INTRODUCTION
In a few days time Neil McEvoy, the Assembly Member for the South Wales Central region, is up before the beak, in the form of Sir Roderick Evans, the Standards Commissioner. The charge is that McEvoy used equipment the Assembly had provided for constituency work for party political purposes.
Reported here just before Christmas by BBC Wales. I was even moved to contribute a tweet myself.
The story that I’m about to relate is complicated, compiled from a number of sources, but an internal consistency becomes evident as interwoven threads emerge. Also certain attitudes I have written about before.
One of those threads is that there are people across the political spectrum who wish that boat-rocking Neil McEvoy would just go away . . . but if he won’t do the decent thing with a 37 bus then they’ll have to do it themselves.
And this hostility seems to transcend party divides, uniting those who huff and puff, play silly games, and in reality do nothing but oversee the continuing decline of Wales.
But let us start at the beginning.
◊
THE ACCUSED
Neil McEvoy is one of the most easily recognised politicians in the Assembly. He’s certainly popular with people who take no more than a passing interest in politics, and that’s because he is seen to stick it to the man. Regularly. God knows Wales doesn’t have many other politicians doing this.
His background is Arab-Irish-English, just the sort of candidate Plaid Cymru has been looking for to make the breakthrough in Cardiff, or so you might have thought. And his arrival in Plaid was followed by something of a breakthrough.
Before McEvoy joined the party in 2003 Plaid Cymru had just one seat in Cardiff (Creigiau) and little chance of success anywhere else. Yet from 2008 to 2012 Plaid Cymru – with seven seats – was in a ruling coalition with the Liberal Democrats and Neil McEvoy served as deputy council leader.
By the council elections of 2017 Neil McEvoy and the two other Plaid candidates for the Fairwater ward were elected with the biggest Plaid vote in any ward in Wales, while in the wider Cardiff West constituency Plaid came second to Labour in every other ward, winning the average popular vote.
The picture is equally impressive on the national stage.
In 2016 Neil McEvoy was elected Assembly Member for the South Wales Central region. He also stood for the Cardiff West constituency and almost doubled the Plaid Cymru vote from his own showing in 2011.
In fact, McEvoy came close to sparing us the embarrassment of Mark Drakeford as first minister. If the current trend continues then there’s a strong chance that McEvoy will beat Drakeford in the 2021 election.
Though of course some will argue that this growth in support would have happened without Neil McEvoy.
In addition to the bare numbers provided by elections Neil McEvoy has shaken things up in other ways:
- He was the first person in UK politics to use Facebook videos. He was mocked for doing so, now it’s the norm.
- He was the first AM ever to ask to see the daily diaries of Ministers. (Amazing when you think about it!)
- He was the first AM to debate sovereignty.
- He was the first AM to use the Government of Wales Act to hold a ‘Welsh Government’ to account.
- He was outspoken in his opposition to the ‘Prince of Wales Bridge’.
- He was more than just vocal in the ‘nuclear mud’ campaign, another issue that greatly embarrassed the ‘Welsh Government’.
- He was one of the four AMs who had the courage to remain seated during the standing ovation for outgoing first minister Carwyn Jones last month.
- Just before Christmas he played a big part in getting a Cardiff mother and her children out of war-torn Yemen.
This helps explain why those who believe devolution is nothing but a system that allows local ‘friendlies’ to manage Wales on England’s behalf – without engaging the excitable natives – regard Neil McEvoy as dangerous, and that’s why they’ll go to any lengths to damage him.
For example, back in March 2017, at the instigation of the Labour Party and its third sector cronies Plaid Cymru suspended Neil McEvoy on a trumped up charge of ‘bullying’. (In reality, he was standing up to City Hall for a constituent.)
The picture below shows former Labour councillor Paul Mitchell holding a copy of the local newspaper at a gathering of Labourites celebrating McEvoy’s misfortune. (Interesting that they felt the need to hide behind curtains that were the height of fashion in 1960s East Germany.)
If every picture tells a story then the message from this one is, never underestimate how much the Labour Party hates Neil McEvoy, and the lengths they’ll go to to destroy him. Equally, never forget how eager Plaid Cymru is to appease the English Labour Party in Wales.
◊
THE ACCUSER
Michael Deem is not a name familiar to many of you, but he’s central to this story, for it was Deem who made the complaint to the Standards Commissioner.
What know we of Mr Deem?
Well, he seems to have emerged from the gloom in 2015, saying he was interested in what Plaid Cymru was doing and wanted to be part of it, and was welcomed into the fold. In July 2016 he became manager of Neil McEvoy’s Cardiff West constituency office.
His rise within the party continued and after prime minister May called an election for June 2017 in the hope of boosting her majority he was hurriedly adopted as the Cardiff West candidate. Deem and Plaid Cymru suffered a bad defeat, coming a poor third, with less than 10 per cent of the vote.
Making enquiries into Michael Deem proved interesting. For it’s not often I get to write about an Asda selling champion. According to his Linkedin profile he’s still working for Asda, but I’m told he’s now working for HMRC, so he appears to have abandoned Linkedin.
