In his regular blog for Caerphilly Observer, Caerphilly Council leader Lindsay Whittle gives his take on recent news.
ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS
At the weekend Plaid Cymru members picked their South Wales East list candidates for the Welsh General Election next May.
Hundreds of party members from across the region had the opportunity to take part and I was delighted to be chosen as second on the list behind Deputy Minister Jocelyn Davies.
In the 2007 elections Plaid picked up two of the four regional seats. Unfortunately, we currently only have Jocelyn representing this region because Mohammad Asghar did not do the honourable thing and resign when he left Plaid to join the Tories.
His refusal effectively disenfranchised those voters in South Wales East who voted for two Plaid representatives under the list voting system. That is certainly not right.
However, I am confident that our record locally stands scrutiny and it will help convince the public to send two Plaid members from the south-east into the Assembly. We are also challenging very strongly to win constituency seats in Caerphilly and Islwyn as part of our drive to increase Plaid representation in the fourth Assembly.
In the months to come we’ll be presenting Plaid’s vision for the future and, of course, campaigning for a ‘Yes’ vote to ensure that Wales has a proper Parliament which it hasn’t at present.
FREEDOM OF CAERPHILLY
It was an honour to be present when the Royal Welsh Regiment received the Freedom of Caerphilly County Borough.
The troops received a great reception from the crowds when parading through both Caerffili and Blackwood.
I was disappointed, however, to receive an email from a constituent who said she had noticed Caerphilly AM Jeff Cuthbert texting during the inspection of the troops and this was backed up with a photograph.
My cabinet colleague Ron Davies has published the photograph on his Facebook site and I think the picture shows an alarming disrespect to our troops fighting in Afghanistan.
I understand Jeff Cuthbert says he was saving a picture taken at the event. I always thought that today’s modern mobiles automatically saved photographs so I’ll leave people to draw their own conclusions.
On a happier note, I was also pleased to see that Conservative AM William Graham praising the Plaid-led council for its decision to confer the honour on the Royal Welsh.
Lindsay Whittle,
Plaid Cymru leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council
Response from Jeff Cuthbert received by the Caerphilly Observer on Thursday October 7 about the parade.
“Saving a picture and switching off my phone was exactly what I was doing.
“It should be clear to anyone who looks at the photograph that there was a lull in the ceremony. People will notice that the two ladies in the foreground are chatting to each other. There was nothing going on at that time. Incidentally I still have the picture I saved which is timed and dated.
“I am concerned that an event honouring our servicemen and women could be used for political gain and I hope there is nothing party political about this.”
Cuthbert AM needs to give an open apology;
Jeff Cuthbert uses the feeble excuse that there was a lull in the Freedom of the Borough Ceromony and that was his opportunity for texting during the ceremony. He also claims that the ladies in front of him were chatting. It looks more to me as if one of the VIP lady guests is actually pointing at him and complaining to the other VIP guest about his actions. It is clear that Mr Cuthbert was showing total disrespect to the brave young soldiers receiving the Freedom of the Borough.
Come clean Mr Cuthbert and apologise to your constituents and more importantly to those brave soldiers on parade and their families who you have offended by your actions.
Allan Pritchard
Oakdale
This is pretty below-the-belt stuff from Plaid – trying to use a ceremony for the troops for political ends. But hey, Plaid are languishing in the polls and there's an Assembly election around the corner, so with Ron Davies now on board maybe there are the depths they're willing to sink to.