BlogCymru.com

...Peter Black lecturing Adam Price on political good judgemnet. I thought that would make you laugh.

Carwyn Jones last night began his campaign to succeed Rhodri Morgan as First Minister. Speaking to an audience of party members last night, what he had to say would send a shudder down the back of any Blairites. Carwyn places himself firmly on the left of the political spectrum, and not only wants to embrace trade unions with open arms, but even wants to see a return to nationalisation. “Times

Alwyn ap Huw raises the issue of Dolgarrog Aluminium in his latest blog entry.

Of course, I have written on this issue numerous times since last September.

However, Alwyn asks about the decontamination of the site which, after all, has been a heavy industrial plant for over 100 years.

I have it on very good authority that when the original management buy-out went ahead in 2002, the only way that funding at the time could proceed if the WDA undertook to take full responsibility for any liability arising from the subsequent clean-up of the site.

Of course, the question that arises is, when the WDA was shut down, whether this responsibility for the land clean-up, as would be expected, was automatically passed onto the Assembly Government.

If that was the case, there arises the question of whether

(a) Assembly officials knew about this issue in October of last year when the company went into administration and

(b) whether they informed the Minister of the full facts at the time so that he could balance any rescue package against the potential cost of decontamination.

Various questions have been posted to the Minister on this issue, most recently by Mark Isherwood last week.

However, it is worth noting the following reply to a question by David Melding on the 19th March 2008.

David Melding (South Wales Central): What is the estimated cost of de-contaminating land at the Dolgarrog works site. (WAQ51522)
David Melding (South Wales Central): What liability does the Welsh Assembly Government have to restore contaminated land at the Dolgarrog works site, and will the Minister make a statement. (WAQ51523)

Ieuan Wyn Jones: The issue of potential liability for remediating the land at the Dolgarrog Aluminium Limited site, following the liquidation of Dolgarrog Aluminium Limited, is subject to discussions by officials and lawyers. Subject to satisfactory resolution of legal and other issues, I will make a statement in due course.

As far as I aware, there has been no statement in the subsequent four months.

More importantly, I cannot see why any company would invest in a decontaminated site with a potential liability of millions of pounds without a guarantee that someone else would pick up the bill for the clean-up.

As an optimist, I believe this was probably a cock-up rather than a conspiracy but given the way this has been dealt with subsequently, I just sincerely hope that it is not turning into a cover-up.

Lots of questions but very few answers....

I must apologise to the Cynical Dragon, apparently he nominated me for one of those MEME things, last Monday. I normally get to know when somebody mentions me or my blogs, but David's post didn't hit the radar. It probably means that he needs to sort his ping or Technorati or some such gubbins out, but don't ask me, I don't understand these things.

The MEME is on the Best Waste of £200,000 of public money. The best waste of such public money would, of course, be to give it to me so that I could spend it on cigarettes and whiskey and wild wild women. But I don't think that counts.

One waste of public money that I have heard mention of informally on a number of occasions, but have yet to find proof of, is that the National Assembly refused to give grant assistance for a management buyout for Dolgarog Aluminium. It needed a grant of about £1.5 Million, and was turned down, causing the loss of 170 well paid jobs in a rural area. But, because the site is an ancient industrial site (over 100 years old) apparently the Assembly will be responsible for the £10 million cost of cleaning the site, before it is turned into a holiday home complex that will employ half a dozen local cleaners.

If this story is true then it is a condemnation of the Assembly Government.

If it is not true, then the Assembly Government needs to come clean about the costs, in order to stop the rumour that is ruining support for the Assembly in the Conwy Valley area and making both Plaid's Gareth Jones and Labour's Betty Williams look like chumps, rather than representatives of the people!

Today was the end of an era for DDWT Junior as he went to nursery for the very last time. Come September and he’ll be school full time. He didn’t seem to mind one bit - probably because of his little trip to Funsters with his friends and the promise of a Pizza Hut for tea. I think it was us who felt it more!

I know it sounds weird but it was kind of sad really. It doesn’t seem that long ago that he was going to mother & toddler classes and we were preparing him for nursery. Yet before we know it here we are at the start of the school summer holidays and our little boy is fast growing up.

It really is true what people say - enjoy them whilst they are small and young, for the time really does fly by without a shadow of a doubt.

With the weekend almost upon us, I decided to go for a run with coach at lunchtime as invariably I switch to lazy mode over the weekend and don’t do any training!

I didn’t feel comfortable at all during the 21 minute 35 seconds run, mainly because I had an extremely irritating dry cough and I was a bit leg weary after yesterday’s outing.

Still it’s another run under my belt in preparation for the next Swansea Bay 5k on August 5th.

