Unionists need to answer where they will stand in a Post-Brexit Wales.

The Liberal Democrats, have ever since the EU referendum pinning their hopes that they can make their comeback on , the 48% Remain voters rallying them to fight the increasing desire for the Tories for a hard Brexit.

Frustratingly for them although  the polls now indicate a majority in the UK for Remain an Mrs May making a  complete dogs breakfast of the negotiations,Vince Cable's party are still in the doldrums finding it hard to exceed  10%.

Even more frustrating despite the election of Jeremy Corbyn and his own hard Brexit  belief, there have been no defection from  Remain Labour MP or any sign of the handful of Tories opposing a Hard Brexit crossing the floor.

That has still not stopped them trying to mislead  the public that they are at a  the vanguard of the Remain campaign to the extent of their are denying that there are other political options.

Yesterday former Lib Dem AM, who sometimes  appears to be the only Liberal Democrat  in Wales still active tried to smear the new Plaid leader by asking 

Is Plaid Cymru becoming a pro-Brexit party?

 He writes 

The previous Plaid Cymru leader, Leanne Wood was curiously reluctant to commit her party to a people's vote on the final deal that would enable the UK to stay in the EU, if voters decided that was the best course of action.
Her successor appears to be prepared to take that position one step further, and has gone public to outline how a no-deal Brexit will actually help to deliver his primary aim of an independent Wales.
To the casual observer, it would appear, despite warm words to the contrary, that Plaid Cymru has joined UKIP, and the right wing of the Tory Party as pro-Brexit parties, with self-interest as their chief motivation. 

He  quotes the guardian and  Adam Price as saying that a no-deal Brexit would lead to economic disaster for Wales and could strengthen the case for independence:

At least Peter gives us the relevant  passage

Adam Price, in an interview with the Guardian after replacing Leanne Wood as leader on Friday, said he backed the idea of a people’s vote on Brexit and that a “remain” option should be on the ballot paper. 
But if a no-deal Brexit did bring about an economic crisis it could prompt more people in Wales to come to the conclusion that independence from Westminster may be the best option, he said. 
Price made it clear that his first priority was to improve the party machine to put it in a position to win power at the next assembly elections in 2021. 
The 50-year-old said: “We have to take every opportunity to end the cataclysm that is heading our way. If we are able to get a people’s vote we should take that opportunity and ‘remain’ should be on the ballot. “If we don’t avoid a no-deal Brexit, we are going to see an unravelling of the Welsh economy on a 1930s scale because of the importance of agriculture and manufacturing on our economy. 
“We’re about stopping it but if it happens it will be a crisis on a huge level. We will have to think how best to defend ourselves in those circumstances and that may accelerate the path towards independence. It may be then that the people of Wales will want to move faster towards independence.” 

 So the relevant part way Adam as saying "But if a no-deal Brexit did bring about an economic crisis it could prompt more people in Wales to come to the conclusion that independence from Westminster may be the best option,".

This is arguing for a future solution for us  in the wake of Brexit which sees Wales seeking Independence.

In some ways it could be argued it is similar,to those in the Lib Dems who believed that Brexit would see them ceasing Remain voters and reviving their fortunes.

But there is no indication that this is a scenario that Adam or Plaid  desire.

But if Peter is going to join in hypothetical scenarios. What is he going to do if Adam proves right and the Wales in the Wake of a Post-Brexit crisis , starts to move towards an Independent Nation and rejoining the European Union.

Is he prepared to see Wales become impoverished "West Britons" in order to preserve what "Mrs May calls our precious union ".

Indeed it is a question that should be answered by all Unionist in Wales.

Plaid Leadership: New Wales or Old Plaid.?

I am not a member of Plaid, largely because I wish to keep this blog independent and free to criticise the party without the prospect of facing the sort of discipline that led to Syniadau disappearing.

Nevertheless I would have voted for Leanne Wood and I am disappointed that she lost.