Fortunately, some photographs exist of Michael Deem during his Asda days. He was something of a flag-waver. Of course, this can’t be held against him, he probably had no choice in the matter . . . but he still seems very enthusiastic.
The montage below contains two photos of him waving the flag for Asda and Britain, another shows him outside Buckingham Palace, while the fourth has him waving that flag again, but this time there seems to be no Asda connection, it looks like his own choice. Where is he?
As I’ve said, he was office manager for Neil McEvoy – and a disaster in the job. One of his primary duties was dealing with constituents’ casework, which he claimed to be doing but rarely did. This had consequences, such as one constituent losing out on his pension. There were dozens of other complaints.
And of course, this ‘negligence’ (if such it was) reflected badly on Neil McEvoy.
In addition to neglecting his duties he enjoyed playing the petty tyrant, especially towards a young female employee. Even throwing things at her! This was witnessed and reported by a member of the public.
Then there were the mood swings. And the debts Deem ran up that his employer, Neil McEvoy, had to pay out of his own pocket. And let’s not forget the time he was reported to the Information Commissioner for copying and sharing highly confidential information. There were unauthorised holidays . . .
After being suspended in July 2017 Deem joined the trade union Unite which I have described before as the Labour Party by another name. It wasn’t long before the workings of Plaid Cymru’s Cardiff West constituency office were being discussed in Labour circles.
After a protracted process Deem was eventually sacked early in 2018. His appeal was dismissed by the Assembly’s Legal Service. He then threatened McEvoy with an Employment Tribunal unless he (Deem) was paid £8,000. McEvoy told Deem – via ACAS – that he was prepared to go to a Tribunal. That was the end of the matter and Unite withdrew its support.
By August 2018 Deem was using his Facebook page to appeal for advice. Now what I find interesting about this appeal is Deem’s belief that he’s going to be a UK media sensation for putting the boot into McEvoy! Is it all being done for publicity?
Or is he just deluded, for Michael Deem is a young man with a high opinion of himself, and a bully when he can get away with it?
For while he was useless at his job he was good at promoting himself. This explains being selected for Cardiff West in the 2017 Westminster election. In that campaign he refused all advice from Neil McEvoy who knew the constituency so well and he came a very poor third. Having pinned his hopes on becoming an MP his attitude towards Neil McEvoy and the constituency office deteriorated even further.
Michael Deem effectively did himself out of a job, but he’s never going to accept that. What’s more, given that his dispute is with Neil McEvoy there will be no shortage of people encouraging him to believe that he’s the latest victim of an ogre.
If the Standards Commissioner rejects Deem’s complaint we can probably expect McEvoy’s enemies in Plaid Cymru to find some old biddy who’ll claim she was elbowed in the face by Neil McEvoy when they were reaching for the parsnips in Tesco. Or maybe some child will sob to BBC Wales cameras that Neil McEvoy ran over ‘Freddy’, his pet cockroach, while speeding through Splott in his (almost certainly uninsured) car.
What do you mean, I’m being ridiculous? Check out the things that have been said about Neil McEvoy by Leanne Wood and her cronies, by the Labour Party, by Deryn, by the harridans of the third sector. Also, what they’ve persuaded others to say. And they’re still at it!
But the relationship was not always so fraught.
◊
THE MCEVOY ENIGMA
When Neil McEvoy was simply a Cardiff councillor and an aspiring Assembly Member he could be encouraged just like any other Plaid candidate. But when he was elected to the Assembly in 2016, and more importantly when he started making waves, then he became a danger.
That’s because there are too many in Plaid Cymru with a bipolar view of politics. On the one hand they see the ‘progressives’ of the left (Plaid, Labour, Greens), while on the other hand are arrayed the forces of reaction (Tories, Ukip, Beelzebub and me). The Welsh dimension does not intrude into this paradigm.
Guided by this alignment Plaid Cymru see it as their duty to link with Labour and Greens (both very English parties) to fight the enemy in some ideological precursor to Armageddon.
This makes Neil McEvoy, a charismatic and confrontational politician, doing the best for his constituents and his country, a threat that has to be dealt with. For in addition to the eternal struggle against the forces of darkness there are many cushy jobs in the third sector and elsewhere to consider, sinecures in revivified quangos, peerages even; plus lucrative contracts within the gift of the ‘Welsh’ and UK governments. All these are dependent on Plaid Cymru not making waves.
It has been relatively easy for Plaid Cymru to isolate Neil McEvoy because he doesn’t belong to any of the cliques making up the party. Which I would loosely define as the cultural-linguistic wing, the environmentalist wing, and the niche socialist wing.
These classifications are not mutually exclusive, of course, but no matter how much they may overlap the fact remains that Neil McEvoy fits into none of them. He is just a Cardiff boy who knows his city and its people better than anyone who’s moved to Cardiff from Ceredigion or Gwynedd.
