PLEASE APPRECIATE THAT I GET SENT MORE INFORMATION AND LEADS THAN I CAN USE. I TRY TO RESPOND TO EVERYONE WHO CONTACTS ME BUT I CANNOT POSSIBLY USE EVERY BIT OF INFORMATION I’M SENT. DIOLCH YN FAWR
♦
“Serious breach of trust” is how Y Llywydd (Speaker) Elin Jones described Neil McEvoy’s behaviour in recording conversations, on his mobile phone, between Standards Commissioner Sir Roderick Evans and his staff. Recordings made while Neil McEvoy himself was out of the room.
Breach of trust is a serious allegation, but something having a moral dimension rather than being criminal offence. But either way, it presupposes there being trust to be breached. In this case there wasn’t.
For what Neil McEvoy’s recordings proved is that he was never going to get a fair hearing from the Commissioner. Suspecting this is what persuaded him to make the recordings.
And yet, despite the recordings proving that McEvoy was fully justified in making them, the colonial Establishment has closed ranks to condemn him.
Elin Jones also demanded that the whole place be swept for covert listening devices, “and asking South Wales Police to investigate how such recordings were obtained”. (Just as long as they don’t find my bugs in the Deryn offices!)
This was all going on in a rather feisty session at the Senedd.
Which prompted our erstwhile First Minister, Carwyn Jones, to chip in from the moral high ground he is known to inhabit. Carwyn was appalled . . . appalled, he was. And he tweeted it so that the world might know how appalled he was.
And, predictably, he was supported by another resident of the sunlit uplands, the former leader of Plaid Cymru, Leanne Wood. She too found it “appalling”. (They’re beginning to sound like outraged old biddies being interviewed by Fishguard’s finest newshound, Hugh Pugh.)
So what exactly are they so appalled about? Is it Neil McEvoy? Is it covert recordings? Misogyny (again!)? Cardiff City sacking Neil Warnock? Has the AMs canteen run out of laverbread paté?
Let me tell you what they’re appalled about – the threat to the cosy Labour-Plaid Cymru consensus that has dominated the Assembly for 20 years and allowed Wales to slide towards third world status.
It appears that what appalled Carwyn Jones – or maybe it was just one of many things – was Brexit Party AM Mark Reckless. He was asked by Jones to consider whether he had acted ‘morally’ in refusing to be force-fed bullshit. (That moral dimension again!)
There was a swift response, and from an unexpected quarter, one that reminded us of Carwyn Jones’s role in the suicide of his Labour colleague Carl Sargeant, just days after Jones and his aides claimed to have received ‘complaints’ about Sargeant’s behaviour that were then used to justify Sargeant’s sacking.
Almost immediately after hearing the news of Sargeant’s death Jones made two long phone calls to lobbying firm Deryn, where we find individuals who were implicated in both building the ‘case’ against Carl Sargeant and also in releasing news of his sacking to the media – before Sargeant himself had been told!
The response I just referred to came from Carl Sargeant’s sister.
There was eventually an inquiry into the leaking of information about Carl Sargeant’s sacking, but the findings have not been made public. Neil McEvoy tried to have the findings released in September, but Labour blocked it, helped by Plaid Cymru.
Why did Plaid Cymru support the Labour Party? Because certain Plaid Cymru people are also very close to Deryn, which often appears to act as a ‘bridge’ between the two parties. And then there’s the third sector, to which both parties are wedded. The third sector can always be relied on to provide volunteers to make ‘complaints’ against politicians and others in the Labour-Plaid cross-hairs.
Given that the Labour Party and Plaid Cymru – plus the crony networks they have built up – comprise the colonial management team, filling their boots and dreaming of ‘honours’ while ensuring that Wales doesn’t drift towards a Scotland scenario, it’s understandable that they enjoy the full support of the colonial media.
You’ll recall that Elin Jones demanded that the police investigate Neil McEvoy for daring to prove that he was being stitched up. Well, later on the Tuesday evening, McEvoy put out a tweet after contacting South Wales Police.
That should have been the end of it, surely? No.
Having my morning coffee in Aberystwyth on Wednesday I was confronted by this front page in Llais y Sais. Now you might argue that this went to press before Neil McEvoy put out that tweet on Tuesday evening, but you’d be wrong.
And it’s also worth pointing out that the online version was still telling us on Wednesday that SWP was investigating Neil McEvoy.
It was the same over on the Talfan Davies news channel. As late as 9:30 on Wednesday evening people could read what you see below. It might still be there when you’re reading this.
Why would the Western Mail and BBC Wales want the public to believe what they themselves knew to be untrue? Because, as I say, they represent the colonial media; Neil McEvoy is seen as a threat to the colonial management team, therefore he must be undermined and discredited.
This is the fake news you keep hearing about, and it’s got sod all to do with my old mucker Vladimir Vladimirovitch.
I began this piece by using Elin Jones’s accusation that Neil McEvoy was guilty of a serious breach of trust. Let me tell her and her Plaid Cymru colleagues about breaching trust.
In the early hours of September 19th, 1997, I was sitting in my living room with my son, and both of us cheered the Carmarthen referendum result that gave us devolution as if it was an injury time goal for the Swans, or a last-gasp conversion to win the Grand Slam.
There’s been nothing to cheer since. Devolution has failed Wales, and Plaid Cymru hasn’t even tried to make it work.
Instead, they’ve chased rainbows, tilted at windmills, postured and pontificated, while Wales decays due to neglect and deprivation, betrayal and colonisation.
Plaid Cymru has failed a nation by spending twenty years with its head up Labour’s arse. Now that is a serious breach of trust. For which it will soon be punished.
