Nick Bourne and the Welsh Tories seem to be storming to political advances within the next year after the collapse of the Western Mail concatenation of attacks on the propriety of the expenses he has received for being an AM and living in a flat in Cardiff during Assembly weeks.
We can expect an annual sluice of such journalistic stories each time the details of expenses paid – which almost descend to the issue numbers on receipts – are released. Normally, the not-so-hidden agenda among the public is – don’t give taxpayers’ money to politicians.
The agenda with the Western Mail, however, seems rather to serve the interests of the anti-Assembly far-right in Welsh politics.
The Mail was founded to serve the Tory Party; it then killed off the opposition which stemmed from the majority party of Wales (the Liberal-supporting South Wales Daily News); after which success it ridiculously claimed that a “paper created to serve a party now serves a nation” (Nye Bevan didn’t think so; he accordingly burned it above Ebbw Vale); and the resultant current effective monopoly (how often is the Daily Post referred to in Cardiff Bay ?) continues far too often to curry its own favourites, usually right wing Tories.
The Mail is now even being ridiculed by its equals. Journalists at high level are asking what on earth Llais y Sais is up to; why has so much space been given to a story which would normally have died after only a couple of days ?
Why is Mr Bourne being singled out, while precisely the same sin committed by Alun Cairns (Con; South Central) got only a passing mention ?
Mr Bourne is, of course, leader of his party; Mr Cairns isn’t. But also, Mr Cairns is, in Tory Assembly terms, a right-winger.
Perhaps the right-wing Tories – who are leading an apparently-willing Llais y Sais by the nose – should realise for once the potential serious damage they are imposing on the party in Wales.
Their aim is leadership-change. If that process were set in train at this time it could cause serious damage to the party they claim to support. Their party is talking of doubling its Welsh representation at the European election due in five months time.
In the Assembly election of 2011, Mr Bourne openly talks of his party returning with 16 “or more” members (up from 12), with himself a minister in a Cabinet with either Plaid or the Lib Dems. He is careful not to say “Chief Minister”.
But it seems there is no need to held a leadership poll, even after that election. Only a fool within the party would urge an earlier one. Particularly when right-winger David Jones (Clwyd West) told a party conference recently that Mr Bourne has his full confidence [somehow or other, he sneaked in some mention of 2011].
With the reopening of the Assembly today, Mr Bourne was clearly furious with Llais y Sais – and it went clearly far beyond that day’s front page lead which, surprise, surprise, found yet another reason to attack Mr Bourne’s expenses. Clearly, some Tories are spending far more time taking a mangifiying glass to Mr Bourne’s expenses, rather than building up the party to attack Labour and the party’s other enemies.
Mr Bourne highlighted to the press the cotton-wool treatment wrapped around Plaid MP Adam Price, who “illegally” used public cash to send letters to his constituents. After suffering pages of vituperation in the Western Mail, Mr Bourne contrasted the radically different treatment given Mr Price – who had to hand back £1,500 of the taxpayers’ wrongly-spent money..
Mr Price’s sin merited a mere three paragraphs in the in-brief column, just above a longer story headed “Firemen tackle blaze in hotel”.
I’m afraid the Mail has made a big fool of itself. Bourne’s main pain will be not much more than having to suffer weekly press questions about the solidity of his leadership position.
There’s only one leader whose survival beyond 2011 is strongly questioned, and that is Ieuan Wyn Jones. But the press or BBC won’t be asking him about that sore point. They won’t want to incur his wrath.
I have had the Western Mail delivered for over thity years.
Last week I cancelled it, because as far as I am concerned it has become irrelevant to Wales.
I am no Tory but the way it went after Nick Bourne with the seeming help of Newport Conservatives and let other AMs off the hook, some who seem to be claiming twice for the same house was the final straw.
It has become nothing more than the English Daily Mirror for Wales. It is more interested in popularist Rugby, sport and Celebrity gossip than any thing for Wales.
The sooner we can have a true Welsh daily newspaper the better.
Thank goodness we at least have the Cambria.
What about the news today that the WM and Daily Post could merge and they could be printed in England.
Multimedia plans to integrate newsrooms of Welsh papers
Posted: 06/11/07 By: Laura Oliver
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News operations at two Trinity Mirror regional newspapers are to be integrated, as part of plans to develop their online content.
The Western Mail and South Wales Echo will see their editorial operations combined under the umbrella of Trinity-owned publisher Media Wales to form a single multimedia newsroom that will serve all print and electronic platforms.
Each print title will retain an editor, who will assume responsibility for all electronic and print channels carrying their title’s brand.
Deputy editors will be renamed as executive editors and will oversee the day-to-day operation of the newsroom across all platforms.
According to Alan Edmunds, editorial director of Media Wales, it is hoped the changes will enable ‘more ambitious development’ of the icWales website, which functions as the website for four Media Wales newspapers.
“It is our belief that the future success of our business lies in the need to transform from a predominantly print-based culture to a truly multimedia environment,” said Edmunds, who researched the plans across Europe and the US for six months.
“This is a pioneering move for the regional industry and will put us at the forefront of multimedia newsrooms across the UK.”
Edmunds added that the integration of the papers’ newsrooms would also enhance the quality of the Western Mail and South Wales Echo’s print versions.
I have several thoughts on the forthcoming “merger” of the Mail and the Post.
I have been seeing this coming for some years, as have some people on the Post (I don’t know about about the Mail, because I wonder how many of them know anything worth knowing about the Post).
A major problem is that Trinity Mirror is not regarded as a newspaper group of any quality. Sure, the newspaper world is currently facing problems. But when, as was reported recently, not one of your main board members is a journalist – is that still true ? – one can expect kneee-jerk reactions rather than common-sensical replies to what is happening around you.
I know many people dislike the Mail group, but at least it is run by journalists for the good of the newspaper world, rather than purely for the good of shareholders – which is how Trin Mir seems to operate.
The sooner Trin Mir sold Llais y Sais (and the Llandudno-edited Post) to people who believed it should have a title more like that of The Welshman (published in Carmarthen until about 30 years ago, with the title still owned by the Northcliffe-Daily Mail group), the happier Wales would be as a country.
MORE LATER…
Sorry, but I’m not very good with this system. When I wrote in the last paragraph about the Mail group, I was of course referring to the Daily Mail…
I apologise also, I should havestated where I copied the above article from it was the website Journalism.co.uk for 06/11/07.
Headed. ‘Multimedia plans to intergrate newsrooms of Welsh papers’ and this was in 2007.