DAVIES THE DENIER
Reading the Daily Post a couple of days ago I saw that the new MP for Vale of Clwyd, Dr James Davies, campaigned hard on “the decline of Rhyl” and “the NHS”. Which got me wondering . . . how could an anti-devolution Tory possibly benefit from concentrating on these two issues?
The decline of Rhyl is attributable to the growth in cheap, overseas package holidays leading to ‘bucket and spade’ resorts like Rhyl losing their popularity. But this still need not have resulted in the town being surrendered to slum landlords and cross-border agencies to use as a dumping ground for criminals, drug addicts and other undesirables. Such people obviously put a greater strain on local health resources than those who enjoy a less ‘hectic’ lifestyle.
Another reason that the health service is under pressure is because large numbers of elderly people move – or are moved by relatives – to Wales. In the area where I live, the coastal stretch between Barmouth and Aberdyfi (including both communities), the 2011 census told us that two-thirds of the population in the 65+ age bracket (which makes up 30.1% of the total population locally) was born in England. (Click here for details.)
A third component becoming ever more apparent is the thousands of people with ‘learning difficulties’ or permanent medical conditions that are being relocated to Wales. This can be attributed to various charities, social housing providers and private landlords lured by the lucre paid by English local authorities and others to take on these vulnerable people, with the burden obviously falling on local services such as health that see none of that money. (This recent piece from Private Eye provides an insight into how councils “package up their vulnerable elderly or disabled people . . . and put them up for online tender”, which can involve moving to another area.)
Given that all these issues put strain on the Welsh NHS, especially in the Vale of Clwyd constituency, and given that all these issues are attributable to our colonial relationship with England, how could an anti-devolution Tory capitalise on them? Who or what did he blame for the problems? The EU? Little green men?
Open your mind to this unbeatable example of surrealist irony: Rhyl drug dealers and the English wrinklies of Prestatyn storming the polling booths to vote for James Davies because they’re angry – bloody angry! – at the decline of Rhyl and the state of the NHS. Only in Wales!
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STAYING IN RHYL
The title to this section does not mean that I’m suggesting people actually stay in
the town (good God!) it just means that this piece is about Rhyl and, in a sense, carries on from the previous section.
I have decided to bow to public demand and compile a new photo collection for my sidebar, to be entitled ‘Residents of Rhyl’. Here’s a specimen who’s been in the news recently for “pleasuring himself” in a public place and will most definitely figure in the new album. (And to think that only last year he was a contender for the ‘Best Dressed Man in Rhyl’ crown.)
For younger readers, ‘pleasuring oneself’ is a rather archaic way of referring to masturbation. Though some sentimentalists may find it rather nice to see these terms of yesteryear being revived.
In his defence, he may have misunderstood the sign for the ‘Pleasure Beach’, perhaps thinking that the ‘Self-‘ bit had fallen off in the wind. And even if it hadn’t, Rhyl and Pleasure in the same sentence would be enough to confuse anyone.
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A PLAGUE OF DAVIESES
Observant readers will have noticed that the three new Tory MPs elected last week are all named Davies. In addition to Jimbo (above) there was Byron in Gower and Chris in Brecon & Radnor. There was already David Davies as MP for Monmouth, and of course there’s Glyn Davies in Montgomeryshire. Which means that five out of the eleven Tory MPs elected in 2015 are named Davies. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the leader of the Conservatives in the Assembly is Andrew R T Davies! And who’s the Deputy Leader – Paul Davies!!
This is not good. I mean, having so many Tory politicians in Wales is bad for a start, but that so many of the buggers are called Davies takes us into the scary realm of premonition and plagues. For I seem to recall that there’s an obscure Nostradamus quatrain that predicts all sorts of disasters befalling the land when this happens. I’ll try to dig it out for you.
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STAYING WITH BUGGERS
The late and unlamented George Thomas, Lord Tonypandy, is still making the news. The most recent allegation to surface is that he inappropriately touched a young man on a London to Aberystwyth train many years ago. Well, you’ve got to do something to while away the time, train journeys can be sooo boring.
OK, sorry, but it’s so easy to take the piss, a closet homosexual who gave the game away with his love of the leggings, wigs and all the other nonsense he got to wear as Speaker of the House of Commons and a peer. (Not for nothing was he known as ‘The Danny La Rue of the Rhondda’.) Then there was his truly odious fawning over young Charles Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
during the Investiture period. (Though I bet they never left him alone with the boy!) What’s not so funny is that this bastard was a very influential politician, who had powerful friends and allies, both within Wales and beyond.
When considering cases like Thomas we must remember that all MPs are investigated by the intelligence services. Ostensibly done as security checks this process also uncovers an individual’s likes and dislikes, peccadilloes and weaknesses. Once a weakness is identified, and the embarrassing evidence is gathered, then whoever holds that information has great power over the politician concerned. I think we can be certain that George Thomas’ liking for boys and young men would have come to the attention of such people very early in his political career.