♦ end ♦
Just started picking up on the situation developing at Tata. Only recently the workforce accepted headcount reductions and a severe amendment to their pension scheme terms and conditions to facilitate the merger of Tata and ThyssenKrupp interests in EU. Well the deal never happened despite Tata ( and no doubt TK) spending millions on developing that deal.
Having failed, Tata are now back seeking more cuts to the workforce. Now it is said that they are also looking at other efficiencies but one gets the feeling that “working smart” is a bit of a buzz word with these corporate types and the actual application of smart working is a tad beyond them. That leads to a situation where job cuts is the default option when facing a sinking P&L.
I wonder now how those politicians who encouraged the workforce to “give their utmost cooperation” now feel about this outcome while they have enjoyed top drawer salaries, pensions and other goodies while in office. Perhaps Tata employees should consider again what party loyalty means in the lead up to next month’s election. There again any M.P turfed out of office will have a jolly nice payoff and resettlement grant even though he/she might have only served a term or so.
Sadly, the normal course of events in Welsh public life. Far too many of its participants lack principle, and are insulated from the consequences of their decisions.
Yet another “breach of trust”
Jones – I perceive that I have offended you. Despite your boorish mode of expression, I apologize for that.
Nevertheless, my strictures remain valid.
For ‘Jones’, read ‘Jonesy’.
Plague take spellcheckers!
Boorish maybe , not as eloquent as you, but even the vocabularly challenged can see the facts for what they are.
Indeed they can: from that I take a certain comfort. However powerful bigotry and prejudice may seem, they always collapse under the weight of their constituent falsehoods.
There is another outcome for which we might hope to this helbul. The Standing Orders of the Senedd must be drafted anew. This is the only way to ensure that, when the present Llywydd retires, her successor does not also confuse the role with that of the Government Chief Whip.
The SaharAlFaifi catastrophe has reached the site of the infamous Guido Fawkes. Plaid presents its famously unbalanced AngloBrit supremacist commenters with enough ammo to last hours fetching out all the old chestnuts about the Welsh nation. Fodder for another slice of mad Britain.
Back in the day, Plaid got a lot of stick for being too favourable to a minority religion with a lot of support abroad, some of whose female adherents wear veils. Today, Plaid get a lot of stick for being too favourable to a minority religion with a lot of support abroad, some of whose female adherents wear veils. Anti-popery no longer cuts much ice in Wales, but Muslims will do as a handy target for those who like that kind of thing. Ho-hum…
Who is this SaharAlFaifi? I ‘knows’ a few Muslims from Cardiff. An old chap who puts his ‘Egypt’ hat on Fridays for the Mosque, well known family from the Tiger Bay, and an old friend from a more recent Bangla family on the city road (two distinct communities).
She don’t talks like this…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfokdMzUtvE
If Jac posts this comment I’ll be very surprised.
SaharAlFaifi talks like a posh family from the Thames valley. What Mosque does she attend? I suspect she’s a student type seeking attention who likes to stand out and the niqab has nothing to do with religious devotion, and Plaid fell for the taliswoman as a desperate attempt to look inclusive.
I do like ‘taliwoman’.
I’ve heard her speak, and can assure you that she sounds like what she is, i.e. a single individual. She certainly doesn’t sound like an entire family.
If you want to know where she (or indeed anybody) worships, you only have to ask her (or them).
Posh people backed the Fascist Os Mosley back in the 1930’s. So having posh people backing Islamofascism in the 21st century is not that extraordinary. I should be puzzled by the ease with which Plaid’s squeaky clean anti-fascist vanguard can embrace such a dodgy piece of work, but sadly it’s par for the course for such a shallow duplicious bunch. Anyone expecting the next generation of Nazis to be identical to the last, or the previous, is highly deluded. Metamorphisis is necessary to meet the demands and opportunities that changes in society present. However peel away the outer layer and it’s the same old rabid beast that lurks beneath.
What really puzzles me is how Aled Gwyn Williams and other gays, the trans lobby, and women who enjoy a good time and reject the ‘patriarchy’, can endorse someone like Sahar Al-Faifi. How many short circuits and disconnects must there be in your thought processes to reject certain views from a Christian or Judaic direction but accept them – and worse! – when they come from someone wearing a niqab?
LGBT rights is home turf. Plaid Cymru, quite rightly, have decades of experience in such matters, although AGW is just a self appointed media star. Our local Dyfed Powys Police car has got a new shiny rainbow paint job, but it’s the credibility of what’s inside that’s more important. Islamic extremism is new, especially to Wales. They misjudged the landscape and fielded an ineligible player on away turf. They should admit the mistake, learn, and be better next time.
Please identify (having first sought legal advice) the posh people who are supporting Islamofascism (having first defined it *clearly *).
We were advised above that the lady “talks posh”. I don’t see that talking posh and supporting fascistic movements are mutually exclusive. Mosley drew support from a number of toff families, the NF of the 60’s and 70’s had a similar mix of support lurking in the background. So hearing that a well spoken lady backs a current form of Fascism is hardly surprising, is it ? Plaid’s eagerness to embrace and defend is the bit that arouses curiousity, but resolves itself if they too are seen as a form of Fascism evolved to suit the situation here and now.
Please define ‘Islamofascism’.
Of course, unless you have solid evidence, you will not be so foolish as to ascribe Islamofascism to any identifiable individual.
The person who defined the term Islamo-fascist was Leanne Wood AM when she was leader of Plaid Cymru, and at the time she got a lot of stick for it. She was referring to ISIS. I can assure you, Mel, that Leanne is an identifiable individual.
