I’VE had a letter sent to me this week by one of our readers about our big front page on county councillors’ expenses.
It’s something which has gotten a lot of you riled up, councillors getting a £4,000 pay rise, especially in such a grim economic period for the rest of us.
Thank you for your letter Mr Reohorn, you raise some good points, but it does beg the question – do we really want to live in a world where the only people in government are those who can support themselves, because they are already so wealthy that they can carry out a full-time job for free?
Would this not create a greater distance between us, the ordinary voters, and them? I see your point about accountability – in fact I find it refreshing when we get councillors dropping by the office to have a chat, so we can meet these people in person. Not everyone gets the chance to do that.
But I can’t imagine any of them doing a job such as this completely for free.
Whether they should in fact be getting more of an allowance, well that’s a different story, one which I think was summed up pretty clearly by our front page on April 8.
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HOW many times must we remind the Welsh Assembly Government that many of the people living in our wonderful country actually come from the middle bit!
My frustration comes as the Welsh Assembly Government announces that people in Wales are being invited to leave wedding messages in congratulation books for Prince William and Kate Middleton.
The only problem is that messages can only be left in books at Welsh Assembly Government offices in Cardiff, Cardiff Bay, Llandudno, Aberystwyth and Merthyr.
First Minister Carwyn Jones called the wedding message books ‘a unique way for Wales to mark this historic occasion’.
It would be even more ‘unique’ if the Welsh Assembly Government remembered the people living in Mid Wales and provided a book for them to sign in one of our wonderful market towns!
I don’t think there’s going to be any way out of watching the wedding so you might as well take advantage of whatever your local town or village has to offer.
Welshpool looks set to do the town proud with its huge screen in the grounds of Powis Castle. I’m sure I’ll wander up there at some stage.
Everyone is getting in on the marriage act.
Shoppers at Co-operative food stores will be able to keep track of every detail of Kate and Prince William’s big day as they (the shoppers) walk down their local supermarket aisle on April 29.
The Co-operative Group is to provide live national broadcast coverage of the Royal Wedding on its in-store radio for customers and staff across the UK.
I wish them a long and happy marriage.
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SOMETIMES people take you by surprise, in both good and bad ways, but this latest one doesn’t half make me chuckle.
I was crossing the road in Welshpool on a sunny Tuesday afternoon this week, when a car pulled out of the lane by NatWest intent on turning the wrong way into the one-way system.
The car was being driven by a young chap, and maybe it was due to the unusually bright and cheerful weather, but I don’t think he was thinking about what he was doing. Fortunately, an older gentleman stuck his hand out in front of the driver’s side of the car and spoke through the open window: “I don’t think you can turn that way!”
The driver quickly fixed his mistake and carried on with his journey – in the right direction. Good on the old chap for setting the younger one to rights; but unfortunately it looks like it’s going to take a while for people to really get their heads round this new system.