Wales is in grave danger of being considered a nation of narrow-minded hypocrites in the wake of the Rev Rhodri Glyn Thomas being forced to resign as culture minister after mistakenly walking into a Bay public house with a cigar in his hand - and then promptly walking out on being told that the law [...]

Copied from Glyn Davies's blog, with sympathies and suitable outrage.

Today's World News

What the devil is going on. I've just logged on and looked at the BBC's UK website (Yes the UK page) and read that Rhodri Glyn Thomas is going to lose his job as Assembly Culture Minister because he inadvertently walked into a pub with a lit cigar in his hand. That's right. Just read that again. Rhodri Glyn walked into a pub with a lit cigar, thus breaking the law, for which he could technically receive a £50 fine - and he gets the sack. It wasn't even in his mouth. You can totally screw up the Health Service, or the Education System, and there's no probs. But walk into a pub forgetting that you have a lit cigar in your hand, and up the spout goes your career.

So every time a Minister (or I suppose a Shadow Minister) in future is found to have a defective tyre, or breaks the 60mph speed limit, both rendering the criminal liable to a fine, a resignation must immediately follow. And it isn't even necessary to be apprehended by the Police. Oh No. All that needs to happen is that the crime is referred to on someone's blog, and then some politician decides to make an issue of it and Bingo, its reshuffle time. And what about going back a few years. Have any of the Ministers or Shadow Ministers got points on their licences. Clearly they must all now resign. Oh and there's a few thousand people losing their jobs, and there are wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the world's financial system is falling apart - and the top story is Rhodri Glyn Thomas. I can't go on with this. Words have failed me.

posted by Glyn Davies at 18:34 | 10 comments links to this post


This, and PC
So what is political correctness, how did it start and how did it become so successful? Political correctness is first and foremost an attack on free speech, clear thinking and discussion. Political correctness is perpetrated by the left in politics as a cover for their flawed ideology - a sort of cultural Marxism. By cloaking their strange ideas under the cover of not wishing to offend anyone (which naturally appeals to peoples' better nature), they try to bypass debate and give a 'received wisdom' which must not be questioned. And anyone who disagrees with this 'received wisdom' must therefore be a really nasty person and deserves to be ostracised by their peers. This peer pressure is instrumental in enforcing and expanding political correctness.

http://www.politicallyincorrect.me.uk/

Alan in Dyfed

Plaid Cymru has taken my advice and sacked Rhodri Glyn after his latest embarrassing gaff. I know that it is as a direct result of my post that Rev Thomas has lost his job, because the main stream media tells it so.

The spin being put on the "resignation" is that it was caused because he had become the butt of jokes on the internet because of his smoking-ban blunder. Vaughan Roderick has also being telling the BBC news programmes that Mr Thomas' position became untenable as a result of blogging comments about his gaff.

But the facts are quite different. Peter Black made a comment on the story yesterday afternoon, but did not name the minister in question. I then posted my comments in which the minister was named at 4.17 this morning. As far as I can see from Google these were the only two posts on the subject in the whole of the blogosphere, until Valley's Mam mentioned the rumour that the minister was about to be sacked at 5:16 this afternoon, a full 13 hours after my post. So the blogospher has not run wild with this story. The spin that it was the blogs wot done for him, just doesn't ring true. I tend to agree with Ms Wagstaf that there's more to the story yet to come to light.

Paste it all into your browser window....... and gape.

http://cambriapolitico.com/2008/07/17/big-dons-westminster-windfall/

http://www.siol-nan-gaidheal.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6263

I usually agree with the stuff that Iain Dale writes in his regular column for the Telegraph, but I didn't today. Iain's lauds Nick Clegg for stating publicly that liberal Democrat policy is to reduce public spending, and consequently to reduce taxation. Iain's first wrong assumption is that many will find this statement at all credible. For as long as most voters can remember, the Liberal Democrats have called for greater public spending, and consequently more taxation. And its no good adopting a policy if no-one thinks you mean it. To most voters its just not credible.

This is not to say that I disagree with what Nick Clegg is saying - even if none of his own party will have any truck with it. I, too believe, that public spending and taxation should be cut - but my view, and it seems David Cameron's, is that this should not be promised in a manifesto unless there is a certainty that it could be delivered. And how can there be certainty, when the current Government is borrowing money as if the world is going to come to an end next week.

And how can Iain give any credibility to Clegg's promise to cut £20 billion from public spending, without giving us any idea where the cuts are going to be made. There has probably never been an election when opposition parties didn't announce that they were going to save money on 'bureaucracy' - especially those who did not have the slightest chance of actually forming a Government which had to deliver on the promises.

