How long has Rhodders got?
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
That's the question I was asked today. And for once I didn't chafe my precious parts sitting on that well-worn pundit's fence. Instead, I leapt tentatively into the 'He'll be gone by autumn' camp.
Predictions are usually wrong in Welsh politics and there are plenty of twists and turns yet. But you'd have to say that, on current form, the rainbowistas look set to make a move, perhaps before the summer's out.
Quite simply, Ieuan Wyn Jones wants it too much. Tactically, it might be better to keep the Labour option open as long as possible to at least make it look like the rainbow was forced to make a move. But at the moment, IWJ's poker face is about as convincing as a Didier Drogba dive.
If it were to go ahead, though, I think one of the biggest changes might be in 'foreign affairs'. I know that isn't exactly part of the assembly's remit, but with a nationalist first minister in Scotland and a sympathetic ear in Northern Ireland, the rainbow would look to put pressure on Westminster as part of an alliance with the other devolved institutions.
This could be anything from stating a view on foreign policy (remember Rhodri's refusal to have a view on Iraq?) to demanding greater representation in negotiations with the European Union. I had a chat with Plaid's Adam Price MP about this yesterday before a programme on Radio Scotland, and he suggested the Celtic clout of the devolved governments would look to work as a pincer movement on Westminster to secure, for example, a better financial settlement.
Alex Salmond has already made calls for the resumption of Joint Ministerial Committees between the devolved institutions, and also 'Council of the Isles' style meetings (including the Republic of Ireland), with the UK government.
Of course, these may go ahead whether Rhodri stays or not, but I imagine a Plaid-led government would be anxious to sign-up and secure added legitimacy for the assembly as a national institution in its own right.
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The latest offering from the sparingly-used poll tool:
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UPDATE: Impeccable timing as ever.
Vaughan Roderick reports that Plaid are set to agree to further talks on a deal with Labour in their meeting this evening.
Labour have apparently offered at least three cabinet positions and firm promises on a referendum on further powers, a commission to review the Barnett formula and a Welsh Language act.
To be updated...
Sources in Plaid say it'll have to be an offer they can't refuse. Could Brown sanction the passage of a referendum through the Houses of Parliament? After all, he can't be keen on the idea of starting his premiership with Labour in opposition in both Scotland and Wales.
Either that, or Ieuan Wyn Jones has finally got control of his poker face. This might just be the smokescreen that enables him to say Labour can't deliver.
Labels: Joint Ministerial Committees, Labour, National Assembly for Wales, Plaid Cymru, politics, Rainbow Coalition, Rhodri Morgan
posted by Blamerbell @ 4:00 pm,
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The deal Plaid left behind
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
More details are emerging of the deal Plaid turned down to concentrate solely on forming a rainbow coalition. It is thought Labour were offering a referendum on a Scottish-style parliament, a review of the Barnett formula AND a new Welsh Language Act (in some form).
I also understand that at the time Plaid voted to sever talks with Labour, Rhodri Morgan's team were perusing the very same document on health reconfiguration which had been submitted to the Lib Dems and the Tories. Even though Labour had earlier rejected the idea of a moratorium on the reconfiguration programme, the four AMs who voted against suspending negotiations clearly thought there was still hope of reaching an agreement on this and other key issues.
Nevertheless, the other Plaid AMs decided that talks were not progressing at a sufficient pace. And yet, had this offer been on the table on May 4th, surely they would have snapped it up?
UPDATE: It seems others within Plaid are contesting this version of events. They say that a Welsh Language Act wasn't on the table, only the watered-down promise of a 'Dyfarnydd' which appeared in Labour's manifesto. They also say that Rhodri Morgan was prepared to offer an assembly vote on a referendum, but stopped short of guaranteeing his members would support it.
Labels: deal, Labour, Plaid Cymru, politics, Rainbow Coalition, Welsh Assembly Election 2007
posted by Blamerbell @ 9:49 am,
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101 ways to prop up a 'failed Labour administration'*
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Peter Black, newly re-elected Lib Dem AM for South Wales West, knows exactly what he is doing.
Yesterday's blog post got the ball rolling. 'It is clear that we now need a fresh approach and a radical re-think,' he wrote. For 'radical re-think' read 'leadership contest,' I responded. He had opportunities to deny this both on my blog and on Radio Wales. He chose not to do so.
