Neil McEvoy suspended for one month by "Independent" panel.

There can be no denying Plaid AM and Cardiff Councillor Neil Mcevoy is a controversial and confrontational Politician but I wonder if the action taking against him by a disciplinary panel was little more than a politically motivated Kangaroo Court.

A panel have found that Mr McEvoy  was "bullying" towards a member of council staff.An independent panel  (This  open to question seeing who appointed them) heard evidence after it was alleged that Plaid Cymru Councillor Neil McEvoy, who is also an Assembly Member, had "threatened" the job security of a member of council staff after a court hearing..They found he had failed to show respect to a council employee and that his behaviour was bullying.They also said the councillor was "evasive" as he gave his evidence.

But did not accept an allegation that Coun McEvoy brought either the office of councillor or Cardiff council as a whole into disrepute.

Finance team member Deborah Carter had been at an eviction hearing at Cardiff's civil justice centre in July 2015.

In that, Amanda Williams - a constituent of Coun McEvoy - was told by a judge she was being evicted from her council home after accumulating £3,700 of arrears.

As Coun McEvoy, Miss Williams as well as Ms Carter and her council colleague Dale Skinner left the court room, he said:

 "I can't wait for May 2017 when the restructure of the council happens".

He admits both making the comments and taking a photograph within the court building - a criminal offence - but disputes the comments were made as a threat to Ms Carter. He said they were made to Ms Williams in a bid to placate her anger over her eviction.

He denied bringing the office of councillor into disrepute saying he enhanced his role "by standing up for someone vulnerable".

Gwydion Hughes, for the ombudsman, said that Coun McEvoy had been an evasive witness and was "prone to avoiding the question".

He said that neither of the council employees who gave evidence, Ms Carter and Mr Skinner, had "an axe to grind".

"Neither has any real axe to grind or potential benefit to gain from this process. In fact, quite the opposite. The process has simply involved them in the stressful process of giving evidence.

"Neither gave their evidence in a partial way, both were willing to give concessions where appropriate. They were both live to the difficult position Coun McEvoy and his constituent found themselves in.

"There was in my view sympathy displayed by both."

Mr Hughes said that both council staff were "clear" the comments were directed to Ms Carter and neither had suggested they were towards M r Skinner.

He said that if Coun McEvoy's account that the comments were "thrown behind him" were true, there would have been some debate about who they were directed to.

Mr Hughes said that when giving his evidence in the hearing, Coun McEvoy was "prone to trying to avoid the question".

"He was highly partial and unwilling to make the sensible concessions that truthful witnesses do. He has a stake in the outcome of the case. That's the same approach he took in interview when he finally agreed to one."At no point did he give his own account of what happened.""The witnesses considered it a threat to the stability of employment

Counsel Jonathan Mendus Edwards, representing Coun McEvoy, said there was no evidence that Plaid Cymru's cost-cutting policy of sacking senior management related to staff of Ms Carter's level.

"It refers to making people redundant at a level higher than the person in question here".

"Of course Coun McEvoy stands his ground, this was an attempt to get him".

Coun McEvoy "is willing to make waves, which in the nature of things will upset some people".

And while he questioned the credibility of Ms Carter of a witness, he added: 

"We do not say [employee] Dale Skinner was a deceitful witness, we say that the complaint as a whole involves over egging the pudding".

Mr Mendus Edwards said that the complaint was not taken further by Ms Carter but assistant director Jane Thomas - a role which would be at risk under Plaid's proposals.

But, Ms Carter had told the panel that when she returned to her office after the court hearing she went to raise her concerns with a manager.

Her immediate line manager was at the address in Fairwater dealing with the eviction so she followed protocol and went to her next highest manager, Miss Thomas.

Mr Mendus Edwards said:

"The evidence from Deborah Carter was that she didn't know Coun McEvoy and had no knowledge of his plan.
"That came later, after others were involved and involved the addition of evidence in effect that was not there before".
"The credibility of Ms Carter cannot be assumed and given effect in this case."If that's the case you cannot be sure the words from Coun McEvoy were said to, or directed at her".

Perhaps the interesting  part of this story complaint was submitted to the public service ombudsman by Fairwater Labour Councillor Paul Mitchell.

