democrat conferences. Not very, I suspect. A rare day out in the sun with the family - or stay in and watch a succession of speakers attack your alleged...Show More Summary
Re-org? - I wouldn't start from here
"Re-org is not where I want to be". Who said it? The then Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant. About what? Local government reorganisation. When? Back in 2010, when everyone else was talking about the Ryder Cup, Mr Sargeant was heading...Show More Summary
Kind words and empty chairs in the Bay
Instead of questions to the First Minister, this afternoon's session in the chamber will start with tributes to Margaret Thatcher. Only the party leaders have been asked to speak and the list of those who will not be attending is growing. All four leaders will be there. Show More Summary
Lines painted in early Spring...
A guest blogpost from @TobyMasonBBC Let me take you on a journey. One in particular - my morning drive to the Senedd in Cardiff Bay. Why would I want to tell you about my commute? Because I think it's trying to tell me something about...Show More Summary
Yes for Wales or no to Thatcherism?
Ron Davies is not about to give up his title. I'm talking about the former Welsh Secretary, about his unofficial title as 'the architect of devolution' and a suggestion that it could be bestowed on another - on Margaret Thatcher. She wasn't, as Dr Martin Johnes points out, always unpopular, nor was she by any means universally unpopular in Wales. Show More Summary
Welsh tributes to Baroness Thatcher
We've heard from those who were very much her adversaries: Dr Kim Howells, the former Labour minister and NUM official called her a pretty remarkable woman. Unlike most politicians she had an agenda, and she managed to achieve it, he...Show More Summary
"Very significant heat in the system"
Nearly every day now, I open my inbox to find an email from someone, somewhere pointing to something that's wrong with the NHS in Wales. A number are from ordinary people whose relatives were in great need and didn't get the sort ofShow More Summary
It's lift-off - at a price of £52m
We were on our way home from Labour's conference in Llandudno and let's face it, it wasn't my finest hour as a driver. Or as the man who came to our aid with two big spades put it: "Stick to the politics in future, cariad!" I'm unashamedly...Show More Summary