Now it can be argued that SaharAlFaifi is not of that sort as she is active in ‘mainstream’. However, closer examination finds that this is not the case, her real agenda is exposed in the tweets that have emerged, and also other mainstream Muslin figures and organisations being very critical.
http://journal.quilliaminternational.com/2019/11/18/the-perils-of-mainstreaming-islamism-sahar-al-faifi-and-plaid-cymru/
The above link provides al full explanation. It’s not good enough just to suspend SaharAlFaifi, she has to be expelled from party membership and Plaid Cymru to publicly apologise for being misled, as a party. It’s also the case that the official apology from SaharAlFaifi personally, quickly composed with what appears assistance from the party chairman is riddled with inaccuracies. She has been tweeting racist attacks as throughout 2017, 2018, the most recent in April of this year.
Not acceptable in Wales.
An identifiable individual Ms. Leanne Wood certainly is, and her reference to the Daesh tyranny is cogent.
Where I sought clarification, however, was in reference to anybody in Wales to whom such doctrines and practices might be attributed. Such a person would be guilty of support for cruelty beyond measure, as well (potentially at least) of several serious offences. That was why I advised caution to persons minded to attribute Islamofascism to an identifiable individual in Wales. A false attribution would lay the person making the attribution open to some daunting legal remedies.
Mel, the currently fashionable habit of labelling dissent as “fascism” is of itself symptomatic of fascistic tendency. Within Islam it has manifested itself in an extreme and distorted interpretation of the tenets of the religion and extended into all aspects of life, even outside those areas where Islam is the major faith. People in this country who endorse the subjugation and extermination of minorities such as Yazidis and Kurds should realise that they give “comfort” to the fascists who impose their narrow creed and seek to eliminate any dissent. They may not wear the brown or black shirts so fashionable 70 -80 years ago but their behaviours have evolved from the extremists of that era.
For whom is it a fashion to label all dissent as fascism?
Nicely put, Dafis. There’s an irony, or is it hypocrisy, surrounding the angry young Berks in Plaid who call out as “fash” anyone who doesn’t share their progressive beliefs.
But then you have to ask, what is ‘progressive’ about supporting what is all too often a regressive, paternalistic and intolerant way of ordering society. To see gays supporting representatives of countries where gays are stoned to death is intellectually inconsistent and needs to be explained.
I have always believed that the leftist-‘progressive’ lobby supports extreme varieties of Islam because they view them as the replacement for communism in being the vehicle to dismantle or destroy the ‘corrupt’ and ‘decadent’ West. They even use the same terminology!
It goes MUCH higher than your run of the mill toff Dafis:
Check this out.
The real problem that Plaid Cymru has is that the party is run by a small ‘progressive’ media clique and fear the real diversity of the communities of Wales.
They keep going out to ‘find us a muslim’ as some kind of public relations move.
Before their latest cock-up with Sahar the racist, there was Muhammad Islam of Riverside who defected to Ukip and of course the Asghars of Newport who defected to the Tories. The reality is that there are whole communities of ethnicity in Welsh communities who support the independence cause but they are regarded as ‘not like us’ by the ruling clique, so when they ‘anoint’ a prominent figure as poster material they inevitably pick a wrong un.
There was an elected Plaid Cymru AM, from Cardiff West, also of darker skin tone of middle eastern origin, who can often be seen gaining the respect of the ethnic communities of Cardiff, but the ruling clique ostracised him as he ‘wasn’t like them’. Such they end up having to appoint a poster girl in a niqab who they barely know.
To address this problem Plaid Cymru will need to bin the corporate public relations textbooks and start winning the hearts and minds of those communities as Neil McEvoy has.
Final point, Aled & Teifi is not the only gay in the village. They might regret elevating a convenient fake to stardom instead of just being genuinely inclusive within the communities of Wales.
Muhammed islam was a walking talking disaster. I recall him becoming one of my councillors in Riverside …totally idle and incompetent man who jumped on the bandwagon. The Ashgars were a corrupt entetity.. PC have a track record of choosing inadequate candidates for the sake of PC quotas… see Mari Arthur
Tut, Plaid at it again doing its utmost to outdo Labour in being completely bonkers.
Just as Jonathan Edwards was rightly calling out Labour for fielding a jew baiter in his constituency at the upcoming G.E we read Bubble’s preview of an expose where SaharAlFaifi, a Plaid poster girl, is identified as antiSemitic( Jewish not Arab Semitics). Now Elin got all excited recently when attacking Islamophobia but she seems to have exhausted her energy ( flat battery ? ) when her attention was drawn to this nasty bit of work. Something they want to tell us, preferably ahead of this Election ?
I’ve just read the lady in question has been suspended by Plaid Cymru pending an inquiry into alleged anti-Semitic tweets. Plaid is quoted as saying “Plaid Cymru will not tolerate anti-Semitism, racism or intolerance in any form”.
Strange then that poster boy, Aled Gwyn Wiliams, seems to lead a charmed life, notwithstanding some horrendous misogynistic and anti-English racist tweets that have been copied in to the hierarchy in their Party. Also strange that Helen Mary Jones leads a similarly charmed life. A trawl of her past Twitter feeds would reveal her strong views on transexuals which many of that ilk within that Party have considered transphobic.
The fact is that Plaid Cymru are a fucking mess. The lunatics have taken over the asylum is a phrase that comes to mind. The Party has given too much rope to idiots whose whole focus in life seems to be to bleat endlessly on about ishoo politics and the rights of minorities – who are always oppressed, have you noticed? The fact is most people don’t give a rat’s arse if the person sitting next to them on a bus or living next door is gay, lesbian, transgender, a POC (person of colour – you can’t say black or coloured these days), Muslim, Jewish, Christian, atheist, or even bloody English (that’s a joke!). What most people share is a common humanity towards individuals of all kinds. And the sooner those who constantly berate good people for not being 100% behind their damned intersectionalist agendas are called out for the utter tosspots they are, then the better.