But you mustn’t think that this is a one-sided arrangement, for the ‘victim’ in this situation does not have to worry about being publicly exposed as long as he plays ball. Also, any attempts at blackmailing him will be dealt with. Documents and files can be ‘lost’. People like George Thomas are then free to carry on abusing.
Such arrangements help explain how judges, high-ranking military men, top civil servants, MPs and others could (allegedly) meet regularly for orgies at which young boys were abused and even killed. It was because those involved almost certainly enjoyed the protection of a certain agency and in return did what they were told when those running this agency wanted the favour returned. A practice perhaps developed in Northern Ireland, at the infamous Kincora Boys Home, used for decades as a honey trap.
The United Kingdom is a sick, corrupt and increasingly unequal state. The sooner we get out of it the better.
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REVOLVING DOORS
I am indebted to ‘Stan’ of the Neath Ferret site for this latest news from within the Labour Party on the east side of Swansea Bay. Councillor Ms Cari Morgans, who represents the Tonna ward on Neath Port Talbot council, was the office manager for outgoing Neath MP Peter Hain. She is now office manager for Stephen Kinnock, the newly-elected MP for Aberavon. Seeing as we are dealing here with the Labour Party this switch in masters could only have been effected after a full and open selection process . . . a very speedy selection process indeed.
UPDATE 17.05.2015: I am now informed that jobs for new MPs’ staff should be advertised. (Read this.) This is unlikely to have been done in this case because Ms Morgans registered her interest (as Kinnock’s office manager) with Neath Port Talbot council very soon after Kinnock was elected. Which would have allowed no time for advertising the post and selecting the successful candidate after May 7th. Which suggests that any ‘selection process’ was probably completed before Stephen Kinnock was elected MP for Aberavon, or else there was no advertisement and no selection process at all. Which would almost certainly be wrong, if not illegal.
An MP’s office manager, working outside of London, is paid in the range £26,000 – £38,121. But then, I suppose it’s fair in a way that Ms Morgans gets this salary, because I doubt if Port Talbot will see any more of Stephen Kinnock than the Islwyn constituency saw of his father.
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THE INLAND RHYL?
When I first visited Blaenau Ffestiniog back in the 1960s it was quite unnerving. ‘This can’t be north Wales’, I told myself, ‘with its rows of terraced houses and enormous slag heaps this place belongs in the Valleys’. It was my introduction to the slate-quarrying region of the north west, or what, even by that time, had become the former slate-quarrying region.
The slate industry has all but gone, Blaenau’s population has halved, while successive governments in London and Cardiff have done nothing to halt the decline. One result of that decline is tha
t Blaenau Ffestiniog now has some of the cheapest, if not the cheapest housing to found in Wales outside of the Heads of the Valleys. Cheap property – as in Rhyl – attracts buyers who have no intention of living in Blaenau themselves but are adept at finding tenants of the kind that local authorities and other agencies over the border will pay a lot of money to get rid of. ‘Out of sight, out of mind . . . and somebody else’s problem’. (So look out Heads of the Valleys!)
This week’s Cambrian News (no, I didn’t buy it) carried the latest story about a thug who’s been dumped in Blaenau Ffestiniog. Read it for yourself by clicking to enlarge the image on the right. In addition to what the report tells us Carl Martin Brennan has stabbed a local boy with a bottle, mugged an alcoholic (though not charged), and beat up his girlfriend. Not a welcome addition to any community, so how did he get to Blaenau Ffestiniog, who ‘encouraged’ him to move from Birmingham?
Last year two local men were jailed for over three years each following a vigilante attack on Brennan. Commenting after their trial Detective Sergeant Gerwyn Thomas of North Wales Police said: “I welcome the sentence and hope it will provide the victim and local community with reassurance that North Wales Police will relentlessly pursue those individuals who commit offences of this nature which fortunately are not common in the area”. Which is not how people in Blaenau see it. They want protection against Brennan, not against local lads who were doing the police’s job in protecting them.
In fact, the people of the town are becoming increasingly angry at the charmed life Brennan leads, they wonder who’s protecting him, and how he manages to stay out of prison. They also wonder what sort of system we live under when two young fathers from their community are languishing in prison while Brennan is still strutting the streets of Blaenau, bullying and intimidating people.
Before this saga causes any more misery maybe North Wales Police should start doing its job by looking out for the people it’s supposed to protect rather than baby-sitting a dangerous and violent criminal, for reasons that can only be guessed at. And maybe it’s also time for Cyngor Gwynedd to stop Blaenau turning into a housing benefit sink-hole full of relocated misfits and criminals. Perhaps the newly-elected MP might have something to say on the matter. I certainly don’t pay my council tax to keep the likes of Carl Martin Brennan in a town where no one wants him.
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‘DON’T AFFECT US ROUND ‘ERE’
What I’ve written about Rhyl and Blaenau Ffestiniog is of course not confined to these towns, the problem of undesirables being shunted from England can be found in Colwyn Bay, Barmouth, Holyhead, Fishguard and countless other communities that have seen better days. As for the influx of elderly people this tends to take place in the more agreeable towns and the countryside, though those that move directly into retirement homes can be found anywhere.
