Paul Silk
@paulsilk.bsky.social
1.1K followers 450 following 50 posts
Former parliamentary official. Devolution, parliaments, the constitution, rural Wales, Ukraine, amateur theology, and incompetent language-learning
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paulsilk.bsky.social
A sad week for @studyofparl.bsky.social with the death of two distinguished members who were also both kind and principled - Sir Roger Sands, former Clerk of the House of Commons and Professor Michael Rush of Exeter University. We will miss them greatly
paulsilk.bsky.social
Nigel Farage yesterday asked Laura Anne Jones if the Senedd works. It would be really interesting to hear Reform's ideas about Senedd reform well in advance of next year's election
paulsilk.bsky.social
This article is well worth reading for the long quotation from the former professor of Mediterranean archaeology at Cardiff on what a university should be
nation.cymru
The Chair of Cardiff University’s top decision-making body has been accused of seeking to mislead the Senedd in a letter of clarification he wrote to the Chair of a Senedd Committee ✍️Martin Shipton
Cardiff University chief accused again of misleading Senedd members
Martin Shipton The Chair of Cardiff University’s top decision-making body has been accused of seeking to mislead the Senedd in a letter of clarification he wrote to the Chair of a Senedd Committee. TV...
wp.me
paulsilk.bsky.social
Fiction turns into fact....
elpais.com
EL PAÍS @elpais.com · Apr 22
Francisco destituyó a Angelo Becciu por un fraude financiero y le despojó de los derechos como cardenal. Entre ellos, entrar al cónclave. Pero se ha presentado en la asamblea de purpurados e insiste en que tiene derecho a participar
El primer conflicto del cónclave: el cardenal empeñado en asistir, aunque el Papa Francisco se lo prohibió
Francisco destituyó a Angelo Becciu en 2020 por un fraude financiero y le despojó de los derechos de su cargo, pero se ha presentado en la asamblea de purpurados e insiste en que quiere participar en la elección
elpais.com
paulsilk.bsky.social
I hadn't read Laura's excellent blog about Dafydd El until today. His funeral tomorrow in Llandaf will be a chance to celebrate an extraordinary contribution to Wales and politics. I first worked with him almost 50 years ago. How much he will be missed
blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/thinking-wal...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Wales’s Political Nonconformist
Showcasing current research, comments and analysis on the law, politics, history, culture, government and political economy of Wales from the Wales Governance Centre.
blogs.cardiff.ac.uk
paulsilk.bsky.social
I am very interested in the extent to which the Planning and Infrastructure Bill may remove powers from the Senedd and Welsh Ministers - if it does, or if it does without requiring their consent. I hope someone will enlighten us!
www.gov.uk/government/n...
'Biggest building boom' in a generation through planning reforms
Homes and key infrastructure will be built faster under Planning and Infrastructure Bill
www.gov.uk
paulsilk.bsky.social
It isn't easy to say what has been most repugnant recently, but Vance and Trump's verbal assault on a polite and brave man speaking his third language was a disgrace
Reposted by Paul Silk
duncanrobertson.bsky.social
Well done Germany.

(Turnout in the 2024 UK General Election was less than 60%. Which isn't great.)
paulsilk.bsky.social
Most Constitutions allow the postponement of elections in times of national emergency, and President Trump himself suggested that the USA elections in 2020 might be postponed until people could "properly, securely and safely" vote (albeit that this is difficult under the US Constitution)
paulsilk.bsky.social
Visiting the Capitoline Museums and seeing the bronze cast of the Lex de Imperio Vespasiani, couldn't help thinking that executive orders are nothing new
paulsilk.bsky.social
Very sorry to hear of the death of Dafydd Elis Thomas. He was certainly mercurial, but he was an enormous figure in the development of the Welsh constitution. I liked him a lot. RIP
paulsilk.bsky.social
As Porfirio Díaz so perceptively said, "poor Mexico: so far from God, so close to the USA"
paulsilk.bsky.social
It is profoundly depressing that a Russell Group university is contemplating the ending of research and teaching in the core humanities
paulsilk.bsky.social
Grim news from Cardiff University. I understand the pressures, but it is hard to conceive of a university that does not teach and research foreign languages, music and theology
paulsilk.bsky.social
The appropriation of the term "America" by the USA is annoying. Mexicans are Americans too, so the name "Gulf of America" may not worry them. At least it's better than its earlier name - Golfo de Nueva España. And Mexicans (and everyone else outside the USA) can continue calling it Gulf of Mexico