20/12/2013 BBC Wales Today

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Chaos at Cardiff City, fans turn out to support manager Malky Mackay,

likely to be sacked by owner Vincent Tan tomorrow. We love Malky Mackay,

he helped take us to where we are. We think it is wrong he has not been

given a chance to finish what he started.

Our other headlines tonight. After the floods, they'll be out of

their homes most of next year. Rhyl continues to mop up the mess.

Why was ?150,000 of taxpayers' money paid to senior policemen not to

leave early? Even at Christmas, the choir is not

immune to cutbacks. Choristers made redundant.

And a splendid setting, if you're sitting comfortably, for Python

Terry Jones to tell us a few fairy tales.

Good evening. The billionaire owner of Cardiff City Football Club is

flying in from Malaysia tonight for talks to decide the future of

manager Malky Mackay. The Scotsman's job is in grave doubt, after Vincent

Tan gave him an ultimatum to resign or be sacked. Tonight, a last-minute

stay of execution after the intervention of the club's Chairman.

The chaos at the club has led to protests from fans. Here's our

sports reporter, Ashleigh Crowter. His job is hanging by a thread.

There is now just the faintest chance that Malky Mackay will still

be Cardiff manager tomorrow night. With Vincent Tan flying into the UK.

The key meeting will take place in London tonight, between the

Malaysian Lee Mair and Cardiff City's Chairman, manic Daman. --

Mehmet Dalman. He has persuaded them to hold one more round of

negotiation. Vincent Tan's relationship with Marty Mackay

appears to have broken down. He sent a letter to him on Monday, resign or

be sacked was the message. It is understood Vincent Tan listed a

series of grievances against the Scotsman, criticising his signings,

transfer budgets, socks, style of play and record as manager. Malky

Mackay has said he has no intention of resigning and is carrying on as

normal. But the press Conference today was anything but, with the

assistant sense to face the media. I have been asked to come and do the

press. The event descended into farce as journalists grew frustrated

with the assistant, who was clearly under orders not to speak about

Malky Mackay. We have a job to do and we need answers. Why is he still

in charge? News of the no-show spread quickly. A group of fans

gathered outside the club backgrounds for a show of support.

Malky Mackay help take us to where we are at the moment. We are clear

of relegation. It is wrong he has not been given a chance to finish

what he started. It seems he is willing to lamb last multi-over the

slightest failings. -- to lamb asked Mull -- to criticise Malky Mackay.

Malky Mackay also has the backing of his fellow Premier League managers.

I don't know what was on behind the scenes, but it has nothing to do

with football. Anyone who looks at it from a football perspective will

say he is doing a good job. The match tomorrow at Liverpool could be

Malky Mackay's final game in charge. There is speculation that a big-name

has already been lined up to replace him. To have a gun body ahead and

told he had to resign, the way the courts view that is the same as if

someone has been fired, so it is a dismissal, and no doubt Malky Mackay

is going to sue for damages on his contract. For now, Malky Mackay

remains the Cardiff manager. The question is, for how long?

Our football correspondent, Rob Phillips, is heading to Liverpool to

cover Cardiff's game tomorrow. I asked him for his take on what's

happening. Well, tonight there is a crucial

meeting between Vincent Tan and the Chairman, Mehmet Dalman, who for

some weeks has been trying to work on the strained relationship between

the owner and the manager, Malky Mackay. This meeting is basically

the last chance of saving Malky Mackay's job, with the club. This

morning, we were convinced that Malky Mackay was a dead man walking

as far as the job was concerned. Subsequent league, he has travelled

with discord to Liverpool this afternoon for tomorrow's game. He

will be in charge, as far as we know, for that match. The meeting

tonight will probably decide whether there is at least the chance for an

accord between the owner and manager so it can continue until the end of

the season, order will be a clean break after that. If Malky Mackay

does go, what impact will that have on the club?

First of all, the fans would be even more furious than they are now.