The Wasting Mule's Martin Shipton , who has made no secret of his admiration for Adam Price

He writes..

When Leanne Wood was elected leader of Plaid Cymru in early 2012, she was seen as an insurgent candidate who had defeated two candidates from the party’s establishment – Ceredigion AM Elin Jones, who had been the favourite and is now the Presiding Officer, and Dafydd Elis-Thomas, a former leader and recently dethroned Presiding Officer who fancied another challenge.
She became Plaid’s first woman leader on a prospectus of taking the party to the left and winning seats across the Valleys – a necessary aim if it was to have any chance of leading Wales.
Counter-intuitively, as someone who was not a first-language Welsh speaker nor entirely fluent in the language, she received a lot of support from members of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, the Welsh Language Society, who believed she would take a more radical stance in favour of the language than her two rivals.

However this time there was criticism that when Leanne was giveing  support for so called "Niche" causes and not enough to Welsh Speaking communities.

Simon Brooks‏ @SeimonBrooks Sep 24

Welsh-speakers excluded once again from the equalities debate by a Leanne supporter. Leanne's supporters need to recognise their responsibilities to the Welsh-speaking community, a minority, not collude in making us invisible. Rest of the article fine.




Dan‏ @Dai_alectic Sep 24

I didn't read it like that at all- I believe it's taken for granted in the article that the Welsh national movement has the language at its core. It's simply saying that these other issues should also be integrated.
2 replies0 retweets13 likes


 
 
 

Simon Brooks‏ @SeimonBrooks

Replying to @Dai_alectic

Not going to express my views any further, because I take a very, very dim view of the Anglocentricity of the entire direction of equalities thinking under Leanne, & if I don't give an honest appraisal, best not to give an appraisal at all.

5:54 AM - 24 Sep 2018

 It leaves me with the suspicion that some Plaid supporters regard those who come from outside Y Fro Cymraeg asnot fully understanding the threat to the language.

Whether this affected Leanne's vote I don't know, but for those of us who found someone with a "valleys accent" speaking in both English and Cymraeg refreshing and widening Plaid's appeal we should be concerned that Plaid may be retreating to its heartland rather than expanding and embracing the whol eof Wales.

Surely winning seats like the Rhondda at both Palimentry and Assembly level is more important than say Aberconwy.

I am not in the bubble  so I have no knowledge of what the situation inthe assembly group or that as Martin Simpson claims

A local party rebellion in Llanelli has seen the loss of dozens of members – this time because of troubles arising out of the imposition of an outside General Election candidate. Ms Wood has again been blamed for the dispute.
Ukip aside, this is the first time an incumbent party leader in Wales has been defeated when seeking re-election. If it’s unusual, it’s not wholly unexpected.Only one AM and not a single MP was prepared to nominate Ms Wood for the leadership. As the campaign progressed, senior party figures told us that the party was going nowhere under her leadership, that there was no sense of direction given by her to the Westminster group, and that she had shown no real wish to combat Brexit.
It emerged that members of the Plaid Assembly group had asked her to stand down graciously, but she refused to go.

Quite frankly all  political parties , will have a Brutus and Cassius , willing to plunge the knife as part of their desire to take up the mantle of leader no matter how successful he or she is.

But is Plaid and its members right to decide the leader and there is no  doubt of Adam Price's talents.

Indeed the issue I disagreed with Leanne over was that she would claim that Wales was to poor to seek independence now and it is Adam Price who appears to, back the argument that the only way to get out of our poverty is independence.

Something this Blogs has been promoting for what seems an age.


Whether the Wasting Mule's  Martin Shipton's support for Adam will continue now that he has won  is an interesting question.

The fact that Adam is openly gay,leaves me to hope that he will continue to build bridges with minorities in the same manner as Leanne did even if it does not mean that its not immediately reciprocated, in votes.

Adam has said that he wants the Party's English name to be New Wales . not something I am comfortable with, but his immediate task is to reassure those outside Plaid's heartlands that Leanne has encouraged to share our vision that they are welcome and can play a major part in the future of Wales.

