Wales And The World

          Suddenly – or so it seems – the land of Wales is being noticed throughout the world.

          This week, the Pontcysyllte aqueduct was declared a World Heritage Site, which puts it into the same category as Stonehenge and the Taj Mahal.

          It will bring tourists to our land, and give the world a greater appreciation of our nation.   I’m pretty sure that Thomas Telford and his pal William Jessop had no idea what their construction would do for Wales two hundred years on!   But thanks, lads!

          Also this week, Wales and its culture has been at the forefront of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC.   In a Radio Wales news report, some of our cousins in the States told of their Welsh roots.   Welsh people settled in great numbers in places like Ohio, for instance -  even though Welsh emigrations are hardly known compared with those of the Irish and Scots.

Of course, all of those mass emigrations were made by economic migrants.   But, though there are Scottish and Irish celebrations all over the States every year, there seem to be no Welsh ones.   The question must be asked – “Why?”

Even Mother England Notices

          On BBC Radio 4 the other evening, our own Sian Pari Huws, an excellent broadcaster, presented a programme about Rhayader, Powys.

If you’ve never been there, it’s a lovely place to visit:  one of those warm, cheery, walk-round-in-half-an-hour little towns of which we in Wales are proud.

Sian discovered that Rhayader has lots of charitable people who volunteer to help out many good causes.    To present such a programme to the entire population of these Isles on a radio station based firmly in London must have educated folk to the fact that Wales still has that elusive quality “community”.

Well done, Sian;  and well done BBC!

Democracy And Open Government

          Our Senedd has published, online and for all to see, the expenses claimed by our AMs.   I have checked the claims of my local AM, and they seem to be on the modest side.

          But you need to check your own AM’s expenses!   We must keep an eye on our elected representatives in Cardiff Bay, and ensure they don’t end up in a cheating fiasco like the Westminster crew.  So have a look at http://www.assemblywales.org/allowances

Great Joy!

This very week, we celebrated – and how! – the fortieth anniversary of the investiture of Charles Windsor as “Prince of Wales”.   Street-parties abounded, there were festivals all over Wales, and thousands of our people sent congratulatory greetings to Charles on his wonderful achievement all those years ago . . .

Er . . . hang on . . . sorry – I dozed off while watching film clips of the investiture.   Had the Media not mentioned the anniversary, I reckon very few of us would have noticed it.

Indeed, I have never met anyone who lived in Wales at that time who voted for Charles to be their Prince.   Such is the nature of democracy, I suppose!

The clips showed his Mam wearing a funny hat, him wearing a crown, and both of them using an outdated and strange form of the English language.   The ceremony was then, and is now, an outdated form of whatever it is a form of.

We in Wales would like to choose our own leaders, thank you very much.   All Charles Windsor did to get the job was to be born.

Archie Lowe

Motoring & Motorists

          Sir Stirling Moss knows a thing or two about driving.   Many of my older readers will recall what a hero he was when he became World Champion Racing Driver way back when.

          Sir Stirling is in his eighties now, but he’s still as sharp as ever.   He reckons – and not without just cause, let me say – that older drivers should have to pass a driving-test at regular intervals, rather than have them on the roads when they have not realised that their reactions are impaired.   I think it was on Radio Wales where I heard him interviewed on the matter.

          The interviewer asked what age rendered a driver “older”, and suggested that it was at Sir Stirling’s present age.

          The old hero remarked that he would prefer such regular tests to start much younger than that.   And, as someone who is aging rapidly and who drives round the highways and by-ways of Wales a fair amount, I agree totally.

          Sixty, perhaps, would be a good age to have to go through a driving-test.   The next one could be at sixty-five, then every year until the driver was seventy.   Perhaps, after that, the tests should be more frequent.

          If, however, this rule were to become law, there would, of course, have to be an exception.   Those of you who drive regularly (or even occasionally) through West Wales would agree that every driver in Tregaron must re-take her or his test every month!   No-one who has driven through or even near that perky little town needs to ask why . . .

The Stress Of Uncertainty

          For many weekends now, I have commented on the way The Slump is affecting ordinary working-people.   It’s important to mention such things as they dominate the news.

          We have lost a lot of Welsh jobs since this Slump began.   And we all commiserate with those who are thrown out of work.   I know from speaking with such people that there is often a feeling of worthlessness which comes to them.

          We have been conditioned to use the word “redundancy” by Those-Who-Know-What’s-Best-For-Us for about half-a-century.   It’s use began as a linguistic weasel-word to cushion the blow of getting the sack.

