Paul Flynn on top form

I'd thoroughly recommend Paul Flynn's article today on the supposed effects of the Windsor family on charitable giving.

     Are charities propping up royalty?

If anyone is in any doubt whether to click the link and read the whole thing, his closing paragraph should be enough to clinch it.

Overblown, uncritical, baseless claims of the influence of royals are the currency of sycophancy that engulfs us in contagious infantilism. The heroes of the charity world are flag sellers and jumble sale organizers who are inspired to sacrifice their talents and time for good causes. Many of those will resent the self-serving royals’ attempt to grab the credit for the thankless work of millions.

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16 comments:

Hendre said...

Well said, Flynnie.

I had to laugh when little Billy Battenberg described how his new wife would be starting on her philanthropic role. I always thought philanthropists were people who gave away large amounts of their own cash for charitable purposes.

Welsh not British said...

I don't know what everyone sees in Paul Flynn. He's literally just posted another one of his anti-war "how many kids have to die" tweets and yet it was his boss that sent them all out there in the first place.

And yet he is still a Labourite. Hypocritical bastards, each and everyone.

Cibwr said...

He has been consistent in his opposition to the wars, I tend to cut him a lot of slack, we need mavericks like him in Parliament - likewise I wonder why he is still in Labour though.

Anonymous said...

He was once a Plaid member

Cibwr said...

I didn't know that, when?

Unknown said...

He was robust and effective on TODAY this am. What a contrast to all the other Welsh Labour AMs. Chris Bryant is so caught up with is own vain concerns about hacking that he doesn't stand for his own constituents at all. They haven't been hacked! And he is still milking his expenses quite shamelessly by tenting his 'second' home out!

Anonymous said...

Paul Flynn voted for war in Libya.

Welsh not British said...

I will agree that he is the best of a bad bunch. And I have applauded him (via email and on my site) for voting in favour of energy devolution. But that still doesn't alter the fact that despite being so anti-war he is still Labour to the core. And in my eyes that makes him a hypocrite (with a book to sell)...

Anonymous said...

Just to change topic.
Does anyone know what is happening on the Mid and West Wales Fire Authority?
The chair a Lib Dem from Swansea, only re elected earlier this month to the post, is today no longer a member of the Authority!

Anonymous said...

Do we want all of Labour to be the "bad kind" though? It is better to have these Welsh-orientated politicians in the unionist parties than all isolated in Plaid.

Welsh not British said...

The reason he hasn't left labour despite it looking like he doesn't agree with any of their policies is because he knows fully well he'd be out at the next election. He's simply standing up for himself and not Wales.

People in South Wales are too politically ignorant to vote for anyone but Labour.

Anonymous said...

In a FPTP system you cannot really defect as easily between parties as in other countries where they have proportional representation. Flynn has always also had a UK-wide outlook despite being very patriotic.

Ambiorix said...

Welsh not British said...
The reason he hasn't left labour despite it looking like he doesn't agree with any of their policies is because he knows fully well he'd be out at the next election. He's simply standing up for himself and not Wales.

People in South Wales are too politically ignorant to vote for anyone but Labour.


I would go much further and say they're just plain thick!

Anonymous said...

I'm Plaid and i've always disagreed with the line that people must be stupid because they vote Labour so often. I really don't agree, and I think if higher profile people use that line it's a gift to Labour, calling their voters stupid.

I have alot of family who used to vote Labour, and they did it for what they thought were very good reasons. My grandfather was a truck driver and suffered terrible working conditions, and had an attachment to Labour because he believed they would improve things. He ended up being very disappointed that they didn't deliver the Labour government he had in mind, but he wasn't thick to vote for them. He was also a strong supporter of devolution and a good Welshman. For "Welsh Wales" (not Y Fro Cymraeg or British Wales) Labour was always seen as a culturally Welsh party, sitting comfortably with rugby, trade unions, miners choirs etc. Plaid was simply not on the radar, although that started to change with Wigley.

It is completely wrong to say people are thick, they just haven't been convinced to switch yet in sufficient numbers.

MH said...

Sorry to have left it so long before responding to the comments.

It seems that the main question is whether Paul should be in the Labour Party. I'd start by reminding people that he is 77 years old, and therefore the political options open to him when he was younger are rather different from what they are today. Perhaps a younger Paul might make different decisions. Perhaps not.

I'm content that he is on the right side (from my perspective, that is) on a number of issues that I care about. I could be critical of him even on some of those issues: for example that his opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has always seemed to have more to do with the number of our own casualties than the rights and wrongs of being there at all. But on balance I'd prefer to think well of him for the things he gets right than think of him as a hypocrite for being a Labour MP. Nor is Newport the sort of place that would elect a Plaid Cymru MP anyway ... at least not yet.

Only yesterday, he and Martin Caton have put their names to Plaid's EDM opposing what Carwyn said about basing nuclear weapons in Milford Haven. Let's applaud them both for that ... but at the same time condemn their 24 fellow Labour MPs in Wales for not joining them. I think this shows better than anything how much Labour has moved away from the principles which it once used to hold so firmly.

Anonymous said...

"People in South Wales are too politically ignorant to vote for anyone but Labour.


I would go much further and say they're just plain thick!"

Not at all. It makes sense for alot of people to vote for Labour. Because if and when the Tories get in, things can get (even) worse. So many people vote Labour and hold their nose at the same time. There isn't that much love for them, it is often a vote that says yes Labour are bad, but the Tories would be worse.

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