What the devil is going on. I've just logged on and looked at the BBC's UK website (Yes the UK page) and read that Rhodri Glyn Thomas is going to lose his job as Assembly Culture Minister because he inadvertently walked into a pub with a lit cigar in his hand. That's right. Just read that again. Rhodri Glyn walked into a pub with a lit cigar, thus breaking the law, for which he could technically receive a £50 fine - and he gets the sack. It wasn't even in his mouth. You can totally screw up the Health Service, or the Education System, and there's no probs. But walk into a pub forgetting that you have a lit cigar in your hand, and up the spout goes your career.
So every time a Minister (or I suppose a Shadow Minister) in future is found to have a defective tyre, or breaks the 60mph speed limit, both rendering the criminal liable to a fine, a resignation must immediately follow. And it isn't even necessary to be apprehended by the Police. Oh No. All that needs to happen is that the crime is referred to on someone's blog, and then some politician decides to make an issue of it and Bingo, its reshuffle time. And what about going back a few years. Have any of the Ministers or Shadow Ministers got points on their licences. Clearly they must all now resign. Oh and there's a few thousand people losing their jobs, and there are wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the world's financial system is falling apart - and the top story is Rhodri Glyn Thomas. I can't go on with this. Words have failed me.
UPDATE - Emily Maitlis has just announced Rhodri's resignation on Newsnight. Well, the Broadcasting Committee wanted more references to Wales on the UK network. I'm going to bed plunged into despair.
31 comments:
I remember when I worked for a then nationalised industry years ago.I was told that no one was ever sacked for incompetence ,no matter how expensive the error.But fiddle the tea money....
WAG - screw up the Welsh economy - be at the bottom of the economic league tables, a national university that files fewer patents than many universities in former third world countries leading to a brain drain as Welsh PhD level scientists are forced to move else if they want jobs in the private sector - hey, no problem! No sirreee. But walk into a pub with a cigar in your hand or name the wrong winner at a book event - oh brother, for these minor mistakes, YOU’RE OUT! Or in the words of Donald Trump: 'You're fired!'
Just shows up how things actually (don't) work at the WAG.
... and lets not forget that the WAG is launching a new way of teaching young children through play (actually, this is not new - has been done in other schools including a school in Abbey Wood (SE London) near Plumstead) ... requires 1:8 teacher:pupil ratio ... but WAG hasn't sufficient funds to fund this 'new' teaching system. Recap: OECD stats show Wales is at the bottom of the education league tables in key subjects ... and now WAG is going to screw things up even more ... "wonderful".
I quite like your take on this.
I agree 100% with you Glyn and have said so on my blog. However, you should be aware that it was the Tories who upped the anté this afternoon with a press release demanding that he explain himself or consider his position.
I find it amazing that 'party politics' kicks in over a cigar (I'm not pro-smoking)! 'But that's WAG for you.'
Never mind, after 10 years of WAG Welsh education is cycling backwards (re: OECD stats), that Wales is at the bottom of the UK economic league tables, that Wales national federal university files fewer patents than some former third world universities. All this doesn't matter, but a cigar in a pub matters. Wow - 'But that's show-business-WAG'. What a laughing stock WAG has become.
Well done Glyn - I agree 100% with your views on RGT (or was it RCT or DET) anyway Rhodri Glyn will be a great loss - to Wales the culture dept and of course your endless fun at his expense!
" let he who is without blame - cast or indeed caste the first stone"
Penlan - fiddling the tea money is much more serious than this.
anon 1 and 2 - I'm with you on this.
Peter - Lets hope that everything in the Tory cupboard is squeaky - no points on licences etc. I despair.
Anon - If he'd been sacked for failure of some sort, it would have been OK. I'm not in a position to judge. But I like Rhodri Glyn, and look on him as a friend, even if I don't see much of him now. But to be sacked for this is total bananas.
You are spot on Glyn. Here, never ever the biggest fan on R G Thomas bit the circumstances/events surrounding his resignation are unbelievable. We should all be concerned and wake up to the extent to which this country is descending the crazy, insane slope of political correctness. The fact that this resignation has occurred in Wales should cause us all grave embarrassment regardless of political affiliation.
One less of the buggers to worry about Glyn.
Listen Glyn, worry more about getting the Conservatives in and less about the opposition, faint heart will not win you a seat or indeed the Conservatives the election.