If you go on social media, there is so much bad feeling about the

Cardiff City have handled the last week or so, indeed, the few weeks

before that, since the departure of the head of recruitment. The fans

will be absolutely apoplectic, because Malky Mackay is one of the

most popular managers in living memory and Cardiff City. What

happens after that will depend on just who the club gets in to replace

multi Mackay, if he goes. -- Malky Mackay.

Bad weather is sweeping across the country again tonight. More warnings

of flooding and gale force winds. For the people of Rhyl, it's just

two weeks since coastal defences failed and many houses were flooded.

400 were forced into temporary accommodation. -- 450. Many of them

have been told they'll have to be out of their homes for six to nine

months. Roger Pinney reports. Washing done, clearing out the mud

and grime left by the flood, all along the streets, skips filled with

bits and pieces which turned houses into homes. Armchairs, beds, doors,

it all has to come out. But that is the easy part, the quick bit. Making

these homes fit to live in again will take months. When the floods

came two weeks ago, it came quickly. The storm surge at sea and a field

defence. The priority for rescuers was getting the people to safety.

Many left with little more than they were standing up in. Most are still

in temporary accommodation. Milan skipped back garden, it flooded. --

my landscaped back garden. I met Frida and John, their home for now

is a caravan on a holiday park. They have managed to salvage a few

treasured photographs and some reminders that it is Christmas. We

are lucky we got out with our lives, really. Two men had to carry me out

because I am on crunchers. -- crutches. And they say some people

will try to cash in on the misery. A couple of people came up and said

they were looking for addresses, could you give us such and such

address? Here is my card. To me, they are cowboy builders. We heard

similar stories from other flood victims, printing warnings and

advice from Trading Standards officers and the local MP. The

closest to the sea, the home of Chas and Linda was the first to fly. They

are currently in a hotel but plan to go to friends for Christmas. They

say they have had problems with their insurers. There have been

faxes and e-mails, but all we want to do is get things moving. It is

hard for them, there is a lot of work to do, but the communication

aspect of it, the frustration, you would think someone would have some

kind of thought for the people in our situation. What was the general

advice for dealing with this? Do not do things on the cheap, ask them for

their credentials, ask what they are proposing in writing, and seek

advice. There are other concerns, stormy holiday is predicted. Work is

underway to prepare the sea wall in time. This is a Christmas that

people of these streets will want to forget all stop it will not be easy.

A dentist who falsely claimed almost ?48,000 for work on NHS patients has

been jailed for 18 months. Jochemus Hermanus Venter, who practised in

Llandrindod Wells, made more than 200 overpriced claims for treatment.

The court heard the South African-born dentist charged for 300

crowns, when all he did was fillings, and he claimed for

nonexistent appointments. Up to 300 people who work for Powys

Council are likely to lose their jobs as part of a plan to make up a

?40 million shortfall. The Council Leader says they will no longer be

able to provide some services and council tax could be increased in

order to make up the deficit. Cardiff Airport has found an airline

to take over their Glasgow and Paris routes, which were cancelled by

Flybe earlier this month. CityJet will start operating the services

from the 20th January, and will run flights to Edinburgh and Jersey from

the end of March. Dyfed Powys's Police and Crime

Commissioner is trying to claw back thousands of pounds paid out to

senior staff for staying in their jobs. Christopher Salmon says

?150,000 was awarded to chief officers in "retention bonuses"

between 2009 and 2012. Wales Today has discovered that no other police

force in Wales awarded this type of incentive. Lawyers acting for those

involved say all the payments were made in good faith. Abigail Neal

reports. The public sector pay freeze covers

police officers, as well, but it turns out life at the top has been a

little less frosty. I therefore give notice that Christopher Salmon is

duly elected as the lease and crime Commissioner. -- Police and Crime

Commissioner. When the commissioners were elected last year, the job was

to hold the police to account. It turns out the man in charge of

Dafydd Powys is none too happy about what some senior staff were being

paid. Salaries of officers are set in law but there are certain extras

that can be added to attract top officers to the force. This includes

money to relocate here, packages for private health insurance. Even

payments known as retention bonuses, just to stay in your job for that

year. This force is the only one in Wales which offered these bonuses.