          But what of those who have the threat of “possible redundancy” hanging over them.   Often, the bosses filter the information that “there may be redundancies” well in advance of putting their plans into action.   That way, a lot of workers will start looking for alternative employment.   Some will find a new job.   And those who do will not have to be paid redundancy-payments!

          Good trick, innit?

          But one must remember that those who work under the threat of redundancy suffer the stress of uncertainty;  it leads – more often than any governmental body will admit – to depressive illness.

          Oh – and after using the above-mentioned ploy for a while, Corus has announced a lot of redundancies this week.

O, Ye Of Little Sense!

          A “committed Christian” up in North Wales – Barmouth, I think – has described homosexuality as a “disability”.   The gentleman is a local politician, too,

          It amazes me that there are people whose personal belief-systems rule out the possibility of there being any alternative to those beliefs.   We do not like religious fanatics doing anti-social things like becoming suicide-bombers.   But we seem to tolerate them if they wear dog-collars and rant about things which they do not appear to understand.

          If the Christian God made humankind “in His own image” – as I’m sure our North Walian friend believes – then why did he make me heterosexual and some of my friends homosexual?   Is the Christian God bi-sexual, perhaps?

          Mind you, surely this Christian bloke should have quoted Romans, Chapter 1, verses 26 and 27 – and let the rest of us make up our own minds on what that bit of scripture means . . .

Archie Lowe

archie.lowe@laughingdragons.co.uk

Our Brave Boys

          If you’re a soldier and want a living, breathing mascot for your regiment, don’t choose a wild goat from the wilderness of the Great Orme.

          When their old mascot wore out, lads from the Welsh Regiment were sent on a mission to invade the Great Orme and take a prisoner.

          After they’d performed, in the prescribed military manner, their duty to God and the Queen, they reported that the goats “turned a bit nasty”.   The little devils – the goats, not the soldiers – tried to avoid capture.   What a surprise.

          Anyone who has looked into the eyes of a goat – Welsh or otherwise – will know that these are mad animals which can cast evil spells on every human being, military or civilian.

Anglesey – Again!

          Firstly, Sir Fon was said to be as poor as any part of Poland.

          Now, the aluminium company up there is playing tricks on its workforce.

          The financial difficulties of the good people on the island were explained away by some radio pundit who said:  “Ah, yes – but many farmers in Anglesey receive subsidies.”   So that’s alright then.

          And the bosses of Anglesey Aluminium have said that, if the electricity suppliers don’t offer ‘em cheap power for the next year, the factory will close this September.   However – stand by to cheer – they’ve come up with a plan to build their own generators!   However . . . if they decide to build those generators . . . they won’t be ready to roll (or whatever generators do) until next April.   It’s all in the mind, you know.

How The Baddies Win

          I spoke with a Welsh politician this week.   He is a member of his local County Council, and goes under the banner of being an “Independent”.

          He told me he believed in common-sense politics, and he supports any project which will benefit the community he represents.

          And he believes – as most of us who’ve thought about it believe – that he knows the reason why the British Nazi Party gets so many votes.       It’s that all the major parties have moved so deep into the political Centre that they all seem the same.   They do not stand up and say what they believe.

          The voters appreciate any group of politicians – evil or otherwise – who appear to have principles.

          He mentioned Dennis Skinner, Tony Benn, Margaret Thatcher and Michael Heseltine.

          “Love ‘em or loathe ‘em,” he said, “they were people with principles.   And they let the voters know what those principles were.”

          Diolch, Ifan.

What IS Welshness?

          Wrexham, it seems, is not Welsh enough.   There’s even a protest movement there which is dedicated to making it “more Welsh”.

          So, again, I ask what are the signs of “being Welsh”?

          The best reply will be published in this column, and the writer will receive the Order of the Red Dragon, of course.

Archie Lowe

archie.lowe@laughingdragons.co.uk

          Listening to BBC Radio Three last Sunday, I had an interesting surprise.   The station’s “Poem For The Day” was written and read by Gillian Clarke, one of Wales’s many talented writers.

          The very English-sounding announcer in London explained what the poem was about before Gillian read it.   He told listeners that it was about The Welsh Not, a stick which was hung from a school-child’s neck for speaking a word of Welsh.   And that was all.

          He did not mention that the child could rid her- or himself of that stick if she or he could catch a fellow pupil speaking just one word of Welsh, and pass the stick on to that “culprit”.

          He did not mention that the child around whose neck the stick was at the end of that school day would be punished by being beaten with it.

