# 7.2.2 Y traddodiad Llafur yng Nghymru yn yr unfed ganrif ar hugain

Soniais yn gynharach am hunaniaethau Llafur a hunaniaethau Cymreig. Un o ganlyniadau'r Cynulliad yw bod trafodaethau ynglŷn â gwerthoedd 'Cymreig' a blaenoriaethau gwleidyddol 'Cymreig' wedi blodeuo. Mewn nifer o ddatganiadau ac areithiau gwleidyddol, mae'r GIG a'r egwyddorion tybiedig sy'n sail iddo wedi cael rôl amlwg mewn 'ffordd Gymreig' nodedig i bob golwg. Mae'r llwybr tybiedig hwn yn cynnwys ymrwymiad i bolisïau mwy cymunedol a chyfunol nag mewn sawl rhan arall o'r DU (Tanner a Michael, 2007, t. 38). Darllenwch Ddarn 10, o erthygl a ysgrifennwyd gan Duncan Tanner a Pam Michael, sy'n adeiladu ar Weithgarwch 22 ynglŷn â gwerthoedd Llafur a gwerthoedd Cymreig. Ystyriwch sut mae'r darn hwn yn cyfateb i'ch syniadau'ch hun.

#### Darn 10

Few people can detect a neat transition from ‘English’ to ‘Welsh’ values upon entering Wales. Nevertheless, references to ‘Welsh values’ within policy circles and political debate are now common. During the campaign for devolution and since the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales, politicians have frequently appealed to ‘Welsh values’ as a distinctive marker and as a justification for policy deviation. Indeed, an appeal to ‘Welsh values’ has almost become a hallmark of true ‘Welshness’. It is much used by politicians seeking to establish their credentials as representatives of Welsh opinion and by central government ministers charged with managing Welsh affairs – perhaps especially where their own policies are not particularly distinctive or are tied by the policies of a UK-wide party. Thus on 26 November 2002 Peter Hain, newly appointed Secretary of State for Wales in the Labour government, duly assessed the National Assembly for Wales, declaring the need to protect ‘our very own and very special values in Wales ... Welsh values of community. Welsh values of caring. Welsh values of family life. Welsh values of mutual co-operation and mutual respect. Welsh values of democracy. Welsh values of internationalism. Welsh values of multi-racialism’ ... The innumerable references to Aneurin Bevan in political speeches ... and to the NHS, is part of a process through which populist history has become a powerful contemporary influence. For example, in 1998, Alun Michael, then Secretary of State for Wales, enunciated Wales’ special commitment to the principles of the NHS and adherence to the values articulated in the NHS in the preface to the policy document Putting Patients First: ‘None of the values enshrined in the NHS when Aneurin Bevan created it will be lost. The NHS in Wales will continue to be a truly national service available to all on the basis of need’... Swearing allegiance to Bevan’s legacy is an important political gesture in Wales. In an online opinion poll in 2005 to find the top 100 Welsh heroes, Aneurin Bevan beat allcomers, ahead of the charismatic 15th-century hero of Welsh resistance to English rule, Owain Glyndwr, the singer Tom Jones, and the ‘Welsh wizard’ and architect of state pensions, David Lloyd George.

Felly, mae cyfeirio at draddodiad a hanes yn ddull pwysig o alluogi'r to presennol o wleidyddion Llafur i ddatblygu neges sy'n taro tant, gan eu galluogi i gyfleu syniadau a gwerthoedd y gall pobl gyffredin ymgysylltu â hwy a'u deall.

Mae'r Blaid Lafur wedi defnyddio ei threftadaeth a'i thraddodiadau mewn ffyrdd eraill. O dan gytundeb y glymblaid â'r Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol yn 2000, roedd blaenoriaethau polisi yn cynnwys diddymu taliadau am bresgripsiynau a thaliadau deintyddol i bobl dros 60 oed, llaeth ysgol am ddim, teithio am ddim i bensiynwyr a diwygiadau addysgol. Nid gor-ddweud yw awgrymu bod y polisïau hyn yn eithaf tebyg i flaenoriaethau pleidiau gwleidyddol radical yng Nghymru ganrif yn ôl. Pan ddaeth Cymru yn wlad gyntaf ac unig wlad y DU i gyflwyno presgripsiyau am ddim yn 2007, bu hon yn enghraifft arall o ymgais radical i ddilyn agenda sosialaidd nodedig yng Nghymru ac un ac iddi apêl hirsefydledig.

