Honesty is the best policy

Martin Shipton

After the brazen dishonesty to which Wales and the rest of the UK has been subjected by Boris Johnson and his associates, we all deserve better.

But honesty in politics isn’t restricted to the personal integrity of those who are elected to high office.

It also entails being honest with the electorate about future policy and the reality of what is possible given the economic situation and prospects.

While parties of government are in pole position to be honest or dishonest in the way they conduct themselves, opposition parties also have the capacity to be mendacious and double-dealing.

When an opposition party criticises a governing party for not delivering, it’s reasonable to assume that if the opposition party enters government, it will deliver what it’s criticised the governing party for not doing.

Such a position becomes more compelling when, as now, it seems all but certain that the main opposition party will take the reins of government after the next general election.

Two very clear examples emerged at the recent Welsh Labour conference.

Welsh Labour politicians have rightly been critical of the UK Government for failing to keep its promise to provide Wales with every penny of the regional aid we would have received if we had remained in the EU.

HS2

Equally, they have – again rightly – criticised the UK Government for robbing Wales of an estimated £5bn by designating the HS2 rail scheme as an England and Wales project instead of what it is, an England-only project.

But while Sir Keir Starmer confirmed that a future administration led by him would return control of post-Brexit regional aid to the Welsh Government, he was not prepared to guarantee that Wales would get the same amount of money as we’d have got if the UK was still an EU member state.

Neither would he agree to redesignate HS2.

Given the previous criticisms of the UK Conservative government, this surely smacks of political dishonesty.

I decided to see how candid Shadow Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens was prepared to be about the intentions of a future Labour government, as well as challenging her about tweets she had made in the past that put her firmly on the left of the party.

I put to her these questions:

* In 2017 you resigned from the Shadow Cabinet, stating that you could not vote to trigger article 50, the mechanism for leaving the EU, because you believed that leaving the EU would be “a terrible mistake”.

Keir Starmer has now made it clear that the next Labour government will not seek readmission even to the EU single market and customs union. Having described yourself at the time of your resignation as a “passionate European”, do you agree with Sir Keir’s current stance? If so why, and if not why not?

* By going along with Sir Keir’s current position, do you not feel that you are betraying your constituents, who voted strongly against Brexit, with the majority believing it was a mistake?

* Before he became party leader, Sir Keir was strongly in favour of another referendum on EU membership. Why do you believe he has changed his position so that Labour is now a Brexit-supporting party?

* Do you support the devolution of policing to Wales, as sought by the Welsh Government?

* Do you support the devolution of the criminal justice system to Wales, as sought by the Welsh Government?

* Should Wales get at least the same funding in real terms under future regional aid programmes as it received from the European Commission when the UK was a member state?

* Concern has been expressed about what has been described as a purge to ensure left wingers are not selected by local parties as candidates for the next Westminster election. Do you believe that such a purge has been taking place?

* Do you believe that would-be Westminster candidates on the left of the Labour Party should be prevented from standing?

* You served for a period in Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet. Were you aware that anti-semitism had become prevalent in the party under his leadership? If so, why did you not resign from the Shadow Cabinet on those grounds?

* Do you believe Jeremy Corbyn should be barred from standing as a Labour candidate at the next general election? If so why, and if not why not?

* On March 5 2013, you tweeted: “Feel very sad about death of [Hugo] Chavez. For a long time my political hero. Venezuela will be a poorer place without him.”

In 2010 Amnesty International reported: “Over recent years the Venezuelan government appears to have established a pattern of clamping down on dissent through the use of legislative and administrative methods to silence and harass critics. Laws are being used to justify what essentially seems to be politically motivated charges, which would indicate that the Venezuelan government is deliberately targeting opponents.”

Why was Hugo Chavez your political hero? What could Wales and the UK as a whole learn from Chavez’s legacy?

* Do you think that someone who described Hugo Chavez as their political hero should be allowed to stand as a Labour general election candidate?

* In 2015, in the run-up to that year’s general election, you appeared as one of a number of prospective parliamentary candidates in a publication produced by Labour CND in which you stated: “I’m a firm believer that nuclear weapons are not a deterrent or a solution. I’ve been very clear on my position on Trident, which is that I don’t think we should replace it. One goes, we all go.” Do you still support Labour CND? Were you a member of it in 2015 and are you a member of it now? Do you think that someone who supports unilateral nuclear disarmament should be allowed to stand as a Labour general election candidate?

Ambitious

In response to all these questions, this is the response I received in Jo Stevens’ name from Welsh Labour’s press team: “After 13 years of managed decline, failure and chaos under the Conservatives, UK Labour is ambitious for the whole of our country and facing firmly towards the future, rather than the divisions of the past.

“Brexit has happened, so Labour’s priority is for the whole country to move forward together, ending those past divisions and achieving its full potential.

“Keir Starmer has transformed the Labour Party and set out a plan for mission-driven government that will work relentlessly towards clear and measurable long-term goals.

“As a united team, we are completely focussed on outcomes that matter: making sure that people are better off, live in safe communities, and have the opportunities they need to succeed – wherever they live, and whatever their background.

“Wales has enormous potential. Working hand-in-hand with Mark Drakeford and our colleagues in the Welsh Labour government, we can and will build a stronger, fairer, greener future together.”

None of my questions were answered directly, and I didn’t feel that Ms Stevens had passed the candour or honesty test.

If a future UK Labour government seeks to make a habit of avoiding scrutiny in such a way, disillusionment will soon set in.