Llyr or David and the Daleks - time to Choose!

Absolute proof that life under a Cameron Government would be disastrous for the human race has been revealed.

Dr Who has visited Cameron's Britain in his Tardis and has returned to the present day to warn us to change history before it happens.

This proof has been revealed by none other than David Jones MP, who warns on his blog that Dr Who is biased against the Conservatives. If David is not on Dr Who's side he must be on the side of the Dr's hated enemies like the Daleks and the Cybermen.

The voters of Clwyd West have a clear choice in the forthcoming General Election - they can vote for David Jones and his friends the Daleks or vote for a better future by supporting Llyr Huws Gruffydd, and by doing so save the whole world from Dalek domination!

Dr Llyr Who-s Gruffydd (Plaid)

David Jones MP (Conservative)

Bates Timing - WoS hits back

Last weekend I was amongst a number of bloggers who questioned the timing of a report in the Wales on Sunday about Mick Bates night out. I thought that it was more than a coincidence that the AMs moment of madness had happened in the early hours of 19th-20th January, but was reported in the press 18 days later at a time that the Welsh Liberal Democrats happened to be holding their party conference.

In today's Wales on Sunday reporter Matt Withers hits back at the acussations of political bias and sitting on the story in order to harm the Lib Dems conference.

The story, which I wrote, broke last weekend on the front of our paper – coincidentally, on the second day of the Lib Dems’ Spring Conference in Swansea.

And it’s that timing which has led to many rumours, letters of complaint and plenty of rumblings on the blogosphere. The charge? Wales on Sunday knew about Mr Bates’ behaviour at the time it occurred – and deliberately held back running the story in a bid to disrupt the party’s conference.

Utter rubbish.

Mr Bates’ night on the tiles was on January 19. I was first alerted to what is alleged to have happened on Thursday, February 4, when my editor asked me to investigate a tip-off in an anonymous e-mail.

The next two days were spent trying to verify the truth of the allegations through a second source. Eventually, on the Friday afternoon, we found a senior source who was able to confirm an investigation into verbal abuse by Mr Bates into staff at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

We were unable to verify separate allegations of assault on paramedics. These made their way into the public domain the day after the WoS story.

I phoned Mick Bates’ mobile four times on the Friday afternoon to speak to him, each time without success, and eventually spoke to the Welsh Lib Dems’ head of communications, who was aware Mr Bates had suffered an accident that night, but not that he had been allegedly involved in trouble following it.

A statement from the party confirming it was investigating their AM followed early on Saturday evening.

So that’s why the story appeared when it did, rather than a deliberate attempt by Wales on Sunday to sabotage the Welsh Liberal Democrat Spring Conference.

In fact, the most baffling thing about it is there’s so many Lib Dems who genuinely believe their conference to be of such vast importance that journalists spend their precious time concocting vindictive and deliberate attempts to wreck it.

So WoS were duped by an anonymous e-mail sent two weeks after the event into running a story designed to disrupt the conference.

Ronnies here:

Following on from my last post Ronnie Hughes now has a blog

http://ronniehughes.wordpress.com/

And Guto Bebb has moved his blog to:

http://aberconwyconservatives.co.uk/category/blogs/

Where's Ronnie?

Aberconwy voters are blessed with being able to follow the musings of three General Election candidates' blogs.

Guto Bebb (Conservative)
http://aberconwyconservatives.typepad.com/my-blog/blog_index.html

Phil Edwards (Plaid Cymru)
http://philedwards4aberconwy.blogspot.com/

and

Mike Priestley (Liberal Democrats)
http://mikepriestley.blogspot.com/

But we are being deprived of any web presence by Ronnie Hughes (Labour). What a shame!

Bates and the Bottle

If Mick Bates AM is guilty of assaulting health workers who were attempting to help him after he had injured himself in a drunken accident he is a yob, and he deserves to be punished with the full force of the law just like any other drunken yob who turns nasty in his cups. His excuse that he can't recall the incident (because of the bang to his head not because of the beer in his belly) is weak and his attempt at an apology, saying he's sorry IF he did something wrong is insufficient and inappropriate.

Mr Bates has not only let himself down but has also let down his family, his party, his constituents and the Assembly. The Assembly is a body that has a duty to ensure that NHS workers are protected against violent behaviour by patients, so I cannot see how Mr Bates position as a member can remain tenable if this story is true; he should resign his seat immediately.

Despite not having an ounce of sympathy for Mick Bates, there is another element in this story that causes concern. It is reported that the alleged assault happened some weeks ago. If this is the case then the matter should have been reported some weeks ago, and Mr Bates should have been forced to resign some weeks ago. If the story has been sat upon for some weeks in order to publish it on the weekend of the Liberal Democrats conference then it reeks of the most foul sort of journalistic political bias. Perhaps Mr Bates isn't the only person who should be seriously considering his suitability for the job that he is doing, perhaps the reporters and editor of Wales on Sunday should be doing the same thing.