Wales will always be poor unless we become an Independent Nation

Like most people actual economic theory is as mysterious tome as quantum physics.

In one of my first ever Blogs back in  2010 I wrote

I  really can’t understand how banking works. How they can invent money and then lose. When billions have been lost by the banks it didn’t go anywhere it just disappeared, and yet none of the politicians seem to have the courage to say we must stop this because when these crashes happen and the “phantom money is no longer there it is not the bankers who suffer but the rest of us and when the axe falls it will be on our necks not the city fat cats.

Indeed it is ordinary people who see their real money disappearing. It is said that we are facing the most stringent cuts since 1945, in which the cost of the second world war broke Britain and limited the sort of welfare state that the Labour government tried to create, and I give Labour credit for what was achieved i pity they have lost their way.

But often as I have tried to understand economics I have been left bewildered. Until one day whilst reading Terry Pratchet’s Discworld novel “Men at Arms” I read this.


"A really good pair of leather boots, the sort that would last years and years, cost fifty dollars. This was beyond his pocket and the most he, Vimes, could hope for was an affordable pair of boots costing ten dollars, which might with luck last a year or so before he, Vimes, would need to resort to makeshift cardboard insoles so as to prolong the moment of shelling out another ten dollars. 


Therefore over a period of ten years, he, Vimes, might have paid out a hundred dollars on boots, twice as much as the man who could afford fifty dollars up front ten years before. And he would still have wet feet."

The Sam Vimes "Boots" Theory of Economic Injustice Men at Arms (Terry Pratchett)

How little has changed and now we have the news that


UK austerity to blame for Welsh life expectancy fall - Oxford Prof
Plaid Wrecsam tell us that 

Life expectancy in Wales is going backwards quicker than anywhere else in Europe, according to new data from the Office of National Statistics.

Official statistics from the ONS show that life expectancy fell by 5.72 weeks for men in Wales between 2014-2016 and 2015-2017, and by 4.16 weeks for women. The comparative figures for the other UK countries were:



ScotlandMen: -2.6 weeksWomen: -3.12 weeksNorthern IrelandMen: -4.16 weeksWomen: +0.52 weeksEnglandMen: +1.56 weeksWomen: +0.52 weeksWalesMen: -5.72 weeksWomen: -4.16 weeks

Oxford University Professor Danny Dorling told the BBC's World at One programme that Westminster policy was to blame, highlighting cuts to public sector services and a drop in immigration.

Speaking to the World at One, Professor Dorling said:

"We know that we have had no harsh winters since 2010 so it's not cold winters; we know it's not an influenza epidemic because we haven't had one of those. We're beginning to narrow it down to two things: The big thing is austerity and the cuts affecting the frail and the elderly in many, many ways, and the second thing is that we're no longer getting the young, healthy migrants that we were getting in the past which were actually helping boost our statistics."

Plaid Cymru MP, Hywel Williams has called the figures "scandalous", saying they reflect how Westminster austerity has disproportionately affected Wales.

Mr Williams said:

"These scandalous figures show the real impact of Westminster's policies on people's lives. This is not just people earning less, or paying more for their mortgages and groceries, it is people dying earlier than they should be.

"For Wales - a country that is bound to one of the richest states in the world - to see life expectancy not only falling when it is rising elsewhere, but for it to be falling faster than anywhere else in Europe should send shivers down the spines of those who have forced through these savage cuts to public services.

"It is the first time since the Second World War that the infant mortality rate has risen two years in a row across the UK and we've seen a substantial increase in the number of elderly and frail people dying two or three years earlier than normal.

"And what have we got to show for it? Austerity continues to be driven by those who claim it is necessary to eliminate the budget deficit but the reality is that austerity has depressed economic growth, leading to less money coming in, pushing the apparent goal of a balanced budget further and further away. So we should look at who has gained, and look no further than the pampered lives of the fat cats who win on the way up - and win on the way down too.