Rant over. Time for a tinnie!
Well said, Stan. Word reaches me that Aled Gwyn Williams’s Twitter account may be off the air.
Unfortunately at my end it’s still shooting the usual shite
Aled’s may be off the air but Leanne Wood’s is not. Draw your own conclusions why she had oodles to say in support of Sahar and the Islamophobic comments about her choice of dress, yet nothing to say about the revelations about her past alleged anti Semitic comments. Could be a surfeit of egg on face has prevented her using social media, but I’m sure it will soon wash off.
A well covered woman does not speak to me of fighting the patriarchy or for equal right and It’s not going to increase Lake or Jonathon’s majority in their constituencies. Mrs Jones, Moc the post or Farmer Dai are probably asking themselv3s why they should vote PC, as do I.
I am against racism in all forms be it against English, Pakistanis, Whites or blacks. Feel free to pray to who you like but I am againts extreme manifestations of “religions” as well. Ones which indoctrinate women to feel and act subservient to men, equality is for all, equality of opportunity in all fields of society.Illiberal doctrinr as preached by the men in male dominated establishments who over a millenia have convinced this woman to cover up;force Jewish Orthodox women to have 10 kids and wear wigs, or make evangelical christians women ” subserviant’ to their husbands and has no place in a civilised society. Already hearing the backlash.
Plaid have been constantly shooting themselves in the foot here. So what ?they get a few 1000 more votes in Cardiff, which means nothing strategically and alienate the electorate in the rest of ‘conservative’ Cymru , including many who voted for Brexit but really want to support a party which fights for UNiversal Welsh interests because they are totally horrified, let down and disgusted by the current state of affairs . I recall that PC on their facebook page this year wished us all a happy Uid. I trawled back to see whether they had wished us a Pasg Hapus and a Shalom for Passover. They had not. There was no photo odf Adam with the local Vicar of LLANDIBLEY.Why not? Either treat all faiths equally , but better still do not pander to them at all.
…. but live with the consequences when you reap the harvest for being so out of touch with your core supporters and the potenti new ones who want to support you but have been totally turned off by PCs obsession with Brexit, repartations and the two faced Libdem unionist party. They are so embroiled in the machinations of Cardiff Bay, so wrapped up in their cosy CF1 world and pensions hat their desire for radical change has been undermined.
No sensible male person, except he be an acknowledged fashion expert, will offer unsolicited comments on female attire. Nobody except an admirer of Oliver Cromwell and Butcher Cumberland will countenance banning forms of clothing on ideological grounds.
The CF1 postcode is no longer operative.
The postcode for the Senedd is CF99.
Glad to see someone else picking up on Plaid’s Happy Eid and the fact that no equivalent solicitations were offered for ANY other faiths. I don’t know if this nauseating display of political correctness towards our Muslim friends started with Bethan Sayed. She does exactly the same on her AM Twitter account, but I’ve yet to see her wish any happiness to people outside the Muslim faith. And now, of course, I’ll be classed as Islamophobic by Plaid’s own zealots just for pointing it out.
It does not, of course, follow that every remark by a female person on the subject of female attire will necessarily be all that sensible.
It emerges that, after having made these appalling remarks some years ago, the individual concerned had apologized for her conduct. She then, we are given to understand, undertook training against antisemitism under the auspices of the dear old Board of Deputies.
Good, people make mistakes and get on the right track, and she should not be persecuted by twitter and lets hope she appreciates her luck of being born in a functional although faulty democracy. , But her branch of Islam is the same as that of the vile Saudis. but my argument is about the perception of the veiled woman. Ask PC voters on the doorstep. The reason she is wearing the veil is based on the indoctrination over a millennia of men subordinating women as was and is done be a variety of religions… i once visited Skanda Vale in Llanpumpsaint, if a woman was Menstruating she was not allowed into one of the shrines, there was a sign there saying so….. how primitive, sexist, and stupid can men who are in charge of this patriarchal method of social control get. The same goes for the cuddly Irish cult the DUP, stopping women from having abortions and same sex marriages.
Yes, perceptions … your perceptions are evidently triggered by some deep-seated anxieties about women, aggravated by a certain religious maladjustment, and clouded by an entire galaxy of category errors. Take a cold bath, Sir!
I believe ‘Jonesy’ is a woman. But I’m sure she’ll answer for herself.
If such be the case, then I modify my injunction to ‘Take a cold bath, Ma’ am! ‘
You are a lad!
Why do you think i am a man , you fool
The architecture of the Welsh polity is hopelessly flawed. The doctrine of parliamentary responsibility entails a partial merger of the executive and legislative branches of government, and is therefore at risk of two malfunctions, i.e. instability, and elective dictatorship.
In Wales, we have managed to achieve a complete merger of these branches of government, and a partial merger with the judicial branch. (The fact that much Welsh legislation is a dead letter does not affect the issue.) The Senedd is packed with placemen and placewomen, and is far too small to hold the executive to account. The regional list system makes it far too easy for what Sicilians call the men of honour (and, of course, the women of honour) to maintain control.
It is imperative that the executive and legislative branches be separated from one another. Both should be directly elected, with the Senedd consisting of some 100 Dirprwyaid elected by single transferable vote from constituencies with 3-5 seats each. The Arlywydd should be elected directly, with a run-off ballot between the two most successful candidates if none has an overall majority at the first round. Membership of the Senedd would be incompatible with holding any government post. Lobbyists et hoc omne genus would be required to register, and would be subject to a statutory code of conduct.