People living elsewhere in Wales, particularly city dwellers, might take the view that this doesn’t affect them a) because they’ve already got enough of their own criminals and b) few people retire to Swansea or Cardiff. Wrong. The NHS could almost certainly be providing a better service in Cardiff, Swansea and other major centres if so much of Wales’ NHS funding was not being diverted to hospitals and services in the west, the centre and the north to treat people, many of whom weren’t even living in Wales 10 years ago. It all comes out of one pot.
Another drain on Welsh funding is housing benefit, that bonus for greedy and unscrupulous private landlords. A few figures extracted from this table I used in my recent post To Those That Have Shall Be Given – Housing Benefit! will explain the problem. Powys has a population (mid-year est. 2013) of 132,705, Conwy’s population is 115,835. Yet last year Powys paid out just £8.66m to private landlords in housing benefit while Conwy coughed up £18.11m. Why the difference? Because Conwy contains Llandudno and other coastal towns. Even starker is the difference between Monmouthshire (92,100 & £6.16m) and Denbighshire (94,510 & £17.65m). What’s the difference here? Rhyl is in Denbighshire. But the whole of Wales is paying for Rhyl and similar towns because the ‘Welsh’ Government has to give more in grants to areas being inundated with undesirables from England and this means less for other councils.
On top of which, there is the endless funding poured into Rhyl and other towns for ‘regeneration’ schemes. And those who’ve been brought over the border and dumped in some slum in Holyhead or Denbigh can then jump the housing queue ahead of locals! Which means that Registered Social Landlords such as housing associations are, in many areas, building far more new properties than the local population needs. And who pays for this? YOU DO, no matter where you might be living in Wales. Because of course the ‘Welsh’ Government gives out Social Housing Grant. In the six years 2008 to 2013 the figure was £692m.
This is colonialism of the crudest and most offensive kind. A large country dumps its criminals, its elderly and other dependent groups on a small neighbour – and then gets the neighbour to pay for all this out its own stretched resources! The dumped-on neighbour is too afraid to speak out for fear of being called ‘unwelcoming’, or ‘racist’. (Though it must be said that there are many who welcome this cross-border trafficking as an anglicising strategy; in addition, there are many doing well out of it, not least ‘Welsh’ Labour’s client class in the Third Sector.)
So while there may be a temptation to dismiss what’s being done to Rhyl, Blaenau Ffestiniog and other places as someone else’s problem, it’s not. It’s YOUR problem because it’s happening in YOUR country and one way or another YOU are paying for it, no matter where in Wales you live.
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‘HA, HA, HA, THEY DON’T HAVE THESE IN AUCHTERMUCHTY!’
To end on a lighter note . . . or is it? Judge for yourselves. We all know that the BBC is now thoroughly discredited as an impartial conveyor of news. Its bias was plain for all to see in the Scottish referendum campaign last summer, not so much party political as thoroughly English and Unionist. Well, it was at it again this week, the culprit being Newsnight, and again, it was having a go at the SNP . . . but hoping to get away with it due to its ‘humorous’ approach.
Newsnight on Monday May 11th ran a piece about the new intake of MPs, but then concentrated entirely on the SNP contingent, and had a laugh showing them struggling with complicated things like revolving doors and ticket machines on the Tube. See it here for yourself on BBC iPlayer and start at 43:20. This strikes me as the twenty-first century equivalent of old Punch cartoons showing African chiefs with bones through their noses visiting the imperial capital and being overawed by English superiority and white man’s magic.
Daley Gleephart, you are debating with a gentleman who makes it his business ‘to know’ these things, a man that does his homework and does it right. Take note, because a person who argues his point without first checking his fact, just makes himself look a bit of a prat!!!
You want proof? Well here I am (or are you about to debate these facts to 🙄)!!
I live in Blaenau Ffestiniog and have done all my life. I know the ‘2 vigilantes’ well, I knew of Brenan and not only do I know the street in question but the house too,,,,and the landlord 😁.
Your ‘vigilantes’ are family men who are related to one another and who come from a large respected family here in Blaenau. Yes both were drunk, and they set about taking the law into one own hands at a moment when enough was enough. It was done with the hope of getting rid of Brenan once and for all, the police did nothing of the sort and allowed him to do whatever he pleased.
A little in site into the dangerous man he was- he appeared almost over night, made his presence known from the off. Would walk the street bare chested, shouting like a satinist whilst cutting himself by drawing a Stanley blade across his chest. He would shout out, offering the hardest of local men to come forward to challenge him (hardly a fare challenge when ones armed with a blade). He would approach pensioners in the street and threaten them and leave them scared to leave their homes after dark. Would take their money from them and was often stood waiting outside the post office, ready to take his share of their pension’s! He would use kids to rag about town, toughen them up to show others just what a nasty menace he was. Often came the last moment head-but when passing him in the street, the last thing you wanted was to have eye contact. “Everyone” feared him because his actions were those of a mentalist. The final straw came when he subjected a harmless placid local man to a stanly knife attack in the middle of town.
