It has to be sad when any organisation suffers an upheaval that results in the loss of its Chief Executive,  but recent months and years at S4C have not shown real success so change was probably inevitable.

Sure: the digital age has increased competition, but the Authority seem to be ignoring the fact there are 2 sides in the market: Supply and Demand.

Digital TV may dilute demand, but to be frank, the Supply has really failed to stimulate interest. The picture on the left is a copy of S4C’s listings for this coming Sunday, does it really get your juices flowing?

Remember this is a listing for Sunday, a Sunday during school holidays: so where are the early morning programmes for kids? My sons both have happy memories of Slot Sadwrn from years ago and I loved it, as  it kept them occupied and I had an extra hour in bed.

As a Broadcaster S4C has been the broadcaster in the language of choice for many in Wales, but in truth, its programmes are not the programmes of choice in any genre. For that reason and for poor programming, change is required, but it’s not just Iona Jones that should fall on her sword.

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Image via Wikipedia

I went to the Royal Welsh Agricultual Show in Llanelwedd on Monday, I’d been before many years ago, but had forgotten how good, seriously good, it all is.

I’m a city man, definitely not a country man even though like many I enjoy the so-called country sports.

But I’m not really into farming/agriculture/livestock etc. And my reason for attending the show was business related as I was attending a QUANGO meeting on a subject close to my employer’s heart.

Despite my narrow business/professional interest I did spend a lot of time walking the show ground and seeing the sites, the truly fantastic sites of animals, no, make that “Beasts”, reared to perfection and ready for display. I don’t know much about cows or pigs or sheep or goats, but I do know that I saw some great examples on Monday. And then of course there was the Welsh Food pavillion: Magic, pure foodie bliss,

But it wasn’t the quality of the produce that hit me, it was the people: people who had prepared for months or more, people who were excited at the opportunity, people that were so VERY proud of what they had made or had to show. It hit me harder than anything has for many a year. Here I was, surrounded by people who cared, REALLY CARED about what they do and were showing extreme pride in what they had produced. And that pride hit me: hugely.

How I would love to transport that pride into the world of business, the world where companies hide behind smoke-screens and Quangos claim not to have powers. If either had as much pride as the farming community who were proudly strutting their stuff, there probably would not have been a need for the meeting I was attending in the first place.

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As an Artillery Officer of many years ago I am delighted to see that the Armed Forces will soon be lead by a Gunner Officer.

General Sir David Richards is a distinguished and experienced commander with wonderful diplomatic skills. He has commanded soldiers in Afghanistan and lead successful operations in places like Somalia where he is considered to have been instrumental in defending and securing the future of the Government there. His operational experience in Afghanistan and the respect in which he is held by that country’s Government will be great assets.

To have such an experienced officer elevated to command and lead our forces is a tremendous fortune and I wish him the very best  in the challenging times to come.

It’s also worth noting that he is a bit of a local boy in Wales having attended Cardiff University where he gained his degree in Politics and Economics.

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It’s been over a month since I wrote something here and I’ve only missed the trivial events of an election, a coalition and a World Cup to comment about, oh and a defence review, a change of commander in Afghanistan and Wales in NZ. But I’ve only been idle here whilst being busy elsewhere.

However tonight I can’t pass the moment without commenting on the blatant stupidity of those involved in the planning process in Newport.

Poor Terry Mathews, who has built global businesses with names like Newbridge, and Newport in them and has of course invested around £40 million of his own money in securing the bid for the Ryder Cup in Wales at the palatial hotel and leisure complex he has built in Newport,  has been apparently defeated by planning idiots in Newport who want to protect a derelict building next to the home of the World’s greatest golf tournament later this year.

If you’ve not seen the news report on the BBC then take a look here.

Newport stupidity at its absolute finest.

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After having the worst attack of raging blood pressure a few nights ago, I’m pleased to say that I’m now far more calm. Not only was it great to see the theatre of the handover of leader yesterday evening, but the announcements today have added to the overall delight of this era.

I’ve made no pretence of my dislike of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister, but I must admit to having a lump in my throat during his farewell speech. He may not have impressed me, and without doubt he did not care for our Armed Forces in the way that I would have welcomed, but like many I do respect him for having the views he had. It just proves you don’t have to like someone to respect them.

The New Politics, a Liberal Conservative coalition, is going to have a great impact. I’m convinced that Cameron has played an absolute blinder in cutting this deal and I sincerely hope he can hold his party together on it. As for Nick Clegg: I also hope he can hold it together. But there will be challenges for all.

The structure of the Cabinet looks truly strong, with wisdom, experience and people willing to take decisions. Many will comment on the shortage of Women, but dear Anne Widdecombe was on the money when she said that being a woman made it easier to get into Cabinet as there was less good female competition. She advocated appointments on ability rather than gender and I think she was right to say that.

One decision to ponder though is Wales and Cheryl Gillan, but comment on that can wait for a day or two: there’s plenty of noise already.

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This morning, there is a nervousness to my excitement as the citizens of the United Kingdom go to the polls. Butterflies are flying laps around my stomach, my throat has already had a lump or 2 in it when I saw or heard those opening words on news bulletins. What is so different this time?

Is it because my loyalties are mixed? After all this is an election where I am really impacted by a UK Government and also a mature Government in Wales with legislative experience, and whilst at the UK level I want to see a shift to the right, local I want Wales to continue to be grow in stature and want to see a stronger position for Plaid.

Could it be that the campaigns have left me worried that votes will be bought, rather than visions created to win over voters?

Has our TV based campaign – not the internet campaign so expected by many – really turned the tide, or is the Lib Dem surge already a busted flush. Only time will tell.