He also knows what’s wrong with Cardiff, and with Wales . . . and who’s to blame. But wearing bipolar lenses makes Plaid Cymru think Labour is blameless.
For most of the half century and more that I’ve been observing Plaid Cymru the cry has been, ‘How can we appeal to the South?’ It could now be argued that the Valleys are winnable, which leaves the cities of the coast.
Where Neil McEvoy has made the breakthrough in appealing to the natives of Kerdiff (bless ’em!). For he is one of their own and so they listen to him, and they like what they hear, so they vote for him.
Plaid Cymru should be delighted, but no; for the reasons I’ve already given, his popular appeal unsettles the party hierarchy . . . and of course it threatens the re-election of first minister Mark Drakeford.
Which explains why the attacks from Leanne Wood’s disciples continue. Here’s a truly bizarre one that came out of the blue on Thursday from Cyffin Thomas and others. Thomas “writes monthly-ish articles for the Lampeter Grapevine“.
What provoked this? What the hell were they trying to say to the first AM of colour born in Wales? Does being gay and socialist give you licence to say anything? Can you imagine the outcry from my many ‘progressive’ admirers if I’d said something like that? Or if I’d used black images?
We’re dealing with hypocrites here. Hypocrites who’ve been allowed to hide behind their rainbow flags, or their gender, or what they imagine to be the moral superiority bestowed by ‘socialism’, and they’ve got away with lies and insults for too long.
Neil McEvoy was expelled from the Plaid Assembly group in January 2018 – almost certainly as a result of a campaign orchestrated by the Labour-Plaid Cymru smear machine and PR company Deryn – and his expulsion from the party for 18 months in March (later reduced to 12 months), were entirely predictable. An excuse would have been found. Any excuse.
With his period of expulsion drawing to a close some new excuse for excluding Neil McEvoy had to be found. And that’s all you need to know about this allegation by Michael Deem. A charge levelled by a dismissed employee who is almost certainly being egged on by others.
In essence, the ‘charge’ is that a former Plaid Cymru AM used his office for the benefit of . . . Plaid Cymru! The complaint made by a Plaid Cymru member.
Nobody disputes that Neil McEvoy works hard for his constituents, so it seems bloody strange to me that the former office manager would complain about the office he himself was supposed to be running.
◊
WE’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE
However we look at it, this case reflects badly on Plaid Cymru, yet it doesn’t surprise me one bit.
For as I’ve told you before, I have long believed that there is an element within Plaid Cymru determined to scupper any threat of real success. A grouping that regards the prospect of independence with horror.
Those I’m referring to want Plaid Cymru to:
- ignore Welsh issues – ‘ugly nationalism’ – or else frame them in a British or global context
- maintain a level of support just enough to inhibit the emergence of a true nationalist party
Making Plaid Cymru the perfect ‘nationalist party’ . . . from London’s perspective.
Cast your mind back to the removal of Dafydd Wigley in 2000. He had just led Plaid Cymru to its greatest ever success in the first Assembly elections of 1999. But before the cheering had died down elements within Plaid Cymru were working to remove their party’s greatest electoral asset . . . and to replace him with Ieuan Wyn Jones!
The excuse used was Wigley’s heart condition, and his general health. Nineteen years later he’s fit and well, leading an active life and regularly attending the House of Lords.
I’m not saying that Neil McEvoy is as important to Plaid Cymru’s electoral success as Dafydd Wigley, but there is a parallel to be drawn.
I suggest that because Plaid Cymru prefers corporate blandness to individual sparkle; and craves the kind of ‘respectability’ it believes is only achieved by not offending authority. Given the mess Wales is in, such an approach is little more than self-serving defeatism.
This is why, when Neil McEvoy was elected to the Assembly, I wrote in Assembly Elections 2016: Hopes and Ashes: “I just hope that the Plaid establishment doesn’t ‘get to’ him. Plaid Cymru needs more Neil McEvoys and fewer sons of the manse and masters of cynghanedd, and fewer entryists using the party to promote socialist, environmentalist and other agendas.”
The Plaid establishment clearly did ‘get to’ Neil McEvoy, but he resisted, and when he wouldn’t bend to their will they sought to attack him at every opportunity. Just ask yourself – whose interest is being served by Plaid Cymru and its nefarious allies continually undermining such an electoral asset?
Worked it out yet?
If there’s a young firebrand out there wanting to give the system a kick in the nuts, then Uncle Jac’s advice would be: ‘Don’t waste your time with a compromised establishment party that will only stab you in the back if you look like achieving anything. Try your luck with Ein Gwlad’.
I’m even tempted to offer the same advice to Neil McEvoy. But I suspect he’s more loyal to Plaid Cymru than certain elements of Plaid Cymru are to him, or the party.
♦ end ♦
UPDATE 07.01.2019: Soon after posting this article I received an e-mail notification of a comment to my Facebook page. Unfortunately, the comment – in response to Delaney M Christian – had been pulled before I could see it.
Llinos Price is one of those to whom I referred in the article, a woman dangerously obsessed with Neil McEvoy and determined to damage him. Last year she started a petition against him.
