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Reader compares Eluned Morgan interview to Titanic captain

Reader compares Eluned Morgan interview to Titanic captain

Capt. Smith ordered that the band kept playing, and that everybody should act like everything was fine and dandy, and for the crew not to display any anxiety to the passengers of the true extent of the damage below the waterline.
The Welsh Labour Government are doing exactly the same to the proud Welsh public, gaslighting and hoodwinking us all into believing that all is well in the circus that is the Senedd.
Let's quickly look at Welsh Labour's legacy over the last 24 years:
Longer waiting lists in ALL of the Welsh hospitals. Some in special measures or just out of special measures
£130million (estimate) squandered on the scoping exercise for the new M4 relief road
£120million (estimate) in unspent covid funds returned to Westminster
£15million wasted on a white elephant that was the Blaenau Gwent race track
Severn Bridge Tolls scrapped completely.
It is my humble opinion that every Labour Government, whether devolved or national, will leave the public purse in a poorer condition, and with the economy in a worse state than when it gained office, which post covid takes some doing.
What was it that Margaret Thatcher once said: 'The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.'
How true this is.
Paul Graham
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Benn says ‘no choice' but to repeal NI legacy act as veterans stage protest
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  • The Guardian

Benn says ‘no choice' but to repeal NI legacy act as veterans stage protest

Hilary Benn has said that 'only one soldier' has been convicted over a Troubles-related death since 1998 as he sought to justify Labour plans to repeal the Northern Ireland Legacy and Reconciliation Act. The Northern Ireland secretary, speaking at a debate in Westminster Hall, argued that of the 250,000 British military veterans who had served in the country, 'the number being prosecuted for offences has been very, very small'. Benn said he recognised 'the very real fears that many veterans have' and that the government took 'those concerns very seriously' – but he said Labour had no choice but to repeal and rewrite the legislation because it had been deemed incompatible with human rights law. Citing research by the Centre for Military Justice, Benn said the law firm 'records that only one soldier has been convicted since the Good Friday agreement' – a case in which a veteran received a suspended sentence for manslaughter. Benn was responding to a general debate brought after more than 176,000 people signed a petition demanding Labour not make any changes to the law. Before it began, a couple of hundred veterans staged a noisy protest at the Cenotaph in Whitehall and in Parliament Square with the support of the Conservatives, who passed the legislation in 2023. Veterans at the protest said they believed a simple repeal of the legacy act would lead to a reopening of investigations and prosecutions against them, in a gradual process that would take several years. David Holmes, an RAF veteran who did two tours in Northern Ireland, said that 'what's being proposed would be a return to inquests, that would lead to prosecutions, vexatious prosecutions that would be long, drawn-out'. Holmes, one of the leaders of the protest, said that although 'the chances of getting a prosecution are very slim, the veteran who is under prosecution will be punished for five to seven years' while the investigation took place. Dennis Hutchings died in 2021, aged 80, before he could be put on trial for attempting to murder John Pat Cunningham, who was shot in the back and killed as he ran from an army patrol in 1974. The prosecution had been begun six years earlier, in 2015. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Mick Curtis, 76, who served with the Royal Horse Artillery in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1971, said he believed 'the rules were being changed in retrospect' and that ordinary soldiers who were given rules of engagement that permitted opening fire in certain circumstances were no longer considered to have acted legitimately. The Legacy Act halted all but the most serious investigations into Troubles-related killings by soldiers and paramilitary groups – a compromise that also meant that inquiries into the deaths of 202 soldiers and 23 veterans were among those halted last year when the law took effect. Labour said it would repeal the act because it was opposed by many victims' families and Northern Ireland's political parties, as well as having been deemed by a court to be incompatible with human rights legislation. It has not yet decided exactly what to replace it with. The shadow defence minister, Mark Francois, one of those supporting the protest, said 'we think the government are beginning to hesitate now that the anger of veterans is becoming apparent'. A repeal of the law would open up former soldiers to 're-investigation endlessly', he said.

Bill on Royal Albert Hall seatholders' ticket reforms backed by MPs
Bill on Royal Albert Hall seatholders' ticket reforms backed by MPs

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Bill on Royal Albert Hall seatholders' ticket reforms backed by MPs

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Bill on Royal Albert Hall seatholders' ticket reforms backed by MPs
Bill on Royal Albert Hall seatholders' ticket reforms backed by MPs

North Wales Chronicle

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  • North Wales Chronicle

Bill on Royal Albert Hall seatholders' ticket reforms backed by MPs

Conservative former culture secretary Sir John Whittingdale, who spoke in support of the Bill, said the hall's 'unique' funding model, which included the sale of debentured seats to fund its 19th century construction, was an asset to the institution. Roughly a quarter of the Albert Hall's seats fall into a category of being owned by long-time members. The 316 owners pay an annual seat rate, which this year was £1,880 plus VAT. It brings in about £2.3 million for the venue every year, Sir John said. He said the current arrangements meant on about 100 designated events each year, known as 'executive lettings', the owners give up their 1,268 seats for the venue to sell. They can also forgo their seats on other, non-specified occasions, boosting the venue and its charitable arm's coffers. However, there has been concern that the seat owners can personally sell tickets for their seats for other lucrative events on the resale markets for thousands of pounds. The Bill will amend the Royal Albert Hall's constitution to codify the practice of members forgoing their right to attend events. It will protect the hall from legal challenge over the voting process from seatholders over which concerts will be selected. Sir John, a former trustee of the venue, said: 'A seat in the hall is a property asset, and in the same way that if one's grandfather purchases a property which their descendants then eventually decide to sell, it is highly likely they will retrieve an amount of money way greater than the original investment. 'These are property assets, essentially, without which the hall could not have been built. But it was on that understanding, it was on an 999-year lease, and those who own that lease are, of course, entitled to do what they wish with it.' Labour MP Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Gateshead South) cited tickets for an Ed Sheeran concert which had been sold online for nearly £6,000. Ms Hodgson said: 'I was therefore horrified when tickets for events at the Royal Albert Hall, one of our country's most recognisable and cherished institutions, started appearing on sites such as Viagogo.' She said a 10-seat box was advertised for sale online recently for £3 million. The change needs to be approved in Parliament, because it will amend the Royal Albert Hall Act 1966. The Harold Wilson-era reforms put into law rules around the repair and maintenance of the venue – as well as rights of seatholders. The proposed legislation, which started in the House of Lords, was passed unanimously in the Commons at second reading. It will now return to be debated by peers.

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