Carmarthenshire Planning Problems and more: Tegwen and the old boys' brigade

Wednesday 18 September 2013

Tegwen and the old boys' brigade

This week's Llanelli Star reports on a recent altercation at a meeting of Llanelli Rural Council. A "men only" invitation to a £35 a head gala dinner from the Welsh Guards Rugby Reunion Club in aid of a soldiers charity had been received. The 'blue humour' of the after-dinner speaker might offend female ears, and it was, apparently, an "all male preserve". Presumably 'blue' equates to 'misogynist'.

County Councillor Sian Caiach, who is also on the Rural Council, was understandably, er, surprised and suggested they "...write back to them and say it is very ignorant in this day and age to invite public representatives to something that is men-only."

However, it was no problem at all for Deputy Leader of Carmarthenshire County Council and Executive Board Member for EQUALITIES, Cllr Tegwen Devichand (Lab) who is also on the Rural Council. She clearly recognises her place in society and is quoted as saying; "I have no problem. It is the old boys' brigade and it is set in stone."

Oh dear. At least we know that if the 'old boys' brigade' exists in County Hall it will remain fully supported and safe in the hands of Tegwen. She is one of two deputy Leaders (yes, there are two, the other is Cllr Pam Palmer leader of the 'Independent' Party) and they both enjoy a generous allowance of £31,120 per year plus expenses, each.

Equalities Champion...and supporter of the 'old boys' brigade', Cllr Devichand

3 comments:

Jane said...: organising a "misogynist jokes for men only" night is illegal .. 2010 Equality Act section 102; 18 September 2013 at 14:13
Tessa said...: What a ridiculous 1970's, nay Victorian, attitude! Pathetic to have such a sexist attitude. I bet the jokes would have been shite anyway - probably about "the" wife/mother-in-law, maybe a bit of ole-fashioned racism thrown in too! Anyway, just shows how out of touch and pass their sell-by date the supporting councillors are.; 18 September 2013 at 15:42
Anonymous said...: Have I read this article correctly? Is it suggesting that the taxpayer is forking out £35 per head for Town Councillors to go on a jolly whilst there are people in the community struggling to put food on the table (turning to food banks) and the LA have alleged their are BIG cuts to come? Whilst I agree that the "Welsh Guards Association" is a worthy cause, I feel that Cllrs who wish to attend should fund this from their own pockets. Given what Mr Beynon has said, "we are full up and we can't invite anybody else" then there would be no loss of monies to the cause if the individuals attending the event, coughed up.

Sadly, Jane the Equality Act is not so straightforward as what one thinks. Please see link below:-

http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/EqualityAct/service_providers_association__club__society.pdf; 18 September 2013 at 16:08

* * LIBEL CASE * *

'The Claimant is a housewife, mother and amateur blogger. The defendants are a council and a chief executive. It is literally state versus citizen. In a large part, the origins of the entire case derive from the issue of getting ones voice heard at all'

'In light of the evidence, the allegations of perverting the course of justice are unsustainable. This is the most serious allegation and the Claimant deserves to have her reputation vindicated...Mr Davies' evidence was incoherent, confused and contradicted [his] statements given at the time...in short, Mr Davies' evidence of what happened has completely changed and he cannot be relied on'

(From closing submission for the claimant at trial, February 2013)

...In August 2016, following a very belated (three years later) complaint to the police by Mark James that I perverted the course of justice, the investigation was dropped as there was no evidence.

There never was going to be any evidence as I told the truth, on oath, at the time.