When she’s not sticking pins into her voodoo doll of Neil McEvoy her day job appears to be with the Woodland Trust. That is the same Woodland Trust involved with George Monbiot and his gang, using the management team in Cardiff docks to take money off Welsh farmers and hand it to a replacement population in the form of ‘re-wilders’ and other would-be colonists involved in the Summit to Sea scam.
I wrote about it in The Welsh Clearances.
It never ceases to amaze me how many of the prissy and self-regarding devolution elite, so profuse in their loyalties to Wales, seem to fall in with the ugliest and most blatantly colonialist organisations and projects. Maybe ethnic cleansing is now ‘progressive’.
They really do need to step back from the Bay Bubble and take a long hard look at where Wales is headed.
One of the key campaigners against Neil McEvoy in Plaid is a Mr Russell Elliott. Although a member of Plaid Cymru, in Bangor he is the ‘Wales Convenor’ of Compass, a Labour Party thinktank, tasked with as a cross party pressure for ‘the good society’. Elliott of course is from the Midlands of England who has forsaken the English Midlands and moved to North Wales to educate the ‘natives’ as to what a ‘good society’ looks like.
https://www.iwa.wales/click/2013/07/case-for-labour-and-plaid-getting-together/
http://www.compassonline.org.uk/about/governancefinance/
https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.nZ-8s4pEP9x9wimTQCvOZQHaHa&pid=15.1
Mr Russell Elliott is the ‘Welsh Rep’ on the Compass organisation management committee, and sits alongside the Labour MP, Clive Lewis of Norwich South and one of momentums lady-gropers, reinstated by their national executive. Also on the committee is Willie Sullivan representing Scotland, who describes himself on twitter as a “Lefty Absurdist Cockwomble” and campaigns against the SNP in Edinburgh.
Elliott’s daughter – whose name escapes me – is one of the Leanne-Deryn-ishoomongers gang down the Bay.
I don’t know Neil McEvoy either and I’m ready to believe that everything you’ve said about him is true. But it’s strange to write a piece without referring to what people say negatively about him quite widely – either to refute it or say it doesn’t matter. I must be careful here because I don’t know the truth and there are libel laws. But words like ‘assault’, ‘domestic abuse’ etc have been used in sentences where the paragraph contained the word McEvoy. This talk, right or wrong, is more than enough to explain the hostility of the sisterhood.
I thought you were the fearless whistle blower Jac. I think you ducked the issue on this occasion and gave us only part of the story.
What exactly did I fail to address? Obviously you’re trying to say something, so say it.
Got to chuckle at the tweet from Vaughan Roderick – Carwyn Jones now a builder – no f***in’ chance. More like the caretaker who lets a building fall into rack and ruin, or self builds extensions with no foundations, damp courses, roof flashings etc etc. Later becomes “pretty good” at demolition works by driving a bull dozer through walls. Complete waste of space, replaced with another.
This is worth reading Bardd Cwsc
https://dicmortimer.com/2018/10/31/token-wales/
That’s an excellent piece.
Carnabwth,
Diolch — that is an absolute cracker of an article by Dic Mortimer. Truly superb.
It said everything I wanted to say, but much more forcefully and cogently.
Having perused the offerings of the National Theatre of Wales, it really is an embarrassment.
It is better to close the National Theatre, Wales down & send its director back to Smethwick than have this abject and pitiful national humiliation in plain view.
The Scots would not put up with this. The Irish would not put up with this.
Nor should we
This prompts me to recommend anyone who hasn’t yet done so to have a look at the ‘Wales’ section of Dic Mortimer’s blog, which in some ways is equal in quality and insight to the standard set by Jac o’ the North.
I draw your attention particularly to the articles titled “First Minister’s Questions” (which echoes Jac’s points regarding the utter uselessness of what passes for politics in the Senedd) and “Radio Wales at 40”, highlighting the dire state of English-language Welsh media and, by implication, the urgent need for devolved broadcasting in Wales.
As for Mr. McEvoy, once the Welsh Establishment have temporarily neutralised him, I foresee a bright future for their new gofer Michael Deem. But Neil will regroup and will not, I think, be silenced so easily. Dw i’n gobeithio!
Perhaps I can raise this troubling matter concerning the National Theatre of Wales?
https://tinyurl.com/ybdr35gx
The Director of National Theatre Wales does not identify as Welsh. We read here that she was born in Smethwick, and identifies as British.
https://tinyurl.com/yaeujfs7
As far as I can see, she had no previous connection to Wales before being appointer Director.
What an extraordinary appointment! What is the point of National Theatre of Wales if it does not have a Welsh identity and perspective.
Of course, it is perfectly possible to be from an ethnic minority and have a Welsh perspective.
I would have no problem with an individual of Indian heritage running the National Theatre, if they had been raised or lived in Wales.
Would any other nation put up with this? Remember, in the theatre, we have reached the stage where it is argued that Asian roles should go to Asian actors, or disabled roles to disabled actors, and so on.