I think you could be forgiven for coming to the conclusion that this was a politically motivated trial.

Whether Councilor McEvoy;s remark was  intended to be heard or not , surly an expensive trial went top far ?

You could well ask that if this was not an attempt to ptevent  Councillor Mcevoy from standing in May's election.

I wonder how many times  a council  member of staff has been told that there may be a new leadership of the council and that there will be changes.

It may not be right but I bet Labour Politicians  who feel it is their God given right to run some Welsh Councils have not been so subtle.

Labour AM Rhiannon Passmore called for him to be suspended from Plaid Cymru following the ruling.

The first day of Plaid Cymru's conference in Newport has coincided with the final day of the tribunal.

Plaid Cymru's chairman Alun Ffred Jones said: "We will be looking carefully at the judgment and we will be deciding on the course of action next week.

"We expect the highest level of behaviour from all elected representatives and I will be meeting Neil McEvoy next week".

However I suspect Plaud members may make it cleat their support for Neil MCevoy when he addresses the conference today and would be vary angry if ther Party bowed to out side pressure/

Ever since these disciplinary panels were set up I have had the feeling that they have been used as a means of silencing  those who are prepared not only to confront the ruling party but take no action against Councillors  who are dishonest and corrupt.

It appears to me it is this sort of disciplinary panels that is bringing things into disrepute.

The most successful political Union in history means Wales is poorest part of UK.

Theresa May has accused the SNP of having "tunnel vision" over independence as she insisted that "politics is not a game".

It os of course the main aim of the SNP  and it seems weird for the Prime Minister  to talk about tunnel vision since she appears to be driving  the Nrexit Train into a tunnel at high speed without any idea what is on the other side.

The prime minister refused to be drawn on whether or not she would grant permission for a second referendum.

She was speaking to BBC Scotland ahead of her speech at the Scottish Conservative conference on Friday.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Mrs May's government had "no mandate" in Scotland.

And she accused the UK government of "obstinacy and intransigence" in its dealing with the devolved administrations ahead of the formal triggering of the Brexit process, which is expected to happen later this month.

The Scottish government has published a 60-page document which sets out proposals it believes could allow Scotland to remain in the EU single market even if the rest of the UK leaves - with Ms Sturgeon saying a second independence referendum is "all but inevitable" if that does not happen.

Mrs May said she was "looking very closely" at the proposals, adding: 

"We are working with them on those plans - there are issues that they have raised that we have taken on board."

I doubt if the SNP or anyone else outside May's cabinet see anything has been taken on board 

She said her objective was to use the Brexit negotiations to secure a 

"good trade agreement that works for the whole of the UK, but crucially a trade agreement that works for Scotland as well."

Come of it there will be only one part of the UK governments  that is in their minds and thats the City of Londo

She said it was wrong to say she backed a so-called "hard Brexit", but that she instead wanted "a Brexit that is going to be right for the United Kingdom, and that means being right for all parts of the United Kingdom".

She also said it was "very clear" that people in Scotland did not want another vote on independence - but did not say whether she would grant permission if the Scottish Parliament called for a second referendum.

Mrs May added:

 "To me, politics isn't a game. Politics is about people's lives, it's about delivering on the issues that really matter to them on a day-to-day basis."I can't help but feel that the SNP has a tunnel vision about independence. Actually I think what people want is for the SNP government to get on with dealing with the issues they want to see addressed on a day-to-day basis.
"Issues like the state of the economy, reforming schools - education used to be such a great flagship for Scotland, but sadly in recent years we have seen that deteriorating."

 Of course its booming in England 

Mrs May said she was "passionate" about preserving the United Kingdom - which she described as the most successful political union in history - and pointed out that the first visit she had made as prime minister was to Scotland.

Apart from the fact one part of the United Kingdom left in 1922 after a bitter and violent campaign in 1922.The latest figures comparing the wealth generated in different parts of the UK show that Wales remains bottom of the league table, behind every other UK nation and every region of England. The so-called Gross Value Added (Income Approach) for last year was published today, with the figure per person in Wales at less than half the level of England's richest region, which was London.

London £43,629
Wales £18,002

The Union is a disaster for Wales, and Brexit will make it worse as we are unlikely to get anything from Westminster to match the aid that we received from Brussles.