Happy Birthday To You!

Peter Black celebrates his birthday today!

He is now officially a Silver Surfer

Congratulations Peter!

Trouble in Aberconwy's Tory Camp

Aberconwy is a constituency where the Tories have high hopes of gaining an MP in Wales, indeed it is their number five target seat through the UK. If the party can't make gains in places like Aberconwy, then it hasn't got a hope of winning an overall majority in the General Election.

However, Aberconwy will not be a shoo-in for the Tories. Plaid Cymru won the seat in the Assembly elections and in its pre-boundary change equivalent in the Euro-Elections, and Plaid is working hard to gain a similar upset again this year.

Given the nature of the seat one would expect the local Conservative Association to run a tight ship and maintain internal party cohesion. Not so. The local Association is in a mess and riven by internal strife and wrangling.

Last year one of the Tory group on Conwy County Borough Council was suspended from the group after refusing to support a Conservative candidate's co-option onto a local town council. Today another Conservative Councillor, Cllr Dennis Tew announced that he was leaving the Conservative group. Cllr Tew is a member for the Deganwy ward, one of the party's strongholds in the constituency and is President of Aberconwy Conservative Association.

Cllr Tew's defection must be a bitter blow for Aberconwy Tory candidate Guto Bebb. If rumours that Cllr Tew is going to transfer his support to Plaid Cymru's Phil Edwards are true, then the blow will be even harder.

Lessons for Wales from Caledonia Online?

From SNP Tactical Voting:

Scotland's first online newspaper is now live...
Caledonian Mercury, billing itself as Scotland's first online newspaper, is now available to be viewed and presumably off and running.

The Politics section seems to be manned chiefly by Hamish MacDonnell and contains some excellent articles already.

Stewart Kirkpatrick, editor of the online publication, is clearly enthusiastic and passionate about this business adventure and I can only hope it sees a baptism of fire as people click in and stay tuned for the long term

A quick glance at the "paper" suggests that it has the potential to be a valuable new site for acquiring Scottish news and that it has a potential to fill a void left by the two main Scottish papers.

The void left by the two main Welsh Newspapers, both owned by the same stable; both more reliant on press releases and wire stories than on local journalism is immense. Could that void be filled by a similar Welsh venture?

It's not Posh it's the Old School Tie!

I have just listened to yesterday's edition of The One Programme on Sky Plus, which rehashed the whole posh argument about Labour's attack on policy being made on the playing fields of Eton.

I feel that the media has got it wrong (dare I say biased wrong!) It has got sod all to do with being posh; it is all to do with nepotism and jobs for the boys.

The school I attended, Ysgol y Gader Dolgellau, formally Dolgelly Grammar School; established in 1666 has only produced one MP and has never produced a PM. Most of Cameron's prospective cabinet have gone to the same half dozen schools!

If half the cabinet had attended Byker Grove Comprehensive School, my eyebrows would be raised; I would think that there was something funny going on!

It has got sod all to do with posh, it has to do with an Eton education making you fit for Premiership and cabinet membership but an Ysgol y Creuddyn, or Sandfeilds Comprehensive, education making you unsuitable and cutting you out!

Having said that, one of the candidates in my constituency attended the same school as me! So Phil Edwards, Plaid Cymru has my Old School Tie vote :-)

You know your old if:

You know your old if: 

Your vote has ever counted to vote Labour out of office in a Westminster election!

 If it has you must be at least 49 years old!

Professor Hywel Teifi Edwards

I was shocked to hear that Hywel Teifi Edward has died.

In academic circles Hywel was best known as an historian of the Victorian period in Wales, especially the history of the Eisteddfodic movement during the Victorian period. A description that makes Hywel sound like a dry, boring old anorak, something that he was not!

Hywel had the ability to take the hi out of History and leave just the story behind. 

He lectured like a stand up comic, but as much as one laughed, one knew that every single fact was backed up with meticulous academic research.

In his death Wales has lost an expert historian, a raconteur, a friend of our culture and our language and a patriot of the first degree.

His family, of course, has a bigger loss - the loss of a husband, father and grandfather. Huw Edwards, the BBC News anchor is Hywel's son.  My deepest sympathy is extended to all of the family connections in their bereavement.

Sharing DNA with a Criminal Cousin

Former Policeman, Plaid Gwersyllt, on the Plaid Wrecsam blog  notes that North Wales Police is rather slow in implementing the European Court ruling that the DNA of innocents should be removed from the police databases.