So, how on earth can it be justifiable to appoint someone with no connection to Wales to run our National Theatre Wales?
Who was responsible for this ridiculous appointment?
It seems to have happened on useless Lord Ellis-Thomas’ watch in charge of the Culture brief.
Bardd you have probably answered your own question – Arglwydd DET was relying on most of us being in a deep “cwsg” while he and other cronies foisted this Anglo on us. He is extremely useless from a nationalist patriotic perspective but a very useful idiot to the colonial regime.
Thanks Jac for re-tweeting those tributes to Steffan Lewis. A bright rising star who was taken away from us far too soon. We can only sense the loss and grief of his immediate family and circle of friends. He had shown so much promise by working in a calm, articulate and deliberate way to show a way forward. I might not have agreed with everything this young man said or wrote but he could still generate sufficient trust that one would say go ahead ‘cos you might make it work ! I hope now that others in his party and at Y Cynulliad will be inspired to cut out the nonsense and get on with the tasks of making something good for this country of ours. RIP Steffan.
just received this in my inbox – unmissable event !
https://businesswales.gov.wales/news-and-blogs/news/gofod3-–-wales’-biggest-third-sector-event
This is what passes for business news in modern Wales – a bigger allocation/handout for a public sector/3rd sector body – whoopee !
https://businessnewswales.com/5m-funding-announced-for-sport-wales/
Meanwhile real business news is thin on the ground and mostly bad !
O/T, but the ‘Great Leader’ is quitting!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-46824463
Jac He’s off sometime in June. You’ll need to keep days clear for the leaving do as no doubt you will be invited. Should be a 3 or 5 day event a bit like Ascot or Cheltenham !!
Council leader may be the only one to regard him as a “great leader and ambassador”. His pension will presumably be in the region of £100,000 per annum.
Will he survive on such meager pickings especially as car, expenses and other “benefits” will no longer be available ? So look out for more activity in the “real estate” sector.
Y Mab Darogan getting his Statesman pose into action again.
https://nation.cymru/opinion/after-britain-wales-and-ireland-in-the-post-brexit-era/
Lots of chatter about ‘new this’ and ‘new that’ yet to pinch his own analogy we are not guests at any table and I’m not sure whether we’re considered big enough to be on the bloody menu ! Anyway if he wants to hone his statesmanship skills he should get off the pot, stop off in Llanelli on the way back from Dublin and reinstate those Plaid members so gratuitously disenfranchised by Plaid’s previous leadership team. Or is he inviting them all to buzz off to Ein Gwlad ?
Never met Neil McEvoy in my life but he comes over as a genuine bloke. Based here in Gwynedd where Plaid have decimated public service and are making a total hash on getting jobs to the area, we could do with him up here. Go on Neil, stand for what you believe, the people you represent comes first, and it appears they believe in you. Da iawn dal ati.
I see the AngloBrit rag rejoicing in the outcome of the Salmond enquiry, just cos they see Ms Sturgeon as the “loser” in this case.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/01/08/nicola-sturgeon-issues-humiliating-apology-alex-salmond-wins/
At least the lady had the presence to make her response promptly and with some grace. Pity that all those Anglo/U.K politicos and their lackeys don’t acquire a similar approach to their own conduct of politics.
The English media has been bigging this up for a while as a “civil war” inside the SNP.
Jac,
As the secretary of Ynysybwl, Coed y Cwm & Glyncoch Plaid Cymru branch. Neil has been a fantastic representative. We have had personal differences previously, however,no one can doubt his commitment to a free Wales.
Ms. Wood and her disciples were a disaster. The Rhondda constituency does not reflect the real world.
Clayton Jones.
Thank you, Clayton, yours seems to be the message from everywhere beyond a certain clique that is determined to destroy Neil McEvoy’s political career . . . and to hell with the collateral damage.
Clayton.
I have been collecting all the ‘central party funded’ election placards belonging to Plaid Cymru from those which I and my merry band previously distributed on the Gwendraeth, mainly Cydweli, and Trimsaran areas, during previous elections. (We won these seats off Labour). These are residents who now have the opportunity, and mostly intend to vote for Sian Caiach of Ein Gwlad.
A similar collection is taking place in Llangennech and Llanelli itself. As you know, our constituency party of Plaid was ‘closed down’ and sabotaged by Leanne Wood, and various imported candidates imposed. All these generic placards technically belong to Plaid Cymru and it was our intention to return these to Cardiff West to assist Neil McEvoy in his endeavours, should he be re-instated. If this does not happen, I’m sure you’ll find use for them in Ynysybwl & Glyncoch, or perhaps Heledd Fychan in Pontypridd town itself.
Would you like them?
If you need to know what’s left of Plaid Cymru in Llanelli, take a look at the twitter feed of Helen Mary Jones AM. Lost teddies in Peckham and one in Milton Keynes, support for child kidnappers in Essex against the wishes of the police and family courts, banning transsexuals from public toilets in Slough, lost dogs in Northampton, various re-tweets of job adverts for third sector organisations in Cardiff/London and mispers in Barnet. It represents the world she inhabits. A very different planet from her constituents.
