Anglesey Plaid: "surprised and disappointed" with Ieuan Wyn Jones

The Daily Post headline

The Leader of the Plaid Cymru group within Anglesey County Council, Cllr Bob Parry, has slammed Ieuan Wyn Jones's decision to support postponing elections on Ynys Môn.

In the Daily Post he says, "It is very disappointing and surprising that the party have gone against the views of its local members who have opposed the delay". As Cllr Parry apparently didn't know about the decision until afterwards, one has to wonder who Ieuan Wyn Jones consulted prior to making his decision. The Daily Post reports that he wrote to the Minister supporting the postponement "on behalf of the party's constituency committee". Judging by Cllr Parry's surprise, we can only conclude that this committee is too august a body to include Cllr Parry, who is after all only Deputy Leader of the council and Leader of the Plaid Cymru group.

Ieuan Wyn Jones's letter to Carl Sargeant apparently says that the delay in the presentation of the Boundary Commission's proposals for Ynys Môn meant that there was little option now but to defer the elections for 12 months. A better question surely would be to ask, "why have the boundary commission's proposals been so delayed?" Or "why are these far reaching boundary changes being rushed through on Ynys Môn with only four weeks consultation when the rest of Wales will have four years?"

It is the Welsh Government and Boundary Commission's responsibility to meet the deadlines of local democracy, not vice versa.

++ Council Crisis: Plaid Cymru walk away from Alliance ++

The Welsh language news website, Golwg360, is reporting that the Plaid Cymru National Executive Committee has ruled that Anglesey County Council's Terms of Engagement are counter to the constitution of Plaid Cymru because of the following clause:

"The Alliance shall appoint a "whip" whose primary functions shall be: to ensure successful and timely communication across all Groups represented on the Alliance; and to ensure and monitor adherence to the Terms of the Alliance ... Anyone so appointed shall be drawn from amongst the Groups whose members do not include the Council's Leader or Deputy, from time to time."

As the Deputy Leader is of course Plaid's Bob Parry, this means that the appointed whip must be from either Labour or the Menai Group. However it appears that it is contrary to Plaid's constitution for a Plaid member to be disciplined by a whip not from within Plaid. (Update: Cllr Cliff Everett writes to let us know that the whip is Labour's John Chorlton).

Furthermore, Plaids National Executive are apparently unhappy that Bob Parry signed the Terms of Engagement without consulting them, and that Plaid policies were not pushed as part of the agreement. As a consequence it now seems that the majority of Plaid's eight councillors have now refused to sign the Terms and Plaid Cymru must as a group withdraw from the Alliance.

Although Golwg does not report any official reply from the Council, this must effectively mean that the Alliance is now over. WAG Local Government Minister, Carl Sargeant has already made his position vis-a-vis the collapse of the Alliance in this letter to all councillors on June 30:

"...arrangements can fall apart as fast as they can be put together. Accordingly I have asked my officials and the Recovery Board to prepare contingency plans which we can implement urgently if recovery falters and/or the alliance fails. Those plans would have drastic and possible permanent consequences for the council and its current membership. It is in everyone's interests to ensure that they are never needed."

So, because of Plaid Cymru's prissy and self-centred concern for their 'procedures' over whats best for the council and the residents of Anglesey, we could now be just days away from direct rule from Cardiff.   And this from the party which styles itself as being "local champions"... Where is our 'invisible' AM, Ieuan Wyn Jones in all of this??

Plaid Councillor calls Council Terms of Engagement "wrong and slanderous"

Cllr Rhian Medi (Plaid Cymru)

In an interview in this weeks edition of the Welsh language magazine, Golwg, Plaid Cymru county councillor Rhian Medi has publicly slammed Anglesey County Council's "Terms of Engagement":

• She calles the Allliance's Terms of Engagement "wrong and slanderous" ("wallus ac enllibus");
• She claims that the Terms of Engagement go against the internal regulations of Plaid Cymru in calling for any Alliance member who doesn't support it to be disciplined by all of the leaders of the Alliance;
• The number of councillors who accept the Terms of Engagement are in the minority;
• To attack individuals and name names is a step back in the history of the Council;
• David Bowles is supposed to stop the infighting and lead the council forward, yet we have returned to personal politics;
• If things deteriate any further then the Assembly will have to take control of the Council.

