My story MATTHEW HORWOOD / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO


put under strain in a way that previously would have been unimaginable. Attempts have been made to nobble stories, sometimes with success. Even though Carwyn Jones has announced that he will be stepping down as first minister later in the year, his role in the Sargeant affair remains under intense scrutiny. Those around him are sensitive to any negative publicity that may damage his legacy. Underlying trust has broken down, despite a superficial


attempt to maintain business as usual. Before November 2017, things were very different. From an


external point of view, Welsh politics was seen as the least interesting of the three devolved nations. Scotland and Northern Ireland hold out to the English the unedifying prospects of independence and a return to terrorism. Wales, by contrast, appears not to hold out very much, apart from the occasional sex scandal. It simply does not have the leverage to cause significant


trouble, which is one reason why the Welsh Government caved in to Westminster on the EU withdrawal bill ‘power grab’ issue while the Scottish Government continued to hold out. Nevertheless, politicians and other players in Welsh civil


society remain preoccupied with the status of Wales and the constitutional change they say is necessary to even up relations between the four nations of the UK. Carwyn Jones had become the champion of a constitutional convention, one of whose remits would be to come up with workable proposals for a second chamber at Westminster to replace the House of Lords. From time to time he made speeches that were well


received by academics and the slightly wider Welsh civil society community. The conundrum, of course, is how to come up with proposals that will be acceptable in England, which through sheer size holds all the negotiating chips, certainly in relation to Wales. Without any leverage, Wales is in the position of


permanent supplicant to its next-door neighbour, often mixing indignation with an appeal for fair play. When Westminster says no – to electrification of the main


railway line beyond Cardiff, for example – there are howls of disapproval from Welsh politicians who know they are impotent to do anything about it. Never mind: the headlines in Welsh


newspapers and packages on Welsh TV news channels play well with the local parties. When Welsh political journalists are not reporting on the latest perceived insult from Westminster, they are grappling with the challenges of providing decent public services with limited funds in what is the UK’s poorest nation. At least that was the case until last November.


theJournalist | 11 “ ”


Relations between people who have been friends for years have been put under strain in an unimaginable way. Attempts have been made to nobble stories, sometimes with success


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