And today, he's at it again: 'My instincts are that the Welsh Liberal Democrats do not have to be the deal-makers in this process. We have our own issues to sort out first around where we are going as a party and what sort of image we project to the Welsh public.'
It's now acknowledged that the leaders of Lib Dem councils are not keen on a Lab-Lib pact. Their long-term strategy is based on undermining Labour, not propping it up. In addition, one third of the Lib Dem assembly group have now spoken out against a Labour coalition. OK, so that only adds Eleanor Burnham to the mix (so far), but that's the Lib Dems' fault for only getting six assembly members. When the numbers are this small the fractions are more significant.
These prominent dissenting voices make a coalition with Labour increasingly unlikely. It was also the least preferred option of people quizzed in the little-reported BBC election night poll.
So, where does that leave Welsh governance? Heading towards either a rainbow coalition or a Plaid/Labour agreement, I guess. And as I trawled through the archived articles of the election period, I came across this quotation from Plaid, time and time again: 'We would not go into coalition under a Conservative First Minister and we would not prop up a Labour Government either.'
Only once did a caveat pop up. And it popped up as Ieuan Wyn Jones and Matt Withers were licking the froth off their coffee spoons in Cardiff Bay. 'We wouldn't prop up a Labour government simply by agreeing on minor issues,' said IWJ as a spot of cappucino foam inadvertantly perched itself on the end of his nose.
I would've thought, then, that working out what constitutes a major issue would have been a priority for the new Plaid group as it met for the first time yesterday.
*-100
Labels: coalition, Government, Ieuan Wyn Jones, Labour, Peter Black, Plaid Cymru, politics, Welsh Assembly Election 2007, Welsh Liberal Democrats
posted by Blamerbell @ 12:53 pm,
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Four days to go and...
Monday, April 30, 2007
Lib Dem leader Mike German is in Aberystwyth again. He might as well buy a second home there. That'll please Elin Jones. Still, he might need somewhere to lie low on election night. Can you really see Plaid making the same mistake twice?
Labour say it's all about partnership. Peter Hain and Rhodri Morgan are going to comb each other's hair for the press sometime this afternoon. Activists will be choking on their clear red water.
Plaid Cymru have finally persuaded some chap called Eurfyl ap Gwilym to come down from London to take the flak over their finance programme. Expect Labour and the Tories to sling the mud with venom. I fear for poor Eurfyl it's going to be like trying to volley it away with a tennis racket - much of it is going to splatter over the brave little soldier's face. And why do Plaid need to 'call in' an expert anyway? Can't any of their AMs do sums?
And the Tories have brought in a notorious vote winner to help them with the final push. Unfortunately, he wasn't available so they've got Michael Howard instead.
1540 UPDATE: Just one measly sentence on the Welsh elections in the Guardian today. "Polls in Wales suggest Labour will remain the largest party but it is struggling to maintain its majority in the assembly." One measly sentence, and even that is bollocks.
Also, further proof that it's more exciting in Scotland. The Web 2.0 generation has politicised facebook by changing profile pictures to election slogans and writing political graffiti on friends' walls. More from Luke Pollard.
Labels: Elin Jones, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Peter Hain, Plaid Cymru, Rhodri Morgan, Tories, Welsh Assembly Election 2007
posted by Blamerbell @ 10:48 am,
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Deal or no deal?
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Right, that’s the day over. Time to reflect. (For background see HERE)
My initial reaction to this story was that we could nit pick our way out of it. What’s the difference between a deal and a coalition, I wondered. Isn't this just a story about semantics? Some blogs and news bulletins evidently wondered this too, because that's also the line they took.
But if we go back to Labour’s denial, what they say is that “this story is rubbish from start to finish”.
So, is it?
Is it rubbish that senior labour politicians (note that the report calls them politicians and not sources) are understood by the BBC to be “prepared to make major policy concessions in return for the party's support in votes of confidence and on issues such as the assembly budget”?
Is it rubbish that “prominent Labour figures have said they are considering a deal with Plaid”?
Is it? Is it? Eh?
If it is rubbish, then someone has made it up. Surely Labour aren’t accusing the BBC of that?
