The Cory Band were crowned European Champions this weekend for the first time in 28 years, following a tough two day competition in Stavanger, where the band achieved an amazing 99 out of 100 in the set test piece competition on the Friday.
An anonymous comment has drawn my attention to this post about the Tory elecetd in the RCT ward of Llantwit Fardre - which is not, as I ahve said before, in the Rhondda.
Looking around the Welsh elections for some positives, obviously the Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend results were outstanding (including Ogmore). It is disappointing that BBC Wales has failed to give appropriate coverage to the recovery in Bridgend. Labour also made 5 gains on Anglesey: before we had no councillors. And I thought given the extraordinary difficulties across Wales, the overall performance in Swansea was good.
Yesterday's Guardian leader claimed there is now a Tory councillor in the Rhondda.
No, there isn't.
There is a Tory on RCT, representing Llantwit Fardre.
The Guardian's journalists should get out more.
It was of course a bad day for Labour all over Wales and England.
Here in RCT, we were delighted to hold on to the Council. In 1999, of course, RCT was lost to Plaid Cymru. In the Rhondda in 1999, Plaid won 19 of the 25 council seats, leaving Labour with only 6.
This time, in what was the worst set of results for Labour across Wales and England arguably in 40 years, we held on to RCT with a clear majority. In the Rhondda, we came back with 17 out of the 25 council seats to Plaid's 8.
The 5 seats we lost to Plaid included one in Treorchy, where they held the other two seats already; and in Treherbert, where in 2004 we had only won the two seats with majorities of 11 and 3 . We lost two other seats by margins of 28 and 56.
Perhaps it's no surprise that Plaid Cymru's peculiar Party Political Broadcast last night failed to feature Adam Price MP or their MEP Jill Evans. Plaid must be embarrassed by their latest outbursts.
Price's remarks that Plaid would be prepared to do a deal with the Tories at Westminster after the next General Election has caused a backlash against the nationalists in the Valleys where Tories are scarcely seen.
His remarks are almost as embarrassing for Plaid Cymru as Jill Evans attacking the thousands of jobs set to come to South Wales at St Athan. Many of my Rhondda constituents have worked at St Athan and the new Defence Training Academy which Jill Evans rejects will offer them real job opportunities. It has been estimated by assembly government ministers that the development will bring 5,000 jobs to the area.
Rhodri Morgan was right to say:
"We have worked very hard to win this project for Wales against severe competition from the West Midlands and elsewhere. The Defence Training Academy will involve activities which are far less military in character, since the academy will involve teaching skills such as engineering, electronics, and IT - all equally as valuable in civilian life after they have left the armed forces as they will be for maintaining military equipment."
I did the Welsh Tories an injustice yesterday, suggesting they were not standing candidates in the RCT council elections.
They are not standing candidates. But they are standing one candidate.
Step forward the brave Welsh Conservative in the Llantwit Fardre ward.
Maybe some of the messages we have been giving the BBC hierarchy about the UK network's
failure to get to grips with Britain post-devolution have hit home.
Today on Breakfast News they had Colette Hume from Cardiff explaining the Wales and England teachers' strike, and on two occasions Bill Turnbull was heard to talk about elections for all the Welsh and some of the English councils. In that order. Then they had a report on the Northern Irish economy with Declan.
Of course, it could just be a flash in the pan: sustaining it will be the test.
Aside from helping our local candidates in the Rhondda, Welsh Labour has asked me to visit a number of different local government campaigns in Wales. In Milford I helped Colin Robbins who was born in Cwmparc and grew up in Blaenrhondda!
Good to see the Treorchy Male Choir blog up and running. Not only is the choir a major cultural force in its own right, its support for developing musical talent is the Rhondda is growing year on year.