          He did not mention that the system was instigated in order to stamp out the Welsh language, nor how divisive it was within our communities.

          We have had an apology for the enslaving of Africans.   But the small, almost ignored and often forgotten cruelties remain.

          Gillian’s poem, ‘Not’, was well-written, well-read and lovely.   We must thank her for remembering.

A Serious Warning

          Wales is a very cosmopolitan country.   Over the years, a lot of people from other lands – including myself - have settled here.   And we all seem to get along quite nicely.

          We must keep our nation that way.

          That is why I’m publishing a piece written by a friend of mine this week, and which is not only a warning to we who have the privilege of living in Wales, but to all thinking folk.

          Should you feel like replying to what you read, please do so via me, bearing in mind the proviso that your comments may be published in my ‘Weekend Wales-Watch’ column.

“There’s a mail going the rounds which pretends to be from someone who wants we who class ourselves as “White” to have equal rights to “be White and proud of it”.   This, the mail implies, would give “us” equality with people of other races who can claim to be proud of being Black or Asian or whatever.

          The mail originated in the USA, and it was written after the advice to White Supremacists that they’d gain more credibility – and therefore more votes – if they played up the greatness of being White rather than encouraging the gullible to hate other races.   That advice came in speech in one of the Southern States to a bunch of White Supremacists by the leader of the British Nazi Party.   Must be good advice – lots of BNP voters believe the BNP is not racist, just pro-British.

          There’s another White Supremacist mail going the rounds, and which I’ve received from more than one source.   It’s about a “woman in a Burkha in a supermarket queue”, and has much similarity of sentiment to the one I mention above.   The incident it mentions is claimed to have happened recently.

          It did not happen recently.    It did not happen at all.

          The clue to it not being a recent incident is the reference to the Muslim lady wanting an end to a current military invasion of her land.   That is not a recent event.   Another clue to its fraud is that the checkout girl is wearing “an English flag badge”.   Nobody in these Isles would wear such a badge if they were supporting our troops in the Middle-East:  the flag would be the Union Jack.   So, obviously, the mail is a translation from the original U.S. language.

          Sorry to rant on in this serious and solemn way, folks:  just wanted to tell you that, if you get a forward of those mails, they ain’t what they seem.   There are – or will be – other mails going the rounds in similar racist vein.    Don’t even think about forwarding ‘em to me!!!

          It may be that, mistakenly, you have forwarded one or even both of these mails to your friends.   I know you did not do it to spread racism.   However, might it not be an idea to forward what I write here to each of those friends to explain the facts about them . . .?”

And, on that serious note, I will leave you to your thoughts on Wales and the World for this week.

Archie Lowe

          It’s becoming increasing obvious that the mythical land called “Englandnwales” is disappearing.

          A difference between the two seemingly joined-at-the-hip nations was highlighted this week.   Did you know that £500 a year more government money is spent on schoolchildren in England that on ours in Wales?

          We’re talking about Westminster money here.   And yet, lots of Westminster’s money comes out of the pockets of we in Wales.   So, as the Westminster gang fail our schoolkids so blatantly, should we not see their inaction as viewing Englandnwales as separate places?   And should we not be denying Westminster our contributions if England is benefiting from our money and Wales is not?

The Writing On The Wall

          On display in Pembroke Castle is a wall-chart.   It’s cheerfully colourful and depicts “Kings & Queens of England”.

          That’s fair enough.   A bit of foreign history does nobody any harm.

          Or is it there to irritate people like me who know darned well that those Kings & Queens also claimed – and still claim – to be Kings & Queens of Wales?

          Or is it there to illustrate that those Kings & Queens were never, ever Kings & Queens of Wales?

          Another indication that Wales is a free and independent nation, perhaps!

All Over Bar The Shouting

          Well, we either went and put our crosses on our ballot-papers on Thursday, or we spoiled them to show that we were not apathetic but fed up of politicians in general.

          We feel – and those feelings grow daily with the revelations of the twisted ways of British politicians – that we cannot trust anyone we are asked to elect.

          This week, I spoke with a Welsh MP who is as disgusted with what the free press has revealed about so many of his Westminster colleagues.   I believe him to be a non-fiddler and as honest a man as one would with to meet.

          He is not alone in his honesty.   Alas, though, with so many rotten apples in Westminster, we – the public – are rightly disillusioned.

          Therefore, we must seek out our representatives, get to know them, and convince ourselves of their moral decency.   Here in Wales, that is far easier to do than in England.

