Waiting for Godot [ Samuel Beckett ]

Performed by members of the Welsh Government Amateur Dramatic Players.

Introduction.

Mark Drakeford, Wales First Minister is stepping down and will be replaced in March 2024. Just three months away.

Is his leaving a cause for celebration, particularly for the Independence cause.

Mark Drakeford is not only Wales First Minister, but also the leading supporter of a mystical sect called the ‘ Union ‘. 

It is a mystical sect for no one really knows why it exists,  its members are tied together by such vague concepts as ‘ common culture’, ' common history’, ‘ better together ‘. and by some unidentified ‘ insurance policy ‘.

No material or quantifiable advantages are offered.

The ‘ Union’ it seems is held together by blind faith.

There is another group offering ‘ Independence’, but to belong to that, the ‘ Unionists ‘ say, would bring about  pestilence, famine and swarms of locusts.

So with Mark Drakeford gone. What next?

Now a measured, imaginative approach with a new leader would be good..

Well unfortunately the signs are not good,

Waiting for Godot.

Just in case there are one or two readers unaware..

Waiting for Godot is a tale [ a play actually ] of two characters waiting for a mysterious character, Godot, to come.

This Godot  is expected to give them the answers they have been seeking and to solve the problems they experience.

The thing is, Godot never comes. They wait, but he doesn't come.

In the Wales version, the two characters, let's call them  Jeremy and Vaughan, are also waiting for a Godot.

They are also followers of the ‘ Union’ and the heirs to lead the ‘ Unionist ‘ cause in Wales [ and of course become  First Minister of Wales ]

But these two characters, Jeremy and Vaughan, are also aware that this ‘Union ‘ isn't delivering for Wales.

The Welsh people are suffering.

But they, like all members of the ‘ Union ‘ sect, are lost. The Union has failed them. They have no direction or purpose.

Just like the characters in Waiting for Godot

So Jeremy and Vaughan await their own Godot

A Godot that would resolve their problems. Give them a sense of purpose and direction.

Their Godot they have called  Sir Keir Starmer.

When Sir Keir Starmer rules the ‘ Union ‘. he will give  them the solutions to Wales problems.

He will put things right.

However, just like the original Waiting for Godot, their Godot never comes.

If, and it remains a big if, UK Labour are in a position to rule effectively. Sir Keir Starmer has no particular allegiance to Wales.

No particular affection for Welsh Labour, except as voting fodder. They can always be relied on to do ‘ the right thing ‘.

With regard to solving Wales problems, he has made it clear that there will be no additional powers or resources.

In his interview with the Daily Record, he stated that the devolved nations have enough powers.

A view reinforced by the constitutional review by Gordon Brown on his behalf.

Any money available, that should read, if there is any money available, it will be directed at improving the English regions. That in line with Michael Gove's Tory Levelling Up White Paper

That too reinforced the Gordon Brown plan

Indeed it was noted by Professor Pain, Senior Fellow of the Institute of Government, how similar the Labour Plan is to the Tories Levelling Up White Paper, in almost all areas. [ he also commented on how ineffective both will be in generating meaningful improvements, there being insufficient finance or devolved powers ].

Our characters may think it will be easier to deal with a UK Labour government, they being Labour also. In that, history is not kind to them. 

Under the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, Wales remained bottom of the pile in all areas of social and economic advancement. Indeed the lack of investment in Wales can be traced back to both those regimes.

 

And for our characters waiting for a sense of direction. Their Godot is leaving that to the Commission on the Future Constitution of Wales.

Well that's another downer then.

So just as in the original, Godot is not going to come.

The question then, for our characters.

Without your Godot. What to do ?