‘Islamification’ is the obvious issue for the extreme right, they have to campaign on that, it’s the ‘B side’ issues that interest me. These look like being the kind of issues I might write about. And that, given the NF’s previous links with MI5, is what makes me suspicious.

Personally,if there were to be any MI5 discrediting to be going on, it would be the national issue of the tandem – Islamification. Wherever they protest they have two issues, one is always Islamification, the second is specific to the area they are protesting in. For insatnce the one planned for Bangor is the two issues of Islamification and shortage of housing caused by students.

So if MI5 were smearing something, it would have to be Islamification as it is the only one that is ever ‘common’ across the board.

I find it interesting that these Infidels are linked to the National Front. The NF has a long history of being run by the security services, going back to the days of Griffin and Roberto Fiore. In the ’80s they operated by ‘linking’ themselves to groups and movements that MI5 didn’t like in order to discredit such groups through unwanted and uninvited association.

Two examples. I was stunned when someone showed me the front page of NF News one day – the National Front had come out in support of Meibion Glyndwr! All done to smear MG with the ‘fascist’ label. Then, in 1989, we were planning the 20th anniversary of the Abergele tragedy, and a big event was planned, with contingents coming from Scotland and Ireland. A few days before the event the NF started appearing on radio programmes and in print saying they were coming to Abergele because they’d been invited. Again, done to smear the whole commemoration with the fascist tag.

Significantly, last Saturday the Infidels were protesting about paedophiles being dumped in Welsh communities, a real concern because everybody knows it’s happening. So, given the history, the purpose of the Infidels using this issue is to ‘contaminate’ it. To the point – it is hoped – where anybody raising the issue in future can be shouted down as ‘no different to those Infidels’, and a ‘fascist’. End of debate. No further opposition to the dumping of English paedophiles in Welsh towns and villages.

Thanks for the information. I am now clear in my mind that these Infidels are ultimately controlled by MI5. If I’m right, then we can expect to see more of them in Wales, and to see them focus more on Welsh issues.

I was at the Infidel rally (but on the otherside – the non-Infidels). Although predominantly Plaid, Labour and Trades unions there were a fair smattering of local Christians, and people I know personally that are LibDem, Tory & UKIP. We numbered around 350 to 400.

As for the Infidels between 30 & 40. Now at this point you need to be aware that the Infidels are in fact a protest group run by the National Front. They consist of 4 major geographic groups – North Wales, South Wales, North West England, North East England all split into regions, plus a smattering of smaller groups in other parts of the UK. The hosts of this little get together were the Anglesey Division, North Wales Infidels, led by a local farmer – Roch ‘Treban’ Williams and including in it’s illustrious ranks a builder jailed twice for deception, last time ripping of vulnerable pensioners.

Their chosen tactic is to ‘piggy back’ a specific local concern alongside a more traditional right wing one and then use it as an excuse to hold a march – in reality they have no interest in the concern, it’s just a sham in order to hold the rally and hopefully recruit. In Llangefni’s case the chosen two issues – Islamification of welsh towns and villages (really?) and the resettling of sex offenders in welsh rural areas. The reality is they couldn’t give a toss about either.

Most of the Infidel leadership is hardcore violent football hooligans, overtly committed nazis and hard drug users (all three in some cases) and contains notable characters such as Luke Pippen from down Swansea way and Kevin Watmough from Yorkshire.

So, representing the Infidels in Llangefni, most of the 35 to 40 actually came from North West England, predominantly Blackpool and Blackburn. Sunderland, Rotherham and other places were also represented. Notable Infidel characters on display that day were Gerald McCullion, Pete ‘Mackem’ Wharton, and Shane ‘Diddy’ Calvert. Guest speakers included Kevin McMahon from North West England National Front. Google them, not a nice bunch of people. Of the dozen or so that came from North Wales, barely a handful were from the Anglesey Division.

Banners on display included Combat 18 (the 18 being AH – Adolf Hitler), White Pride World Wide and other such blatantly rubbish. One of the North Wales Infidels proaudly displayed a large swastika tattoo on the back of his neck and others gave nazi salutes near to the war memorial.

Of course, they denied all accusations of being racist and all accusations of being nazis.

The Infidels are planning to hold another rally in nearby Bangor sometime in January.

Housing associations actually used to prefer to renovate older properties, as it was exactly those properties that proved the most in demand as they were located in communities, near to shops and schools and other amenities. There was a period in the mid 90s when HAs were more or less prevented from doing this kind of renovation work, but I believe that was rescinded by the late 90s. I think that the total cost of the project has to be taken into consideration, and as anyone living in any picturesque area of Wales will know, even the most run down hovel commands telephone number prices to buy. In the early 80s when HAs were doing a lot of renovation work, (usually to pretty low and cost constrained standards) much housing in Wales was very cheap, there being much property available in the £10 – 15k bracket, and not run down hovels.

I used to be a big fan of housing associations, but then the HA I rented from then was tenant controlled, the only one in Wales. Suffice to say, it didn’t survive the Welsh Office purge on such out-of-step ideas, and was forcibly taken over by another HA more in keeping with the image that the Welsh Office felt proper for a housing association – corporate, and far from being subject to any real control by those who cough up the cash, the tenants.

Nowadays I’m still renting my home from a housing association, but I do not feel that the rents are in any way ‘affordable’ and that really, HAs have just become yet another Third Sector (and as many HAs are also chariites, ostensibly for corporation tax purposes [and also, I believe, as a cynical way of preventing tenant control] they are firmly in the Third Sector) career ladder for yet another group of detached, (and often condescending) professionals with no real understanding, or concern about the needs or interests of tenants, many of whom do question the amount of wastage involved.

The funding of HAs is of concern, as it is very expensive, and critically, short term. Council housing was traditionally financed over 60 years, which meant that repayment of the loan could be financed from rents, and rents, because of the length of the repayment period, could be kept low, and truly affordable. Control was democratic, and local, and though I take your point that there was widespread corruption and favouritism, (and which interestingly you claim is an issue with HAs) but that is something that can be dealt with through an insistence on transparency. I do wonder where HAs get their figures from, but then I also question why the cost of building housing seems to have increased by such a factor since the early 80s when housing was probably far more affordable in general, both to rent and to buy. I know that increased standards will account for a percentage of that, but not the extent that the cost of housing has risen. (I’m talking about the fabric of the house, and not the land, as the insanity of that is a subject for another day.)

Certainly more social housing is needed in the cities of Wales, and I do have some sympathy with your questioning about the level of supply in rural Wales – but I do find it hard to understand how there is an oversupply now, when 30 years ago (when I lived in rural Wales) people, and young people in particular struggled to find decent housing that they could plan their lives in that was affordable.

I’m not sure where PRS fits in to all this, as it is a sector that I am particularly wary of, as there would be very little control over rents, unless of course some kind of rent control was instigated, which usually acts as a disincentive for housing investment by the private sector. Not that I’m any more a fan of the private sector than I am the state. I also don’t see why being exploited by a Welsh scumbag landlord is any better than being exploited by a scumbag landlord from anywhere else.

Good to see a small community acting like they are still comfortable with their identity and culture. The old slag who was wingeing about use of Welsh should pop over the border to Cheshire, though I suspect there’s plenty in N.E. Wales who will go out of their way to make her feel at home.

Interesting that it was on Radio Cymru. Did Radio Wales report that most of the ‘Infidels’ were English?

Even Radio Cymru todau today commented that most of the accents heard amongst the ‘Infidels’ weren’t local but Northern English. According to the BBC which one must always take with a large dose of salt, none of them were willing to be interviewed.