          There was a superb interview on Radio Wales this morning, too.   Tony Benn – someone who has proved himself as a man of principle over a long period of time – was talking about what ordinary people are really bothered about when it comes to how the UK is being run.

          He pointed out that you and I are really interested in day-to-day living:  the cost of food, education for our kids, repossession of our homes, bringing our lads back from Afghanistan, and all those things than is what Westminster is telling us are the important issues.

          So that’s two straight politicians you know about now.   There are many, many more.   Seek ‘em out.   Become involved in politics.   Rage against the dying of the leadership light.   And work together locally to continue and protect the neighbourliness and caring of our communities.

Archie Lowe

archie.lowe@laughingdragons.co.uk

          It was on BBC Radio Four.   The young lady presenting the programme was visiting various World Heritage Sites.   Her pronunciation was Standard Received English.    She visited a site at a place she called “Blen Arvon” before going abroad – to India, I think.

          At Blen Arvon, there appears to be a Heritage Site called Big Pit.   There couldn’t be two of ‘em, could there?

          The BBC has a department which explains to presenters how to say certain non-English words.   Presenters refer to that department when having to mention “foreign” names, etcetera.

          Why, then, was the lady not instructed on the pronunciation of Welsh place-names?   And, if we in Wales can manage to pronounce Wolverhampton and Manchester with no difficulties, why can’t those who live East of Offa’s Dyke pronounce Welsh place-names?

          Are not Welsh place-names – and, indeed, the Welsh language – part of World Heritage?

Shocking News

          I am almost sure that I heard, whilst driving through mountain country (where the FM signal is always dodgy), that our glorious Senedd is debating electric dog-collars.

          How would they work?   Would they light up when a potential convert was in the vicinity?   Would their lights be of different colours to denote to which their wearer was committed?   Would they administer a severe shock when a minister preached false doctrine?

          I’m sure that, with a good and hairy Welshman as Archbishop of Canterbury, the whole issue can be solved by hours of debate at a C. of E. Conclave (or whatever thy call ‘em);  then the whole ecumenical movement could chip in their two-pen’orth and everyone would be happy.

          The only question now remaining, then, is why do Christian minister wear such outdated clothing when their founder seems to have worn the ordinary clothing of his time and culture . . . ?

South Wales Is Still Evolving

          A strange new creature was discovered near Caerphilly a couple of years ago.   And others have been found since in other parts of South Wales, including Swansea.

          It’s called Selenochlamysysbrada, just for your information, but you can call it a Ghost Slug.   Now it has been confirmed that Seleno . . . the Ghost Slug is a completely new species.

          So it looks as if Mother Nature still allows Darwinian evolutionary events, despite so many dog-collar wearers still remaining in denial.

Archie Lowe

Quick Thinking

          I rarely compliment politicians.   But on Monday I was impressed with MP Paul Flynn.

          On Monday, Mr. Flynn was being interviewed on “Good Morning, Wales” about the on-going saga about MPs fiddling their expenses.   The word “transparency” came up, of course.

          Mr. Flynn complimented Radio Wales on its open and transparent way of presenting facts.   Interviewer Rhun ap Iorwerth thanked him.   Then Mr. Flynn asked him to tell the nation how much the BBC paid him.

          What a way to stagger an interviewer!   Needless to say, ap Iorwerth did not reveal the magnitude of his salary . . .

Vox Populli?

          In my recent travels, I hauled up at The Creative Café in Narberth.   I’m a born listener – on busses, on the train, in the streets of Wales.

          The chat between two of the people there – it was not a crowded hour – was about (you’ve guessed it!) the machinations of politicians.   I find this sort of discussion all over Wales these days.   People are confused by the seeming personal dishonesty of our elected representatives.   And those people simply do not know what to do to stop that dishonesty.

          I sort of wandered into the conversation.   It surprised me to find how far to the Left ordinary people seem to have become recently!   Yes, it seemed that way during the Thatcher regime, but isn’t our present government supposed to be Leftists themselves . . . ?!

          The topic of “what can we do now we’re disillusioned” came up.   And a second surprise came my way:  the chatting pair decided that the disillusioned should not simply stay away from the Polling Stations.   That would show apathy (which is what the politicos seem to want).

          It was felt – and I have come across similar thinking elsewhere in Wales – that, to show that we are not apathetic, just disillusioned with politicians, we should turn out to the polls – and spoil our ballot-paper.

          Statistics are kept of such action.   And the meaning of those statistics may even penetrate the selfish brains of the corrupt politicians.