Do you know whether there has been a hand of friendship extended by Adam to the old brigade, those like Dyfrig, Gwyn Hopkins, Mr × Mrs Bo Roberts? All activists 70plus who have fought the front line for Plaid for 50 plus years, gaining an amazing electoral victory in Llanelli against Labour. I keep getting emails from Mari Arthur as constituency sec despite asking her not to contact me. The old plaid office is being sold up as they cannot afford to run it! A pyrrhic victory indeed for Leanne Wood
Adam Price is not the leader of Plaid Cymru, he only holds the post. It became vacant through cowardice (Leanne could have been MP) and derailment (she swooned to lobby influencers and forgot Tyntyla Road). Nothing wrong with her politics on the streets of Rhondda.
Adam is an inoffensive intellectual “thinker” who stands on the pillars built by of Gwynfor. A man that ticks the right boxes for the small clique of careerists in the Bae who thinks that politics is about image, spin, and wine bar influencers. Leadership of Plaid fell into his lap, a ship without a captain is steered by whoever is qualified for the tiller at the time. That doesn’t mean there is direction or purpose.
Leadership has many forms, but a leader who is successful in elections, not only leads a party, or a branch, but also leads the community.
Gwyn Hopkins leads Llangennech, Sean Rees leads Tyisha, Jeanette Gilasbey leads Cydweli. In the same way that Neil McEvoy leads the housing estates in Cardiff. It’s that that wins elections. The only thing that Mari Arthur leads is a flipchart in Cardiff, and the only thing that Helen Mary Jones leads is her i-phone. I had hoped that Adam would have re-instated McEvoy, forthwith, and provided an amnesty for all party members in Llanelli. That would be leadership. There’s a difference, he has, so far, failed.
So when I pop into the co-op for some milk and ask the old ladies if they are well or when I speak to the teenage lads (as grown-ups) to stop being arseholes at the bus shelter, who I now command respect. When they ask who to vote for, what do I say?
I think he is leader of Plaid – and leader of their political community (communities also take many forms). Just not the leader of the nationalist movement (which is a bigger and more diverse community)… which is what a leader of Plaid should probably aspire to be. Far to long the two have been confused I think. You are right though it’s about people who lead their communities and Plaid should about bringing together the Leanne’s and Neil’s.
Our real problem is there’s no leader/s of movement who can bring together Plaid, Ein Gwlad, YesCymru, friendly business owners etc.
Mansell53, there were 4 images posted in total, 1 was deleted. White people should not mock people of colour, using such black images. About the only shade I have not been called in my life is white. Paki, nigger, coon, wog, jungle bunny, sand nigger, Bin Laden are examples of some termd used to describe me. In the Summer I was called a black bastard by 3 men, using the old racist rhyme involving a union Jack. I told them it was a good job we had a Welsh flag, which flummoxed them. The point is that the posters were aware of my objection on the grounds of race, but carried on regardless, employing the usual racist tropes. In terms of identity, I’m Welsh. In life, the obvious things are sometimes the best.
If only the rest of Wales was as Welsh as McEvoy… – luckily most of us are colour-blind, but he’s not blinded by inner duality. McEvoy is sowing the seeds for how future AM’s should act. If you’re one of his constituents, in trouble, who else would you want to back you up?
I suspect people envy him – he’s able to confront people in a confident and assured manner – city smart – he’s multilingual who always communicates bilingually, he’s a reminder to people that this is the way you do your job, this is how you treat Wales and this is how you fight for the people within your jurisdiction. Most can’t do this – they’re pulled left and right, easily influenced, constrained by terms of reference, hamstrung by hierarchy.
Wales is at a crossroads – there aren’t many guardians in the assembly, and he’s the only person who’s fight ready.
Did he do a good job for you or is this just your impression of him as an AM?
How does he rate against other AMs, because AMs don’t have to make public the outcomes from case work, how do you know he’s so much better than Gareth Bennett?
Thank you, Ed.
Ed, if you speak to Gwenllian Lansdown, she will tell you I organised & ran the 2004 Riverside campaign. The Labour vote which followed me & the dozens of Labour members who left with me, won the seats. I then organised the 2008 campaign from 2006 onwards. Cardiff West has more than tripled Plaid support during my time. Ta.
And your reply highlights the issue, you didn’t see the credit, just the criticism. I didn’t criticise you, just the tone of the article relating to Cardiff Plaid.
In riverside, between 98 and 04 plaid gained 300 odd votes, did you help get them? Absolutely. What did you do to get the 1100 votes in 99?
You were campaignimg for Blairs labour in 99, so how are you responsible for the 1300 votes in Canton, did you make that happen? Carwyns 1300 votes in Cathays,? Alan in gabalfa? Pentyrch? Delme? Did you gain his ward for him? Plaid were competitive in all those wards before you joined.