But one things is certain in my mind: it is high time we are rid of the Labour Government who have failed so miserably to deliver over 13 years in office. And not only is it time for change, but change for the better. Then maybe the butterflies will go back to bed.

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Image by Francis Bourgouin via Flickr

Recent reports of vote “stealing”, through false registrations and postal vote grabbing are worrying, but possibly of greater concern are semi-institutionalised attempts at vote influencing.

In recent months it appears that the National Union of Students have encouraged Universities to release records of students living in halls, to local authorities to allow for bulk registration. In some universities it has even lead to individuals from overseas being registered to vote, yet with no right to be so.

Equally concerning is the influence such an exercise can have on local democracy. For example: in west Wales there are allegations that this has happened in a constituency where only the Lib-Dems and Plaid Cymru have a chance of winning, (Lib-Dem majority last time was 219). To register voters with no affiliations to Wales will have an unfair impact on Plaid Cymru and with (broad brush statement) the current appeal of a “young” Nick Clegg to students, an unfair benefit to the Lib Dem vote.

Of course, with many of these students graduating shortly, they will of course be influencing decisions about local representation, in a constituency that will not be their residence in a few weeks time.

It is high time that the Electoral Commission took elections and voter registrations more seriously.

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When Alun Cairns let slip his bad taste “joke” about “Wops” last year  on a Radio Wales he was pilloried, forced to give up his committee position in the National Assembly of Wales and almost had to withdraw as a prospective candidate for the Vale of Glamorgan.

When another politician made a serious comment today, not at all in jest, but deriding a specific individual as a bigot, all he had to do was pop back for anther cuppa, make a probably false apology and exercise his smile when you lie gene on leaving the house of the offended. The last bit was of course for the benefit of the assembled media.

Funny old world!

8 days to go then he should be gone.

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With all the main party manifestos out in print, but probably not going to add to much excitement to anyone’s life I sat back and thought about what would capture my votes in the election. So here is my manifesto, like many others it probably won’t stand up to too much scrutiny.

1. Destroy Speed Cameras. Our highways are awash with speed cameras, average speed cameras and other money making ideas. They serve no purpose but to raise money whilst disrupting the traffic flow of perfectly safe vehicles, designed and tested to drive much faster than the limit allows.

2. Remove Waste from the Public Sector. I’m not talking about billions that are bandied about by the big parties. but we need to remove small levels of waste: 5 meter cycle lanes, central heating systems left on at weekends, street lights on in daylight. there’s no doubt that if we can encourage small savings, then bigger savings will also become possible.

3. Create some sustainable development. We should stop throwing money at business development in the way we currently do and try to create a more sustainable form of wealth creation. For example: I’d love to see an amalgam of training, regeneration, business development and work creation from a series of projects that utilise public money in  a joined up fashion and cross a variety of boundaries.

4. Create a Future for Wales. The debate about more powers is boring; let’s focus on creating a vision of what will be for Wales. How will we attain self determination, how will we manage UK Instittions based in Wales, how will we pay for it all? Let’s create clarity, develop a sense of purpose and then lets us focus, argue ad fight for that vision to be delivered.

5. Take some Front Line cuts. There’s no reason for making any front line sacrosanct, no reason why some elements of the front line could not be pared back. So let’s cut out the institutionalized defence of front line cuts and accept that maybe, just maybe, some of the front line actually aren’t necessary after all.

6. Free Dental Care. I don’t know how it happened, but where did dental care go to? Surely that could be a valualbe add on to our NHS.

7. Make Education Relevant. It’s hugely frustrating as an employer to meet young people looking for work who do not have the basic IT skills needed in the work place. Our education system focuses on creating lots of A Stars and A’s, but does not deliver well trained individuals who can pick up the tools of work easily.

8. Essential Skills lessons. As part of ur national curriculum we should ensure that all school leavers have the essential skills of life: that they can swim, can drive, know how to wire a plug and of course can understand the value of compound interest. These life skills are essential and this list is not exhaustive.

9. Legalise Drugs. We’ve legalised tobacco and alcohol, and as a result anyone wishing to poison themselves with these drugs can get quality controlled products, at a price which delivers revenue to the Government. Crime associated with tobacco is minimal. Illegal drugs remain available, are generally of uncontrolled quality and come at a price that drives more crime. We need proper drug outlets to as a way to address the crime fuelled by drugs.

10. Ban Immigration. Well not exactly ban immigration, just control the number of foreign players playing in Welsh Rugby. It is unacceptable, for example, that the Ospreys can have a back-row line up of overseas players,  that stops our national captain from getting into the team. This is not conducive to building a successful national team and should be better by controlled by the WRU.

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It’s almost become the default answer after an act of terrorism: “this country/government/nation will never bow to terrorists” or words to that effect.

Image via Wikipedia

Yet today the business of governing Wales came to a halt as a small bunch of strikers (terrorists) objected to a policy that the UK Government has labelled “fair” to both staff and taxpayers. It came to a halt because members of the Welsh Assembly Government found it better to support the (terrorist voters) strikers, rather than support the measures being implemented by the Government in London. And it’s not even a policy created by an opposition for all of them.

A Government that gives in to protest is both naive and is clearly failing to represent the views of the people they are supposed to represent.

Everyone I have spoken to in the last few days rate the strikers as beyond contempt. That their Picket lines (which are referred to as “somewhere to tie your horses” by Wikipedia) “must not be crossed” is a quaint old concept. Who the hell says it remains so?

The time has come for our vote chasing politicians in Wales to stand up and take clear positions on what is right, not what is folklore and not that which justssupports their re-election. It is time to be real and recognise that pickets serve little or no purpose, that it’s not just horses that get tied up there but Donkeys.

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