There is bad blood after Peter Hain stood fast and vetoed Edinburgh as the seat of the permanent secretariat of the British and Irish council. Hain was representing the UK Government at the meeting. Why I wonder!
Hain claimed there had to be a total consensus on the decision and simply refused to agree to it. In the first round of voting, Edinburgh received 5 votes, the Isle of Man 2 and Cardiff 1. A second vote was held when Edinburgh had 6 votes, the Isle of Man 1 and Cardiff 1. At this point the Isle of Man withdrew and a third vote was held. Edinburgh received 6 votes and Cardiff 2 as Mr Hain, who had previously voted for the Isle of Man, switched to Cardiff. The Welsh Assembly delegate said he was happy to accept the result but Mr Hain refused.
The UK government was then accused of being spiteful towards the SNP and of anti-Scottish discrimination - "...Downing Street has responded angrily by accusing the SNP of a breach of protocol in going public on the matter."
Scottish government officials are furious and are accusing Gordon Brown of ordering Mr Hain to veto any move which would give Scotland more international standing.
Who was there?
Alex Salmond, Scottish First Minister
Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland First Minister
Brian Cowen, Irish Taoiseach
Eamon O Cuiv, Northern Ireland Minister for Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs
Martin McGuinness, Deputy Northern Ireland First Minister
Rhodri Morgan, Welsh First Minister
Peter Hain, British government
Plus heads of administration from the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey.
So why would Hain not agree to an obvious consensus. Apparently Alex Salmond is raising the matter in the Scottish Parliament this week.
Handbags at dawn eh
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6 comments:
Peter Hain doing Gordon Brown dirty work again, what's in it for the vain Permatan Mr Hain?
what I dont get is why was he there,Rhodri M was there for Wales and hain doesnt hold a relevant cabinet post for this , unless he is being lined up for devo -supremo
Lucky I've moved on because when this happens it's hard not to have a laughing fit with all the intrigue.
So much for democracy...
Will Syr Emyr Jones Parry be sacked for producing a report which highlights the deficiencies of the LCO system and comes out in favour of holding a Referendum for a Welsh Parliament?
(harking back to the sacking of Professor David Nutt)
Why were there 4 reps from Ireland including a former terrorist and the BIFFO who is the Irish PM ? Hardly the most high powered grouping in the world. The whole council is a joke at the taxpayers expense.
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