TAN 8 is latest evidence the First Minster is a follower not a leader

First Minister Carwyn Jones and his advisors are probably feeling good about their ‘victory’ over the UK Government over TAN 8 and devolving energy powers by highlighting the UK Government hostility to devolving powers to the Welsh Assembly and proving they are ‘standing up for Wales’.

I hate to burst the bubble but the TAN 8 fiasco was nothing of the sort, the whole thing is a humiliating climb down followed by opportunism and a master class in distraction politics from a Welsh Government under pressure over its own energy policy failures.

Welsh Government Minster’s knew full well during the last Assembly term the groundswell of anger of residents in Montgomeryshire against the wind farm proposals and wider concerns of residents in Mid Wales, but stubbornly refused to change the TAN 8 guidance despite being lobbied and pressed on the matter by campaigners.

Cawryn was the Environment Minister who signed off TAN 8 and has only acted now because there are political points to be scored from the evil Tories being nasty to Wales narrative rather than any point of principle. His phrase about ‘if we are going to be blamed for the development we might as well have the powers’ on Monday sums up his thinking.

Maybe he should be reminded that devolving the energy powers to Cardiff Bay could have been done by the previous Labour Government, it didn’t happen surprise surprise because Welsh natural resources are valuable and no UK Government is going to give them up without a fight. So blaming the Conservative/Lib Dem Coalition for doing what the Labour Government did before it is disingenuous and more than a touch cynical.

It’s also worth saying there is cross party support in the Assembly for energy powers to be devolved, something that has been missing from the reporting of the story so far. A united Welsh political voice is a stronger voice in negotiating with Whitehall, when will the Welsh Government learn this fact and use it to our advantage?

But the saddest part about this is that for all the heat and light it generated its changed little if anything. The wind farm and substation in Montgomeryshire could still get the go ahead as the decision is made by the UK Government and the powers won’t be devolved to the Welsh Government.

If that turns out to be the case then it’s a double failure for the Welsh Government that, like so many failures before it will be dressed up as success and swallowed by a gullible media and electorate.Any source