But let’s imagine it isn’t rubbish. The sound of cava/asti/lambrusco corks popping/unscrewing echoed around Ty Gwynfor today (they’re saving the good stuff for election night). Plaid think Labour are in meltdown. And they’re optimistic. This sort of ‘deal’ would see their programme of government implemented. They almost seem proud that they wouldn’t get any cabinet ministers.
But what would be the point of a deal like that? If Plaid argue that the current administration is incompetent – why keep it in power? And if Plaid value their seven election pledges so much – why trust a Labour government they so frequently decry to implement them? Why forfeit the chance to have real influence?
As far as tactics go, this is akin to political castration. Some very senior figures favour this sort of ‘agreement’ with Labour, but I’m not entirely sure that anyone is looking that far ahead. For the time being, it is serving a much more important purpose in electoral strategy: it undermines the Vote Plaid Get Tory line, it forces Labour into coalition territory (rather than talking about earning a majority) and it draws out the divides between the nationalists and unionists in the Labour party.
This may be talk best saved for May 4th. But it’s having an impact now.
UPDATE: I didn't hear Good Evening Wales (helpfully transcribed by Ted Jones), but apparently your mammoth debate in the comments section of my previous post got a mention from Labour's devilishly loyal Merthyr AM Huw Lewis:
"We have been upended in our campaign today by this individual or individuals. That combined actually with very damaging internet speculation which is going on at the moment I think has been a bad day for Labour and it needn't have been…"
I hope you're proud of yourselves!
Labels: coalition, Labour, Plaid Cymru, Welsh Assembly Election 2007
posted by Blamerbell @ 7:01 pm,
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Kick Labour into touch?
Plaid Cymru are going to need some new posters.
1230 UPDATE: This is fast turning into a game of semantics. Just the sort of thing that will turn ordinary people off as much as it turns us anoraks on.
Labour rule out a coalition with Plaid, who in turn rule out 'propping up' Labour. But that doesn't rule out an 'agreement'. Which is just what Labour are accusing Plaid of patching together with the Tories. At least nobody now has the moral high ground on making amorous advances. They're all at it.
1245 UPDATE: Have talks, official or otherwise, already taken place?
1345 UPDATE: Leighton Andrews insists the source is not a senior figure: "The BBC may have found someone in the Labour Party to say what the BBC is reporting - but they are certainly not anyone with any authority to say anything about Welsh Labour strategy pre- or post-election." But the BBC's Vaughan Roderick claims it is someone 'high up in the party'. It's hardly surprising that Labour's unionist wing are issuing such strenuous denials. But what about the so-called nationalists in the Welsh Labour camp?
Labels: coalition, Labour, Plaid Cymru, Welsh Assembly Election 2007
posted by Blamerbell @ 8:57 am,
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Why won't Labour make Welsh an official language?
Monday, April 16, 2007
The Conservatives, Plaid and the Lib Dems all agree: Welsh should be an official language. It's there in black and white in each manifesto.
As it stands, Welsh is already a 'Language of Government' in Wales, but it does not have official language status (even though Jane Davidson seems to think that it does).
This matters because Welsh, at present, doesn't really exist. Despite being spoken by a now sizable proportion of the nation, Welsh lags way behind other minority languages in Europe. Irish is an official European language, while Basque, Catalan and Galician are 'approved' European languages. This means that EU correspondence and speeches can be translated into these languages if notice is given.
Meanwhile, Welsh has no such recognition. It is possible for MEPs to make speeches in Welsh in the European parliament, but they won't be translated so what's the point? It may amuse the Italians to see the remnants of Glenys Kinnock's lunch spat out in a mouthful of complex consonants, but it will achieve very little.
The opposition parties argue that earning official language status would go some way to putting Welsh on a par with other minority languages in Europe. Labour's manifesto appears to disagree.
Labels: European Union, Labour, Official language, Welsh, Welsh Assembly Election 2007
posted by Blamerbell @ 8:27 am,
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What's Alun Pugh doing to that cute little puppy?
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Labour candidate Alun Pugh's most treasured possession must be his computer. His second most treasured possession must be his digital camera. The two come together to produce THIS: probably the best constituency blog in the assembly. It's not the most invigorating of reads - Alun Pugh picks up litter, Alun Pugh smiles at passing child, Alun Pugh holds up an Alun Pugh poster and thinks about the tautology of his digital achievement... - but it serves its purpose and it demonstrates a level of commitment that would make most politicians squirm as they head towards the nearest airport departure lounge.