Where is that shadow sec of state by the way???
Hear plenty of the North Wales member, but little of her and the others!
I'm going to feature this in my blog!
penglais - I would have no objection if Rhodri Morgan (or Ieuan Wyn Jones) fired him for incompetence (though I'm not in aposition to make any judgement on thsi) I would have no objection. But to fire him for this is bizarre.
set fawr - Although I like RGT, its not any sympathy for him that drives my opinion here. I've done my share of undermining him in the past. Conducting our politics on this sort of issue has a nasty habit of turning around and biting the biter.
Alan - will read it.
Oops, I just hope whoever takes over has a little more understanding of the arts outside of Cardiff? And appreciates them? One cigar has cost RGT his cabinet post I just hope that the One Wales Goverment dont do business in smoke filled rooms?
Might catch it later (Newsnight is now broadcast in the USA on BBC America). Did 'it' go something like this: "Viewers might recall Ron Davies and his 'moment of madness" on Clapham Common which terminated an otherwise promising political career. News now comes of a Welsh Assembly Minister, this time nothing to do with Clapham Common, but a terminating experience never the less for Welsh Culture Minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas who has just resigned after claims he walked into a bar near the Welsh assembly carrying a lit cigar. For more on this bizarre story we go to our correspondent on Welsh Affairs ..."
Glyn, why do you let a rabid nationalist like Alan post on this blog? He is no friend of the Tories. He is also very odd; an Englishman who hates his own country and pretends to be Welsh.
What about some support for Cairns?
How long will this Kangaroo court take to report?
Focus the support for the Conservative causes Glyn.
Bourne is so full of importance and in my view frightened of talent from his own ranks, that he will be in no hurry to have Alan back, or worse in Westminster.
I agree with some of your thoughts about him Glym.
Gary - As with all politicians, Rhodri had his faults, but I didn't think an obsession with Cardiff was one of them - but I agree with your sentiment that there does seem a Cardiff-centric tone (or more accurately a S Wales tone) to the Assembly Governmnet.
anon - It was a 'Breaking News' type announcement at the end of the programme.
anon - I have a weakness for eccentrics, and I've allowed much worse on this blog that Alan's varied musings. I do think he says it how he sees without any undertone of nastiness.
anon - There is no-one more suppoprtive of Alun than I am, and my reletive silence on this isue is because I believe it is the more helpful response.
"I do think he says it how he sees without any undertone of nastiness."
I disagree. The man is an out-and-out racist.
What a sad day for devolution. A resignation which makes Wales seem like something out a 1950s Ealing comedy followed by a Carwyn Jones speech which is so lightweight that it was last seen floating into space.
I disagree. The man is an out-and-out racist.
I thought Italians were a nationality, not a race ?
Stuart - This incident has done as much to make Wales a laughing stock as anything I can remember fot a long time. Truly pathetic spite-based Micky Mouse politics.
anon - what on earth has poor old Alan got to do with Italians.
Glyn, I have just returned from holiday in Ireland and thought I heard that Rhodri Glyn has gone. I am sure this must not be true as our good friend Mrs Mop bucket had not warned your loyal readers of his secret vice.
Was it Mrs M who spilled the beans while doing her night job at the Eli Jenkins...I think we should be told.
anon - Mrs Mopbucket would not bother herself with something so trivial. No, she was on the phone telling me how this story developed legs. And she was adult enough to realise that it had the poptential to make Wales and her political establishment look utterly ridiculous across the world. If only everyone took the same common sense view as Edna.
OK - here is my considered response: Job Search: A Heritage Minister to be Proud of.
This is in no sense a volte face but it must be admitted that Rhodri Glyn Thomas is accident-prone and suffers from short-comings. To be honest about it we all do, yet Rhodri is, or was, in a position of trust and responsibility. He was the Heritage Minister and as such he must maintain high standards of behaviour and integrity and not trangress the limits of public accountability and respect. He must take great care in avoiding making unnecessary "gaffes" which inevitably are blown up by the media and circulated throughout the nation and beyond.
It is indeed unfortunate that he has been persuaded, or has felt the need, to resign as Heritage Minister, but Wales needs a person who is no less committed to the promotion of Welsh language and culture, who is no less colourful and dedicated, but who is aware of the high profile position which the job entails and who is able to bring steady resolve and undying purpose to the role of Heritage Minister without creating an personal aura and without stumbling from one embarrassing incident into another. Let us hope that another appointee exhibits the qualities which are a sine qua non for such a crucial and fundamental position in Welsh national affairs.