The argument that we are too poor for independence  ( which unfortunately has been made by Plaid leader Leanne Wood in the past ) is one that sees this going on for ever.

Only Independence will create the conditions  for Wales and Scotland to achieve the sort of prosperity aligned with the Social Democracy we see in the Scandinavian countries.

I hope Leanne uses the I word in her conference speech today . for to long Plaid have been wedded to the idea of making the assembly work , It is now time to push like our friends in Scotland  for Independence .

What the First Scottish Independence  Referendum did was create a mindset in Scotland that Independence wasn't what Ms May calls a game but a reality.

It is our duty to create a similar mindset in Wales. To fail to do so especially after Brexit will see  us becoming little more than Poor West Britons where a change  of Westminster government will make no difference.

"Cultural Fit" a new way to describe Yes Men?

Imagine the SNP Government in Scotland demanding  that contracts on;y went to firms that supported increased powers let alone Independence.

There would be a public outcry and Unionist would be frothing out the mouth

However  it seems that the UK government  seem to be assuring that contractors bidding for work with the government are being asked to affirm that they back Brexit.

According to the Guardian

Liam Fox’s Department for International Trade (DIT) has inserted a clause into advertisements inviting tech companies to bid for work, saying that in order to have the right “cultural fit” for the task, they must “be committed to the best possible outcome for the United Kingdom following its departure from the European Union”.
Pro-Brexit ministers have sometimes been frustrated by civil servants’ lack of enthusiasm for the complex task of unpicking Britain’s close relationship with the EU and appear to be determined to hire firms that share their optimism.

 Last December, contractor Deloitte apologised after details of a damning report it had written about Downing Street’s plans for handling the article 50 process were leaked.

The company also agreed to pull out of bidding for government contracts for six months.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, said: 

“The Conservative Brexit government demanding there must be a ‘cultural fit’ is straight out of the pages of Nineteen Eighty-Four.
“The private opinions of government employees have always been their own business. Now they are required to support Brexit, will they have to support the Tories too?”

 “Professionals will always strive for the best outcomes in their work without being told how they should and shouldn’t think.”

The New York Times   claim that " Cultural Fit"

When done carefully, selecting new workers this way can make organizations more productive and profitable. But cultural fit has morphed into a far more nebulous and potentially dangerous concept. It has shifted from systematic analysis of who will thrive in a given workplace to snap judgments by managers about who they’d rather hang out with. In the process, fit has become a catchall used to justify hiring people who are similar to decision makers and rejecting people who are not.

We used to call it employing Yes Men.

Would anybody gaining such a contract seriously try to undermine Brexit as the government seem to be suggesting?

In any Job you need people who are enthusiastic for carrying out their mandate.

If the plumber installing your bathroom looks at your plans and says that the new suite that you want is not going to fit in the space available you would be wise to listen

There are times in any project when those actually doing the work need to tell those giving the orders . 

"Look this is not going to work this way and I have a idea which will but it may lead to a different outcome than the one you originally wanted.

Margaret Thatcher used to ask "Is he one of us?" promotion to a backbencher.

Mrs May seems to have extended it to everybody employed in any capacity as far as Brexit is concerned.

Cymru, Scotland, and Catalonia.

     

Once again over at Borthlas  John Dixon has written an article I wish I had written  (only better),

Entitled For Wales, don't see Scotland he points out that those who are arguing that somehow there could be a upsurge for Independence in Wales.

He writes (but read the full article)