"It is a self-defeating prophecy and Wales cannot afford to be subjected to more of it. Those responsible in Westminster should hang their heads in shame and recognise the damage they continue to cause."

 Unionists both Left, Right and centre will argue that this proves that Wales is to small and poor for Independence '

Just like The Sam Vimes "Boots" Theory of Economic Injustice , but where he has wet feet we have poverty  and low life expediency.

The solution to me is obvious we must start making our own boots and that means Independence.

The alternative in a post Brexit England and Wales (Scotland will be long gone) , where we will fall further and further own the economic scale  and eventually cease to exist as a nation , but be little more than a tourist location and where  Tourist guides get the pronunciation wrong. as shamefully here,

Who ever wins the Plaid  leadership mus t argue that in order to avoid this fate, we should aim that a child born on this day . will be voting  for the first time in a General Election  for  a party to represent them in a n Independent Welsh Parliament,

Plaid AM courageous battle put leadership contest in true context.

As the Plaid Cymru Leadership Contest comes to a conclusion , we are  reminded that Steffan Lewis,who many would consider to be a future leader has  incurable cancer and the fact that he is likely to have limited time left to spend with his wife Shona and three-year-old son Celyn.

He spoke to WalesOnline about how he coped with his political duties at the same time as being treated for cancer.

Despite this he has proven to be the most articulate AM in the Assembly as he copes with his role as Shadow Minister for External Affairs, Non-Devolved Matters, Police, the Criminal Justice System and Social Protection, but more importantly on Brexit  a task which would drain even the healthiest of politicians and puts many of his contemporaries to shame.

The 34-year-old came close to losing his life in February when his liver started failing but was saved by medics at Velindre Hospital in Cardiff, which he has previously described as a "second chance".
However he knows that he would be lucky to live for more than four years.
He said: 

“There are a couple of things that have kept me going, and helped divert my attention away from the cancer.

“At one point the cancer with me did become almost like a daily obsession.
“It was almost like I was in election mode, where every day was ‘campaign day’.
“So everything became about the cancer – asking about going for a second opinion from a doctor here, can I do further research on treatments that might be available there.
“That was not a healthy situation to be in.
“So having an escape through work has been invaluable and being well enough to participate in these really interesting – albeit very complicated and frankly dangerous – times, has been a big welcome.
“I would say that along with having my family and particularly my son – he brings such joy in really dark times.
“Having work as well and being intellectually stimulated has helped me greatly get through this ordeal.

 And even as I now live with the great uncertainty of the cancer – it can come and take me at any point, and that’s something I’ve struggled to come to terms with, but I have to some degree come to terms with that.

