Blame game backfires for Holley

Swansea Lib Dem council leader Chris Holley has been eager to portray things as being business as usual whilst police look into whether his involvement in a misconduct issue merits criminal investigation.

Accordingly, he decided that the Welsh Government would be a soft target for a bollocking via the media over transport grants. After all, bleating that Cardiff gets disproportionately more in the way of handouts has always gone down well in Swansea and would serve as a useful distraction. It turns out to have been another misjudgment on his part. 

The norm is for a government spokesman to respond to such attacks with a few helpful but stilted lines to outline policy - but what emerged was a full-on political tongue-lashing delivered by an aide to Transport Minister Carl Sergeant.

His verdict was that "Councillor Holley is talking utter and complete nonsense”, adding "We'll take no lectures from this particular Lib Dem council leader about transport policy."

The spokesman pointed out that the Welsh government will take forward plans to double-track the section of railway line serving Gowerton and Loughor by 2015 plus keeping up pressure for an electrification of the main line between Swansea and Cardiff.

“Something Lib Dems in Swansea failed to do”, he emphasised “even though they're in Government in London."

Update (13 Dec): The Beans on Toast provides a rigorous defence for the beleaguered Mr Holley – whilst assuming that their readership will be just as credulous about a newspaper that is suddenly so averse to yah-boo politics.