Wrth gwrs, mae datblygu polisïau yng nghyd-destun datganoli wedi arwain at nifer o broblemau a heriau. Fel y bu erioed, mae manteision ac anfanteision datganoli wedi parhau i greu amrywiaeth barn ymhlith rhengoedd y Blaid Lafur. Fel yr awgrymais yn gynharach, mae sefydlu llywodraeth glymblaid rhwng Llafur a Phlaid Cymru ynghyd â chyhoeddi dogfen bolisi Cymru'n Un yn 2007 yn gyflawniad mawr ac yn drobwynt yn hanes y traddodiad radical/Llafur yng Nghymru (yn enwedig am fod hon yn gynghrair a fyddai'n annychmygol yn y 1970au ac yn annhebygol yn y 1980au a'r 1990au. Ym mhob rhan o'r sbectrwm gwleidyddol yng Nghymru ceir pobl sy'n benderfynol o sicrhau bod datganoli yn llwyddo ac yn benderfynol ei fod yn gwneud hynny mewn ffordd sy'n gwneud cyfiawnder â hanes, traddodiadau a diwylliannau Cymru. Ond ceir pobl o hyd (fel Bevan chwe deg mlynedd yn ôl a Kinnock yn y 1970au) sy'n credu bod datganoli yn wastraff amser ac yn wastraff arian. Yn 2003, pan oedd Comisiwn Richard yn ymchwilio i'r posibilrwydd o ymestyn pwerau'r Cynulliad, cymerodd dystiolaeth gan nifer o unigolion a chyrff yng Nghymru. Ymhlith yr unigolion roedd yr AS Llafur Llew Smith, un o'r ychydig ymgyrchwyr 'na' yn 1997 i gael tipyn o sylw yn y cyfryngau. Daw Darn 11 o dystiolaeth Smith i'r Comisiwn. Darllenwch y darn a nodwch pam bod Smith yn parhau i amau gwerth y Cynulliad.

#### Darn 11

Are we, for example, to accept that the NHS in Wales is run more efficiently than in England, since many of the powers have been devolved to Cardiff. Do we accept that Wales is any less a quango state since the establishment of the Welsh Assembly? No. Is there anything fair about and Assembly continuing to subsidise one of the richest areas in Wales, in Cardiff Bay, at the expense of some of the poorest communities? Has the Assembly benefitted those deprived communities in a way which a Labour government would have failed to do so? No ... To save any further embarrassment for the Welsh Assembly, I will refrain from providing any other examples, but there are many ... other than a ‘bonfire of the quangos’, the other claim made by Ron Davies and supported by the ‘Yes’ campaign was (that) £20 million would amply fund a democratically elected and accountable Welsh Assembly and with a lot to spare. This money ... will obviously not be sufficient ... the ridiculous claim that £20 million would fund the Welsh Assembly was highlighted by Jim Pickard in the Financial Times (8/3/02) when he revealed that ‘government officials have admitted that the annual running costs of the Welsh Assembly are now £148 million, more than double the £72 million spent in the last year of the Welsh Office ... The revelation makes a mockery of New Labour’s claim in 1997 that Welsh devolution would only cost an extra £15 – £20 million each year’.

Fel y bu yn y 1970au, roedd costau rhedeg Cynulliad a'i fethiant honedig i sicrhau atebolrwydd democrataidd ymhith pryderon pennaf Smith.

I lawer, defnyddiwyd perfformiad siomedig Llafur yn etholiadau'r Cynulliad yn 2007 fel sbardun i agor llygaid y Blaid Lafur i bwysigrwydd ei hanes a'i thraddodiadau. Daeth mudiadau i fodolaeth a sefydlwyd grwpiau ffocws megis ‘Wales 20:20’ ('melin drafod' â'r nod o ysgogi dadleuon ynglŷn â sosialaeth) er mwyn adnewyddu'r mudiad Llafur ledled Cymru, ail-greu Llafur fel sefydliad a oedd yn cael ei ysgogi gan bolisi a helpu i hwyluso dadl eang a chynhwysol o dan yr hyn y mae'n ei alw yn faner 'sosialaidd ddemocrataidd' yng Nghymru. Ymhlith gweithgareddau amlycaf Wales 20:20 oedd yr ymgyrch i ddileu tlodi plant yng Nghymru.