The result is that the future looks very different for the two nations, particularly in the light of Brexit. For all the optimism of independentistas, it is far from certain that Scotland will make the break and choose a European future rather than an isolationist British one. For their sakes, I hope that they do, even if such a move would leave Wales even more vulnerable to domination from our very much larger eastern neighbour. But we cannot be certain, and should not take the outcome for granted. We can, though, at least consider the impact on Wales of such an outcome.I fear that, to return to my starting point, too many independentistas in Wales are reading across from Scotland to Wales, and hoping (or even assuming) that Scottish independence (and, with that, continued Scottish membership of the EU) will make Welsh independence more attractive and more likely. I can see why that might be the case in the context of continued UK membership of the EU, particularly if other European nations such as Catalunya follow a similar path. The parallel, particularly if those other nations (as seems likely) make a success of their choice, is clear enough. But the parallel in the case of a Wales which would have to face a significant transitional period outside the UK whilst seeking to negotiate entry to the EU as a new member is a great deal less obvious. I’d go so far as to say that it isn’t really a parallel at all; it would be, rather, a unique situation. As a result, people would naturally see it as being a great deal more risky.
The assumption that a Scottish exit from the UK before Brexit happens will lead to a demand for the same thing in Wales is a lazy one. The danger is that, by making such an assumption, and through continued failure to make the case for Wales to take control of her own affairs, the likelier future for Wales in a UK shorn of Scotland and outside the EU is greater integration into England, especially in economic terms. Oh, I’m sure that we’ll be allowed to keep our little Assembly down in Cardiff, but our voice will be heard even less than it is now. The timescale for any change in direction to avert that outcome is short, and the clock is ticking.

There is however another factor that of Catalonia 

Artur Mas, together with two ministers from his former government,has gone on trial for for having organised an informal, non legally binding, consultation on Catalonia’s independence in November 2014. That day is remembered by Catalans as a peaceful, civic and democratic moment when they were able to express their opinion on whether Catalonia should be an independent nation or not. That day, 2.3 million Catalans took part and 89 percent voted for an independent Catalonia.

According to the Spanish government in Madrid, led by Mariano Rajoy´s Popular Party, president Mas and his two ministers committed a crime because there was an order from Spain’s Constitutional Court to stop the consultation process, which was carried out by 40,000 citizen volunteers. Francesc Homs, a former spokesman of the Catalan government who is currently a member of parliament in Madrid, has also gone on trial charged with the same crime as the former president and ministers. As if that weren't enough, the president of the Catalan Parliament, Carme Forcadell, also found out on Thursday that she will go on trial for having allowed a floor debate on committee findings regarding the possibility of Catalonia becoming a free and independent country.

If they are found guilty It will mean that the constitutional road to an Independent Catalonia may be permanently blocked unless there was a change in the Spanish Government.

If it was to happen then a successful Independence referendum in both Scotland and Catalonia could result in a domino effect in Europe as the Basque country and other current autonomous regions follow suit. Where Wales be in the line is open to question but we surly would be close to the front?

However the Spanish Government banning of a Catalonian referendum could be repeated in the UK the Tories look to be in power for decades and if this turns out to be the case and with Labour under Corbyn also hosting an Unionist ideology that the UK parliament may decide not to allow Scotland to conduct a second Independence referendum.

The question may not be whether a second Independence referendum can be one in Scotland but whether the UK government will ever allow it especially if it looks like a YES vote is likely.

Indeed I suspect that the perception was that there was no chance of the first referendum succeeding and that it would kill of Scottish Independence for decades.

If this is so then the suggestion that if the SNP were to win the majority seats in both Westminster and Holyrood next time the option may be an Unilateral Declaration of Independence UDI ( a similar move could be made in Catalonia).

Where that will lead and the response. the UK or Spanish governments could be frighting.

Shiromini Satkunarajah, and Juhel Miah are both victims of Bureaucratic Bullies.

There were two cases of outrage over the treatment  by Immigration authorities recently

Firstly a Welsh schoolteacher was denied entry to the USA while travelling with pupils.

Juhel Miah, a Welsh Muslim, was travelling with a group from Llangatwg Comprehensive in Aberdulais, Neath Port Talbot.

The group had travelled initially to Iceland en route to New York last week.

When Mr Miah boarded the onward flight in Reykjavik on February 16 but was escorted from the aircraft by security personnel.

Whilst the school trip proceeded as planned, Mr Miah's removal from the flight left pupils and colleagues "shocked and distressed".

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said:

"We are providing support to a British man who was prevented from boarding a flight in Reykjavik."

A A Neath Port  Talbot Council council spokesperson said:

 “We are appalled by the treatment of Mr Miah and are demanding an explanation. The matter has also been raised with our local Member of Parliament.
"No satisfactory reason has been provided for refusing entry to the United States – either at the airport in Iceland or subsequently at the US Embassy in Reykjavik.
"Mr Miah attempted to visit the Embassy; but was denied access to the building. Understandably he feels belittled and upset at what appears to be an unjustified act of discrimination.”