Since 2009, the Chief Constable Ian Arrow deal and temporary Chief

Constable Jackie Roberts along with three other officers were all paid

10,000 as a year just to agree not to leave. On top of that, there is

also money for private health insurance. In total, it comes to

100s ?80,000 over three years, in addition to their salaries. --

?160,000. Christopher Salmon says he has scrapped the perks wants to go

further all stop the payments made to Chief officers, which on legal

advice, appear not to have been lawful. There is no suggestion that

anyone has made or received these payments in bad faith, but as a

Police and Crime Commissioner, I have a duty to the public and to the

taxpayers, to be a guardian of public money, and we are taking

legal advice on seeking to recover that. I spoke to the former Chief

Constable, who moved from West made the out when he got the job. He told

with the police was one of the lowest paid forces in the UK, with

the top salary of ?130,000, and without these extra incentives, it

would be hard for the police authority to attract people to the

job. But one local MP does not buy that. After learning the three other

police forces in Wales did not pay the same of all works. We should be

looking at the average wage in areas in West Wales, the average wages are

around ?20,000. I do not buy this argument that they have to pay

public officials on our part of Wales far more than the rest in

order to attract the best talent. The police face a massive budget

squeeze and the current Chief Constable has taken a ?10,000 a cut.

The message from the top is that there want to be seen to be sharing

the pain with those on the ground. Much more to come before seven

o'clock. The show must go on, but tonight's

big rugby derby is overshadowed by the stand-off between the Welsh

Rugby Union and the regions. And that's the tree sorted, but can

you have a Christmas completely made in Wales?

With five days to Christmas, the Church in Wales has issued all adult

choristers at Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff with redundancy notices. It

means the choir has lost its permanent professional altos, tenors

and basses, and it's feared it could be left with only boy trebles to

sing this Christmas. The cathedral is in financial difficulties, saying

it can only afford to pay choristers on an occasional basis. Caroline

Evans reports. Their voices are, they say, the

backbone of the choir. Between them, the seven men sing three of the four

musical parts, leaving the boys to sing the top notes. -- the six men.

Without them, they say the choir will simply be unable to do what it

has done until now, and musical tradition built up over more than

130 years, and the church itself, will suffer. It is incredibly

short-sighted of the people who have made the decision, to dismiss

acquire which they should know very well is the heart and soul of the

liturgical process. It is a grave mistake that they are not saving

money, they are going to lose money. When back The men sing five services

a week, plus festival days, for which they are paid a few thousand

pounds each a year. But the Church says the cathedral's music costs

more than maintenance and energy costs put together, and the choir

sings fewer than 35% of all services. The decision comes against

a background of financial problems. The cathedral is facing a deficit of

?81,000 for 2014. Making these posts redundant will remove more than half

of the problem. But the union representing the musicians says

attempts to find the money in other ways have just not received support

from those in charge of the cathedral. We kept on saying to them

that there were alternatives to redundancy, much more positive

responses to the financial difficulties they have, like a

fundraising campaign, but unfortunately, they did not seem

willing to engage with this. The Church in Wales says all the adult

singers who lost their jobs could still have the opportunity to sing

at the cathedral on a paid basis under the revised structure. And

those involved say they have been given the right to appeal, but

they're not sure if they will. This was the cathedral choir filmed in

october, for the BBC's Songs of Praise programme. Tomorrow evening

at 7pm, they will sing together for the last time.

The rest of the sport now. And life's a little calmer at Swansea

than at their rivals in Cardiff. Yes, Swansea boss Michael Laudrup

has said there won't be managerial changes at the Liberty Stadium. He's

has ruled himself out of the running to take over at Tottenham. The Dane

had been among the names linked with the vacancy at White Hart Lane.