Drwy grwpiau a mudiadau o'r fath, mae unigolion newydd yn y Blaid Lafur wedi dod i'r amlwg sy'n gweld y Cynulliad fel modd i wella bywydau pobl gyffredin sy'n byw yng Nghymru. Un sy'n dod o dan y categori hwn yw Huw Lewis, yr Aelod Llafur dros Ferthyr yn y Cynulliad, a'r Gweinidog Addysg a Sgiliau. Roedd Lewis yn weithgar yn Wales 20:20, adolygodd brif raglen wrthdlodi Llywodraeth Cymru 'Cymunedau yn Gyntaf' a lluniodd gynllun Llywodraeth Cymru i ddileu tlodi plant. Soniodd Lewis am yr angen i ail-greu'r cysylltiadau a fu erioed yn rhan o'r traddodiad Llafur, rhywbeth yr oedd llawer yn ei ystyried yn ymgais i fod yn arweinydd ar Lafur Cymru yn 2009. Daw Darn 12 o lyfryn a gyhoeddwyd gan Lewis a ‘Wales 20:20’ yn 2009. Fe sylwech ei fod yn dadlau dros ail-greu'r cysylltiadau a fu erioed yn rhan o'r traddodiad Llafur Cymreig radical.

#### Darn 12

The Labour Party was created to represent the interests of progressive people organised in the workplace. In this respect little has changed – it is that group of people for whom we try to effect most change and who make up our most valuable resource in terms of members, thinkers and supporters. However, a growing dislocation between different branches of the Labour movement in Wales risks not just a weakening of these ties, but schism. There is something profoundly disturbing about the current relationship between the Labour Party in Wales and what should be its most natural of brethren – the Trade Unions and the cooperative movement. The latter have become the undervalued pair in the progressive triumvirate needed to drive Wales forward. Elsewhere in Europe, Trade Unions are the vanguard of policy creation in areas like health and safety and work/life balance – we need the same action and support in Wales. Genuine social partnership must be the cornerstone of a renewed Welsh Labour. Historically, co-operatives and the Unions have not just helped, or followed Labour in Wales, they have led on the policy agenda, and quietly through successful stand alone projects they continue to do fantastic work, but we have stopped recognising that and no longer progress common values from a common platform. This goes for all affiliates who make up the Labour family – Young Labour and Labour Students in Wales for example should be, as it once was, the training ground for new leaders and great Trade unionists of the future – these organisations are now undervalued, underused and underfunded.

Byddwch wedi sylwi fwy na thebyg mai prif nodwedd y darn hwn yw bod Lewis yn gweld dyfodol ar gyfer y gynghrair draddodiadol rhwng y Blaid Lafur a'r undebau llafur. Efallai eich bod wedi nodi hefyd y ffordd y mae'r cyfeirio at fodolaeth 'teulu Llafur' yng Nghymru.

Mae ffigyrau amlwg eraill yn Llafur Cymru hefyd wedi galw mewn ffordd debyg am adfywio traddodiad Llafur yr ymddengys ei fod wedi diflannu. Ymhlith y rhain fu Peter Hain, yr Aelod Llafur dros Gastell-nedd, ac Ysgrifennydd Gwladol Cymru o 2002 a hyd at 2008. Daw Darn 13 o bapur a ysgrifennwyd gan Hain. Wrth ei chi ei ddarllen, byddwch yn nodi sut y mae'n ystyried y traddodiad Llafur, ei werthoedd a'r newidiadau sydd wedi digwydd ers y 1980au.

#### Darn 13

Wales is a very different place compared with when I first came to live here 18 years ago, and has developed at a pace since Labour came to office in 1997, accelerating even further since the assembly began work in 1999 ...