Considering that Plaid Cymru leader, Cllr Bob Parry, signed the Terms of Engagement and brought his Plaid Cymru councillors into the Alliance with him, Rhian Medi's outburst is both a personal attack on him and must bring the Council one step closer to being taken over by Assembly appointed commissioners. Surely the Recovery Board will feel that an outburst like this from a member of the Alliance is indicative of serious fractures within it.

What will now happen to Rhian Medi? Article 4 of the Terms of Engagement makes it very clear what should happen:

 "Any member of the Groups within the Alliance who does not publicly support this stance, and refuses to "sign up" to the principle described in the paragraph above [i.e. isolate and publicly identify those Councillors who block progress], or whom their Group Leader  considers to have failed to demonstrate sufficient ongoing commitment to the recovery, shall be ejected from their Group". 

Bob Parry has no choice: he must now eject Rhian Medi from the Plaid Cymru grouping. However doing so could have unknown consequences for the governance of the Council as a whole.

Durkin's Black Swan?

Now that the Holyhead & Anglesey Mail has published the names of the protagonists in the Barrie Durkin "Tape-gate" controversy which I  wrote about last week (without naming names), I see no further need to hold back from identifying those concerned.

In essence Cllr Durkin claims to have have met with Cllr Bob Parry, leader of the Plaid Cymru group in Anglesey County Council and senior member of the new Alliance, in a car park in Llanerch-y-medd; during this meeting Durkin alleges that Parry encouraged him to investigate the the planning irregularities of Legal Services Director and Monitoring Officer, Lynn Ball, who lives near to Parry's ward of Bryngwran. Durkin further claims that he tape-recorded this conversation with Parry's knowledge. According to the Holyhead & Anglesey Mail Parry does not deny having met with Durkin in Llanerch-y-medd, but he says: "that was years ago and there certainly weren't any tape recorders about". Curiously the Mail does not press Parry to confirm or deny whether he did discuss Lynn Ball's planning irregularities with Durkin or not -- accordingly we are simply left with a big discussion regarding whether a tape of the conversation exists or not, rather than what was actually discussed at a meeting neither of them deny.

Anyway, does the tape exist or not? Durkin says it does but will not produce it "until I feel it's necessary and in my interest". Does Durkin's refusal to produce it prove that it doesn't exist? I hate to be get all philosophical about it, but here's what Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the celebrated author of "The Black Swan", has to say about 'negative empiricism':

"Seeing white swans does not confirm the nonexistence of black swans ... If I see a black swan I can certify that all swans are not white! If I see someone kill, then I can be practically certain that he is a criminal. If I don't see him kill, I cannot be certain that he is innocent. The same applies to cancer detection: the finding of a single malignant tumour proves that you have cancer, but the absence of such a finding cannot allow you to say with certainty that you are cancer-free."

I wonder if Clive McGregor and the members of Recovery Board are quite as philosophical about the whole affair? Anyway, I'll leave the last word to Cllr Peter Rogers who is completely accurate:

"It's quite appalling, if its true then Clive McGregor has no choice but to sack Bob, especially after Goronwy Parry was sacked for supporting him (Durkin). I don't know how much longer this can carry on before we get shut down".

The Anglesey Coup d'état - Day 4 News

With such dramatic changes going on at the Council you would think that our well-paid Council press office would, you know, tell us what's going on wouldn't you? Apparently not - the Council's news page's hasn't been updated since Friday. Good job the Druid is here to keep you all informed of the day's going ons:

• Clive McGregor has only been able to persuade three Original Independents to join his new group, Llais i Fôn: Thomas Jones, Robert Ll Hughes and Chairman of the Council, Selwyn Williams
• As a consequence, McGregor has sacked the following Original Independents portfolio holders from the Council Executive: Bryan Owen (Economic Development & Tourism), Ieuan Williams (Corporate Management), Aled Morris Jones (Planning), and Kenneth P Hughes (Education & Leisure)
• The remaining Original Independents have re-grouped under a new leader, Bryan Owen. They are listed in the above graphic.
• In the end, Gareth Winston Roberts and his Anglesey Forward group (William T Hughes and Derlwyn Hughes) refused to join McGregor's new Alliance.
• Accordingly, the Alliance is now composed of Llais i Fôn (4 members), Plaid Cymru (8 members), Labour (5 members), and the Menai Group (3 members) - making a total of 20 members. 
• As the council has 40 members in total, this means that the new Alliance does not command a majority - unless the Unaffiliated councillors provide support. However as McGregor has this year sacked the now Unaffiliated Elwyn Schofield, Barrie Durkin and Goronwy Parry they are unlikely to support him. Which leaves only Peter Rogers and Robert Ll Jones - and its unclear whether these unaffiliated councillors will support the Alliance or not.
• As McGregor's Llais i Fôn group has only 4 members, it now makes it a junior partner to both Plaid Cymru and Labour. Accordingly Plaid Cymru is the senior partner - it is therefore unsurprising that Plaid leader, Bob Parry, has been canvassing support to now usurp McGregor and become leader of the Council.
• One final oddity to report is that the Lib Dems on the council now find themselves in the ridiculous situation of being in two different groups: Selwyn Williams in Llais i Fôn and Aled Morris Jones in the re-formed Original Independents.

For all those councillors who are reading (and council press office staff too) you might like to know this blog has received numerous hits today from the Commission for Local Administration in Wales, the BBC, Trinity Mirror and the Houses of Parliament (Albert must have woken up).

More news when the Druid hears it...
         

Peter Rogers tosses hand grenade at Anglesey County Council

      
Demonstrating that the civil war at Anglesey County Council is a long way from over, unaffiliated councillor for Rhosyr and Independent candidate in the general election, Peter Rogers, had a remarkable letter published in the Daily Post yesterday.

In it he:

• Calls for the councillors who have been criticised by the Ombudsman to be named and shamed;
• Blasts Anglesey AM Ieuan Wyn Jones for failing to personally respond in the Welsh Assembly to a statement about the problems at Anglesey County Council;
• Asks why Ieuan Wyn Jones has not instigated disciplinary hearings against Plaid Cymru councillors on the council, particularly Deputy Council Leader Cllr Bob Parry, for (a) their part in this expenses scandal; and (b) for condoning the "appalling behaviour of certain councillors"

Here is the letter in full:

I applaud your recent published letters from Anglesey residents, angered that Anglesey Councillors have not been named and shamed. Your paper has recently named a clutch of councillors, whom the Ombudsman has found have charges to answer, and there are certainly more to be named.

This slow, drip-drip of disclosures of the misdemeanours of we councillors just prolongs any early recovery.

All the huffing, puffing and posturing by successive Ministers of Local Government in the Assembly count for absolutely nothing.

The Assembly's involvement in the shenanigans of Anglesey councillors is nothing short of a disgrace.

What else should the people of Anglesey expect, when our own Assembly Member and Deputy First Minister, Ieuan Wyn Jones, does not even rise in the Chamber to respond to the last statement by the minister, on Anglesey County Council's elected members?

He simply ignores it and allowed a fellow Assembly Member - a Dr Lloyd - to respond. What a snub to Ynys Môn.

Questions must be asked why the local Plaid AM has not instigated disciplinary action against his Plaid councillors, its Leader, and, incidentally, the Deputy Leader of the Authority, Cllr Bob Parry, particularly over the expenses jolly to South Wales, and this is followed by their total support for the unacceptable 4.5% increase in the rates.

Their support for swimming pool closures and the apparent acceptance of of the appalling behaviour of certain councillors has been to the detriment of his Authority. We now also have an ongoing, highly expensive investigation by a South Wales planning consultant into two recent planning applications and also over the conduct of certain planning committee members. Honestly, you could not make it up!

No wonder the Anglesey ratepayers are calling for action.

Ieuan Wyn Jones should be addressing the crisis which is engulfing Ynys Môn - which already has the lowest GDP in Europe - and not worry about addressing the nation in the run up to the election.

He should remember that charity begins at home.

Cllr Peter S Rogers, Ynys Môn

We certainly haven't heard the last of this...