“It can come at any time and take me – but it hasn’t yet.
“Back in February, when my liver was failing and I was in Velindre Hospital, I was told to write my letters – that my time was up.
“So I’ve got through that and every day after that I see as a bonus.
“So when I can come into work to do my job, or take the boy to the park to play on his bike, I get such joy out of things people might say are ordinary or mundane occurrences.
“I’m very grateful that I’ve been able to continue to contribute.
“It is unpredictable. I’m on a clinical drug trial at the moment. I’m having a break from chemotherapy, which is very welcome indeed, because towards the end it had a cumulative effect on me.
“At the beginning of the chemotherapy process I thought I could deal with it, that it wasn’t too bad, but it’s cumulative over time, and the fatigue got to the stage that I wasn’t able to come into work, I wasn’t able to do day-to-day things.
“So I’m on this clinical drug trial now which, even though it is a little unpredictable, with the main side effect again being fatigue, it gives me more days than not when I’m able to function and get about or work or spend more time with the family.
“That element of unpredictability is still there but it’s far less so than when I was on the chemotherapy.
“So I can pretty much guarantee that I can do four or five hours on a Tuesday and a Wednesday and I can get to my Brexit committee on Mondays as well and do maybe three hours there as well.
That’s what I aim to do as a core in the Senedd. Usually on a Thursday I need to take a bit of time off and rest but then I’m back in the constituency office on a Friday for a couple of hours.
“That’s what I’m aiming for, although I’m very conscious that my oncologist and my wife keep telling me not to push myself too much.
“That worked last week – I take each week as it comes and hopefully I’ll be able to replicate that this week too.”
Discussing the prognosis, he said: “Medium and long term it’s not good.
“It’s bowel cancer that I have but before my diagnosis it had spread extensively to my liver, my lymph nodes and to my lung.
“I responded well to the chemotherapy in terms of the tumours were shrinking and some tumours did disappear.
“But in terms of the current treatments available I’m unlikely to beat the statistics for the long and medium term.
“The average I think is up to five years after diagnosis – and at the moment there’s no reason to believe I’ll be able to do anything beyond and above that.
“So up to four years. But, as I say, it can come at any point.
“There’s no rhyme or reason to this horrible disease.
“But at the same time as being quite a rational person and knowing where I stand there are advances all the time in cancer.
“So I’ve still got to believe that a miracle can happen for me.
“I try not to think too much about the long term. I do try and live week by week, month by month, and make the most of every day.
“It’s really not a cliché – that’s how I operate and that’s working for me.
“And at the back of my mind I’m thinking, who knows, something might happen that means I can defeat it and have even longer than the four or five years that I’m expected to have.

 As I say, I defied it once back in February when the odds were really stacked against me, so who knows – I’m young, relatively fit and well apart from the cancer, so if anyone’s got a chance of some level of longevity then hopefully that can be me.”

Asked about the advice he’d give to young people diagnosed with cancer, he said: “To talk about it as much as possible, particularly in the initial periods.
“It’s very easy to internalise this.
“I’m very conscious I’m the protagonist but my family, my friends – of course none of them want to lose me.
“They want me to overcome and succeed and defeat this. It has an effect on them emotionally too. I would say externalise it.
“There’s an awful lot of talk about staying positive. Do you know, some days you’re not going to be positive, and that’s fine.
“Be negative, be angry – you’re entitled to if you want to. Be gutted, be low, question it.
“Ask yourself: ‘Why me?’ Allow yourself to go through the emotions because I think ultimately you end up in a place where it becomes easier to come to terms with it: You’ve put yourself through that emotional roller coaster.”
 “My boy started pre-school at the beginning of the month. I was quite emotional at that point because there was a time when it didn’t look likely I’d be witnessing it.
“He went to school with his little uniform on, proud as punch at three and a bit years of age.
“So now my aim is to see him start at actual school. If I can get to see him starting in school proper, that will be an important milestone.
“I just want to be able to see as many of the milestones occurring in his life as possible, bearing in mind that I’m unlikely as things stand to see him grow into adulthood.“His talking is coming along really well now so I’m able to have conversations with him.
“It’s important for me that before this cancer takes its course that I have a relationship with him and that we can have a conversation that’s beyond baby talk and toddler talk.

“I was really affected by the story of the BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Rachael Bland, who lost her life at 40 recently to breast cancer.
“She talked about how she was keen to write a memoir for her son as quickly as possible because she wouldn’t be around to give him some advice on life and all the rest of it.
“That’s something I’m doing now. I’ve started a memoir for my boy so whatever happens I hope that he’ll be able to get to know me through that memoir.”

There are a couple of things that have kept me going, and helped divert my attention away from the cancer.

“At one point the cancer with me did become almost like a daily obsession.
“It was almost like I was in election mode, where every day was ‘campaign day’.
“So everything became about the cancer – asking about going for a second opinion from a doctor here, can I do further research on treatments that might be available there.
“That was not a healthy situation to be in.
“So having an escape through work has been invaluable and being well enough to participate in these really interesting – albeit very complicated and frankly dangerous – times, has been a big welcome.
“I would say that along with having my family and particularly my son – he brings such joy in really dark times.
“Having work as well and being intellectually stimulated has helped me greatly get through this ordeal.