The judiciary should be appointed by an independent Cyngor Cyfiawnder representing the other two branches of government, local authorities, and civil society. They would administer justice in accordance with clearly-drafted Codes covering the different areas of both private and public life.
One other point is that the rather cavalier and incautious behaviour of Sir/Judge Roderick Evans in dealing with complaints may be indicative of the general standard of behaviour of the judiciary in Wales, where he was once top dog – wasn’t he the presiding judge for Wales?.
Not only do we have useless politicos we may also have useless judges where of course the standard of proof of misconduct would be far higher [almost impossible] than those applying to Neil “The Mic” McEvoy. A word from the Deryn [bird] is enough to slap him down when there is no microphone handy.
I believe NMc has promised to release the tapes/transcripts. I am eagerly looking forward to them in the interests of openness and transparency.
Senedd-gate?
All reasonable people are looking forward. I trust that Mr. Neil McEvoy will deposit copies in several reputable institutions, including several outside the UK.
As a nation we are becoming offended too easily. The frequency with which we read of yet another loud mouth being appalled frankly appalls me ! Yet the things that should offend our politicians seem to fly by them unnoticed. I think it was Jac who tweeted recently about a spate of Labour M.P’s suddenly sending critical notes to Labour councils about their serious under-achievments on a range of services, having sat uncritically for years until the prospect of an Election in a few weeks galvanized the lazy bastards into action. No doubt M.P’s from other parties will be doing the same.
Then of course we have this episode with McEvoy and the (ex)Commissioner. A golden opportunity for people at Y Cynulliad to unite to seek resolution, but no, instead we are treated to likes of the odious Carwyn and myopic Leanne howling at the moon with indignation. Such poor transparent acting is more likely to win an award at some Comedy prizegiving than at BAFTA or the Oscars. Sadly, Carwyn’s bleat about events reveals a lot about his own duplicity in failing to be open and honest about Carl Sargeant. Obviously the double standard is alive and well in Orwellian Cardiff Bay.
We’re at the stage where any criticism of a female politician is ‘misogyny‘; a black person, ‘racism; a gay person, ‘homophobia’; a bloke ‘self-identifying’ as a woman, ‘transphobia’, etc., etc. Democracy itself is under threat from censorship like this.
As son of a seafarer, and with experience in several interesting trades, I could out-offend anybody on this forum. I could have you weeping into your Horlicks and calling for your Mami. But I choose not to. It’s a question of basic good manners. *Please” spare us the poor-man’s Rod Liddle impressions. Thank you.
Your capacity for “out-offending anyone…” is not in question, or even of remote interest. My point was that our politicians are so easily offended that they should seriously consider not stepping out of their homes given the antics we are viewing regularly. If you think my observation is wrong then offer up your analysis of their behaviours.
The second limb of your response non sequitur from the first. As to my analysis of their behaviours, see my postings passim.
excessive use of Latin – it’s all Greek to me !
Sgersli bilif!
Anyone dealing with a publicly paid official when dealing with a dispute or potential dispute would be well advised to have a recording device to hand.
When it comes down to it the adjudicator or judge will always take the word of a public official against a citizen. Having a recording balances the scales of justice.
It used to be their notes/records were unimpeachable. Now with the advances of technology, if they are not accurate or correct there is an audio record which can be transcribed and show otherwise. If the public officials notes/records are a true record of what was said the audio recording need never see the light of day.
I’ve been in plenty of meetings where the minutes record something else, and meetings rather than emails or records are beloved by the corrupt official – one word against another and who can remember what was said?
Not forgetting, of course, the pre-meeting, and the informal chat over tea and biscuits in somebody’s sitting room. Anybody trying to follow a paper trail about the æytiology of some crucial decision will be lucky to find words to the effect that ‘Discussions were held’.
Where a member of the public is dealing with an official, it is very sensible to make a recording. Malice and corruption aside, said official may have little (if any) understanding of the nature and scope of their duties, and could quite unwittingly give unhelpful, or even dangerously erroneous, advice without meaning to.
Gwlad tweet is not up to scratch ! Main man wears red of Cymru – very commendable. But someone pasted 3 feathers on that shirt. Is Gwlad a pro-Carlo 5th column ? Am I backing a fake when I thought I was on a good bet with a thoroughbred ? Oh dear, my day has gone off the rails completely.
Being out of the loop I’m trying to make sense of it myself.
To bring everyone up to running speed, and for clarification on Neil’s position, here’s a newly published video by him:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRnn_8Iscio
Thanks for the update Big Gee. This story will run for a while !
Wish his press conference was as clear as this, .. he tends to come over as totally incoherent in his videos… i don’t have a bone to pick with him and have agreed with n his POV many times. But he always shoots himself in the foot by being so unfocused in his defence of actions
Can’t agree. All the videos I’ve seen were concise and lucid.
It is universally acknowledged that this country lacks competent administrators, in the public, private, and voluntary sectors. Since the persons concerned are victims of our ‘education’ system, there will be no speedy remedy. However, in the meantime we can, and should, take steps to mitigate the effects.
Mr. Neil McEvoy’s current stand for propriety in public life has demonstrated once again that disciplinary procedures are habitually used, not to maintain discipline, but rather in order to enforce obedience to whim and ambition, often involving unlawful activities. In the long medium to long term, we need a Welsh version of droit administratif (fans of the weaselly A. V. Dicey are requested to splutter into their tea quietly). In the shorter term, however, a certain simple measure would benefit both the public and also the majority of conscientious public servants.