          So, if you are confused by politicians, join us in avoiding apathy and going out there and spoiling your ballot-paper.   Just write the words “No choice” across that paper.

          My thanks to Narberth’s Creative Café for an enjoyable visit and excellent coffee.

The Strike

          Well, how sad it is that the bosses at South Hook couldn’t find local labour to fill jobs.   That’s what they told the Media, anyway, when the lads walked out on an “unofficial” strike.

          By coincidence, those bosses made their statement on the very day when a flyer from the BNP (British Nazi Party) came through my letterbox.   What a wonderful world.

Archie Lowe

archie.lowe@laughingdragons.co.uk

The Disease Strikes Wales!

          This week has brought us some very scary news.   The fever which has struck Mother England has manifested itself in Wales.

          The Shadow Welsh Secretary, Cheryl Gillan, has fiddled – whoops, sorry! – accidentally claimed an expense for feeding her doggie.   I have not heard or read her statement about this easily-made error.   After all, it is good that we all treat dumb animals properly, whatever their political colour.

          Mind you, I hear that both her dogs have died.

          I’ll lay odds, though, that she has “broken no rules” (especially the ones MPs have made for themselves) or that she made “a genuine mistake” (MPs lead such stressful lives and can’t be expected to remember everything).

          However, if my information (from a totally unreliable source) she is going to pay our cash back and her stress was caused by a mix-up between her, the gas company and the Fees Office.   Aaah – the poor girl.   Perhaps she needs to take a long break from MPing – perhaps the Electorate will give her that twelve months from now!

And It’s Spreading!

          Kevin Brennan was reported to be suffering from the same disease (the medical term is “greed”) this week.   In case you live in Cardiff West, I have to inform you that he’s your MP.  (Yes, I know you don’t see him walking along the street or in the shops, but he has been known to visit the Constituency.)

          Not content with a great fat lump of tax-payers’ money as a salary, Mr. Brennan claimed for a telly which arrived at his home in Wales instead of his digs in London.

          But he’s a quick thinker, is our Kevin, and worked out right away why it happened.   It was a simple case of putting it in Wales where it could be stored and then taken up to London.   Pardon?!

          I reckon it was an error on the part of those dreadful working-class oiks who drive the delivery vans.   Can’t trust the underpaid louts, can you, Mr. Brennan?

          And there’s the difference between MPs and the rest of us:  being on such a large wage (voted for by themselves), they forget how we who are not rich are under stress and so it’s easy for us to get mixed up between places like London and Wales.

          Welsh President Dafydd Elis-Thomas has been quoted as saying about the incident:  “I just don’t know what they thought they were doing, and that they thought they could ever get away with it.”   Well said, President Elis-Thomas – you seem to be in touch with those of us ordinary people.

On A Brighter Note

          All this news of Westminster fiddlers came in the very week in which the cups of tea flowed like wine as we celebrated the tenth anniversary of our glorious Assembly!

          I can do no better than agree with President Elis-Thomas when he said that our Senedd has tried so hard not to behave like the Westminster crew.   We in Wales will soon be able, he expects, to have a look at all our AMs expense claims online.

          And, before you mail me about the title I use for Dafydd Elis-Thomas, I know he’s called “The Presiding Officer”.   I’m just practicing for the day when we elect our own Head of State.

And There’s More!

          Whilst writing the above comments, there has been much, much more breaking news on the same subject.

          Even dear old Lembit has been accused of fiddling.   You’d have thought he wouldn’t be so cheeky.

          Now, corruption in the House of Lords – alleged bribery – has joined the whole nasty mêlée.

          If I tried to keep up with it all, I’d never be able to comment on the whole shebang in one short week!

          Please, please, dear reader, do not lose your entire faith in those for whom we vote.   Our Assembly Members are contactable by us voters.   There are still MPs who are not corrupt.   And, next year when we go to the polls, make sure that you have sussed out each candidate’s morals before you place your cross.

Archie Lowe

A Cash Apology

          The North Wales water pollution dangers have passed.   The nasty things lurking in the taps of North Wales have gone.   So the water company is paying ten quid a household to pay for the extra kettles which were boiled to kill the germs.

          Without wishing to spread gloom, despondency and panic, I wonder if, now that there’s insufficient money available to fund so many of our services, this sort of pollution could happen again.   Indeed, a friend mentioned to me recently that, if terrorists wanted to upset the apple-carts, they might be able to pollute water-supplies.