 And even as I now live with the great uncertainty of the cancer – it can come and take me at any point, and that’s something I’ve struggled to come to terms with, but I have to some degree come to terms with that.

“It can come at any time and take me – but it hasn’t yet.
“Back in February, when my liver was failing and I was in Velindre Hospital, I was told to write my letters – that my time was up.
“So I’ve got through that and every day after that I see as a bonus.
“So when I can come into work to do my job, or take the boy to the park to play on his bike, I get such joy out of things people might say are ordinary or mundane occurrences.
“I’m very grateful that I’ve been able to continue to contribute.
“It is unpredictable. I’m on a clinical drug trial at the moment. I’m having a break from chemotherapy, which is very welcome indeed, because towards the end it had a cumulative effect on me.
“At the beginning of the chemotherapy process I thought I could deal with it, that it wasn’t too bad, but it’s cumulative over time, and the fatigue got to the stage that I wasn’t able to come into work, I wasn’t able to do day-to-day things.
“So I’m on this clinical drug trial now which, even though it is a little unpredictable, with the main side effect again being fatigue, it gives me more days than not when I’m able to function and get about or work or spend more time with the family.
“That element of unpredictability is still there but it’s far less so than when I was on the chemotherapy.
“So I can pretty much guarantee that I can do four or five hours on a Tuesday and a Wednesday and I can get to my Brexit committee on Mondays as well and do maybe three hours there as well.
That’s what I aim to do as a core in the Senedd. Usually on a Thursday I need to take a bit of time off and rest but then I’m back in the constituency office on a Friday for a couple of hours.
“That’s what I’m aiming for, although I’m very conscious that my oncologist and my wife keep telling me not to push myself too much.
“That worked last week – I take each week as it comes and hopefully I’ll be able to replicate that this week too.”
Discussing the prognosis, he said: “Medium and long term it’s not good.
“It’s bowel cancer that I have but before my diagnosis it had spread extensively to my liver, my lymph nodes and to my lung.
“I responded well to the chemotherapy in terms of the tumours were shrinking and some tumours did disappear.
“But in terms of the current treatments available I’m unlikely to beat the statistics for the long and medium term.
“The average I think is up to five years after diagnosis – and at the moment there’s no reason to believe I’ll be able to do anything beyond and above that.
“So up to four years. But, as I say, it can come at any point.
“There’s no rhyme or reason to this horrible disease.
“But at the same time as being quite a rational person and knowing where I stand there are advances all the time in cancer.
“So I’ve still got to believe that a miracle can happen for me.
“I try not to think too much about the long term. I do try and live week by week, month by month, and make the most of every day.
“It’s really not a cliché – that’s how I operate and that’s working for me.
“And at the back of my mind I’m thinking, who knows, something might happen that means I can defeat it and have even longer than the four or five years that I’m expected to have.

 As I say, I defied it once back in February when the odds were really stacked against me, so who knows – I’m young, relatively fit and well apart from the cancer, so if anyone’s got a chance of some level of longevity then hopefully that can be me.”

Asked about the advice he’d give to young people diagnosed with cancer, he said: “To talk about it as much as possible, particularly in the initial periods.
“It’s very easy to internalise this.
“I’m very conscious I’m the protagonist but my family, my friends – of course none of them want to lose me.
“They want me to overcome and succeed and defeat this. It has an effect on them emotionally too. I would say externalise it.
“There’s an awful lot of talk about staying positive. Do you know, some days you’re not going to be positive, and that’s fine.
“Be negative, be angry – you’re entitled to if you want to. Be gutted, be low, question it.
“Ask yourself: ‘Why me?’ Allow yourself to go through the emotions because I think ultimately you end up in a place where it becomes easier to come to terms with it: You’ve put yourself through that emotional roller coaster.”
 “My boy started pre-school at the beginning of the month. I was quite emotional at that point because there was a time when it didn’t look likely I’d be witnessing it.
“He went to school with his little uniform on, proud as punch at three and a bit years of age.
“So now my aim is to see him start at actual school. If I can get to see him starting in school proper, that will be an important milestone.
“I just want to be able to see as many of the milestones occurring in his life as possible, bearing in mind that I’m unlikely as things stand to see him grow into adulthood.“His talking is coming along really well now so I’m able to have conversations with him.
“It’s important for me that before this cancer takes its course that I have a relationship with him and that we can have a conversation that’s beyond baby talk and toddler talk.

