THE ‘curse of Lembit’ struck again this week after the newspaper he writes a weekly column for – not the County Times I might add – printed its final ever edition.
Having for nearly 20-years offered a blend of punning headlines, celebrity gossip, soft pornography and, when all else failed, entirely made-up stories, the Daily Sport went into administration this week and ceased trading with immediate effect.
The former Montgomeryshire MP became notorious for the ‘curse of Lembit’ in contests for leadership of the Liberal Democrat party after a number of candidates he backed were defeated shortly after he voiced his support.
In 1999, he supported Don Foster, who was defeated by Charles Kennedy. In 2006, he backed Mr Kennedy to keep the role but the leader was forced out.
Mr Opik then threw his weight behind Mark Oaten, who had to withdraw from the leadership battle after damaging allegations emerged about his private life.
Lembit’s bad week didn’t stop there though. As well as losing his column in the Daily Sport he was named as runner-up in a poll to find the most irritating politician in the country.
Opik, who lost his seat to Conservative Glyn Davies in last year’s General Election, came second behind Labour peer Lord Mandelson in the YouGov poll for The Sunday Times.
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THE story on the front of this paper tells what for me is a sorry story, a story which is all too familiar, the general public being treated like idiots.
Powys County Council is changing from its current system – 14 board members and a leader – to a new system, nine members plus a leader. An ideal opportunity, you might think, to save some money.
After all, purse strings across the nation, maybe even the world, are still being tightened, as the recession shows no sign of letting go if its grip on our finances. While the numbers may be insignificant in terms of the council’s entire budget, it adds up to more than £40k which could have been saved.
Instead, the pot of money has simply been shared out among the smaller pool of councillors. Are there any members of the public anywhere in Powys who believe this was the correct thing to do? If so, please write to the County Times and let us know. For me, it’s a frankly bizarre decision.
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SOMETIMES a newspaper can be full of happy news. Othertimes you can feel like you’re just reporting on death and destruction. It’s certainly been a bad week in Powys.
After weeks of anxiety the parents of Llandrindod Wells’ James Bubear finally got the news that they had been dreading – police had discovered his body.
Elsewhere in the country, a young Radnorshire woman was killed on the road when she was struck by a car, and a Swansea woman died after a collision between Dolfor and Llanbadarn Fynydd.
And finally, tributes have been paid to a motorcyclist from the Machynlleth area who was killed in an accident at the weekend.
No-one likes reporting on stories such as these, which are becoming all-too common, particularly the deaths on the county’s roads. As the story on Page 8 reveals, Powys has some of the most dangerous roads in Wales. Can anything be done?
The disappearance of James Bubear showed up the national press in quite a disturbing light. Around the same time James went missing, a young girl from Swindon also disappeared.
Sadly that story didn’t have a happy ending either – her murder making headlines across the UK. But what it also showed, quite remarkably, was how two very similar stories can get either swamped or ignored by the nationals.
Why did the press on the whole ignore James’ disappearance? It was completely out of character, he’d just vanished off the face of the earth, and yet he seemed to get next-to-no coverage anywhere.
Maybe it’s simply because he wasn’t a pretty girl in her late teens or early 20s. Sad but true.
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SO another Powys school looks to have bitten the dust. Aberhafesp Primary School’s numbers for September had dropped to just six – clearly not financially sustainable – but it’s still going to be a sad day if and when it does finally close.
A recent damning Estyn report was probably the nail in the coffin, but you can’t help but suspect Aberhafesp could just be the tip of the iceberg.