I hadn’t planned on writing this, but you know how it is, you learn of 300 ‘refugees’ coming to a place where you’ve sunk a few pints, and then you discover a previously unknown publishing empire in the same town . . . well, it becomes difficult to turn down the opportunity.

Maybe I should explain that ‘Sosban’ is the nickname for Llanelli, after the local anthem, Sosban Fach, which was always sung at Stradey Park, the old home of Llanelli RFC, and after which the Stradey Park Hotel is named. This being the destination for those 300 ‘refugees’.

And yes, I was there at Stradey Park on the great day in 1972 when the Scarlets beat the All Blacks 9 – 3. A few of us travelled down from Harlech, stayed at the Ivy Bush in Carmarthen. I got utterly rat-arsed that night.

Happy days!

I suppose I should conclude this intro by explaining that the indigenes of ‘Sosban’, with their unique accent, are called ‘Turks’. I have no idea why. Does anybody know?

The assumption that some of these ‘refugees’ will be Turks or Turkish Kurds explains the title of this little offering. Clever, innit?

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BREAKING THE NEWS . . . OR PART OF IT

Here’s a BBC account from May 25. Yesterday, the BBC also ran the story of the couple who’d planned to marry at the venue. Can’t find anything on the ITV website.

Then, yesterday, came the report below in Llais y Sais, by Branwen Jones, telling that a ‘network’ had been set up to help the “asylum seekers“. Before even reading the piece I knew what it was about – Leftists exploiting illegal immigrants to attack the working class and decent, concerned locals.

Which is how it works nowadays.

Since the Left gave up on the working class, and aligned itself with many of the biggest corporations and some of the richest men on the planet, the formerly downtrodden victims of capitalism have become ‘racists’, ‘transphobes’, ‘Islamophobes’, etc.

Not that the working class has changed. It’s just that the Left and its brainwashed followers now march to the sound of the Globalists’ drum. They don’t understand where they’re marching to, but then, the modern Left is about theatrics not socialist theory.

As the reports make clear, locals were understandably concerned by these reports of 300 or more unvetted migrants being brought into their community, and so a public meeting was held on Sunday night at the Selwyn Samuel Centre. The biggest public meeting seen in Llanelli for some years.

This report comes from In Your Area.

The BBC was invited to attend, but did not show. If anybody from the Beeb had turned up they would have heard ex-cop Steve Williams lay into the council for not informing local people about the plan, let alone consulting them. (Genuine Turk accent.)

Tonight people of Llanelli held a meeting regarding @StradyHotel & being used to house illegal migrants.
Steve Williams ex police officer told the politicians exactly what he thought of them for hiding this from the people for 4 weeks@DaveAtherton20 @Sargon_of_Akkad @StanVoWales pic.twitter.com/xhGt2QLCRY

— Voice Of Wales (@VoWalesOfficial) May 28, 2023

A name you’ll see mentioned in the piece about the ‘network’ is Steve Kelshaw. Local Leftist who’s been involved with refugees in the past. (I omit the quotes because the Syrians Kelshaw was working with may have been genuine refugees.)

After reading the piece in yesterday’s ‘paper I went online to see what else I could turn up. And blow me! there was an online version of the same piece, but from last Saturday, and with a different headline; this one saying, “community unites to support asylum seekers“.

Which as we know is absolute bollocks!

For as you’ve read, the “local community” turned up in their hundreds, at the Selwyn Samuel Centre, to show how pissed off they are with the whole farrago.

But the online version was written before the public meeting. And obviously, after that meeting, there was no hope of sustaining the claim made in the original headline. So “community” had to become “network“.

Working back, the earliest report I can find is by Dylan Davies in the Cambrian News, last Wednesday, and timed at 2:50pm. Closely followed by Lucy John at WalesOnline at 18:28 of the same day. (Updated on Friday.)

The Cambrian News report is basically the one followed by the others. Except that the CN piece quoted a council spokesperson saying:

“The proposal and engagement by Clearsprings (the Home Office private housing provider) has been disappointing, giving the council no confidence that they understand the local or national context they intend to work within”.

The other reports neglected to mention the role of controversial Clearsprings.

Local journalist Robert Lloyd tells us the BBC was invited to the public meeting but did not turn up. Lloyd seems to work as an In Your Area stringer for Retch, which owns Llais y Sais and its online version, WalesOnline.

But why has he got it in for the BBC?

Because Tuesday’s Wales at Six opened with, “Some local people are protesting . . . “. Then it covered the cancelled wedding . . . . But later, it reported, ” . . . on Sunday around 400 people attended a public meeting . . . “.

But that was 6:30pm on the 30th. Lloyd’s tweet is timed at 7:10am that day. Had earlier BBC versions not mentioned the public meeting?

Anyway, let’s not get bogged down in what may be personal. We can reasonably assume that Branwen Jones of Llais y Sais got her version of the story from stringer Robert Lloyd. But if so, why didn’t she mention the public meeting?