In some jurisdictions, public servants are bound by oath. A simple oath or affirmation for this country would bind the person to serve all the public, without discrimination, in accordance with the Law and with all relevant professional obligations. Every public servant would undertake to carry out, to the utmost of their ability, all lawful and reasonable instructions, and only them. Breach of this oath would be a disciplinary matter, and, in addition, an aggravating element in any legal proceedings that might arise.
A public servant believing that an instruction was unlawful or unreasonable would be obliged to seek clarification from the person giving the instruction. That person would be required to provide sufficient clarification (i.e. “I asked someone in Legal, and they said it’s alright” would certainly not suffice), confirmed in writing within 24 hours.
Obedience to instructions would not raise a defence in any subsequent legal proceedings, although a request for clarification would provide mitigating consideration when it came to sentencing. Giving an unlawful or unreasonable instruction would be a very serious disciplinary matter, with dismissal an option in the more serious cases. In any subsequent criminal proceedings, it would, where relevant, remove the option of a non-custodial sentence.
À propos of one point above, I freely own that there are some tickly issues of mens rea lurking in the long grass. It is submitted that this reinforces the argument for a properly-drafted Criminal Code.
Your tweet about the intervention by a dozen or so 3rd sector bodies prompts me to comment further. I first heard about it on a news bulletin lunchtime or perhaps earlier. Immediately the thought crossed my mind – how much neck have these bastards got, a cluster of parasitic entities calling for a “change” to how things are done. Very fuckin’ virtuous !
One thing for sure if they ever get a chance to influence matters they will slant any new regulation in such a way that third sector operators and the likes of the iniquitous Deryn will be given a free hand while people who seek genuine fairness and transparency will be shunted mercilessly out of the picture.
I suggest this lady be appointed to the interim role, salary transfer secondment….
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/louise-edwards-6a553664
with this person as assistant in role as special advisor, pro-rata…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Wainwright_(civil_servant)
I understand both would be willing and able.
Then we need to repeal the failed legislation that appointed and governed the behaviour of the now resigned Wales Standards Commissioner. A new permanent role should be created under the following Acts as listed below, with my examples of best practice.
Welsh Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Act.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2002/16/contents
Lobbying (Wales) Act.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2016/16/contents
We do not need to re-invent the wheel when such an innovation already exists. That cluster of parasitic entities Dafis mentions, including but not restricted to Deryn, need to be excluded from the process. It’s also vital that the wheel is not delivered with a stick already jammed in the spokes.
I do this for free!
A reasonable person could only concur.
Ms Edwards may have been part of the political establishment for too long. That cv smacks of her being “well in” with the defenders of the status quo.
However Wainwright could be a very good signing for a number of top jobs and he could certainly contribute ( bigly as dumb Donald might say) to the purging of corrupt antics down the Bay. Having completed that task, or passed the baton well down the track to completion, he could then get set to be the inaugural chief of Wales’ national Heddlu, another task requiring a refocus of priorities, less posturing and more scaring and apprehending of the wide range of active criminals that seem to inhabit all walks of life here in Wales. Plenty there to keep a good man busy for a while.
Edwards.
Hated by the political establishment because she’s an effective snout. Setting up IPSA to police MPs expenses a few years ago had Ann Clwyd and Chris Bryant spitting feathers. She also fought off intimidation from major political parties and lobbyists over spending at elections and in the Brexit referendum, resulting in fines and prosecutions. I also think that her performance in the electoral commission demonstrates ability to cut across the ‘greasy pole’ gaze our civil servants who tend to look to Whitehall for guidance rather than as professional administrators for Welsh interests.
Wainwright.
His experience in tacking organised crime across Europe means he has attention to detail and is driven by evidence rather than spin and political pressure. He lives in Pontyberem, not in a villa on the banks of Lausanne, which means he never took brown envelopes. One day a week and an in tray in the Bae to help Ms Edwards would be a useful input, and if he had worked the European Arrest Warrant system he knows how to use evidence decide whether to slap a wrist for being silly and when solicit an armed raid to apprehend an offender. Good judgement needed. If he’s prepared to face down Merkel will have no problem with the lady in the cardigan from Cardigan, especially when stuff needs to happen. Will leave no stone unturned.
Have you ever bothered investigating any of the allegations about Neil Mcevoy, Jac? You don’t have to, your times your own, just wondering.
His motivation in doing this could also be to do with muddying the investigation and not purely about bias etc. The recording he’s made is probably illegal if you look at what he did and the law. His immediate statement of no investigation is meaningless as the police had yet to even establish circumstance. I imagine he wouldn’t make that statement today and it’s almost certain he’s going to be interviewed. The police interview people for being smart arses on.thd internet, so he’s pretty much guaranteed a sit down with SWP at some point.
What he’s being investigated for by the commissioner has some substance if you look at the quotes. We could argue all day whether stating opinions privately shows bias but I don’t have much faith in the assembly so called standards so I’m not willing to defend the process or people.
My enemies enemy is not my friend and we’ve all got blind spots.
Keep up the good work though Jac, you being right 90% of the time is still better than the do called media we’ve got.
He has reasserted this afternoon that he is NOT being investigated by South Wales Police.
Any police force within these seas is, almost by definition, an assemblage of working-class Tories. It is inherently improbable that they would let themselves be dragged into a Labour defamation campaign, especially when the organization pursuing the campaign is itself tainted from old with some pretty serious criminality.
Will – perhaps you’ll be man enough to retract your speculations sometime in the future? He has WRITTEN confirmation from the South Wales Police that they will NOT be taking up the school yard complaint issued against him.
