19/03/2017 BBC Wales Today

Good evening.

A gay clergyman has accused the Anglican Church in Wales

of homophobia after he was rejected for the role of Bishop of Llandaff.

The Dean of St Albans, the Very Reverend Jeffrey John,

was not chosen earlier this month.

Nick Palit reports.

A closely guard process, but the selection of the next Bishop of

Llandaff has taken longer than expected.

The first meeting of an electoral college of church

officials failed to reach a decision.

Now, a leading gay cleric, who narrowly missed out on the role,

says homophobia played a part in his rejection.

It is understood the Very Reverend Jeffrey John received a

majority of the votes, but not the two thirds majority

required by church rules.

He says homophobic remarks had been made at the

electoral college meeting.

In a letter to the Bishop of Swansea and

Breccon, he said he has been told by an existing Bishop that it

would be too much of a headache to appoint him.

He goes on to say the only arguments against his appointment

were directly related to his homosexuality

and/or civil partnership, namely that his appointment would

bring unwelcome and unsettling publicity to the diocese.

Mr John has missed out on a Bishop role before.

He was nominated as Bishop of Reading in 2003, but he was asked

to withdraw by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.

He is now the Dean of St Alban's.

The Church in Wales says the process for

a new Bishop of Llandaff will continue, so they

won't be making any comment at this stage.

Asked about the accusations of homophobia, they

said the Bishops would deny it.

Jeffrey John himself has declined to be interviewed on the issue.

A Wales Office minister has described Scotland as "another

country" after a recent trip to Edinburgh.

In a newspaper column, Aberconwy MP, Guto Bebb,

said he'd left feeling "despondent".

It comes after First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, announced she'll

seek a second referendum on Scottish independence.

Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Cairns, said Mr Bebb's comments

were designed to generate discussion on the issue.

It's pure speculation within the article

that is there in order to

develop the debate, so everybody in every part of the UK recognises

that we achieve more together.

Of course he is an important member of

the team and I work very closely with him and it's important to

generate that sort of debate.

Funding for Cardiff's multi-million pound bus station

has not been secured - nine months before it's

scheduled to open - a report by the council's

cabinet has revealed.

The council are negotiating a proposal for the delivery

of the interchange with developers, Rightacres Property

and says it's right for all funding options to be considered.

Hundreds of members of the Somali community in the Welsh capital have

been taking part in fundraising

events to raise money for drought stricken families

and relatives in Somaliland and the Horn of Africa.

Cardiff has the largest Somali community in the UK

and people here have already raised thousands of pounds.

Our brothers and sisters in Somali are hurting and even though we're

all the way in Wales, in Cardiff, we are hurting

just as bad as they are, so we are trying to do as much as we

can, like this fund-raiser here today really.

Sport now, starting with rugby, and Wales coach Rob Howley says he's

had to 'question the integrity of our game'

after a controversial end to Wales' 20-18 defeat in Paris.

France replaced prop Atonio with Slimani in extra time,

after he'd already been subbed earlier in the 100 minute match.

The French doctor said the front row needed a head injury assessment.

The defeat means Wales finished fifth in the Championship.

I'm just not too sure, in terms of what happened in the last ten

minutes, was in the actual integrity of the game.

Look, we love this game and that's why we're involved, but,

like I said to John Davies, the Six Nations, it's

got to be looked at, because playing well is

so important, but you just question.

Staying with the Six Nations and Wales' women also finished fifth

in the Championship, after losing 39-19 to France.

Wales had a brief lead early on, but the French were too dominant,

securing a bonus point win in Brive.

Football and Swansea City manager, Paul Clement, says his side must

look at the bigger picture after their 2-0 defeat

to Bournemouth yesterday.

The Swans dropped to 17th place in the Premier League -

just three points clear of the relegation zone.

They've conceded 63 goals this season -

the worst defensive record in the league.

We have come a long way in the last two and a half months, we're in 17th

position, when I took over we were bottom

on 12 points and if the

season finished tomorrow we would be happy that we're in 17th

and we are going to play at this level next season.

The fact is we have got nine games to go, Bournemouth have just

showed that if you put together back-to-back wins, you can climb out

of that situation.

Ice

Ice hockey

Ice hockey and

Ice hockey and Cardiff

Ice hockey and Cardiff won.

Time for a quick look at the weather now.

It'll be mostly cloudy overnight with some more rain,

especially in the south, during the night.

Staying mild with lows of eight Celsius.

Tomorrow will be breezy and wet - the worst in the south.

It should get brighter in the afternoon, but there still be

a chance of some more showers.

Highs of 11 Celsius.

We'll be back with our late update at 20-past-10.

Thanks for watching and have a good evening.