The biggest problem facing politicions in Britain is that the people no longer believe what they say. I would love to hear my party promise to spend and tax less, but how on earth can we be certain of being able to do so in the immediate aftermath of a General Election victory resulting from a Labour inspired collapse of the national finances. It's right that David Cameron says that his aim is to lower the taxation burden over time. I believe this is true, and I think the general aim is believable. The reason that the Osborne announcement on Inheritance Tax last October had such a dramatic effect was not because it was going to reduce the tax burden (it didn't) but it did convince people that what is often called 'the direction of travel' was in the right direction. The Conservatives would reduce taxation when they could reasonably do so. The promise worked because it was entirely believable - and people liked it. Nick Clegg's promises are not.

Rhodri Glyn Thomas has resigned as Heritage Minister in the wake of another gaffe. So who will replace him in the role? And what effect will this change have on the aspirations of Welsh speakers?

Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM obviously couldn’t quit the habit. What that habit really is… one can only guess. However, it seems a pity to be punished for what, ostensibly, are relatively minor human failings and vanities like  not wearing your spectacles and needing a cigarette/cigar when there are other politicians whose snouts are so deep [...]

Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM, the heritage minister, could resign before the end of the day, according to BBC Wales. He is reported to have carried a cigar from the beer garden of the Eli Jenkins pub into the pub itself. A staff member then asked him to vacate the premises and he is said to have left straight away. The Assembly Government has so far refused to comment.

There are two possible explanations for his possible resignation. The most likely is that the Minister has reached his gaffe quota for 2007 and is now being given the voluntary elbow by Ieuan Wyn Jones. Another much less likely possibility - but much more exciting - is that there's more to the story yet to come to light. The latter scenario came to pass with Ron Davies's initially rather mystifying 'error of judgement' on Clapham Common.

So back to the job but so many e-mails. Is this the modern plague of working life. We have stopped talking and just e-mail each other!

Anyway the Baggies are doing the bizz and strengthening the defence. Good news.

So after a hectic week the pub will win tonight. Short posting as a result!

You have to wonder what it is that makes a minister think that he or she is fire-proof

It looks likely that Rhodri Glyn Thomas will have plenty of time to ponder this conundrum in coming weeks – but will the whistle also be blown on senior Swansea councillors who have been spotted lighting up in civic buildings?

Update: Apparently there are those on the BBC website who believe that RGT should not have to leave office. Maybe so, but would they be as forgiving if he was from another party?

What the devil is going on. I've just logged on and looked at the BBC's UK website (Yes the UK page) and read that Rhodri Glyn Thomas is going to lose his job as Assembly Culture Minister because he inadvertently walked into a pub with a lit cigar in his hand. That's right. Just read that again. Rhodri Glyn walked into a pub with a lit cigar, thus breaking the law, for which he could technically receive a £50 fine - and he gets the sack. It wasn't even in his mouth. You can totally screw up the Health Service, or the Education System, and there's no probs. But walk into a pub forgetting that you have a lit cigar in your hand, and up the spout goes your career.

So every time a Minister (or I suppose a Shadow Minister) in future is found to have a defective tyre, or breaks the 60mph speed limit, both rendering the criminal liable to a fine, a resignation must immediately follow. And it isn't even necessary to be apprehended by the Police. Oh No. All that needs to happen is that the crime is referred to on someone's blog, and then some politician decides to make an issue of it and Bingo, its reshuffle time. And what about going back a few years. Have any of the Ministers or Shadow Ministers got points on their licences. Clearly they must all now resign. Oh and there's a few thousand people losing their jobs, and there are wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the world's financial system is falling apart - and the top story is Rhodri Glyn Thomas. I can't go on with this. Words have failed me.

UPDATE - Emily Maitlis has just announced Rhodri's resignation on Newsnight. Well, the Broadcasting Committee wanted more references to Wales on the UK network. I'm going to bed plunged into despair.

FRESH concerns about funding for the Welsh Assembly Government’s flagship foundation phase education scheme were raised today.

A report by the National Assembly’s finance committee said there had been a “systemic failure” in the transfer of relevant funding information between councils and the Assembly Government.
The pioneering foundation phase scheme, which starts in September, aims to encourage three to seven-year-olds to learn through play.

The report, published today, also highlights concerns about staffing costs and recruitment and the effective allocation of funds.

Full story HERE

Iwan Guy, acting director of the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) in Wales, who gave evidence to the National Assembly’s finance committee last month, said:

There’s a lesson here for all future initiatives. They must be pre-costed before they are published or broadcast.

Kirsty Williams, the Welsh Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman, said:

This report confirms what I have consistently argued, along with unions, local authorities and professionals. I have for months bemoaned the lack of planning and funding for the scheme. It is the Assembly Government’s failure to admit that problems have been brewing for some time that has led to the current situation. Unfortunately, it is young children and teachers on the front line who will pay the price for this stubborn incompetence.

Shadow Education Minister Andrew Davies AM added:

It should serve as a wake-up call to the Education Minister that she cannot afford to play politics with children’s futures.

