A Letter in today's Western Mail

A letter from a resident of Carmarthenshire published in today's Western Mail;

Do these councillors feel threatened? 

Sir – That a public servant should be allowed to sue a local council taxpayer out of public funds is as astonishing as it is amoral, but it seems that in Carmarthenshire it is endorsed by the local gaggle of county councillors. 

Perhaps they view the possible demise of their chief executive as a threat to themselves? We all know that when certain people fall out, ordinary people benefit. Similarly, the one accused can so often bring down those with similar faults. Maybe the county councillors of Carmarthenshire are running scared of what might be revealed? I can think of no other reason that they should throw out the decision of the Assistant Auditor General for Wales, Anthony Barrett in his public interest report in which he said the council acted unlawfully in underwriting Mr James’s counterclaim. 

There can be no getting away from the fact that Mr James, and those councillors who backed his actions, acted against the best interests of the council taxpayers of Carmarthenshire. His was a private action and he should have paid the price of hiring top London lawyers. It was not for any county councillor to underwrite his expenses. Had the litigant had to consider his intentions at greater depth, undoubtedly he would have thought rather more deeply about bringing a case against the blogger who was seeking to highlight his failures, as well as those of the local county council. 

Maureen Jenner
Carmarthenshire 

(Source; Western Mail)

Recent posts;
Western Mail reports on libel enforcement
Enforcement of counterclaim damages

Wales Audit Office; Indemnity for Libel Counterclaim - Carmarthenshire County Council - Report in the Public Interest, published January 2014