The campaign to remove "innocent" DNA is one that confuses me.  My understanding, which is limited, is that my fingerprints are absolutely unique. You can't look at my fingerprints and say Ah! That proves that he is his father's son or his son's father! But that this isn't true of DNA.

Although my DNA is unique I share some of it with my family, and it is possible to do a paternity test to prove that my sprogs are mine and not the milkman's by using DNA.

As far as I know North Wales police don't have any of my DNA. A genealogical service does hold it; I paid them to take a sample so they could see how I am related to others who have paid them to compare samples. They regularly e-mail me to say that "Jo Blogs probably shares a paternal ancestor with you" etc.

Jeffrey Gafoor was convicted of the murder of Lynette White, because the police had the DNA of his cousin's convicted son, and that was sufficient to narrow the suspect range to members of the Gafoor family.

Even if all innocent people's absolute personal DNA is removed from the database, won't the DNA that the innocent share with the guilty still be on the database?

Even if I am as pure as the driven snow, but I have a criminal father, grandfather, uncle, son, grandson, nephew, second cousin twice removed etc, then won't my shared DNA still be on file, despite my personal innocence?

If this is the case isn't the argument about innocents' DNA a bit futile?

Lib Dems - Abiding by the will of the people?

In a comment on his blog regarding which party the Liberal Democrats might support if there is a hung parliament after the next Westminster elections Peter Black says:

Liberal Democrats have said that they will abide with the will of the British people *if* there should be a hung Parliament, in deciding what our role in it will be

This strikes me as an odd, new management speak, gobbledygook phrase, which sounds good but means nothing!

The term abide is an odd one for a party with Democrat in its name to use. Abide means to live with in the sense of put up with something unpleasant or to accept through gritted teeth. For the Liberal Democrats to say that they will abide with the will of the British people is akin to them saying that they will look at the election result as one of the people have spoken – the bastards!

If there is a hung parliament, how will the Liberal Democrats decide what the will of the British people is? Will they ask a focus group? Will they ask a polling company? Will they go on the number of seats won or the number of votes cast? (If there is a hung parliament, there is a fair chance that Labour will have the most seats but that the Conservatives will have the most votes.)

Would a hung parliament mean that the people have rejected the outgoing Labour Government or that they have refused to endorse a change to a Conservative Government?

Perhaps the best interpretation of the Liberal Democrats wily words is we don't know - depends what we are offered after the event; not a good election slogan, perhaps, but at least an honest one, and one which is more straight forward than a sound bite that means that they can spin their choice, either way, as the cast iron guarantee given before the event.

Why Didn't Santa Visit Wales?

This is a short brake in my blogging hibernation in order to raise a question of the utmost importance. Why didn't Santa visit Wales this year?

NORAD is a military agency of the US and Canadian governments that monitors the skies in order to look out for missile attacks aimed at northen America. Because of their speciality NORAD is able to track Father Christmas's journey across the world. Every year NORAD shares this intelligence with the world's children so that they might know where Santa is on each stage of his journey.



Above is a map of where the great bearded one had been shortly after he had left the British Isles. The map shows that he had visited Scotland, England the north and the south of Ireland, but he appears to have flown over Wales without stopping.

Have the children of Wales been particularly naughty this year? If so the Assembly must do its utmost to ensure that the children of Wales are better behaved next year so that Santa doesn't ignore our country again! If our children have been as good as they usually are then the Assembly should contact NORAD to ask them to include Santa's visit to Wales next year.

Season's greetings to you all.

MOF - RIP

This blog is now a former blog.

Because of lifestyle changes I can't comment on hot off the press topics anymore. By the time I have thought of a response to current Welsh affairs others have said it better.

The blog wont be closed down, it is going into hibernation. Like Arthur and Glyndwr it may be awakened when Wales needs it!

Come the General Election and the Referendum, I might be persuaded to post again. But for the foreseeable future posts on this blog will be few and far between.

O let us see another day!
Bless us all this night, I pray,
And to the Sun we all will bow
And say, good-bye - but just for now!

Sir Em Reports

Here is the long awaited Sir Em report.

£1.3 million wasted on an exercise in stating the bleeding obvious i.e. that the current system of obtaining competence for the Assembly is a dog's breakfast and sometimes referendums are won or lost on issues outwith the scope of the question being voted upon.

Will the next million pound Assembly commissioned report be on the defecatory habits of forest dwelling bears?

New Welsh Poll on Friday?

YouGov has sent out invitations to panel members to take part in the second of its series of Welsh political opinion polls.

The last poll invitation was sent out on the 22nd October and the results published five days latter. If the current poll follows the same pattern then this result should be out on Friday. It will be interesting to see what, if any, changes there have been over the past month.