An Assembly Government spokesman said:

It is vital that the Assembly Government, local authorities, schools, teaching unions and all key stakeholders work together in partnership because we all want all young people in Wales to reap the benefits of the foundation phase.

It was to ensure that everyone could work together on this that the minister set up the foundation phase implementation task and finish group which will be having its third meeting next week. Great progress has been made since the finance committee took evidence and next week’s discussion at the group will focus on what has to be done to ensure the further implementation of foundation phase over the next four years is successful.

As I rearrange the contents of my case, rumours are getting louder by the minute in Cardiff Bay that Ieuan Wyn Jones is about to rearrange something rather more significant: the contents of the Plaid Ministerial team.

The Heritage Minister, Rhodri Glyn Thomas, who hit the headlines when he announced the wrong winner at the Welsh Book of the Year awards, is facing questions about allegations that he broke the smoking ban earlier this week by carrying a lit cigar inside a pub.

Major incident? Apparently not. Witnesses say he was told he 'couldn't bring that in here' and left. But 'accident prone' is the kind of phrase no politician wants to claim and is one that's increasingly lending itself to the Heritage Minister.

Tonight he opens the new Kyffin Williams gallery at Oriel Ynys Mon in Llangefni on Anglesey. On August 2nd the Plaid Heritage Minister will face a long and important week at the National Eisteddfod in Cardiff. The question in the Bay is whether it'll be the same Plaid Heritage Minister as they were expecting.

Matt Wardman (Wardman Wire): Parliament closes this week until after the Party Conferences, and reopens in October.

It is the best season of the year for a certain sort of blogger or journalist. It is the time when Government Departments publish Written Ministerial Statements by the shedload, in order to “clear the desk”. Certain unsympathetic people will note that it is also the optimum time
to publish unpopular proposals which will affect public image, since it is the time where there is the maximum delay - until October - before scrutiny in Parliament will be possible.

For specialist bloggers, campaigners, and perhaps for occasional Comment is Free writers, it is an opportunity for detailed research without the day to day grind of political knockabout as a distraction.  Read the rest of this post...

read more

Rockin’ Rene Kinzett has decided to go back to his acquired roots in the belief that a bit of union-bashing never did anyone any harm, especially if you are a tory parliamentary candidate.

"Unions in Swansea need to wake up to the new reality of the current economic climate”, he stoutly declares following a two day strike by council workers.

But perhaps it might be politically prudent for him check up on just how many Swansea West households derive an income from local government based in the city and surrounding boroughs.

No – not for me I’m only a modest XXXXXL!

We need a new kit for Rodney – he’s been in Andy Marinos’ old shirt for long enough now, and I’m sure that if the greek had it back he could make a few rand by flogging it on e-bay.

Seriously – it’s a disgrace I tell thee , so please can someone at Rodney Parade make sure Canterbury get a spanking new 2008/9 season shirt for Rodney.

This is important.

Yes it is.

Damian O'Loan (Paris): Allegations of British collusion with torture by Pakistani security services led to calls for an Intelligence and Security Committee investigation on Tuesday. A week earlier the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee published a report into historical enquiries. These events are linked.

Lat year, the British government accepted the findings of a report confirming police collusion with a loyalist paramilitary group involved in murders and other grave offences.The NIAC report may be a step towards allowing further historical inquiries to be suppressed. Why would we not want to learn from our history? Read the rest of this post...

read more

NHS trusts and local health boards will be scrapped in Wales under radical plans to transform the way the health service is structured and managed.

Health Minister Edwina Hart today announced plans to replace the current 22 local health boards (LHBs) and seven acute NHS trusts with just seven new organisations which will provide both community and hospital-based health services.

If the plans are accepted - a further consultation period will start in the autumn - Wales will follow the same system adopted in Scotland and Northen Ireland. Mrs Hart said the proposals for integrated health boards come after an earlier consultation this year to reduce the number of LHBs and end the internal market in the NHS. Many respondents said NHS trusts should also be scrapped.

About time. Bureaucracy rules the roost in the NHS, in Wales. The fact that some NHS Trusts have to deal with more than one Local Health Board has added to the problem.

Just wanted to share a photo - tagged pirates on Llangollen Canal - and which popped up in my feedreader:

Aeth Cymdeithas Gymraeg Glynrhedyn ar daith a drefnwyd gan Mentre Iaith a Chymunedau'n Gyntaf i Erddi Aberglassney 17/6/2008

Buodd y daith gerdded yn Llanrhidian yn un lwyddiannus iawn ar ddydd Sadwrn. Roedd 16 o bobl wedi ymuno, ac roedd y tywydd yn braf! Diolch i Sarah Edwards am arwain y daith. 16/7/2008