The communities in which the roots of Labour’s support and bases of activism were bred and sustained for generations are disappearing, increasingly fragmented with neighbours more strangers than family friends. The caring values which have for generations epitomised many Welsh neighbourhoods – especially in the valleys – can no longer be taken for granted. The large workplaces that were the heart of the old labour movement in Wales as elsewhere have all but disappeared. Trade unions – the bedrock of the old Welsh Labour – have steadily declined. Even under Labour, trade union membership in the workforce fell sharply by 13 per cent between 1998 and 2006 ... significantly greater than almost every part of Britain: four times greater than Scotland and three times the north-east. While public sector membership is high (68 per cent), private sector membership is very low (22 per cent). Just a third of all Welsh workers are trade union members today – though high by European standards, sharply down on the past. Solidarity and class have been eroded as the key voting determinants. The Labour vote traditionally passed down from parents and grandparents to children and grandchildren is no longer the binding glue of the Labour party’s electorate. Typically, young people encountered on the doorstep ‘don’t know’ or ‘don’t care’ or ‘won’t vote’.

In traditional Labour areas in Wales where the older vote can be rock solid, the younger people are less likely to vote Labour or to vote at all. In the 2007 assembly elections fully 80 per cent of registered 18–34-year-olds did not vote; half of 18-24-year-olds knew nothing about the Assembly.

Mae'r heriau a wyneba'r Blaid Lafur wrth iddi geisio ail-greu ei hapêl draddodiadol yng Nghymru yn niferus. Yn y darn canlynol, sydd hefyd yn dod o bapur Hain, mae'n nodi y bydd angen ail-greu apêl draddodiadol Llafur er mwyn bod yn addas ar gyfer anghenion ac uchelgeisiau cyfoes.

#### Darn 14

Alongside party renewal there are four ideological challenges facing Welsh Labour. First and above all, Welsh Labour must be the party for an aspirational Wales, and this means appealing both to ‘middle Wales’ as well as motivating our ‘traditional Welsh Wales’ vote to turn out in a way it has been increasingly reluctant to do. These constituencies are not at all incompatible: on the contrary, appealing to both simultaneously holds the key to a Labour revival, as was the case in 1997. Second, we have to win the argument for deepening devolution within Britain rather than as a bridgehead to separatism outside Britain. Third, we must not allow the nationalists to claim the Welsh language as their fiefdom: we must advance a positive vision for the language with a distinctive global perspective rather than the parochial one of Plaid and too many of their fellow travellers in Welsh public life. Where their instinct is to make Welsh speaking almost obligatory, ours is to ensure choice for all, Welsh and non-Welsh speakers alike. Fourth, we must claim authorship of a proud Welsh patriotism that is simultaneously British, European and internationalist, rather than separatist. Devolution for Labour was never about creating an inward looking, parochial Wales, or about satisfying that strand in Welsh society which is basically so insecure that it seeks to huddle with its back to the outside world ... Our citizens have quite different aspirations from 1997. The issues are no longer mass unemployment and collapsing public services. The modern Wales majority has different aspirations and different pressures. People now rightly expect to have not just any job, but a decent job with opportunity to progress; not just any school for their children but a high-achieving one; not just low hospital waiting times but high-quality personalised care; not just a roof over their heads but affordable housing to buy or rent; not just more police but better neighbourhood policing; not just reduced crime but reduced violence, reduced antisocial behaviour and more respect. And they are right to demand this of Welsh Labour.

Yn sgil penderfyniad Rhodri Morgan i ymddiswyddo fel arweinydd Llafur Cymru a Phrif Weinidog yn 2009, crisialodd y frwydr i fod yn arweinydd y blaid yr angen i lafur aildanio ac ailddarganfod ei hapêl draddodiadol yng Nghymru. Carwyn Jones, AC Llafur dros Ben-y-bont ar Ogwr enillodd y frwydr. Addawodd y byddai Llafur yn ymladd i adfer ei safle etholiadol yng Nghymru, gan adnewyddu ei hapêl draddodiadol yng Nghymru drwy ymrwymiad i wasanaethau cyhoeddus a ‘putting ordinary working people first’ (Jones, 2009).

Felly, mae'r heriau a wynebir gan y Blaid Lafur yng Nghymru yn niferus. Fel y cydnabu Hain, mae Cymru wedi newid cryn dipyn o'r wlad a uniaethodd â'r traddodiadau Llafur yn y 1920au a'r 1930au. Mae'n wahanol, hyd yn oed, i'r wlad a fodolai cyn datganoli ddegawd yn ôl. Mae angen i'r Blaid Lafur ymateb i'r heriau newydd a'r uchelgeisiau newydd er mwyn i'r traddodiad oroesi.

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