Laudrup said he has no intention of leaving Swansea in the middle of the

season. I think it is always positive and flattering when others

are talking about you and your name is linked with other clubs. In this

case, Tottenham is a big club. But on the downside, you have to answer

all these questions, I think you have said already the other night, I

would never leave the club, not Swansea, not anyone, in the middle

of the season. Let's turn to rugby, where I'm

afraid festive cheer is also in short supply. Tonight's big rugby

derby between the Blues and the Ospreys is being overshadowed by the

political stand-off between the Welsh Rugby Union and the regions.

Supporters' groups are expected to protest at the Arms Park tonight.

They've accused the WRU of a lack of empathy for fans after a meeting

this week. Former Wales and Blues flanker Martyn Williams is part of

the Scrum V team at the game tonight. Good evening. Sorry about

this, we will have to start with the politics first. We have a number of

top players involved. Six of them are being offered central contracts

with the Welsh Rugby Union, will that be enough to stop them leaving

Wales? Yes, I think it could do. If the rumour is true they will be

offered a separate contract, hopefully, fingers crossed, it will

be enough to keep them in Wales. We have already lost too many players

come -- players, in my opinion. Oddly, we can keep hold of the likes

of Sam Morgan. We can only hope that some seasonal goodwill breaks out.

The match tonight, both clubs, the ospreys and the Blues, have good

wins in Europe last weekend, how do you see the match tonight going? It

is a tight one. Both teams are confident. The Blues had a double

win against Glasgow. A few injuries but a few stars back as well. It

should be good, so far, the weather is holding out. We are expecting a

good game. I think the Blues will just take it home. Enjoy the game,

thanks very much indeed for joining us.

And you'll be able to hear more from Martyn Williams, he's part of the

Scrum V Live team tonight, starting over on BBC Two Wales after this

programme. There's commentary, too, on BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru and

updates online. We'll bring you the result from the rugby and any

developments from Cardiff City in our programme at 10:25pm tonight.

The Monty Python star Terry Jones was in Cardiff last night to watch

the first stage adaptation of his fairy tales. Silly Kings is being

performed by National Theatre Wales in the grounds of Cardiff Castle.

Our arts correspondent Huw Thomas reports.

It has got Silly Kings, Princess and a strong hint of Python. The show

places Terry Jones' children's stories on stage. He wanted a jolly

alternative to some of the darker themes he found in traditional fairy

tales. At the end of Snow White, the wicked stepmother is made to put on

hot Iron slippers and dances until she falls down dead! I didn't want

my five-year-old going to sleep thinking, I am so glad they tortured

that old woman to death! Or the cast, I chanced in bass some quirky

characters, with some actors playing more than one role. This is the

costume for the beast with 1000 teeth, which is my favourite

character in the show. There is a main story that runs through the

show, there are loads of different fairy tale stories occurring during

the show, and leave in a note on it. -- and we end and out of it. All the

action takes place in especially constricted tent in the grounds of

Cardiff Castle. It is the first time these stories have ever made it to

the state, and Terry Jones is delighted. I feel terribly excited,

actually, because, you know, I read the script, and I thought it was

great, I was very excited. I wanted to see what happened. Organisers

hope the show will interest the new generation in the work of a

legendary Python and enjoy the mischievous humour of Terry Jones.

No fairy tales on the weather front, it's all good, solid science!

I wish there was a message of goodwill as well, but there is not.

It will turn wet and windy across Wales tonight. There is a Met Office

warning for heavy rain and strong winds. The pressure chart shows the

rain pushing Southeast across the UK tonight, into tomorrow morning.