The house he lived in was a rented relatively new new build. The house and the conjoining property are both owned by a private landlord who ‘although is Welsh”, lives quite a few miles out of Blaenau. He owned a few houses in town, all slightly overpriced at a weekly rate that’s above the top end of housing benefit entertainment. That is unless your a tennant who is intitled to housing benefit top-ups (hardship payments/sickness benefit) ….A’s was Brenan!
Get rid of all those unwanted trouble makers foisted on a unsuspecting North Wales population. Send em to somewhere in England where they belong, dont contaminate our society with these
Oh hear…..apparently Huw Edwards has a piece in the Golwg magazine where he himself says that Labour in Wales need to be less Welsh in order to appeal to the 20% of settlers.
Here is my rough translatation:
“Carwyn Jones and Rhodri Morgan have been criticized (by some Valleys Labourites) for suggesting that Welsh Labour need an image and a brand which is more Welsh.
The basis of the criticism is that voters in Wales are becoming increasingly centrist and that Labour has mis-interpreted present day Welsh aspirations.
A less Welsh image is the answer according to these critics, since the aspirations of the Welsh electorate are very similar to those of millions of people in England.
This isn’t stating something clever, but something blindingly obvious: the character of the Welsh electorate has changed due to the in-migration seen in the recent past.
According to the 2011 census, 22% of the Welsh population come from one of the other countries making up the UK; the most by far coming from England. This is much higher than the figure in England (2.7% only of it’s population come from Wales, Scotland and NI).
Only 10% of the Scottish population come from outside the country, and only 5% in NI.
The total of the inhabitants which came to Wales from other areas of the UK has increased 17% over 20 years, with 95% of the new arrivals coming from England.
When the inhabitants which came from foreign countries are included, the number born in Wales drops to 72%. These are official figures from the ONS.
The statistics are absolutely staggering, and only the foolish (those with no idea) would deny the importance of this ‘pattern’ in relation to electoral results.
It’s likely that it’s this phenomenon that is at the root of some Labourites suggesting that Labour should be an less Welsh institution in order to appeal to the hundreds of thousands of the new members of the electorate.
But this is exactly the ‘element’ which cannot be discussed……the political leaders of Wales are reluctant to discuss this topic in public (I include PC here by the way) since they’re frightened to appear to be ‘racist’”
Diolch.
He seems to be suggesting that it should be discussed for (to translate his words), ‘the figures are absolutely staggering!’
Subjects can only remain taboo for so long. When people like Huw Edwards start talking about it then the spell is broken. Can anyone do a rough translation?
morning Jac – he’s only saying what you have been saying all along except couching it in a more abstract, “polite”, almost academic style. However the significance remains the same – that the mainstream political parties are all tuning into the Anglicised mindset – middle of the road Anglo Brit junk politics, almost like the M.O.R Anglo American musak so favoured by retail outlets. And he includes Plaid in his critique, so bully for him for stating the obvious !
On the other hand, Wales has been dumping ability and talent in London for centuries.
See: Huw Edwards a Stori Cymry Llundain
The Welsh in London – 3 episodes. BBC iPlayer. Click on subtitles if you want an English transcript.
Link to episode 1: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p02p78m0/huw-edwards-a-stori-cymry-llundain-pennod-1
A small country’s brightest and best moving to the dominant and richest part of a ‘Union’ is hardly ‘dumping’, and does not compare with off-loading your criminal, feckless and high-maintenance population onto the smallest and poorest part of that Union.
On the ‘To Those That Have Shall Be Given – Housing Benefit!’ thread I wished for a punctuation mark representing cynicism, so too should there be one for sarcasm.
Of course, irony doesn’t need highlighting as it’s obvious to all intelligent people.
Too clever for your own good, you are, lovely boy.
add to cynicism, sarcasm, irony a touch of anger, frustration, exploitation and you have a right heady mix. Trouble is that the first 3 can be “enjoyed” by all who are observing the problems, but the last 3 are only experienced by the nation on the shitty end of the stick. As for “dumping” talent into London that’s a classic feature of the historic exploitation and it continues apace as the grand Carwyn/Edwina economic strategy is adopted requiring local or immigrant labour on rock bottom rates while all the juicy jobs are found in increasing numbers as you advance further into darkest S.E England.
Huw Edwards mentions the Elephant in the Room…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cymrufyw/32781015
“Beirniadwyd Carwyn Jones a Rhodri Morgan (gan ambell Lafurwr o’r Cymoedd) am iddynt awgrymu bod angen delwedd a brand sy’n fwy ‘Cymreig’ ar Lafur Cymru.
Sail y feirniadaeth yw bod etholwyr Cymru yn fwyfwy canolbleidiol (centrist) a bod Llafur wedi camddehongli dyheadau Cymry heddiw.