Consequently, Alun Pugh provides much caption competition material. So, exactly what is he doing to that cute little puppy?
Labels: Alun Pugh, campaigning, cute puppy, Labour, Welsh Assembly Election 2007
posted by Blamerbell @ 8:20 am,
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Thanks, it's just what I've always wanted
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
With the Lib Dem manifesto appearing tomorrow - and Labour due to release theirs not long after that - the key battlegrounds for the assembly elections are starting to emerge. Top of the list is the Santa clause: who can steal your vote with the most enticing candy?
The choice so far is between a laptop, a light bulb and a toothbrush.
I wonder what Labour has up its sleeve - pack of fags, bag of crisps?
Labels: Labour, laptop, light bulbs, Plaid Cymru, toothbrush, Welsh Assembly Election 2007, Welsh Conservatives, Welsh Liberal Democrats
posted by Blamerbell @ 1:48 pm,
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The race to 'save' our hospitals
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Labour launches its North Wales manifesto in Old Colwyn today with great fanfare and eleven pledges.
Pledge number one: "Guarantee the future of Llandudno Hospital."
So, is this the end of the long-running saga which has already begun to dominate the campaign in the marginal seat of Aberconwy?
Well, it might be, if it were clear what the pledge actually means. Llandudno hospital has long been earmarked to lose acute medical and coronary care services and in-patient breast surgery services. It is a hospital threatened not, as I understand it, with closure, but with downgrading.
This downgrading is the result of a document called 'Designed for North Wales' which claims to set out the health service framework for the next 20 years. It is a document which, in plenary as recently as 21 March this year, the Health Minister claimed to support:
"The key priorities for North Wales are in line with 'Designed to Deliver', and are the outcome of the document 'Designed for North Wales'. That document proposed a consolidation of mainline hospital services at the three main district general hospitals in north Wales, and at Llandudno General Hospital, along with the provision of new hospitals at Porthmadog and Holywell."
So, one reading of today's pledge might be that it actually backs up what the government has been saying all along. Llandudno hospital may have a future, but there's nothing in Labour's pledge to suggest that future won't be in line with the approved framework; the very same plans which have caused so much unrest.
UPDATE: Health Minister Brian Gibbons has since added that "Plaid Cymru's constant refrain that Llandudno Hospital, the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, Withybush Hospital, Glangwili, Prince Phillip and even Prince Charles hospital are facing closure or downgrading is irresponsible and most importantly completely untrue." I'm sure we'll get further clarification later, but at this moment it seems difficult to marry the position of Brian Gibbons on April 3rd with his position two weeks earlier.
Labels: Aberconwy, Brian Gibbons, Designed for North Wales, Labour, Llandudno hospital, reconfiguration
posted by Blamerbell @ 12:04 am,
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Accentuating the negative: officially unofficial
Monday, March 26, 2007
So far in this election campaign, Plaid have gone all out on three campaign drives. The seven policies for 2007 (three more than some of their candidates could remember on the Politics Show yesterday), and two attacks on Labour. Never mind the 2:1 ratio, Plaid are now a righteous bunch emphasising positive politics. That, at least, is what we are supposed to write.But a new 'unofficial Plaid Cymru supporting broadcast', which uses the Plaid Cymru logo and campaigning literature from ex-leader Dafydd Wigley, makes a beeline for the negative and more specifically for Labour's goolies. Using the innovative method of cutting from text-heavy graphics to snippets of online articles, the saving grace for Labour is that only THIS man (world's fastest reader for those not wanting to click on the link) will be able to understand it.
But you'd be hard pushed to know the video isn't straight out of Plaid's head office. The disclaimer comes at the very end, and even then in blurred italicised writing which goes on to link to the official Plaid Cymru website in any case.
There's no suggestion, of course, that Plaid are responsible for this ad, or that they were aware of it. But with social networking sites and blogs backing up parties' official campaigns, it will become increasingly difficult to distinguish top-down party lines from the bottom-up will of their backers.