Through this evening, ten to 20 millimetres of rain is likely. 40

millimetres on high ground. Very windy, with gusts of 70 mph along

the exposed coast. The heaviest rain will clear overnight with the winds

easing slightly. Temperatures staying above freezing. Seven to 10

Celsius. A breezy day tomorrow with some showers, dry and bright spells

in between. We could see further squally showers pushing in later in

the day. Rattling through quite quickly, as it stays very windy.

Especially along the coast, at Cardigan Bay. Top temperatures over

eight Celsius on Anglesey, 12 in Cardiff. Breezy with showers on and

off overnight, then Sunday is windy with a mix of sunshine and showers,

but also turning a few degrees colder, just six to eight Celsius on

Sunday. Any chance that showers could turn wintry on high ground.

So, and mixed weekend, but looking very unsettled for the start of next

week. Particularly on Monday. A deep area of low pressure will bring very

strong winds, possible gusts of 70 mph, and heavy rain possible on

Monday and overnight into Tuesday. So, there is the potential for

disruption due to the strong winds and an increased flood risk, it is

worth keeping up-to-date with the forecast if you have treble plans.

Early warnings are in place, all the information is online. -- treble

plans. -- travel. Here is the picture, from Beth Evans. With more

rain forecast overnight, and on Monday into Tuesday, we could see

some very high river levels over the next few days. You can send your

pictures to us by e-mail or Twitter. Particularly good if they help to

tell the weather story. With the Welsh Government

encouraging us to buy Welsh this Christmas, we've hit the streets to

find out if you can really source everything locally. From decorating

your house to dinner on the table and gifts round the tree, can it all

be supplied from Wales? Matt Murray went shopping.

It is that last-minute rush to the shops before Christmas. Recent

figures revealed the average Welsh spending will be ?600 per person.

But how much of that can you expand -- can you spend on Welsh produce?

With shoppers expecting to boost the UK economy by ?13 billion this

Christmas, businesses in Wales have been doing all they can to make sure

consumers know the importance of buying Welsh. Robert Morgan runs

Gower Fresh Christmas Trees, he's got over 330,000 trees on his farm

outside of Swansea. His six-footers were planted over a decade ago and

he's just one of seven official Christmas tree growers in Wales,

with most of the market still dominated by Denmark. I am up

against a Danish grower who has 9 million trees planted, they cut

fares in October and September and bring them over at a very cheap

price. Not the greatest quality, but the -- but I am on a very

small-scale. Lisa Corbett Bailey has been rearing turkeys in Penarth for

nearly a decade. When she started, most farms were selling turkeys, but

now she's just one of a handful in the Vale of Glamorgan, due to cost

and competition from supermarkets. Lisa has over 130 still ready to be

collected for Christmas. I think our customers are not supermarket

people. I think once you taste a bird produced like this, you will

not go back to the supermarket produced heard, there is a huge

difference in taste. And this bakery is making sure taste of Wales can be

experienced across the world. They have shipped out over 120,000 packs

of Christmas cakes and pies are today by, China and stores across

America. This factory has it covered when it comes to wrapping paper.

They produce 30 million metres of gift wrap and 2 million metres of

tinsel. Are running speeds are ten metres a minute. The difference with

China, it becomes very competitive to manufacture in the UK. Trees,

turkeys and tinsel all from Wales, just to name a few. So, while a

white christmas looks like it may still be the stuff of dreams, this

proves a welsh Christmas can be a reality.

The main news again from the BBC. Two former assistants to the

celebrity chef Nigella Lawson have been cleared of spending huge

amounts of her money without permission. They had claimed that

Nigella Lawson had approved their high spending in return for their

silence about her alleged habitual drug use. Cardiff City owner Vincent

Tan has asked Chairman Mehmet Dalman to meet him in London tonight for

talks to decide the future of manager Malkay Mackay. The

Scotsman's job is in grave doubt, after Vincent Tan gave him an

ultimatum to resign or be sacked. I'll have an update for you here at

eight o'clock and after the BBC News at Ten. That's Wales Today, have a

lovely weekend. From all of us on the programme, good evening.