A Labour 'Yes'
I've never quite got over the fact that UWIC closed the small, single storey red brick nursery so many of its students relied on for childcare, then demolished it in order to build a massive, imposing School of Management. How perfect the irony if they now run people - or even anger - management courses.
It was, today, home to Welsh Labour's Special Policy Conference. There was a bit of anger, a bit of management of party issues but mostly, it was about rallying the troops to go out there and win two votes: the referendum on Assembly powers and the Assembly Election.
The anger was still post-budget fresh. How could Welsh Conservatives claim they'd ringfence spending on health in Wales? How could they even consider cutting the schools budget in order to do that? How could they pretend that getting rid of waste could pay for fully protecting health spending? It was, said Carwyn Jones, "the most dishonest agenda ever put before the people of Wales".
He'll find out, as will we all, before Christmas whether Nick Bourne and his Conservative group in the Assembly can, in fact, make their sums add up. Just as Carwyn Jones was taking a red biro to their maths this morning, Mr Bourne was pledging to publish his party's proposed, alternative budget before Christmas, laying out just how he can "commit to ringfencing the health budger, funded by eliminating waste, cutting many of Labour-Plaid's gimmicks and freebies and cutting bureaucracy".
A public sector pay freeze for everyone earning over £21,000 would be on the Conservative to-do list if they won power in May. There'd be a war on waste, a plan to pilot the direct funding of schools, cutting out local authorities, to ensure that schools got every penny they were owed.
There is some very real credibility at risk here and Mr Bourne knows it. Better to get his figures absolutely water tight and his ducks lined up before turning over his paper and showing just how the maths can be made to work. But equally vital to make it clear to all right now that this pledge wasn't made lightly.
"As the Official Opposition" said Mr Bourne, "Welsh Conservatives have a duty to show a clear and affordable alternative to Labour-Plaid's £380million cuts to the NHS and we will be publishing these before Christmas".
Meanwhile at the School of Management, Labour were doing a bit of their own revealing .... revealing just how they intend to manage their very own Yes campaign ahead of the March referendum. They will support the official Yes campaign, they will appear with Plaid Cymru, Conservative and Liberal Democrat colleagues to call for a Yes vote in March but they intend to win that vote by running their own, Labour-led Yes campaign.
On every seat today: this leaflet. "Not sure the Tories will like them much" said one conference goer. "Ho hum".
The message is this: Wales is "underfunded to the tune of £300m" - the finding of the Holtham Commission into the way Wales is funded. David Cameron's government have said they won't consider changing the funding formula until after a Yes vote. "That gives us at least 300 million reasons to campaign for a yes vote on March 3rd."
And a little something for Labour supporters?
"Voting "Yes" on March 3rd is the best way to make sure Welsh Labour's policies become law. The old system worked okay when we had a Labour Government in Westminster, but now Tory MPs would be in a position to delay Labour proposals to make Wales a fairer country".
Wonder what Peter Hain makes of that "okay". Wonder what Welsh Conservatives will make of the line of attack.
But there you have it: vote "Yes" Welsh Labour tells its supporters because that's the springboard it needs to win the next election. Vote Yes in March, for Labour in May.
Wonder what you make of that.
I'm Betsan Powys, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on .
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