All very confusing. But then I got to wondering who else might have been pushing the story with their own interpretation.

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THE SOSBANWIDE WEB

My search of the interweb was now taking me up some blind alleys, but then I found another report from May 26, and from the Llanelli Standard.

It’s basically a shorter version of the other ‘support network’ reports.

I must confess, I’d never heard of the Llanelli Standard. Perhaps most people west of the Llwchwr have never heard of it either. But the website says: “The Llanelli Standard is the new newspaper for Llanelli, by people from Llanelli and based in Llanelli. The Llanelli Standard is managed by Red Brand Media”.

So, it’s obviously, er, Llanelli.

But it does seem to have crossed that mighty torrent to launch the Swansea Standard. I just hope that it’s “a newspaper for Swansea, by people from Swansea and based in Swansea”.

Last thing we want is Turks writing Jack news!

The empire is completed with the Carmarthenshire Standard and the West Wales Chronicle. It was in the Chronicle that we read of Steve Kelshaw’s work with Syrian refugees.

The ‘About’ page of the Llanelli Standard is good for a few laughs. Not least this claim, for I would suggest otherwise.

The West Wales Chronicle and the Llanelli Standard are both politically neutral

And as evidence I would present the headline we read earlier suggesting that the community around the Stradey Park Hotel was preparing a carpet of fragrant blooms to welcome the Sons of the Prophet who will surely appear.

Unless of course they’re representatives of Albanian drugs gangs, or others of an  entrepreneurial bent.

The ‘About’ page also says, “The Llanelli Standard is published by Red Brand Media and owned by CETMA”. So who are they?

Let’s start here, with the website for Red Brand Media. Is there a clue to political leaning in the name? And here’s the Companies House entry. Where we learn that the controlling interest is Cetma Ltd.

From the website we learn that Cetma is funded by the self-styled ‘Welsh Government’, linked bodies, and the Lottery, which works closely with the ‘Welsh Government’.

Turning to the Companies House entry, the ‘accounts’ (actually, unaudited financial statement) tell us very little. Though I was intrigued by the three directors.

There’s Keith Elwyn Evans-Hurley, who in other entries prefixes his name with ‘Lord’. There’s David Jonathan Williams. And then there’s 83-year-old Eunydd Ashley Brynmor Thomas.

Interesting character, our Eunydd.

He was the Labour councillor for Llwynhendy on Carmarthenshire county council. But, in 2004, he took advantage of a scheme by the Notional Assembly for Wales to retire, and trousered a golden handshake of at least £16,000.

Everybody waved him good-bye and off he rode into a golden sunset. But bugger me! if he wasn’t back in 2008 standing as an Independent. He came bottom of the poll.

People are reluctant to vote for the undead, even in Llwynhendy.

Fellow candidate Meilyr Bowen Hughes, of Plaid Cymru, said: “It’s a loophole that should have plugged by the Welsh Assembly Government.” He added he was “very unhappy” with explanations given to him why that had not happened.

That’s enough distractions. What I’ve tried to do with these detours is open a few eyes as to how a story makes it into the national news.

◊

THE BIT AT THE END

Given that the council knew of the plan for three to four weeks before it eventually broke it’s reasonable to assume that the council was the source of the story.

There is massive public outrage over the plan, and over the council hiding it from the public for so long. But this element of the story is either being ignored, or massaged to push the line taken by Llais y Sais and others – the burghers of Llanelli offering up their wives and daughters to comfort the eagerly-awaited ‘asylum seekers’.

Yesterday’s piece in Llais y Sais focused entirely on the Leftist support network with no mention of the public meeting. This is not balanced journalism.

Clearly, the media emphasis has shifted from protest to ‘support network’, with some wanting us to believe there are no protestors. Or that the few there are can be dismissed with the usual slanders.

Which would be bullshit. But they may be getting away with it! And that should make you wonder how much of what you are told in the ‘Welsh’ media is bullshit.

Because everything put out by the media in Wales must meet certain criteria. And so to help you – well, you know me! – here they are. But remember! they’ll be inferred or alluded to, rather than stated outright:

• Reporting must adhere to the Unionist line. Supporting devolution is allowed but nothing going any further.
• The Woke-Left diktats must be obeyed. Men can have babies; ‘refugees’ are all genuine, and must be welcomed; White people are usually racist.
• The biggest threat to humankind is the ‘climate catastrophe’.

Basically, the Globalist agenda. Understand that and you’ll make far more sense of the bilge coming out of Cardiff every day.

And I’ll leave you with something else to think about. As our local press declines it is being increasingly replaced by political activists funded directly or, more usually, indirectly, by the ‘Welsh Government’ in ‘community journalism’.

But all done in the interests of “maintaining a healthy local democracy“.

More bullshit.

♦ end ♦