Labels: attack ad, Labour, Plaid Cymru, politics, Welsh Assembly Election 2007, YouTube
posted by Blamerbell @ 10:41 am,
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Ieuan Wyn Jones is a 'weak daffodil'
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Labour's press people revealed today that they aren't just au fait with YouTube, they're a whizz at photoshop too.So, they've turned Ieuan Wyn Jones into a sort of Tory tree monster, intended to symbolise the fact that Plaid have apparently voted over 400 times with the Conservatives in the Assembly.
This is the latest attempt by Labour to re-ignite the 'Vote Plaid get Tory' mantra, despite recent assertions by the nationalists that they hoped would not only have knocked the nail on its head, but knocked it right through into the eyes of any opportunistic Tories.
But Labour remain undeterred, if slightly lacking in imagination. The line is supposed to be that 'Ieuan Wyn Jones is a weak daffodil', whatever that is. But given Plaid's new image, surely 'floppy poppy' would have made for a more resonant metaphor. At the very best they've made him look like one of those tree people from Lord of the Rings.
Plaid start their conference tomorrow and have the opportunity to kill the VPGT rumours once and for all. If they dare.
Labels: attack ad, Ieuan Wyn Jones, Labour, Plaid Cymru, Rainbow Coalition, Tories, weak daffodil
posted by Blamerbell @ 10:37 am,
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Who's dreaming of more devolution?
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
It's 2011. Thanks to a campaign boosted by the internet and the huge popularity of his blog, Huw Lewis is First Minister of Wales.
Helen Mary Jones has bought a new scarf each day for the past decade and now has enough to be able to tie a double ribbon around the axis of the earth. She's also in charge of Plaid after Ieuan Wyn Jones started a sponsored walk without knowing where he was going. Somewhere, out there, he's still walking.
Kirsty Williams leads the Lib Dem team in the assembly and Lembit Opik is a judge on X-Factor.
Nick Bourne retired a millionaire after his shares in an energy efficient light bulb factory paid huge dividends and the Tories are resurgent under the direction of that chubby young councillor chap.
And Wales is preparing for a referendum on giving the assembly law-making powers. That's (sort of) the view of John Osmond, director of the Institute of Welsh Affairs.
But is it the view of the politicians? Plaid would be up for it, the Tories have hinted they'd go that way and Labour and the Lib Dems... well, who knows? Surely, though, this is a matter to clear up right now? If the parties are even contemplating a referendum on further devolution sometime before the next next election, they must say so. After all, 2011 might be some time away, but a vote now may very much determine what happens then.
Labels: Assembly Election 2007, devolution, Labour, Plaid Cymru, politics, referendum, Welsh John Osmond, Welsh Liberal Democrats
posted by Blamerbell @ 10:53 am,
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Does Labour's attack ad break the law? #2
Monday, March 05, 2007
The backstory: Labour release attack ad on the net. Ad contains the famous Redwood failing to sing anthem footage. Does the Labour party breach copyright?
The juice: I have it on good authority that Labour haven't received permission to use the Redwood pictures. YouTube policy states that videos which infringe copyright should be taken down.
Labels: attack ad, Copyright, Labour, Welsh Conservatives, YouTube
posted by Blamerbell @ 1:16 pm,
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Does Labour's attack ad break the law?
Friday, March 02, 2007
Welsh Labour took to the blogs yesterday to promote their internet-only party political broadcast attack on the Tories. Huw Lewis, Leighton Andrews and Rob Newman all proudly linked to the ad, though it still wasn't enough to rouse Carl Sargeant from a four month blogging exile.
The video itself is pretty naff: a collage of Tory scare stories from another era flanked by those famous images of John Redwood failing to sing the national anthem. But who owns them? The Redwood footage looks like it's been lifted from another YouTube video, possibly the one you can see HERE. But who really owns that? Not the Labour party, I imagine.
Of course, people rip and burn on the internet all the time. But then, we aren't the party of government: representatives who are elected to make laws, not break them.
Perhaps Labour actually secured the copyright owner's permission to distribute. If not, they are contravening section 17 of the Copyright Act 1988 and there's a case to answer.
Labels: attack ad, Copyright, Labour, party political broadcast, politics, Welsh Assembly Election 2007, YouTube
posted by Blamerbell @ 12:52 pm,
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The sentencing of Sargeant
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Since that 'interesting week' of November 8th, Carl Sargeant AM has been more sleeping policeman than active blogger.
Last week, the charges against Sargeant were laid down.