Delwedd llai Cymreig yw’r ateb, yn eu tyb nhw, gan bod dyheadau etholwyr Cymru yn debyg iawn i ddyheadau miliynau o bobl yn Lloegr.
Nid dweud peth clyfar yw dweud hyn, ond datgan rhywbeth llachar amlwg: mae cymeriad etholwyr Cymru yn sicr wedi newid yn sgil y mewnlifiad a welwyd yn y cyfnod diweddar.
Yn ôl Cyfrifiad 2011, mae 22% o boblogaeth Cymru yn dod o wledydd eraill y Deyrnas Unedig, a’r mwyafrif llethol ohonynt o Loegr. Mae hyn yn llawer, llawer uwch na’r ffigwr yn Lloegr (2.7% yn unig o’r boblogaeth o Gymru, yr Alban a Gogledd Iwerddon).
Dim ond 10% o boblogaeth yr Alban sy’n dod o’r tu allan i’r wlad honno, a 5% yng Ngogledd Iwerddon.
Mae cyfanswm y trigolion a ddaeth i Gymru o rannau eraill y DU wedi cynyddu dros 17% dros gyfnod o 20 mlynedd, a 95% o’r newydd-ddyfodiaid o Loegr.
Pan gynhwysir y trigolion a ddaeth o wledydd tramor, gwelwn bod nifer y trigolion a anwyd yng Nghymru wedi disgyn i 72%. Ffigurau swyddogol y Swyddfa Ystadegau sydd dan sylw.
Mae’r ystadegau yn gwbl syfrdanol, a dim ond hwrdd diglem fyddai’n gwadu pwysigrwydd y patrwm yng nghyswllt canlyniadau etholiad.
Hwyrach mai dyma sydd wrth wraidd awgrym ambell Lafurwr mai sefydliad llai ‘Cymreig’ ddylai Llafur fod, er mwyn apelio at y cannoedd o filoedd o etholwyr newydd.
Ond dyma’r union elfen na ellir sôn amdani… nid yw arweinwyr gwleidyddol Cymru yn awyddus i drafod y pwnc yn gyhoeddus (rwyf yn cynnwys Plaid Cymru, gyda llaw) gan bod ofn arnynt ymddangos yn ‘hiliol’. ”
When will the media/political establishment have the guts to say this in English? Only the Telegraph have had the balls to mention it!
Wonder if your persistent Telegraph reader was hoping you’d make a slip so that he/she/it could report you to the appropriate authorities?
Heaven knows what will happen if Mrs von May ever gets her fascist nonsense into law, will we even be able to discuss Wales without Plod feeling patriotic collars?
REVOLVING DOORS
Your update about MPs employing staff without advertising the ‘vacancy’. MPs choose their staff and they employ their staff. I do not think that there is a legal obligation on the part of MPs to advertise for any of the jobs that political assistants undertake. There are some vacancies advertised here: http://www.w4mpjobs.org/SearchJobs.aspx?search=alljobs
OK, can accept that. But unfortunately despite IPSA changing various MP rules substantially since 2010, MPs can still drive a coach and horses through the rules as they did before 2010 when IPSA was set up. You only have to look at the number of retiring MPs such as Peter Hain that suddenly had computer and iphone failures in September 2014 – just weeks before the IPSA deadline on renewing such equipment. They promptly bought new kit on expenses and there is nothing that prevents them keeping it – except shame.
In this particular case of Kinnock’s new office manager the point is a new encumbent is already in place and has already registered the fact (quite correctly) on Neath Port Talbot Council’s Members’ Interests. One can surmise two scenarios – an improbable process of advert, interview, selection and appointment post 7 May, or some other process took place prior to 7th. If the latter it is important to know if the IPSA guidelines for new staff were followed, particularly in this case because the person in question previously held the same job for the MP for Neath and we know from past experience just how incestuous the Labour Party can be. Not that you have raised it but the question as to whether this person was the best for the job is immaterial. This is public money being dished out here and the public deserve full transparency.
Thanks Stan. MPs from all political parties are very wary about who they employ and tend to offer work to party members, with an excellent track record, in preference to alternative methods of filling roles. There are exceptions.
If there was an obligation to openly advertise and interview, the Work 4 MP website (see my previous comment) would be chock a block with new vacancies at the moment.
Grant Shapps wants to hire a Case Worker – Don’t all rush at once.
Tell me, how far do you think you can go in your blind and unquestioning defence of the Labour Party?
I steered clear of Party politics on this subject. Here are some articles about MPs who employ family members: –
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/10306675/MPs-expenses-surpass-pre-scandal-levels-as-150-give-jobs-to-family.html
http://labourlist.org/2013/09/labour-mps-are-almost-as-bad-as-tory-mps-when-it-comes-to-hiring-family-members-data-shows/
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/12/mps-expenses-under-fire
No you didn’t, because the only contributions you make to my blog are prompted by my criticisms of the Labour Party. There’s something very worrying about your blind obedience to a bunch of self-serving shites.