“I was really affected by the story of the BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Rachael Bland, who lost her life at 40 recently to breast cancer.
“She talked about how she was keen to write a memoir for her son as quickly as possible because she wouldn’t be around to give him some advice on life and all the rest of it.
“That’s something I’m doing now. I’ve started a memoir for my boy so whatever happens I hope that he’ll be able to get to know me through that memoir.”

Whoever wins the Plaid Cymru leadership, there will supporters of the defeated candidates who will be disappointed and even angry.But reading the above should remind them , that they can perhaps have another chance and we know that politicians can make a comeback.To see a young man still battling for his Party and Nation against the odds is both aspiring  and a lesson there are much worse than loosing an election.

ITV Wales reignite Katie Hopkins' anti Cymraeg bigotry.

Nation Cymru are on the ball when they tell us  that ITV Wales has been criticised after Katie Hopkins claimed that she had been interviewed by the broadcaster about her anti-Welsh language views.

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood criticised the decision after Katie Hopkins published a tweet saying she had been interviewed for S4C show ‘Y Byd yn ei Le’ about the Welsh language.

‘Y Byd yn ei Le’ is a Welsh language current affairs programme hosted by Guto Harri, the BBC’s former Chief Political Correspondent and Boris Johnson’s Communication Director when he was Mayor of London.

Mr Harri has form in this, he recently interviewed Rod Little after he made derogatory remarks about Wales and her language . A interview I found a bit to chummy,

Ms Hopkins of course was delighted to , get a chance to reignite the flames of her ignorance

She Tweeted

Good to spend time with @ITVWales - urging the Welsh Government to focus on its failing schools rather than Catch up on 'Y Byd yn ei Le’ - & hear my challenge to @LeanneWood to sit our Welsh, Maths & English GCSEs together.

I don't know if Ms Hopkins is unaware that Leanne had a English medium education or what?

Leanne Wood said.

“Giving airtime to someone who attacks our culture and our efforts to promote it is not ‘freedom on speech’,” Leanne Wood said.“It is cheap sensationalism that gives oxygen to a dangerous hatemonger.”

 and to his everlasting credit Leighten Amdrews the man she beat to win the Rhondda Assembly seat tweeted

Leighton Andrews‏ @LeightonAndrews 8h8 hours ago

Media critic Dr Nia Edwards-Behi said that she was “nauseated” by the news.

“If ITV, S4C and Y Byd yn ei Le have really worked with Katie Hopkins and plan on giving her air time then everyone involved should be categorically ashamed of themselves and the media structure in this country needs razing to the ground,” she said.

“As a Welshwomen, and especially as a mixed-race Welshwomen, I’m fed up of the fact that we’re given this hate preacher airtime and the thought that our national broadcaster has given her a platform nauseates me.”

Was Katie Hopkins paid for this interview if so how much ? ITV and S4C may argue that it guaranteed an increased numbers of viewers including 
Our very own cymrophobe Jaques Priotic of course supported Ms Hopkins

Jacques Protic‏ @JacquesProtic 13h13 hours ago

Jacques Protic Retweeted Katie Hopkins

Watch the S4C tonight 21.30 This will be the 2nd time ever that I'll tune into the S4C Last time to listen to Llangennech parents whose kids were deprived of English Medium Education. S4C is the usual platform to hide the sordid truth from the main audience who never watch te S4C.

ITV/S4C have a duty to explain why they have reignited the pathetic attempts of a racist commentator to attack our language,