He stood accused of the blogging crime known as ABH - that of being Absolutely Bloody Hopeless.
Not even a recent provocative post from Glyn Davies AM could rouse him from his lethargy.
The good people of Alyn and Deeside must by now be on tenterhooks, wondering whether Carl's life was also 'interesting' in November 15th, or any week subsequently.
But the Sargeant has banished his blog to solitary confinement.
And so, this Brief hearing finds Sargeant guilty of copping out on his commitment to the blogosphere, and by extension to his constituents.
He will be removed from the blogroll until such a time as he can find a gullible enough researcher/work experience kid to get his blog up and running again.
Labels: Alyn and Deeside, blog, Carl Sargeant, Labour
posted by Blamerbell @ 10:53 am,
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Carwyn Jones blogs
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Carwyn 'I'm the next First Minister Jones' has a blog.
I was talking to someone at Welsh Assembly Communications last week and not even they were aware of this.
Unfortunately, Carwyn blogs from the Alun Pugh school of tedium rather than the Glyn Davies school of controversy.
Yesterday, for example he blogged on the 'Warmer, Safer Homes Surgery'.
Yawn.
Labels: blog, blogging, Carwyn Jones, Environment Minister, Labour
posted by Blamerbell @ 9:12 am,
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A Plaid and Labour love in?
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Plaid's deputy leader Rhodri Glyn Thomas:
I believe a good working majority means at least 34 votes. If Labour were in coalition with Plaid after the election, it is possible that we could have 40 seats between us. But there would certainly be at least 34, freeing up Ministers to do their jobs without the handicap of being tied in to the Assembly for most of the week.
Perhaps they should just join forces *before* the election and be done with it. Anything else is just cheating Welsh voters, isn't it?
Labels: coalition, Labour, Plaid Cymru, Welsh Assembly Election 2007
posted by Blamerbell @ 10:05 am,
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What's your favourite Assembly achievement?
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
That's the question Labour are asking today, ahead of their "achievements document" to be launched on Friday. I suspect some readers of this blog will say it's likely to be quite a thin thesis.
Here are some handy hints from the Labour press office:
Is it your free bus pass, a community
centre which has been given a new lease of life thanks to Assembly
Government investment, or perhaps you've benefited from an initiative to
make Welsh homes more energy efficient.
Err, well none of those things really apply to me. In fact, all the Assembly has ever done is remind me quite how much I paid for everything when I lived in England: tuition fees, dentist costs, prescription charges...
So, what's my favourite Assembly achievement?
Certainly not the website, which is about as easy to navigate as the back-end of a pantomime horse.
My sense is, quite honestly, that as the Assembly and those inside it grow and mature, the best is yet to come. [Cue titles]
Labels: Achievements, Labour, website, Welsh Assembly
posted by Blamerbell @ 9:07 pm,
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Jagshemash! Borat and Welsh party funding
Later today Plaid launch their election campaign. So far they haven't launched anything except a vitriolic attack on Labour. Plaid are trying to hit Labour where it hurts: at the coalface.
Labour, historically the party of miners, accepted a £2m donation from mining and steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal just last week. Back in 2001, Tony Blair got into all sorts of trouble for allegedly intervening in a contractual issue on Mittal's behalf. This week, it has emerged Blair will consider honouring Mittal - Britain's richest man. Someone should tell Mr Blair that courting more honours controversy at this moment is about as sensible as Jade Goody putting a pillowcase on her head and dancing around her garden.
So, what's all this got to do with Borat and Wales? Well, Plaid are asking Welsh Labour to promise not to spend a penny of Mittal's money on their election campaign. Why? Because Wales still cares about mining, even if Thatcher put a stop to it, and Mittal is blamed for miners' deaths in Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Dariga Nazarbaeva, the Kazakh President's daughter and powerful media tycoon, is said to hold Mittal responsible for the deaths of 80 Kazakh coal miners in the past three years.
Could Labour possibly get away with funding an election campaign on the blood of dead miners? No, well not if they died in Aberavon. But they didn't, and so far there's no proof of Mittal's culpability anyway. Plaid have got their headline and that will probably be the end of it. Unless they can persuade Borat to endorse them...
Labels: Borat, cash for honours, donation, Labour, Mittal, party funding, Plaid Cymru, Tony Blair
posted by Blamerbell @ 7:25 am,
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