Blog Profile / Betsan Powys
| URL : | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/correspondents/betsanpowys/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | Politics / UK Politics | |
| Posts on Regator: | 206 | |
| Posts / Week: | 2.1 | |
| Archived Since: | July 6, 2011 | |
Blog Post Archive
Putting the cross into cross border
The jagged edges of devolution have rarely seemed so pointed. For the Welsh examining board, the WJEC, those jagged edges look very much today like the horns of a dilemma. They've made clear that they made a grade C "more severe" because both the English regulator, Ofqual and the Welsh regulator, the government - jointly - asked them to. Show More Summary
Sauce, goose, gander ... Gove?
How did you get on in your English GCSE this summer? Not great? And how hot are you on your geography - and politics? Why do I ask? Because they've just clashed, head on. Now read on. The man in charge of education in England was "saddened"...Show More Summary
Peaks, troughs and stark warnings
If you had any doubt about the priorities facing the Welsh government during the next Assembly term and beyond, then the Director of the Royal College of Nursing in Wales has spelt them out pretty starkly. You will put "creating economic growth" right at the top and few would disagree. Show More Summary
The reshuffle: twist in the tail
Do political anoraks come up with all the best jokes? I'll let you decide that one based on this evidence: "Stephen Crabb number two in the Wales Office? That makes sense. Crabs always make sideways moves." Mmm. Maybe not quite timeShow More Summary
The only Jones in the Wales Office
How many lawyers named Jones does it take to run Wales? The answer, from now on, is two. David Jones is the new Secretary of State for Wales. He is the first Jones to do the job, rather more significantly, the first Conservative representing a Welsh constituency since Nicholas Edwards in the 1980s. Show More Summary
'Lollipops' and 'national' gongs
If scientists ever have reason to test Paul Flynn's DNA, then I'm fairly certain they'll find proof in his genetic make-up that the MP for Newport West is officially more dragon than poodle. Like most dragons I know, he's been around for a very long time, long enough to have seen a succession of Prime Ministers grappling with the honours system. Show More Summary
State of Play 4 - Labour
The fourth and final instalment of our summer reading on the state of play for the four main political parties in Wales from @TobyMasonBBC For years, Welsh Labour's headquarters was an apt metaphor for the party itself. The grim, grey concrete edifice dominates the road west out of the centre of Cardiff. Show More Summary
State of Play 3 - The Lib Dems
Here's the third instalment of our look at the state of play for each of the four main parties in Wales with @TobyMasonBBC. The Liberal Democrats had a traumatic start to this Assembly. Although they lost just one of their six seats,...Show More Summary
State of Play 2 - Plaid Cymru
@TobyMasonBBC here again, with the second of our detailed looks at the state of play for the four main political parties to keep you in reading over the summer break. Today it's Plaid Cymru - a party with the newest leader on the block...Show More Summary
State of Play 1 - The Tories
Hello all - it's @TobyMasonBBC here with some summer political reading, and a chance for a look in detail at the fortunes of the four main parties in Wales. What's the current state of play, what might the next year or so hold for them - and how might their strategies unfold? First up, let's examine the Welsh Conservatives. Show More Summary
A week off =unfinished business
After a week in the Tenby sunshine what do you get? A list of unfinished business. 1. Now that Plaid Cymru have called off the (disciplinary) dogs against former leader and Presiding Officer Dafydd Elis-Thomas, who had accused his party...Show More Summary
Court challenge for first Bill
As a result of a referendum the Welsh government is now able to make its own laws without reference to Westminster, but it can only do that in areas that are fully devolved. When this Bill - about byelaws - was chosen to be the first Welsh law, people thought it was a rather uncontroversial measure and terribly unexciting. Show More Summary
Who lives in a house like this?
Remind you of anything? The Oval Office comes to the old Welsh Office. I'll start with a declaration of... I'm not sure of what exactly: technical limitations maybe. This photograph, that I took a short while ago at the Welsh Government's end of term briefing, is cropped. Show More Summary
'Loyalty question' to Elis-Thomas
If Dafydd Elis-Thomas stayed away from the assembly for the no-confidence vote in Health Minister Lesley Griffiths, he had good reason because he has a role to play at Bangor University. He takes it seriously. Had he simply stayed away,...Show More Summary
'No conniving' and 'no conspiracy'
His critics have had their turn. This morning it was Professor Marcus Longley's turn to strike back. There was no evidence of a pre-conceived conclusion in his report on the future shape of the NHS in Wales, he said, or in emails exchanged...Show More Summary
The Minister's end of term report
30:30. That's the maths in the Assembly chamber and for the first time since Carwyn Jones formed his government (a budget aside) he's being reminded of how the figures add up. The three opposition parties have come together to table a motion of no confidence in the Health Minister. Show More Summary
'No confidence' bid over minister
I think we're a bit clearer about a few things, including that the opposition parties are working together on this. They sense that they have found evidence with these e-mails they're not happy with, and they're not happy with what they...Show More Summary
BMA says NHS report discredited
The disclosure of emails between leading health economist Prof Marcus Longley and senior government officials during the preparation of his report into whether the NHS in Wales needs major reform have caused a political storm. Opposition...Show More Summary
How independent is independent?
This afternoon the Health Minister will get to her feet and present a statement to plenary on "the evidence underpinning the Longley report into health reforms". It is down for 30 minutes. The opposition parties are already saying that's not enough to deal with the long list of questions they feel they need to ask. Show More Summary
Making a point the size of Wales
Not in my name. Mark Drakeford, the Labour MP for Cardiff West and former adviser to Rhodri Morgan, spoke for five minutes in the Assembly chamber this afternoon but his point was made the moment he got to his feet: the First Minister's...Show More Summary