It’s almost become the default answer after an act of terrorism: “this country/government/nation will never bow to terrorists” or words to that effect.

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Yet today the business of governing Wales came to a halt as a small bunch of strikers (terrorists) objected to a policy that the UK Government has labelled “fair” to both staff and taxpayers. It came to a halt because members of the Welsh Assembly Government found it better to support the (terrorist voters) strikers, rather than support the measures being implemented by the Government in London. And it’s not even a policy created by an opposition for all of them.

A Government that gives in to protest is both naive and is clearly failing to represent the views of the people they are supposed to represent.

Everyone I have spoken to in the last few days rate the strikers as beyond contempt. That their Picket lines (which are referred to as “somewhere to tie your horses” by Wikipedia) “must not be crossed” is a quaint old concept. Who the hell says it remains so?

The time has come for our vote chasing politicians in Wales to stand up and take clear positions on what is right, not what is folklore and not that which justssupports their re-election. It is time to be real and recognise that pickets serve little or no purpose, that it’s not just horses that get tied up there but Donkeys.

A very good BBC Wales programme tonight debating Afghanistan was let down by some poor political comment, in particular by the abysmal Wayne David.

So few links were made, or understood, about the need to relate defence and military action to political objectives and diplomacy.

I’ve banged on about this for ages: War is Diplomacy by violent means.

It only buys time for Politicians to seek a negotiated settlement. It was therefore refreshing to see Elfyn Llwyd articulate the need to open diplomatic efforts of a non military kind. Even more refreshing was the quiet support from the military men in the audience.

Diplomacy is the only way to enduring solutions. Politicians need to understand this and understand this soon.

According to reports on the Beeb the Chief Exec of Cardiff Council received a 33% increase in salary last year, which coincidentally was his last year in the role as he then quit his job rather unexpectedly.

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It’s also pretty amazing to note that all but one local authority Chief Exec is paid over £100,000 per annum. That’s before they get add ons such as £10k for being a returning officer (how demanding can that be?) so it’s a nice little package all in all.

But is it justified, or perhaps more fundamentally, do we need quite so many of them anyway?

22 Ch Execs/Finance Directors/Social Service Directors/HR Wizards and so on surely has to be overkill for a nation of 3 million or so people.

Add to that the inefficiency of our police/fire/ambulance/health services and we really have a need for some fundamental reorganisation and rationalisation.

Sadly I see little appetite to really address these issues, but any party that admitted there was a real need for change and was prepared to address it would certainly get my vote.

As a little lad in the 60’s I was brought up on the spectacle of rugby that was London Welsh. Great games, great excitement and very often thumping rugby. All washed down with a barrel or two after the game.

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In those days, players were amateurs, they played for love of the game and also with respect for the opposition. Captains were not laden with press conferences to worry about, but they did undertake one very important and noble duty.

If and when an opposition player was injured, the captain would trot over to him to express concern, and in most instances would wish him well. On those rare occasions when someone had to leave the field, he would be applauded off by both sides as well as the crowd.

Yesterday at the Millennium Stadium Thom Evans received a very nasty injury that forced him to leave the field and be taken to hospital for neck surgery. Whilst he was being attended to, the Welsh team appeared to take no interest in his plight, and the Welsh captain did not make an effort to check on him. Shame on them all.

Being “professional” does not excuse anyone from showing respect to injured individuals and I hope that we see some shift back to old values again soon.

Now that the starting gun has been fired at the National Assembly for Wales to hold a referendum on “powers” I wasn’t sure if this left me feeling positive or not.

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For some strange reason I can’t help but think that the arguments are still all about process, the process of law making that is.

For the life of me I can’t see how we will be able to make any more laws, it’s just that the laws that will be made won’t have to go through a process involving MP’s. And they might, yes only might, get made faster.

So on the one hand I feel something positive will come from it: legislation for Wales, made in Wales.

But on the other hand I can’t help thinking that we are still missing the bigger picture. The Government of Wales Act appears to be such a dog’s dinner of legislation, rushed through with improper thought and scrutiny, that it needs to be serisouly overhauled or replaced.