How much evidence of their wish to ignore the complaint do you need?
Hi Big Gee, I’ve got absolutely no problem withdrawing what I’ve written if you can link me to the written confirmation from South wales police that they WILL not be taking up the complaint? Thanks.
Thanks for following up Jac, I know he stated yesterday they wouldn’t be investigating him, just the circumstances. Which is the usual bland police statement.
Hi Big Gee,
I’ve got absolutely no problem withdrawing what I’ve written if you can link me to the WRITTEN confirmation from South Wales police that they WILL not be taking up the complaint? Thanks.
The short answer to your question Will, is YES.
I have personally investigated, completely independently, as I have sourses of verification and pre-existing knowledge of the persons involved.
I have also been informed for a very reliable sourse that in all instances where Neil McEvoy has been interviewed by SWP, both after a spurious accusations and also as a sourse of evidence in investigations of suspects criminal activity committed by others, Neil McEvoy is most profesional and co-operative.
Thanks brynchan. If you can, could cast any light on the building work which was being investigated by the commissioner.
The quotes for the work are accessible to the public and looking at them in isolation, something doesn’t sit right about it all.
There is no issue with the substance of building work being claimed on expenses.
The issue relates to whether McEvoy knew the person he commissioned to do the work and a claim that, despite three quotes obtained, he picked the tradesman on that basis. The complaint is that it was a corrupt deal, a kind of mate in the pub arrangement. I await a covert video recording of McEvoy walking into Fairwater Social Club and asking Dai the Fitter to make a cheaper quote in exchange for a free pint of dark.
Helen Mary Jones AM has to go on twitter to ask her followers to recommend a wooden floor fitter in Cardiff. Strange, as I’ve spotted signs at Cross Hands, Trostre, Baglan, Sarn, and Culverhouse Cross advertising such services on her usual route to work. Perhaps her staff should also be introduced to Google.
What’s even stranger is the chronology matches the vexatious complaint against McEvoy. Those of a suspicious mind would surmise that other Plaid AMs were asked to “cover their backs” on such matters as an orchestrated and vexatious complaint was submitted.
Any AM who is known within the community he represents and a champion of that community will inevitably ‘know’ by sight or by name tradesmen within that community. It’s a curse which McEvoy has to endure for being a good AM. Doesn’t mean he got that free pint.
I’m a McEvoy supporter, make no bones about it, but I agree with Mel Morgan’s excellent post above that like all human beings he is fallible. For all the accusations of being a sociopath and a Narcissist, it’s telling that he himself knows that just like all of us – he cocks up big time now and again.
With this latest saga, for me it has similarities to the Carl Sargeant sacking situation, and the awful events that followed it. For those who value the principles of natural justice, and we all should, it didn’t matter a toss if Sargeant had done what he was accused of. There may well have been something of concern, but that’s a different issue. What mattered was that he should have been afforded due process. He should have been given details of the accusations against him so he could effectively argue his case, and there should have been appropriate measures put in place by his employer to support his well-being thereafter. Carwyn Jones as First Minister should carry the can for the failure to do these things. I hope the bastard has trouble sleeping at night – I know I would. But I wouldn’t have made those grave errors of judgment and process in the beginning.
So coming to McEvoy and what Will has written, for me I still don’t know if McEvoy was guilty or not of the three complaints the Standards Commissioner was dealing with. I’ve not been privy to the evidence. And in a way it doesn’t matter now, because the Commissioner’s actions have clearly shown prejudice and bias against him. The frightening thing is, like a bent copper, how many other cases has Sir Roderick Evans dealt with where he has dealt with matters not on the evidence before him but how he feels about the person (man or woman) involved?
Excellent comment, Stan. Something else that needs to be highlighted in both Sargeant and McEvoy cases is the role of the third sector, which is little more than an extension of the Labour-Deryn-Plaid Cymru continuum. I am convinced that if someone is targeted by the LDPC then feelers will be put to the third sector along the lines of, ‘Have you got any dirt on this guy?’
Spot on Stan.
Here’s an example of a covert recording of a friendly discussion between two perfect individuals. They never made any mistakes, did they?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRXvw4PeEYg{removetoplay}
I’m not biased in any way but I can confirm that Neil McEvoys’ biggest failure is he doesn’t know anything about football.
‘Opinionated’ takes on a whole new dimension when you listen to those two.
Yes. But the point is at the time we had no ball getter in midfield, but was never selected because of his ‘attitude’. Robbie Savage was a ball winner even though he kicked a few shins and picked up a few cards on the park. I, and many others, have the same view about McEvoy in Plaid Cymru. Whilst Leighton James is technically correct, the point that Savage makes “you have to get in their faces” when playing against well resourced opposition is a valid one.
Mr. Neil McEvoy has, since he entered the Senedd, gathered ample evidence that the Welsh Labour Party, together with their acolytes in Plaid Cymru and the Third Sector, reduced our legislature to an engine of corruption. In this latest episode, he has confirmed what anybody who ever had dealings with Welsh administration knows well: the chief features of Welsh public life are corruption, incompetence, and cowardice.
Mr. McEvoy is a human being, as fallible as any. It is possible to disagree with him – as I do, on several topics. But he is one of the few Members of the Senedd conducting themselves like a decent public representative. That is why partisans of the status quo have taken such mighty pains to try to put him out of action. That is why some of his enemies have crossed a certain line and resorted to previously rare forms of criminality – for them, at least.
