Matt Withers: ignorant, thoughtless poison
Friday, February 09, 2007
That's the verdict of Merthyr AM Huw Lewis.
Huw grew up in Aberfan and is very proud to have secured £2m for the upkeep of the graveyard which commemorates victims of the terrible tragedy of four decades ago.
But Matt Withers, from the Wales on Sunday, suggested there may have been an ulterior motive for the donation:
In September, Wales on Sunday reported how survivors were being forced to apply for Lotto money to pay for the upkeep of the graves. On the eve of the 40th anniversary of Wales' worst disaster, it emerged villagers needed £60,000 to preserve the cemetery for future generations.
... This year - and three months before the nation goes to the polls - the Assembly Government suddenly found a spare £2m for the village to offer as "final closure" for the tragedy.
Sometimes you need the light of an imminent election to make things seem a bit clearer.
Today, Huw Lewis issued a scathing response on his blog:
This is not a journalist being cynical or street savvy. Its just ignorant, thoughtless poison... If you see evil in people trying their hardest to do the right thing, its time to be asking questions of yourself, not the politicians.
So, thoughtless poison or cynical electioneering? The journalist in me is in serious conflict with my Merthyr roots on this one. It's highly likely that Labour have a pot of cash set back for election sweetners. But I'd like to think that it would be kept a million miles from an issue as sensitive as Aberfan.
Labels: Aberfan, election sweetner, Huw Lewis, Matt Withers, Wales on Sunday, Welsh Assembly Election 2007
posted by Blamerbell @ 9:31 pm,
2 Comments:
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At 10:30 pm,
Ted Jones said...
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If Huw Lewis was so concerned about 'the right thing' he would never have had anything to do with the party that forced the people of Aberfan to use their own disaster fund to move the tip that caused the disaster.
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At 4:04 pm,
Ian James Johnson said...
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Sadly, it's a marker of the cynicism that has become commonplace in politics that we can't help but speculate that the two are linked.
We'd all like to think they're not, but we've been poisoned by a generation of political spin and politicians that have sold out on their principles for a cheesy smile and a photo opportunity.
