Fellow @Peterhouse_Cam | Historian of modern British politics | Cymro (hiraethus) o ogledd Sir Benfro.
Cambridge & Crymych
Joined July 2018
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HM a class act, as always. Good Welsh pronunciation. But the occasion is woefully lacking in ceremony. The opening of the Scottish Parlt has the Crown of Scotland. Cardiff lacks an equivalent. And shouldn’t the Prince of Wales be there?
Now there’s a thought (in Simon Heffer’s review of Jan Ruger’s recent book). But in those circs would Princess Victoria have been married to the future Frederick III?
For a second, I mistook the green stage for the Plaid Cymru conference. Then again, Plaid and the Greens are becoming increasingly hard to tell apart…
Geraint Thomas retweeted
1/3 Rhun ap Iorwerth lies about Plaid's history. For decades Plaid opposed NATO, a US-led nuclear-armed alliance. When SNP & Greens dropped similar longstanding opposition to NATO it was only after conference debates & votes, Plaid's leaders rewrite party policy with no debate
Plaid Cymru leader and Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth tells Sky News Defence Insider an independent Wales would join a ‘NATO-type organisation' | @LucyJMcDaid
£14.99 a month thereafter unless cancelled. New customers only. Terms apply.
Become an Insider: qrcode.skynews.com/XDefenceI…
Geraint Thomas retweeted
I have to say, I much prefer the @NewStatesman's 1974 depiction of the Bayeux Tapestry to this new Tory one.
It imagined Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan's re-negotiations with the EEC, with little Roy Hattersley matching alongside.
Michael Foot and Tony Benn fly the flag for a referendum. Jack Jones and TGWU archers fire back. Peter Shore as cavalry.
Roy Jenkins and Shirley Williams dancing and drinking below. Heath lies defeated. Giscard d'Estaing as king. – at Faringdon, England
Geraint Thomas retweeted
Several constituents have contacted me about this, saying it makes the Senedd look like a joke. It’s been compared to a Monty Python sketch.
It’s also why we must resist Plaid Cymru separatists’ plans to criminalise lying in politics. It’s a nefarious move to police language and limit scrutiny.
PM’s speech good by recent standards, w some v effective lines (eg on the Right having ‘given away’ control). But, social care aside, I’m struggling to see its path-changing significance in the other area that matters most, if not more, for the country right now: defence!
‘Frustrate their knavish tricks’
Time to reinstate the second verse? GSTK.
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmqx…
Trump endorses Northern Ireland’s separation from GB one day; a separatist summit in Cardiff the next. Coincidence?
Curious that separation is pledged in the MoU + owned by the other leaders, yet absent from this gloss by PC. If the tide of events demands “independence”, then this isn’t leadership. More a breathtaking failure of pol courage or a fairly transparent exercise in disingenuousness
A privilege to welcome the leaders of the SNP and Sinn Féin to Wales at what is an important moment in our politics.
Our parties have much to gain from working together, as partners and as equals, where we share common interests and where cooperation can improve the lives of the people we represent.
Today, we have commited to strengthening cooperation between our parties and identifying practical areas where working together can make a real difference for our nations.
Can someone @FCDOGovUK please spare two mins to teach the Foreign Secretary how to stand for a national anthem?
Geraint Thomas retweeted
🚨 WATCH: This remarkable political intervention ‼️
On 19 October 1982, aged 88, former Conservative prime minister Harold Macmillan explained Britain’s future 👉 with startling accuracy.
His complete message is therefore extraordinarily current:
Britain cannot solve global economic problems alone. Europe gives it the power to shape events. Without that power it becomes America’s client. Technology can liberate humanity, but only if political leadership ensures that the wealth it creates is shared.
A thread 🧵 1/10
Unflappable, gentlemanly, firm.
#OTD 1983. General Election. Although Thatcher wins less votes than in 79, her majority increases to 144.
Labour endure their worst electoral performance since 1923.
Jim Callaghan gives an immediate verdict - blaming the party’s position on defence.