The death of Carl Sargent made the evening news in France: the people of France still know as much as we do about that disgraceful affair. The supporters of the status quo have long made it clear what can happen to you if you cross them. Your good name will be trashed, your career will be blighted, and you will be isolated socially. That was then: this is now, and you can now be burgled – or end up dead.
A concerted attempt us underway to remove Mr. McEvoy from our public life. We must do every lawful and honourable thing necessary to prevent this. We must support him in his struggle. And we must encourage people like him to come forward and take their part in public life. A very great deal depends on this.
The recordings taken by Neil McEvoy have shown that the Standards Commissioner and his staff were unfit to sit in judgment of him. No doubt at all about that, notwithstanding the legitimacy or otherwise of the complaints. They reveal a clear prejudice against him and even McEvoy’s biggest detractors should be big enough to admit this. But predictably, and shame on them, they don’t. Many of his political opponents, as well as the usual spiteful internet bullies, have been swift to condemn him and his actions again. He could heal the sick or even raise the dead and they would still find fault, such is their fixation with destroying the man and his reputation. They should ask themselves if Leanne had acted similarly and found ingrained prejudice against her, in “Arseholegate” for example, would they be taking to social media to condemn her? The hell they would! They’d be singing her praises from the rooftops.
As for Carwyn Jones, he is clearly still badly hurt by the fact his good (?) reputation, even among his own, is in tatters and he will forever be remembered for his decidedly dodgy behaviour in the Carl Sargeant affair. Will he ever get that seat in the Lords he craves so much? I hope not, but let’s be honest, the place is full of conspicuous failures and people you wouldn’t want to call a friend, so he won’t look out of place having a kip on those Benches at £300 plus per day (tax free). In a recent development, Carwyn has reported Mark Reckless to the (new) Standards Commissioner, seemingly for retweeting Gill Sargeant’s comments set out in Jac’s article. Expect Mark to have to hand his phone in before he’s hauled in to see the new bloke about Carwyn’s petulant complaint. You’d think after a lifetime in politics the twat would have a thicker skin but evidently not.
Dafis aptly summarises where we are with this lot. “A curse on them all”.
Are these people acting in self interest, or is us being cursed with such bastards as “leaders” some tangential consequence of our colonial status, like how it’s lead to the infestation of the spivvy con artist vermin you’ve exposed on here?
This nonsense at Y Cynulliad does a damn good job of reinforcing the prejudices of those supremacist colonialists who maintain that the Welsh are unfit to govern themselves. Now we know that most of the gaggle in the Bay are themselves wedded to the colonialist vision and mindset anyway but this episode is a convenient piece of ammo for the criticism machine. No doubt calls for shutting the place down will be heard, along with the justified attack on the calibre of most of the current crop of A.M’s.
2021 can’t come soon enough. The Unionist parties will probably field the same old nap hand of party hacks, many seeing the Bay as a stepping stone or learning experience before moving on and up to Westminster. Plaid’s candidates will see the Bay as an end in itself, a chance to draw a tidy salary, good pension plan, rather splendid expenses and scope for socialising with a better class of person. Not forgetting openings in the 3rd sector if being an A.M becomes a touch tedious.
And that’s how things will be until we leave the Union. At that time our governing institution will have to shape up and perform otherwise we will implode as predicted by the colonial system that keeps us on life support ( just !). It is that prospect, the requirement to shape up, that fills most of our A.M’s with dread. That is why they are reducing Y Cynulliad to one long game of political posturing, bitching and general schoolyard misconduct as that is one sure way of ensuring that Wales never reaches any kind of independence.
A curse on them all.
There are several important issues here. One is the instant case. As the conduct of public officials may become the subject of legal proceedings, I will make any observations with the utmost of circumspection.
Another issue is the status and competence of public officials in general. The current hoo-ha merely highlights a problem that has been plaguing Wales for generations. Several significant remedies are required, not least in respect of public servants’ perception of where their duty lies.
Finally (for the time being), this scandal demonstrates yet again the flaws in the architecture of our current constitutional settlement. Again, significant remedies are required.
Some important points here, meriting consideration before any measured response.
I would expect no less.
As my english is not what it should be. is the”E” silent in ARSE..
Yes……but you don’t get silence from the arses down the Bay Bubble, except when a cover up has gone pearshaped !!
Within the ‘Senedd tapes’ we hear Roderick Evans in conversation with his staff laughingly refer to McEvoys claimed ‘sociopathic tendencies’. It’s an interesting reference. It’s a term often used as a form or abuse, now discredited as having any scientific bases, and often wrongly used by management consultants in downsizing dysfunctional corporate organisations (sacking staff). The term was invented in 1928 by George Partridge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_E._Partridge
In the 1930s the theory was ‘medicalised’ in Stalinist Russia as a ‘scientific reason’ why political dissidents should be arrested, detained and sent to Gulags. In the 1950s it was a false finding used by the ‘Un-American Activities Trails’ during the McCarthy era. Like all early now discredited hypothesis it was based on misunderstanding of some real features of human behaviour.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorder
The modern and correct clinical diagnosis is “Antisocial Personality Disorder’. If no such professional diagnosis has been arrived at by a patient self-presenting with life difficulties or referral by the criminal justice system is made, the use of this term within the workplace should be banned.
It is a form of bullying.
Note – People who would previously be labelled ‘sociopathic’ often deliberately employed by effective, dynamic and successful organisations. They are usually now referred to a ‘driven’, ‘ability to think outside the box’ and ‘creative’ personalities. There are, of course, other terms which previously had its origins in historical hypothesis often used in an abusive context. These terms are Spastic, Cretin, and Moron and should never be uttered in any process of inquiry.
Thank you for some very pertinent observations. We should all take note of them, and express ourselves accordingly.