Which leads me to my concern: the excitement over a referendum for more “powers” will be a smoke screen that takes away the focus for what we really need in Wales, namely a bigger review for the creation of an acceptable, workable and sustainable means of governing our country.

If the referendum does become a smokescreen then I’m not in favour of it, but will still be voting Yes.

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I stayed in a nice hotel in Swansea last night, city centre, 4 star, amazing old building done up to a very high standard etc etc. But when  you get into the experience it’s not all that it might be.

Yes of course; it looked great. But it was the small things that were irritating: the nice bathroom that had a modern toilet that was so low that my arthritic hips made it very difficult to get up and down on it. Looked pretty though.

A modern shower unit that could not be turned on without me getting soaked with cold water first, because the controls were in the wrong place.

A luxury double bed, made of two singles joined together with a dip in the centre so that I slept rolling down a hill.

The heating system was probably the best that money could buy – but I couldn’t work out how to use the controls. So we were cold. And when we did turn it on it laucnhed some jet engines that could have woken the dead.

So on the surface and onf first impression, it was great – indeed good enough to get its tourism awards. But would I really want to stay there again? No. Sorry, but the focus on modern minimalism at the expense of true utility and comfort showed that the designers were more taken with form rather than function. That for me is the wrong focus.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I hate manufactured photo shoots for rugby, somehow they just don’t seem to work, and today’s 6 Nations Captains’ gathering did nothing to change my mind.

They were on the BBC news – so well done for the PR – but as the camera angle turned to show their backs I spotted something worrying – or am I paranoid?

The Scottish captain had a number 9 on his back, the English Captain had no number on his back – cos he’s might not be there – but Ryan Jones (the Welsh captain) had no number on his back either!

FFS: Ryan is the best No 8 in the UK! There almost needs to be a monopolies commission investigation into his Man of the Match performances for the Ospreys since he recovered from the North America and Lions tours.

But it just shows that when someone plays to his strengths he performs, no: out-performs and places himself above the competition.

So if your name is Warren Gatland and you are reading this blog: make sure that there’s a No 8 on Ryan’s back at Twickers next week. And if you’re not WG, tell him is you see him!

I really laughed when I saw this for the first, second and third time!

Have the lunatics taken over the Asylum Assembly? Well it certainly looks that way if Martin Shipton’s report in the Western Mail today is correct.

Civil Servants are going to be paid a one off grant of upto £2500 for moving to work in offices that could be closer to their home.

Just read that sentence again slowly and wonder if there really is an understanding in our bloated and out of touch public sector of a need to be a little bit tighter with the purse strings?

When I heard about the disaster in Haiti I was saddened, but then I heard about the USA’s response of active and vigorous action and I felt proud that some people in the world were able to do something really useful. I wish we were with them.

Television footage of people suffering and cities destroyed, or is that people destroyed and cities suffering? Whatever way you looked at the early reports the news was almost beyond understanding. But eventually we understood, or at least I thought we did. This is a natural disaster in a country that has a history of dealing with man made and natural disasters.

But understanding meant nothing: people have been killed, so there’s not much one can do for them, but millions still live and it is the living that are suffering. Millions in need of help, millions without the basics of life: shelter, water, food and security. Beyond that they are now in a state that had no means of control, no communications and certainly no means of dealing with the challenges they face.

What can we do, what should I do, why should I do anything?

All questions that ran through my soul, deeply. If only I were younger I could “volunteer”. But I’m not young, so maybe they need my money: but will it get there? And anyway: why should it come to me to give or do something? We’ve a department of Government that deals with international aid, can’t they take care of it all for me, for us, for them?

The more I saw TV footage from Haiti, the worse I have felt.

The suffering is beyond understanding, and the sense of frustration about the slow progress of international aid is growing. And the talk is now about money.

To hear today that the First Minister of the Welsh Assembly Government has suggest that we, in Wales, should give money to the Disaster Emergency Committee has left me seriously disappointed. The cause is so obvious that is hard to imagine anyone in Wales objecting to Government action.

There are 3 million people in Haiti affected by this disaster, roughly the population of Wales. A well lead country would stump up a valuable and immediate donation at a rate of at least £1 per head.