Posted by alanindyfed (from a so-called "rabid" eccentric, who is in fact engaged in turning the tide for Wales and its neighbours, including England) ;-)
I really don't know what all the fuss is about.
As we are now subject to close observation by officialdom, what's the difference with Rhodri Glyn Thomas?
He broke the law, end of. And yes, if a politician gets points on their driving licence they should also lose their jobs.
In these days of intolerance for the general public's misdemeanours, politicians should be fault free or suffer the consequences.
If we had all Assembly AMs free of any personal bad habits...how many would we have left? We certainly would be without the good "Lord".
Alan - so only gods need apply!
ever open eye - perhaps you're the only candidate who would pass your own test. Get your appliction for sainthood in.
anon - Why pick on the'Lord'. The Assembly is made up of 60 human beings, and they have faults. The problem with this incident is that Ieuan Wyn Jones made an appalling error by, in effect, sacking his Culture Minister on the spot for inadvertantly walking into a pub with a lit cigar in his hand - so everyone in Britain unsurprisingly assumes that the National Assembly is run by a bunch of politically cprrect nutters. Just watch the retrofit and character assassination that the Plaid Cymru PR Office will be drip feeding out over the next few days.
Epilogue:
In 2010 former Welsh Culture Minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas wins Welsh version of Big Brother.
2012 wins patent/trademark office battle and trademarks "Mad Dog Thomas" (MDT).
2013: Divorced, wife blamed their failing marriage on a cigar.
2014: Chance meeting with Monica Lewinsky.
2015: Married Lewinsky.
2019: Changed surname to Thomas-Lewinsky.
2020: TV company 20:20 screened a documentary on "Mad Dog Thomas-Lewinsky" and his life with Monica Lewinsky-Thomas.
2020: Rhodri and Lewinski became 'the faces' on a major brand of Cuban cigars.
2021: Promotes farming of tobacco leaf in Welsh Valleys and establishes Thomas-Lewinsky Publishing (TLP).
2022: Promotes trade agreement with Cuba.
2023: Becomes CEO of Welsh-Cuba Cigars, TLP buys out Fox News.
2024: Buys up Welsh Whiskey distillery/distribution business changing its name to MDT Welsh Whiskey.
2024: Sells Welsh-Cuba Cigars for a reputed 20 billion Euros.
2025: Elected as Wales's first President.
2030: Dies happy with an unlit Welsh-Cuban cigar in his mouth and a shot of MDT Welsh Whiskey at his side.
Acknowledgement: Published with kind permission of TLP Inc.
Not wanting to fess up to their over-the-top treatment of RGT, the Plaid Cymru PR Office (PC-PRO) goes into overdrive. BBC national news hot and bothered over criticism by the WAG for not covering Welsh stories equally goes into overdrive reporting on the antics of PC-PRO. All hell breaks loose as Plaid Cymru (PC) accuses BBC national news of 'selective biased coverage of Welsh affairs'. Head of BBC cracks rib laughing. Welsh Labour sits back with a Cheshire grin smile while PC implodes around them. Welsh Labour and Conservatives enter into a power-sharing arrangement.
From Welsh Satire Press:
Petition left outside Welsh National Assembly offices. Petition calls for impeachment of Ieuan Wyn Jones. Charges read: (1) OTT treatment of RGT, (2) bringing Welsh politics into disrepute by promoting the notion that the National Assembly is run by a bunch of “politically correct nutters” (‘actually true, but that’s beside the point’), (3) undermining the National Assembly’s campaign for fairer news coverage by the BBC.
'Welsh Satire Presents ... "
From a BBC reporter on Cardiff streets near the National Assembly Building:
Glynn Evans (gave his friend’s name): “Whatever that Ieuan Wyn Jones is on I want it NOW!”
Anonymous: PC-PRO – it’s what they are calling it (concentrated skunk) now.
Welsh-Labour spokesperson: “Could never make this stuff up.”
Rhodri Morgan: No comment on or off the record, and don’t report that.
Man in hoodie attire (believed to be Ieuan Wyn Jones): I patently have no comment at this time.
Footnote: PC-PRO believed to be an abbreviation for the Plaid Cymru Public Relations Office.
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