http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/betsanpowys/2008/05/ive_just_reread_the_words.html en-gb 30 Thu 31 Dec 2009 01:07:02 GMT+1 A feed of user comments from the page found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/betsanpowys/2008/05/ive_just_reread_the_words.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/betsanpowys/2008/05/ive_just_reread_the_words.html?page=17#comment7 Sorry Betsan it must have been a very long night! Michael Michael was not Labour Group leader - he might have thought he was, but he thought he was going to win in Fairwater as well. Sun 04 May 2008 12:30:04 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/betsanpowys/2008/05/ive_just_reread_the_words.html?page=15#comment6 Plaid could also be part of a Rainbow coalition in Torfaen, and we might end up holding the balance of power in Newport! Fri 02 May 2008 19:21:18 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/betsanpowys/2008/05/ive_just_reread_the_words.html?page=12#comment5 I make it 29 PC Councillors in Carmarthen - another score or so in RCT - we could get to 200 councillors and be in the administration in:Ceredigion, Caerffili, Ynys Mon, Ceredigion, Carmarthen, Conwy, Denbigh, Gwynedd, Wrexham and Cardiiff!!! Result!!! (Shame about the Gwynedd dissoes but otherwise excellent) Fri 02 May 2008 15:12:11 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/betsanpowys/2008/05/ive_just_reread_the_words.html?page=10#comment4 Big news in Rhondda Cynon Taf. Mr Joel James, who is a close friend of mine and the only Conservative candidate standing in the RCT area topped the voting in the Llantwit Fardre Ward by 39 votes. I can say, free of any political agenda myself that this surely deserves recognition as an outstanding achievement given the political orientation of the area as a whole, but secondly has certainly revived my faith in local politics and its voters. I can vouch for Joel in saying that he has run a positive, tireless campaign making every effort to ensure that the local people a)knew he was there to be voted for and b)was there to represent their voice on local issues that need to be addressed. It's so nice to see that that sort of hard work and commitment is appreciated, because it truly deserves to be.Some family and friends of mine living in the ward complained to me that the candidates had become "invisible" bar the odd piece of junk mail landing on the welcome mat every now and then. This must surely make Mr. James' victory even more profound; congratulations Joel, you earned it the hard, the best way! Fri 02 May 2008 12:47:54 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/betsanpowys/2008/05/ive_just_reread_the_words.html?page=7#comment3 Up country, the biggest story is the 'return of the donkeys' in Merthyr where even Council leader Harvey Jones had the sack (and a big bag to put it in). Red rosettes out, Neddies in!A forward-looking council boss, Harvey had even stolen some political strategies from The West Wing's Leo McGarry and instituted Merthyr's 'big block of cheese day' (though they never called it that). However, he must have put his dvd player on fast-forward as the point of the story was that the administration got to know what the punters were thinking. Fri 02 May 2008 11:33:23 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/betsanpowys/2008/05/ive_just_reread_the_words.html?page=5#comment2 Good to hear Jane Hutt last night in full prosak "denial mode" ~ the (sort of) Welsh Hazel "I a'in't no Poly-Anna!" Blears!The unwritten story of the last few years has been the revival of the caring sharing soul baring Welsh Tories ~ all things to all the people ~ and they will pay for that ~ but maybe not just yet. We weren't ALL Bourne yesterday. Geddit.Gordon sounds as "im- mansely depressed" as usual. Fri 02 May 2008 09:48:41 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/betsanpowys/2008/05/ive_just_reread_the_words.html?page=2#comment1 Shame about the headlines - Penri etc. Substance is that the long march of Plaid in Ceredigion is progressing well - 3 short of overall majority. On a more substantial point Labour hegemony in Wales well and truly in the bin.... Fri 02 May 2008 09:11:45 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/betsanpowys/2008/05/ive_just_reread_the_words.html?page=0#comment0 Clearly, the reintroduction of serfdom to out Tory the Tories has clearly not gone down well with the voters; you may as well have the real thing! First, there is the abolition of the 10p tax rate; people who retired early on low incomes had the news in their pay slips on Wednesday 30th April that this year’s inflation increase was wiped out by the rise in income tax, in order to cut the taxes of high earners. Many like me were motivated to make their point at the ballot box.Then there is the mess they have made of Welsh higher education that resulted from banning taxpayers from making any complaint and preventing any accountability on how their taxes are spent. This has led to the Charity Commissioners regulating Welsh Universities under the Charity Act 2006 instead of Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW). Unlike their English counterpart HEFCE claims that they regulate financial mismanagement are for display purposes only. This corresponds to the claim that the Labour Party is listening, when in fact the only way to get a message across is by some kind of publicity stunt, otherwise you are talking to the brick wall that has been erected to prevent any form of dissent or complaint. Rhodri Morgan is wrong when he says the tide has turned against Labour, it’s a case of apathy giving way to contempt. Fri 02 May 2008 08:32:17 GMT+1