Then Bangor Student  Sri Lankan Shiromini Satkunarajah, 20, was  taken to a detention centre after being refused asylum.

Prof John Hughes wrote to the Home Office, after a National Union of Students (NUS) petition backing her bid to stay attracted 27,000 signatures.

The Home Office said it considers each case carefully.

Miss Satkunarajah, who was born in Sri Lanka but has lived in the UK for eight years, is due to finish her electrical engineering degree this summer.

But she was arrested last week and taken to a detention centre to await deportation on Tuesday.

The university has contacted Miss Satkunarajah to reassure her it supports her bid to stay in the UK and wants to see her complete her degree course.

NUS Wales deputy president Carmen Smith told BBC Wales: 

"We want the home secretary to stop the callous and inhumane deportation of Shiromini."

Now   according  to her MP Hywel Williams Miss Satkunarajah who had has only three months left before graduating she can stay ,

 Mr Williams raised a Point order in the House of Commons about her plight on Monday.

"I'm so very glad that Shiromini and her mum have had this deportation order rescinded and released from the detention centre," 

The Plaid Cymru MP said that since the campaign was launched on Friday she had received messages of support from across the country.

Mr Wiliams and all those who fought  Ms Satkunarajah, case deserve our applause

Both cases show Immigration Authorities  in the US and UK  behaving in suh a crass manner.

It would be Hypocritical to condemn one and not the other.

We seem to be entering an era of intolerance , where the two above examples may become the rule.

Is this a case of Brexit and the election of Trump fortifying the Buracatic Bullies on both sides of the Atlantic  who believe they can treat decent hard working ,law biding people as criminals.

Caerphilly Council senior officers illegal payments now costing over £4.5 million.

Recently I blogged on Caerphilly Labour are bracing themselves for a bloodbath in May,

Wales Online reports that 

Backbench Labour councillors in Caerphilly have been urged to dissociate themselves from their leaders or face voters’ anger over the continuing senior officers’ pay scandal that has riven the authority for more than four years.
Anthony O’Sullivan was suspended as chief executive of Caerphilly council in March 2013 after the Assistant Auditor General for Wales published a report saying he had been implicated in an unlawful process that led to big pay rises for 20 senior officers at the authority and himself.

Earlier minutes of a secret meeting which approved the rises had been leaked to WalesOnline.

Mr O’Sullivan was the author of a report that recommended his own pay should rise from £132,000 to £158,000. After a public outcry his pay rise was reduced to £5,000.
Together with two other senior council officers – his deputy Nigel Barnett and head of legal services Daniel Perkins – he was charged with misconduct in a public office. The charges were dismissed by a judge before a planned trial went ahead.
None of the three men have returned to work and a disciplinary investigation remains under way.

Now the leader of scandal-hit Caerphilly council is to stand down in May ahead of this year's local government elections, it has been announced. Maybe responding to thediscontent in the ranks.

Councillor Keith Reynolds, who has clocked up 38 years in local government, cites emerging health issues for making the "difficult decision" ahead of the local elections on May 4.

Now it appears that  the calamitous saga has  cost a Welsh council £4.5m, according to figures released under Freedom of information laws.

A Freedom of Information act disclosure to Plaid Cymru shows the cost of the scandal will have reached £4.5m by April 2017.

Colin Mann, leader of the council’s opposition Plaid group, said: 

“We are talking about at least £4.5m and rising – £25 for every resident of the borough or £57 for each household.
“The council could have built two new schools, or employed many more teachers.
“Alternatively we could have resurfaced around 50 miles of roads or filled tens of thousands of potholes.

“More enforcement staff could have been employed to tackle one of the scourges of today, presided over by Labour – the huge problem of dog mess and litter.
“We could have had more community safety wardens.”
“More enforcement staff could have been employed to tackle one of the scourges of today, presided over by Labour – the huge problem of dog mess and litter.
“We could have had more community safety wardens.”

Labour’s deputy council leader Dave Poole said: 

“The cut-and-thrust of political debate is healthy, especially as we approach the local elections in May.
"But Plaid Cymru can’t be allowed to get away with claims that are distorted or just plain untrue and designed to deceive the voters.”
He said the claim that money spent on the investigation into the senior officers’ pay award was enough to build two new primary schools was nonsense.
He said: “Using Caerphilly council’s current primary school building cost, two primary schools would cost £17m. Plaid’s claim is therefore misleading and deceitful.
“Plaid Cymru councillors voted for the senior remuneration panel that made the original pay award.