Missed my comment of 12/05/2015 at 21:24 to your post about Plaid Cymru
and
my comment of 04/05/2015 at 17:19 on the subject of housing benefit?
Ah well.
That’s 2 out of 149.
My apologises for only lifting dates and times from the very latest. I was under the impression that all I had to do was disprove your assertion of me only contributing when prompted by criticisms of the Labour Party. Well, you live and learn don’t you?
I recently called you “a persistent little devil”. Less generous descriptions are currently running through my mind.
Reference that first link of Daley’s to the Telegraph article – I’m really surprised they didn’t specifically name Dr Hywel Francis, former Aberavon MP, who in 2013-2014 paid his wife Mair somewhere between £40K to £45K a year.
This is from a few years ago: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/110124/part2.htm
It’s little wonder that newspapers don’t list all of them.
Some organisations have campaigned for outlawing the employment of close family members by MPs but I fear that many will do something similar to what they’ve done with housing expenses. Instead of swapping properties and renting from each other, the wife of MP (a) will work for MP (b) whilst wife of MP (b) will work for MP (a).
All the major Parties reject the idea of civil servants taking admin roles – Cries of ‘What if I get Pauline from the JobCentre?!” (see TV series ‘The League of Gentelmen’.) and serious objections about confidentiality and loyalty. The ‘Can’t serve two masters’ axiom.
@Jac 16/05/2015 at 22:14
There is no space or means to reply directly below your response to my comment of 16/05/2015 at 22:02.
Note that I do not think that Carl Brennan is of unblemished character.
Note also that I regard Robert Williams and Craig Jones as thugs who deserve long prison sentences.
The thing to remember is that Williams and Jones would not be in prison if Brennan had not been dumped on their community. Which is what this issue is all about – the dumping of criminals and undesirables from England in Wales.
So, it’s the fault of the victim and his ‘undesirability’?
Yes. End of debate.
I should have spotted this sooner so apologies. I’ve been looking at Jac’s link to Rhyl’s best dressed man, one Kevin John Norman. I see there is a criminal behaviour order imposed on him, including “preventing him from masturbating or exposing his genitals in a public place”. My understanding, and I’m not a lawyer or legally trained, is that these criminal behaviour orders replaced the old ASBOs. As such, surely they were dealing with anti-social behaviour. In my day pulling your todger out and bashing the bishop in front of people was a crime, not anti-social behaviour. So why would a criminal behaviour order preventing you masturbating or pulling your old boy out in public be necessary? Surely if you did it – CBO or not – you’d still be liable to prosecution? Seems unnecessary to me.
On a more serious and relevant note, Jac’s stats about housing benefit to landlords in various parts of Wales is really an eye opener. Surely the Welsh Assembly should be asked to investigate and report upon the obvious disproportionate amounts being paid in Conwy and other authorities that contain communities that are clearly dumping grounds for problem individuals and families from outside. Jac’s analysis takes some explaining away. Anyone interested in the well being of their community, left, middle ground or right, should take on board Jac’s evidence and ask just what the hell is being done there.
Regarding your Kevin John Norman comments, it depends on the time and place. Anyone who goes night fishing at secluded spots at Llwyn-Onn or Upper Nedd-Fechan will be only too aware of men with long poles who have travelled up the valley and are very much exposing themselves by seeking pleasure from some old trout of the non-fish variety. It is anti-social depending on your moral compass, but it only becomes a criminal offense if there is an aggrieved complainant present. The key to the offense committed by this chap in Rhyl is the time of day, the location, and presence of juveniles. This particular offender has already done a custodial for a sex offense against a seven-year-old, which would also indicate that he had previously been re-located (for the benefit of his previous victim) from where the original offending had occurred.
I am glad to say that night fishing has never been a hobby of mine so I have thankfully avoided these distressing sights. Thank you for enlightening me. I suppose your comments explain why you don’t see people hauled before the magistrates for that increasingly popular (so I am told) activity of dogging – whatever that is.
Regarding George Thomas, the former Labour MP (Cardiff Central, and later Cardiff West), Secretary of State for Wales (1968-1970), Speaker of the Commons (1976-83), who was given a peerage in 1983 as Viscount Tonypandy.
More information has emerged about Thomas’s sexual abuse of boys in recent months. He is known to have invited young teenage boys in Cardiff to his flat in London. One particular incident has come to light concerning a suicide involving someone jumping from the roof of a block of flats in Westminster, in which Thomas had a flat.
The media were told it was a girl who was mentally disturbed. It subsequently emerged that the person was in fact a boy, from London, who had been ‘a guest’ in Thomas’s flat for several days.
Thomas was part of a mileu of politicians, Tory and Labour, who were involved in exploiting vulnerable boys. All this must have been known – as Jac says above, the security services closely monitor all MPs – during Thomas’s career in South Wales and in London. Police have begun investigations into complaints about him (google: George Thomas sexual abuse) but nothing subsequently happens.
