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Welsh Ramblings (Free subscription) | 9 hours ago
One could say that I have been critical of BBC Wales' Vaughan Roderick in the past. I now realise that I was wrong and have woefully misjudged the man. He is a fine journalist whether on his blog, on radio, or on the CF99 S4C television programme. To all of you who have emailed me or posted comments criticising me for my outbursts against the legend who is Vaughan Roderick, I apologise. This is a sincere...
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BBC NEWS | Betsan Powys' blog (Free subscription) | yesterday
Monday December the 8th was to have been a red letter day for all 60 Assembly Members. At least I imagine there may be one or two AMs who, sitting at their desks in Cardiff Bay, had put a note in their diary - in red ink - simply saying "Expenses published today". A breakdown of how much AMs have been spending and on what was due to be published on Monday but not any more. Just as we start debating...
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Welsh Ramblings (Free subscription) | yesterday
Not content with destroying Welsh broadcasting, by slavishly agreeing to whatever his London bosses were told to do for the benefit of Rupert Murdoch, Ofcom Wales Chief Rhodri Williams is now busily undermining other aspects of Welsh life. If you don't know about this man, then you should, so read this. Senior sources report that he 'totally embarrassed himself' at a recent dinner, arguing against...
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Plaid Wrecsam (Free subscription) | yesterday
Anyone reading tonight's Evening Leader may have missed this story: 'Make developer pay for Brymbo spine road' - Plaid Developers who want taxpayers' money to build a new road at Brymbo pocketed nearly £15m in dividends in just one year, research by Plaid Cymru reveals. Brymbo Developments is asking the Welsh Assembly Government for public money to build the £2m spine road from Tanyfron to Brymbo as...
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Leanne Wood AM/AC (Free subscription) | 03/12/2008
I was pleased to be invited to attend the launch of Show Racism the Red Card’s film, Islamophobia which took place at the Assembly yesterday. The film, which features football stars such as Thierry Henry, Ryan Giggs and Mido, aims to challenge racist myths that can end up causing harm to black people. The screening was attended by many people including children from Cathays High School, Cardiff, Culture...
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BBC NEWS | Betsan Powys' blog (Free subscription) | 03/12/2008
"The annual value of television output in English for Wales will have declined by £25 - £30m in real terms between 2006 and 2013, the year before the ITV licence expires". Whose report, out today, says so? The Broadcasting Advisory Group. Who they? There are four members: Huw Jones, former Chief Executive of S4C; Julie Barton, former editor of BBC Radio Wales; Geraint Talfan Davies, former Controller...
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Huw Lewis (Free subscription) | 03/12/2008
It was with deep dismay that I looked over the Trunk Road announcement made by Ieuan Wyn Jones yesterday. There's no surprise that the Minister has been dodging questions on the Heads of the Valleys road for over a year. The answers, when they finally came, were totally unacceptable. In his statement yesterday, the Minister repeated an assertion that the dualling of the A465, a communications link...
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Amlwch to Magor (Free subscription) | 03/12/2008
So the Welsh political blogosphere loses a prominent blogger in Ordovicius . As the most regular poster around it can only be a loss, good luck to him with whatever will now take up all that time. Thankfully the loss of one blogger is offset by the re-gain of another. The Cynical Dragon is back after he realised that retirement isn't all that it's cracked up to be. As one of my favorite blogs I'm glad...
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ffranc sais (Free subscription) | 03/12/2008
Today is the centenary of one of the great twentieth-century novelists. He is described in Clive James's critical note as a popular novelist, which he certainly was, but he also painfully analysed flawed relationships and the flaws in good men. No doubt his day job as an industrial psychologist (possibly the first in the UK) before the second world war informed his best work. James reckoned that Balchin...
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Bevan Foundation Blog (Free subscription) | 03/12/2008
At last, there is some protest about the Government's welfare reform plans - and about time too. Getting people into work is a brilliant idea - the number languishing on benefits in rural and urban areas of Wales alike is shocking. But the acid test is how you do it. The Government's thinking to date - likely to be taken forward even further in the next round of legislation to be announced in the Queen's...
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Welsh Ramblings (Free subscription) | 02/12/2008
I've been sent this message from Cuba's Comrade Fidel Castro: Reflections by comrade Fidel THE GREAT CRISIS OF THE 1930s Although it may sound simple, it is a very difficult subject to explain. The U.S. Federal Reserve system, resulting from a fully developing capitalism, was established in 1913. Salvador Allende, a man we remember as someone of our times, was already 15 years old. The First World...
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BBC NEWS | Betsan Powys' blog (Free subscription) | 02/12/2008
A press release arrives from Welsh Labour: MP's not a "Rubber Stamp" - Jones Welsh Labour's Counsel General, Carwyn Jones has said that Members of Parliament should not be expected to be a rubber stamp when it comes to Legislative Competence Orders. Speaking in response to business questions at the Assembly, CARWYN JONES explained: "The Government of Wales Act allocates a clearly defined role for...
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Borthlas (Free subscription) | 02/12/2008
I was disappointed by the report a few days ago about the Assembly Committee which had been deliberating the question of small rural schools. The conclusion that 'small schools should not be kept open at the expense of a child's education' is unquestionably a case of stating the obvious, and didn't need a six month enquiry to reach. Some politicians have a technique of asking questions in a way which...
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Bevan Foundation Blog (Free subscription) | 02/12/2008
Smoking is the largest single preventable cause of premature death. It is one of the main reasons why poorer people are more likely to die prematurely than well-off people. So, making cigarettes harder to get - especially for children and young people - makes sense if you want to improve health and reduce health inequalities, right? Not if you're Peter Mandelson, who according to reports in the Telegraph...
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Leanne Wood AM/AC (Free subscription) | 02/12/2008
The PCS union has written to First Minister Rhodri Morgan urging him to use his influence to save the HMRC offices in Wales from closure. An announcement is expected on Thursday. Seventy jobs are at risk at Merthyr Tydfil, which is already reeling from potential losses at Hoover. The closure of the HMRC offices there would be disastrous, particularly in these very difficult economic times. A copy of...