Any body wishing to join YouGov and possibly be selected for the next Welsh panel can do so by clicking THIS LINK

The Cost of Remembrance

There is much debate on the Scottish blogosphere about the decision by the Scottish Parliament that poppy wreaths laid by MSPs today can be claimed for out of parliamentary expenses. Most think that claiming for wreaths is insensitive and a shame on those who do so.

Others make the counter argument that an MSP isn't laying the wreath in his own right but in an official capacity as a representative of the people, and therefore the people should pay.

I could accept the public service on behalf of the constituents argument if only one wreath was laid on my behalf by one of my public representatives. But it appears that the chair of the parish council, my county councillor, the mayor of the county council, my constituency Assembly Member, 4 regional AMs, my MP, four euro MEPs, the First Minister, the Secretary of State for Wales, the Prime minister and the Queen (and possibly others) can all lay wreaths on my behalf out of the public purse. This is over representation.

The parish council should lay one wreath on my behalf as a parishioner. Any other public representative who thinks that laying a wreath is the right thing to do should do so in his or her own name and out of his or her own pocket*.


* NB I should point out, in fairness, that despite the fact that all of these people CAN claim the cost of wreaths, because they are laying them as representatives of the people few actually do so.

Is being a child a criminal offence?

A long, long time ago, before most of my readers were born, I use to play ball in the street with my mates. I couldn't understand adults who complained about our play. What harm were we doing? What was wrong with having a bit of fun? Those adults who, when asked can I have my ball back? said NO and ranted about the damage caused to their Prize Dahlias appeared to be unreasonable, miserable and sad.

Occasionally accidents happened, a broken window, an adult hurt by a wild ball, a newly cleaned car dirtied, and there might be consequences if dad was told. Sent to bed, pocket money stopped or, in the most extreme circumstances, a smacked bottom. All such sanctions appeared unjust because we were just having fun.

My father, my grandfather, my great grandfather and all my ancestors back to Adam's lads probably went through the same experience of not understanding why adults complained about boys having a bit of fun.

Now that I am a Miserable Old Fart, I understand and sympathise with those long dead miserable old farts who complained about my ball playing on the streets and I can emmpathise with the residents of Penmaenmawr who complain about kids playing football by the Spar shop in the village.

However, what I can't understand is the attitude of the Police towards the kids playing ball on the street in Penmaenmawr:

YOUNGSTERS caught playing football on the streets of Penmaenmawr risk being arrested and could face a criminal record. .... "There is a specific offence for playing games in the highway causing annoyance to road users." ..... "This is an arrestable offence and from this moment on, this is the approach we will be using. ..."This behaviour can land them with a criminal record. It’s only fair to give them all a warning first that they will face arrest if caught again".

So a child will face arrest, a criminal record and prohibition for life from any job that needs full disclosure for playing ball on the street twice? What is the world coming to?

Playing ball inappropriately is not criminal, it is naughty. Naughty children should be dealt with at home or in school, not by the police and the courts.

When naughty children are treated as criminals, childhood is made into a criminal offence. And if just being a child is seen to be a criminal offence then there is no hope for naughty boys to grow up to be law abiding adults.

Democracy Live and the Welsh Language

The new BBC Service Democracy Live is great and one that I am sure to use often. It offers live and recorded debates from eight UK parliamentary chambers, including the Assembly's Senedd.

It is also possible to embed proceedings from the chamber into blog posts. As the service is available it must be used!

Here is the discussion on the Welsh language eLCO held yesterday:



(NB the embedded video audio comes from translators for most of the debate)


Apparently it is posssible to take individual contributions out of full debates for the sake of partisan or personal embedding, but I haven't worked out how to do that yet. However, this is a debate worth following from beginning to end.

What I find heartening about this debate is the fact that its liveliness, the fire in the belly, the party political point scoring and the passion is based on an argument about which party is the greatest supporter and promoter of the language.

Listening to Tory and Liberal Democrat and Labour members criticising a Plaid Cymru minister for compromising on the language and not doing enough to defend it bought a tear to the eye; not because the criticisms might, or might not, be justified - but just because they were made.

A quarter of a century, or less, ago this sort of debate would have involved a powerless member of Plaid stuck in a corner supporting the language whilst the other three parties ravaged him or her for the stupidity of advancing the cause of a half dead language. The fact that today, a nationalist minister had to fight off attacks from members of the other parties who were falling over themselves to prove that they are the most ardent supporters and truest defenders of the language is evidence of how far the Welsh language cause has moved in so short a time.

Plaid's next big challenge is to get to a situation where all the other parties are criticising it for not doing enough to advance the cause of national self determination :-)