Conspiracy theorists in the Hart4Labour camp are reportedly making a big thing of the fact that it was Martin Shipton (and not the Western Mail’s health correspondent) who did yesterday’s piece on the no-redundancy policy arising from NHS mergers in Wales. The view among loyalists is that the article was timed to take the shine off news of Jane Hutt’s declaration of support for EH who now has 10 votes in the bag.
It’s an intriguing possibility, in view of the journalist’s record of deep appreciation for the AM for Gower, but what does it really matter anyway given the paper’s success rate in influencing political leadership changes?
More interesting, at different level, is a further reference to the views of the West Wales Business Initiative and its secretary, Wyn Price. The interesting aspect is that other than making an appearance before the Assembly’s E&L committee, other details about the anti-public spending outfit are a bit scarce.
Price, who has received plaudits from elsewhere does not seem to have an active website link to his business at the moment. But the background provided by VM is that he was WDA official in west Wales at a time when the agency’s relationship with the private sector was a just a little blurred.
Actually, as memories of recent political history begin their almost inevitable blue rinse cycle, it’s not a bad idea to get a reminder of what once passed for economic development in colonial pre-Assembly Wales and how decent journalism involved a lot more research.
1 Comments:
Really enjoyed reading the old Independent articles. Many thanks for the links and the research.
You are quite right in observing that we could benefit from a reminder of how things operated under the old regime of tory viceroys. Party creatures such as Rowe-Beddowes became very useful in blurring the lines of accountability whilst submerging executive actions beneath a cloak of independent business respectability. His appointment was essential to erase memories of Thatcher's darling Gwyn Jones. I remember seeing GJ lunching at La Brasseria in Swansea with the table covered in papers and filofaxes to impress the punters.
I prefer to think that he would have been found out a lot sooner under the scrutiny which operate within the Assembly. Even so, I cannot help but worry that his kind will make a come-back in the next few years and to the detriment rather than benefit of Welsh business.
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