          Having seen so many lovely lakes in our land which are actually reservoirs – the Elan Valley springs to mind – I know that they are often out in the wilds.   In the gloriously hot Summer of 1976, so-called hippies descended with their tents on those lakes and used them as toilets.   Extra precautions had to be taken to ensure a pure water-supply.

          The supply from the Elan Valley to Birmingham was disrupted some ten years earlier.   This was done, as I’ve mentioned in this column before, by “Welsh extremists” who damaged a ten-inch water-pipe, rendering poor old Brum waterless for a while.   I doubt if any of our reservoirs and pipelines have regular security guards.

Ten Glorious Years

          There was dancing in the streets of Wales on Wednesday as we all celebrated the tenth anniversary of our Assembly.   The cups of tea flowed like wine, too.

          Big Rhodri claimed that, due to the efforts of him and his fellow AMs, Wales was becoming more confident in itself.   It’s not often I agree with any political pundit, but I think there’s some truth in what he said.

          I have made the point before now that Wales has the least culture-confidence than any of the other Celtic nations.

          The great advantage of sending our representatives down to Cardiff Bay is that they don’t have to travel so far to work as they would in Westminster.   Then, one can often see them – particularly in rural areas – going round the (local!) shops, or walking along the street.

          And, if the Bay Watch gang were given proper law-making powers, their efforts would continue to help our culture-confidence grow.

Accountability

          In the light of the news of expense-fiddling among The New labour Party’s front-benchers in London, one of the laws which must be passed – Westminster permitting or not – that our AMs and their pay must be transparently honest.   They must make themselves totally open to the electorate.

          Indeed, I have asked my own AM, in a face-to-face situation in a public place, all about his or her (not telling you who s/he is) financial dealings.   My AM has all available savings in a building society based in Wales and owned by the people of Wales.

          And yours?

Archie Lowe

archie.lowe@laughingdragons.co.uk

Mystery Repeating Itself

          Radio 7 repeated the excellent “Monk’s Hood” serial this week.   The starring role of Cadfael was played by Philip Madoc.

          The star’s qualifications for playing the part are that he can sound a little world-weary when necessary, has a lovely Welsh accent, and can handle the small bits of the Welsh language used in the serial.

          So why wasn’t he chosen way back then to play the part on television?   Derek Jacobi is a grand actor, but he seemed to portray Cadfael as someone who’d never been a man of action.   Sir Derek’s accent didn’t even border on Welshness, and I’m pretty sure that the Welsh language – had it been used on telly – would have not come easy to his lips.

          Perhaps, too, Philip Madoc could have explained to his English fellow actors that there is only one ‘f’ in Cadfael!

          I have asked the question before:  were the telly productions created by directors who see our land as simply an English county, with no unique characteristics at all?

Vanity, Vanity, All Is Vanity

          A young lady in South Wales was extensively burned whilst using a sun-bed.   Had she stayed on the wretched thing much longer, doctors say she would have needed skin-grafts.

          One wonders why a youngster – or anyone for that matter – feels the urge to lie on such a contraption.   Here in Wales, we have lots of opportunities to get out there in the open air and give ourselves a genuinely healthy complexion.

          And, in these financially trying times, why the urge to spend cash on something we surely do not need?

          Well, again, it’s the clever and often cunning advertisers who trick people – particularly young girls – into wanting to be “glamourous”.   There is even a Sun-Bed Association, presumably to promote the imagined benefits of a darkened skin.

          The redeeming feature of this case is that the girl’s mother has acted wisely.   She has “grounded” her daughter for a while . . . for spending money given her to go to the fair on something trivial.   Well done, Mam!

Funny Game, Politics

          It’s only a year before we chuck out the lame-dogs governing us from Westminster, and replace them with . . . er . . . others of their breed.

          Paddy Ashdown has said that it seems likely that “disillusioned” members of The New Labour Party will join the Lib-Dems before the Election happens.

          However, if there are members of The New Labour Party who are feeling that way, the question I would put to them is “How much public fuss did you make when the Labour Party scrapped Clause 4?”

          Here, in what seems to me to be the first broadside in their Election campaign, Plaid Cymru are cashing in on some free publicity.   A Tory newspaper (aren’t they all these days?!) has named Lib-Dem Mark Williams as one of the least effective MPs in Westminster.

          So Plaid is letting electors in Mr. Williams’ very marginal seat, Ceredigion, know that.

          How sad it is that “The Party of Wales” should join in the games of other political parties and, instead of publicising its own strong policies, chooses to use smear tactics against the opposition.

Archie Lowe

archie.lowe@laughingdragons.co.uk