There is no doubt he will be named whenever the much-delayed inquiry into the establishment’s paedophile ring reports. It is to be hoped that all those in-the-know in the Labour Party in Wales are also named.
As you say, Thomas’ behaviour would have been known not only to the security services and police but also to parliamentary colleagues and Labour people back in Wales. Which means that a lot of people must share the blame for the misery he caused.
Plod and the justice system have always taken a grim view of anyone taking the law into their own hands. A cynic (me?) might say this is because it sometimes shows the law for what it is – an ass – that it can so miserably fail to protect its innocent citizens from the behaviour of people who should really be locked up for a long spell.
In the case of Brennan one wonders if this low life is benefiting from some quid pro quo with North Wales Police. I have personally seen examples of this in South Wales communities where petty criminals, drug users and dealers some way down the food chain are allowed a degree of freedom from plod, apparently in exchange for titbits of information about more serious criminals. It is a fascinating story though. Brennan seems to have a head that is attractive to bottles – I notice two assaults on him where beer bottles were used. I do hope they were empty. I hate to see good ale wasted. And what about that champagne bottle referred to in the case linked to by Jac.? He was assaulted with that too. The guy must have a skull of concrete! Do you know where the champagne bottle came from? I am really curious whether it was taken to his home by the other two or he happened to have a bottle of champers just chilling in his kitchen. But WTF! I thought Blaenau Ffestiniog was an impoverished area. If you’d said a bottle of cheap plonk, fair enough, but champagne! I can barely afford that once a year on New Year’s Eve.
Stan, as you know, election agents of political parties are provided with the un-edited version of the electoral register.
This includes a list of all those names and addresses registered to vote in every ward. This does not include (a) those who have not registered by intent, previously a criminal offence, but now a civil misdemeanour actionable by the local authority, these are usually bad-debtors, (b) those who have not registered by misadministration, such as students on the move, and (c) those who are on the electoral register but by exemption are not included in the version sent to political agents. These are electors ‘red-listed’ where a court (or the chief constable, or probation service) have been deemed their disclosure unsuitable, such as victims of domestic violence, offenders who are to the sex offenders register, persons at risk from retaliation, or those under witness protection schemes.
As I am sometimes found canvassing for Plaid Cymru (not always in my home patch) using quite sophisticated electoral profiling (SNP method) I have identified all three types of ‘missing’ voters, which are always worth a doorstep punt, if only to discover the strength of the opposition. To disclose a particular detail on here is an offence. However…
Some examples of ‘red-listers’ are police offices of the diplomatic protection squad for royalty, who are often ex-forces, and employed by the City of London police. They tend to rent plush cottages in Betws-y-coed not terraced houses in Blaenau Ffestiniog, or an estate lodge near Llandeilo, not billoted in social housing in Pencader. They do stand out like a sore thumb, and being an affable canvasser you can obtain much detail, especially if they think you’re just a dull valley boy. Which raises the question of why there are such large numbers of ‘re-listed’ voters in certain wards in Rhyl, Merthyr Tydfil, and Cwmbran.
Local authorities are obliged every year, to provide to parliament the numbers of ‘off-register’ persons of voting age in classes (a) and (b), but not (c). But by deduction, therefore it is possible to identify the volume of ‘re-listers’ per ward anywhere in Wales. Only an MP can detail this phenomenon, through the privilege they have in parliament. It has only happened once before, by Caroline Lucas (Green), which assisted in the ‘outing’ of under cover police officers investigating environmental campaigners who, not only had committed a crime of double voting by personation, but also had done so by forgery. It also led to subsequent convictions of serving police officers for rape and incitement.
This I believe is the mechanism to identify the dumping offenders into places like Rhyl. It can also be quantified, and may boost the resources of hard-pressed community police officers (and the NHS) that have to deal with the effects. The anecdotal evidence uncovered by Jac appears very strong.
It does take an expensive tipple to get senior police officers blabbing, but whilst you are correct that NWP takes a dim view of anyone taking the law into their own hands, they are also very much aware of the problem of social dumping onto their patch from outside of Wales, and dread PNC returns listing a history of violence tagged with ‘supervision orders’ and ‘rehabilitation schemes’ decided very much outside the area where current offending is evident.
When you talk of ‘supervision orders’ and ‘rehabilitation schemes’ “decided very much outside the area where current offending is evident” do you mean outside the immediate area but within the North Wales Police area or do you mean decided outside the NWP area? And if it’s the latter, what input if any does NWP have? Is anyone – local authority, for example – in the affected area consulted or informed?
I can understand why ‘red-listing’ might be prevalent in Rhyl, but why do you think it’s prevalent in Merthyr and Cwmbran?
I know a guy in Barmouth – a journalist of sorts – and many years ago, before I took an interest in this issue, he used to tell me regularly that the town was used for witness relocation by the Met. Makes sense, given the constantly changing population.