According to this revisionist history that you never seem to put right, there was no plaid anywhere in Cardiff until you joined. That’s bullshit.
The vote in Cardiff West hasn’t grown during Elins time, only during your time? Says it all.
You didn’t criticise him? FFS in earlier comments you accused him of being ridiculous about shadegate and guilty of “pure harassment” but I’m seeing a pattern in the Let’s Get McEvoy fanboys (and fangirls). When it comes from them it’s fair comment, the exact opposite if it comes from McEvoy or his supporters. Having read the shadegate exchanges on Twitter the personal abuse directed at McEvoy has disgusted me. There’s a hardcore of Usual Suspects involved in it who take to the airwaves to demean the man at just about every opportunity. The irony of it. These twats have the gall to accuse McEvoy of being a bully! Talk about a bunch of hypocrites.
These fanny boys and fanny girls have been present on the internet for ages. However you never see any of them out and about. I guess they are all safely tucked away in their own private spaces massaging each other’s latest clever groupthink output and, of course, scripting their next attacks on those nasty non-conforming beasts that roam the world outside their little spheres. Good job there’s still a visible number of normal people left to interact with !
And with the predictability of the tides I see that one of those Usual Suspects you wrote about has thrown his fedora into the ring. The blogger and psychotherapist known as Martyn Shrewsbury, who goes by other names as and when it suits, has laid into McEvoy and Jac (wot, again lol?) in his daily blog. I won’t link to it on principle but if you want an example of the pathetic and childlike abuse that McEvoy and Jac have to regularly put up with from these enlightened left-leaning liberals do take the trouble to look the blog up. Make your own mind up and at least it’ll give Mr Shrewsbury brownie points (am I allowed to use that saying?) in bragging about the extra hits he gets on his daily sermons. And he accuses McEvoy of being a Narcissist!
Oh, God, it’s even worse than usual! Doesn’t he have any friends to have a quiet word with him?
Can a man with more heads than a Hydra have any real friends? Would any of them really know which Shrewsbury they were having a pint with that day? He certainly has NO comments on his blog, ever, despite turning out as much bullshit as the whole of the Brexit ministry itself. (Damn, thought I’d get away without the “B” word). He does rely on his “little birds and Dire Wolves” as he affectionately refers to them. These appear to be an anonymous ragbag of sycophantic mischief-makers whose sole purpose in life seems to be to screenshot potential material from Facebook and Twitter, passing it onto their one-eyed guru to reproduce on his column the following day. Presumably this sad lot of bastards get a kick from reading his drivel, no doubt beating themselves off saying “ooh – I gave Martyn that one!” What a bunch of worthless, spineless twats. There we are – I’ve gone and well and truly broken my New Year’s Resolution to cut out the profanities, the tossers wind me up so much!
Of course it’s pure harassment to turn a joke that was misunderstood, into a public attack on someone, including contacting their employer with the sole intention of having a serious affect on the persons life and future. Then, even after it’s clarified, to continue to label someone a racist publicly? That’s harassment. It is exactly the same as the boxing glove picture, it was a joke that was twisted against Neil. You can’t pick and choose. Picking and choosing offence for political gain is politics as usual.
Excuse me but this “joke” as you call it went out on a public forum didn’t it, and was interpreted as being racist in tone by the subject i.e. McEvoy as well as others. As far as I am concerned neither the original publisher nor those who then gleefully waded in to give Neil a kicking can complain if he then responds on a public forum in kind. The trouble is that many of these keyboard warriors would never dream of saying the things they write to someone’s face and they seem to have no idea that actions, including online comments, can have consequences. Naive doesn’t even begin to cut it. If you prod a bear with a stick expect the bear to fucking well bite you, not sit back and let you do it time after time.
Which joke? As you, neil and Jac all seem confused as to which joke was or wasn’t taken as racist and why. If you actually believe that a black person can’t make a joke, then I disagree but you have every right to that opinion. What you can’t do is threatens someone’s employment by claiming they are racist because they, like a lot of reasonable people, don’t agree. That’s harassment.
Posting a photo of yourself in that shocking multi-coloured jumper (see Cyffin’s twitter image) should be enough grounds for dismissal in itself, on the grounds of offending public decency. I wouldn’t dress my Guy Fawkes in it.
I should imagine your reading figures for this post are going through the roof Jac – on Plaid’s facebook groups etc you are getting a right slagging. Apparently you are a misogynist, Islamophobe, racist, homophobe, fascist-sympathiser, fascist, blood sport supporter and all round nazi.
You’ve definately hit a raw nerve with this one !!!
And Plaid’s membership are showing themselves as exact;ly what they are – a second rate party, with third rate party officers and activists and fourth rate elected representatives.
They are becoming more and more a sixth-form common room party and general student whinging sect as every day passes.
Fortunately, I avoid Plaid Facebook pages and almost everything to do with Plaid Cymru.
These people don’t realise that they’re becoming a self-caricature.