 “A Plaid Cymru member of the senior remuneration panel did not vote against the pay award.“And Plaid Cymru councillors are members of the committee investigating this issue.
“Are Plaid Cymru criticising their own councillors?”

So I hope Plaid  will have a plan if they should find themselves in power after May,

It is hard to imagine  even at the cost of a unfair dismal tribunal how this could not have been resolved at least cost to the "Ratepayers",

By not facing up to doing so and getting early criticism the Council have mess a bad  situation  worse.

Who ever is running the Council must resolve it at the earliest possible opportunity,

Was Sadiq Khan asked by SLAB to accuse Indy supporters of bigotry?

You can imagine the sort of discussion  within the Scottish Labour Party (SLAB) prior to their Spring Conference.

We need to bring in a Star speaker someone guaranteed to get us headlines.

"Jeremy Corbyn?"


"Don'r be silly"


"Tony Blair?"


"Now you,r being stupid."


"Who os popular outside the party right now?"


"I know Sadiq Kahn " nor only is he popular he's a winner".


"Briliant now what shall we ask him to say"


"How about comparing Scottish Nationalism to racism and bigotry".


"Yes that is going to be a winner",

"Don'r be silly"

"Tony Blair?"

"Now you,r being stupid."

"Who os popular outside the party right now?"

"I know Sadiq Kahn " nor only is he popular he's a winner".

"Briliant now what shall we ask him to say"

"How about comparing Scottish Nationalism to racism and bigotry".

"Yes that is going to be a winner",

I am assuming because I can;t see how Sadiq Kahn could have come up with such a crass draft speech , without being asked by his hosts.

In his draft speech which he toned down a bit

“The world is an increasingly divided place – with Brexit, the election of President Trump and the rise of populist and narrow nationalist parties around the world,”
“Now is not the time to fuel that division or to seek separation or isolation. Now is not the time to play on people’s fears or to pit one part of our country – or one section of our society – against another.”

Perhaps Mr Kahn should look at the response from Emglish Blogger Another Angry Voice. (AAV).

The essence of what Sadiq Khan is saying is that in order to not be a nasty divisive racist, Scottish people should campaign alongside Britain First, UKIP and the National Front in opposing Scottish independence from Westminster rule!
This kind of idiotic and deeply insulting nonsense is clearly the product of a Labour Party that absolutely refuses to accept that they've made some absolutely catastrophic strategic errors in Scotland. 
It's the attitude of an astoundingly arrogant political party who pin the blame for their electoral hammerings on the stupidity of the Scottish electorate rather than their own obvious failings, and imagine that Scottish voters will eventually come around and see sense if enough Labour bigwigs come up from London to hector them about how wanting to put an end to London rule makes people the kind of bigots and racists who are famed for their opposition to Scottish independence.
As long as out-of-touch Labour politicians continue treating the Scottish electorate as if they're just too stupid to appreciate how great the Labour Party actually is, and using this kind of smeary, bizarrely counter-factual and ridiculously condescending "Scottish nationalism bad, British nationalism good" propaganda, the Labour Party in Scotland is certain to continue its hasty decline towards total political irrelevance.

For some reason the Labour leaning blog Left Foot Fowaed  has ben silent on the issue.

Could it be that even they can see that Khan draft speech part of which he released before the conference would not go down well with those who have left Labour in Scotland for the Independence movement?

I suppose there may well be some in Wales as well in Scotland  who will be delighted with what looks like a spectacular own goa,l which has gained nearly all the headliners of a SLAB conference which was intended to buoy them up before  May's local government elections , where they are expected to lose seats and may even become third.

But as it is I find it sad that a bright and popular Labour Leader (and they don't have many) could allow himself to make such an error in judgement.

Labour in Scotland may be finished and maybe its time they realised it and rather than see Scotland being under a right wing Tory government for decades it is time to show England and Wales that there is a progressive alternative to the bigotry that Mr Kahn was referring to, coming out of the sort of Independent Scotland the SNP and others envisage.