If you go back to my Neighbours From Hell post, you’ll see that I’ve updated the first section. The woman dealt with here was involved in a particularly gruesome killing in London.
Whist a Carl Martin Brennan was recorded as guilty in April 2015 at Caernarfon (Mold circuit) there is a public record of a Carl Martin Brennan publicly recorded as guilty in October 2009 in the circuit of Stafford (includes other parts of the West Midlands) for a similar offence. It looks like the same person. I don’t know if knowledge of this prompted the vigilante attack, more likely a continuation of the offending, considering its MO.
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A supervision order can be imposed by a court and is part of a non-custodial sentence. NWP would have no say in how this is applied, and certainly not if the order was imposed by a court outside the Mold circuit (which includes Caernarfon), such as Stafford.
The order is often conditional on a ban not to enter the county where the offences are committed. If the probation officer who inherits compliance monitoring is within NWP area, NWP would be informed of the offender being housed on their patch, but have no input to the sentence conditions applied by the court.
Specifics for young people – Since December 2009 an SO for anyone aged below 18yo on the date of conviction is now subject to a “Youth Rehabilitation Order” and places a legal duty on the origin Probation Trust to also arrange accommodation for the offender.
SOs and ROs are usually of less duration than the residential limits imposed by the Welsh planning system on static caravan lets on the North Wales coast. However, when the RO ends and the occupancy period used up, the offender officially becomes homeless. Re-housing becomes the responsibility of the local authority in North Wales, not the local authority where the sentence was originally imposed.
Once an SO or RO is spent there is no longer a requirement for NWP to be informed of arrangements, although being a guilty plea at the crown court, it would be held on the PNC.
A PLAGUE OF DAVIESES
Look what happened in Rock Ridge when the Johnsons took over.
REVOLVING DOORS
MPs choose and employ their own staff. See: http://parliamentarystandards.org.uk/IPSAMPs/Pages/Employing-Staff.aspx
THE INLAND RHYL?
You approve of vigilantes? Going by the report that you linked, it’s hardly surprising that the two were jailed.
The real issue in the Blaenau Ffestiniog case – as you well know – is that there should have been no need for anyone to resort to such action because this criminal should not be in this community in the first place. Unless you approve of dumping violent criminals on small and unsuspecting Welsh communities.
Nothing to say about George Thomas?
According to ITV, the two who attacked Brennan were so drunk that they cannot recall why they committed the burglary and assault. Brennan’s terraced cottage seems an unlikely home for someone who, according to you, was dumped in Wales. One of the cottages in the street is for sale at the moment.
What point are you trying to make about the street?
The street appears to be owner-occupied cottages and ITV describes the victim as a ‘homeowner’. http://www.itv.com/news/wales/update/2014-11-14/burglars-jailed-for-bloody-attack-on-homeowner/
The property does not seem the type of house that social workers or probation officers would provide as part of a rehab process.
It says “householder” i.e. ‘occupant’, ‘tenant’. Many properties in Blaenau Ffestiniog are owned by private landlords as investments. I hear of one, a farmer / landowner from Ynys Môn, who owns dozens of properties in the town. Such businessmen – maybe not this one from ‘overseas’ – then seek high-return tenants. The look of the street means absolutely nothing. I’m not sure you understand how his system operates.
The headline and the url refer to a ‘homeowner’.
Is there anything that links the attackers with the victim? Did the attackers know about their victim prior to the incident?
Is there any proof that the property was provided for by social services or the probation service?
He is not a home-owner. I am told that he has lived in “various rented properties” since turning up out of the blue. Getting proof that these properties were provided by social services, probation service or any other agency is virtually impossible unless someone in the agency responsible, the local council, or North Wales police, spills the beans.
And yes, the three were known to each other.
Known to each other in what way?
‘vigilante attack’ Where is the proof that the incident was about avenging something that happened earlier?
Your article creates the impression that the two attackers are fine upstanding citizens but they appear to be anything but.
You’re a persistent little devil. Why are you so determined to depict the obvious source of these recent troubles as nothing less than a fine, upstanding, law-abiding home-owner being victimised by unwelcoming Welsh hill-billies? You sound like NWP.
I meant “are” occurring and not “is” occuring!
The problems you stated about Rhyl is also occurring in Caerphilly.
When in the hell are the Welsh public are going to wake up?
My guess is that the public is waking up. What they need to do is ask their politicians and police why THEY are allowing it to happen.
I live in Caerphilly Llewelyn and don’t recognise Jack’s colourful description of Rhyl.
John, I live in Holyhead and have family in Prestatyn and have seen the decline of Rhyl over the years and Jac’s description of it is very real. It’s crawling with resettled junkies from Merseyside and Greater Manchester, moved there by third sector organisations as part of their ‘re-hab’ and then literally dumped.
I think he means that he doesn’t recognise Jac’s description of Rhyl as also applying to Caerphilly.
Hi Red Flag, I was trying to say I don’t recognise the description of Rhyl in Caerphilly, I would be interested if Llewelyn could expand his comment !