An absurd party densely populated by moronic groupthinkers. As soon as one of their designated “thought leaders” pipes up a whole fuckin’ mass of them start shuffling out their stereotypical bullshit. There remains a silent minority of people who are so loyal to what the Party was a long time ago that they can’t bear the thought of ditching it. But most likely when the Thought Police get their shit together they will be moved out as undesirables and inconsistent with the progressive orthodoxy as ordained by them who know it all. Happy days
Kind of think many of them found themselves in minority supporting Leanne in the leadership race. Presence still felt though I suppose. At the end of the day its about winning hearts and minds so when “that day” comes when people have to choose which side of the line they wish to stand then they’ll choose the side of Wales and its people.
At the end of the day its about Yes vote in an indy ref and making sure that plenty of people churn out to protest an investiture etc.
As happened in Llanelli. Unfortunately, but I might not have heard about it, I don’t think that Adam has reinstated the 40 odd who were banned from PC. That would be a symbolic olive branch and show of intent……has he?
Da iawn Jac, telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about politics in Wales. I particularly like the graphic cartoon piece re the colony of Wales, also right at the heart of our problems.
As a proud nationalist, I was ‘out of place’ with many ex colleagues in PC, one of the reasons why I left. I also saw too many outstanding people also leave the party.
The Michael deem stuff is interesting but you are just plain wrong about mcevoy and cardiff plaid though. They were a growing force in cardiff before he joined because of people like gwenllian Lansdowne and others. Has he helped, absolutely but it was happening anyway. The idea that only he can make plaid popular in cardiff is bullshit and i would be shocked to hear him claim otherwise.
If Plaid Cymru was a growing force in Cardiff before Neil McEvoy joined in 2003 then that growth would certainly be attributable in some degree to Dafydd Wigley. Also, to devolution (and over-concentration) pulling in lots of Plaid supporters from other parts of the country.
What Neil McEvoy has done is rather different in that he has taken Plaid Cymru to the natives of Cardiff.
Great article again btw Jac!
Ein Gwlad need to employ Neil as their leader!
Personally i dont get or understand the meme and therefore dont see it as racist. Neil is’t black. But i wish people who have not been involved with Neil would stop contributing to the stupid, bitchy arguments about him on social media, it’none of their business. I also recognise that Neil has done wonders for PC and is spearheading arguments and issues which should be Plaid’s main priority. Exposing croyism and corruption, something plaid seem to e happy to turna a blind eye to. But sometimes he does shoot himself in the foot
Throwing shade = insulting someone. It’s not a racist term in anyway whatsoever. For mcevoy and the article to imply that is ridiculous and pure harassment.
Shooting yourself in the foot, or more likely stepping on some booby trap, is a risk you have to take when you step into the jungle – and that political bubble in the Bay and the local authority in Cardiff are 2 big overlapping jungles full of nasty devious bastards who are most intent on feathering their own nests, progressing their own careers, rather than identifying real issues, getting priorities sorted and cracking on with solutions.
McEvoy is only scratching the surface, there’s tons of shite to be dug out and exposed but don’t count on many more of our elected representatives bothering to get their hands dirty. Too many salary slips to be checked, expense chitties to be concocted, and schmoozing to do to ensure the sinecure options are lined up for later in life.
And I guess I’m understating how bad it really is.
Well researched again Jac. As you conclude, it would be nice to see Neil McEvoy join Ein Gwlad. Given Michael Deem’s background is anyone going to take his allegations seriously.
There are other examples. Look at what happened to me. Labour Party member for 40 years. Labour Councillor for Cardiff for 18 years. Completely independant thinker and not afraid to take on the mandarins in the Labour Party. Successively attacked and underminned by elements in the Establishment Labour Party, subjected to a ridiculous standards complaint and eventually left the Party after being suspended for voting against the Cardiff Local Transport Plan in November 2014 which not a single Labour Councillor had read before the vote….. etc.
Good stuff there Jac. Despite the arrival of Adam Price as Leader Plaid still prefers the wet woolly waffler tendency (much as I predicted last summer ). Armed with a cluster of members willing to make extravagant allegations and downright lies the leadership is evidently prepared for years of business as usual. McEvoy seems willing to fight on, so now is the time for others in Plaid to back him visibly and respond in kind.Ein Gwlad would give them a new base if they ever decide to leave Plaid to the infestation that’s occupied it’s core.
A good article as usual Jac but I believe that CyffinThomas has now apollogised for his post and deleted it. However Cyffin Thomas has now nailed his colours (all of them) to the mast.
Thanks for that, Roy. But I don’t understand why Cyffin Thomas jumped in at all, does he even know Neil McEvoy? What provoked or inspired that attack?
What this suggests to me is that Neil McEvoy is so hated in certain quarters that stupid stories circulate, to the point where someone who knows nothing really about Neil McEvoy can throw out insults. And if it’s done from the moral high ground, with a rainbow umbrella, then that protects the attacker from any comeback.
Neil McEvoy is not perfect, but nor is he the monster so many want to portray him. Just go ask all the people he’s helped in Cardiff.