:00:09. > :00:12.This week on the Wales Report, another squeeze on benefits, is the
:00:12. > :00:16.Chancellor's policy having a disproportionate effect in Wales.
:00:16. > :00:19.New questions about nursing standards, we explore claims that
:00:19. > :00:22.compassion is in short supply. And the unlikely saga of the badger,
:00:22. > :00:32.the soap opera, and the Government minister.
:00:32. > :00:35.
:00:35. > :00:39.It's worth waiting for. Stay with Good evening, welcome once against
:00:39. > :00:42.to the Wales report. It is our chance to examine the issues that
:00:42. > :00:48.matter in Wales, tole challenge those in power, and talk to those
:00:48. > :00:53.affected by the decisions they make. The Autumn Statement will have a
:00:53. > :00:57.big impact in Wales, that much iser cloo. We can look forward to
:00:57. > :01:00.greater pressure on public spending. And those on lower incomes,
:01:01. > :01:05.according to the experts, will be the hardest hit. Most working age
:01:05. > :01:09.benefit also get a real terms cut, they include jobseeker's allowance,
:01:09. > :01:16.Employment and Support Allowance, income support, Child Tax Credit,
:01:16. > :01:20.Working Tax Credit, all of those, nearly 20% of working-age people in
:01:20. > :01:25.Wales are receiving some form of state pen benefit. The potential
:01:25. > :01:30.impact is clear. In a moment we will debate the case for and
:01:30. > :01:34.against the benefits cut. Port Talbot used to be a beacon in
:01:34. > :01:40.the Welsh economy, literally seen for miles. Nearly 20,000 people
:01:40. > :01:45.were employed in the steel works. The largest single employer in
:01:45. > :01:49.Wales. Spending money in local shops and local businesses.
:01:49. > :01:56.As the global manufacturing economy has changed beyond recognition. So
:01:56. > :02:00.too has the economy of the area. Well paid jobs have been lost, and
:02:00. > :02:04.now Neath and Port Talbot has one of the highest claimant rates in
:02:04. > :02:10.the country. One in four people receive a state welfare benefit.
:02:10. > :02:15.Including many people in low-paid jobs. For the families in this area,
:02:15. > :02:19.like many others across Wales, George Osborne's plans to cap
:02:19. > :02:26.increases on benefits, will have long-term consequences.
:02:26. > :02:30.Are you ready. Single mum, Diana Jones, is one person already facing
:02:30. > :02:33.the consequences of changes in the benefits system. Because of the way
:02:33. > :02:38.that housing benefit will be calculated from next year, she will
:02:38. > :02:44.have to pay an extra �50 a month. Now on top of, she will have to
:02:44. > :02:51.deal with the benefit cap. It's actually quite scary to think that
:02:52. > :02:55.just one person can just not have a thought about the individual and
:02:55. > :03:00.what we are doing to make changes and difference to our lives. We're
:03:00. > :03:05.not all just sat on our back sides doing nothing. We are actually
:03:05. > :03:08.making a difference. I just see it's going to devaste families.
:03:08. > :03:14.There's no care or thought gone into this at all, we are just a
:03:14. > :03:21.number. Debt advice centres all over Wales
:03:21. > :03:24.have never been so busy. In Neath, the Credit Union sees
:03:24. > :03:27.many more people who are struggling to keep out of debt.
:03:27. > :03:32.They didn't see much good news this week.
:03:32. > :03:36.It's just going to squeeze us even more. We're just, you know, food is
:03:36. > :03:41.more expensive already, and it's getting really hard, everything is
:03:41. > :03:47.getting really difficult. Organisations like us are going to
:03:47. > :03:52.become more and more important. Because if the economic growth,
:03:52. > :03:56.which is protect jected, isn't going to happen which -- projected
:03:56. > :04:00.isn't going to happen, which we know it isn't, we will be needed by
:04:00. > :04:04.more people, we have a lot of work to do. Steve is concerned about the
:04:04. > :04:09.growth of a local business in the area that nobody wants to see.
:04:09. > :04:15.Unlicensed short-term loan companies offering a quick fix.
:04:15. > :04:19.you borrow �300, you will finish up paying sometimes as much as �3,000
:04:19. > :04:25.to get out of their clutches. It is illegal, but it is available.
:04:25. > :04:29.That's what we worry about. Any cuts in benefits take money out
:04:29. > :04:35.of the local economy. Less money left over after the essentials,
:04:35. > :04:40.like rent, food, and heating are taken care of. It means nothing to
:04:40. > :04:45.spend on the high streets of Port Talbot. One of the business faced
:04:45. > :04:51.with hard times are estate agents. They now depend on rental, not
:04:51. > :04:57.sales, and that's getting worse. In the last four years, people have
:04:57. > :05:04.been unable to get mortgages, due to bad credit, not having jobs, et,
:05:04. > :05:08.and the rental side has leapt up four or five fold. The new housing
:05:08. > :05:13.benefit changes out in April will make it more difficult for these
:05:13. > :05:17.people. To put someone in who has no money, in that position, is
:05:17. > :05:23.possibly one of the Government's worst decisions.
:05:23. > :05:29.In Port Talbot, there is a sense felt by many, that people 180 miles
:05:29. > :05:35.along the M4, don't really understand the day-to-day reality
:05:35. > :05:41.of the Autumn Statement of 2012. If I had a chance, the opportunity
:05:41. > :05:45.to meet David Cameron, then I would ask him to walk in my shoes. For a
:05:45. > :05:54.few weeks, before making the decisions that he's making, about
:05:54. > :05:58.people's lives. Joining me are the Conservative MP, Jonathan Evans,
:05:58. > :06:01.and the shadow Labour Secretary of State for Wales. Thank you four
:06:01. > :06:06.coming in. Are you comfortable with the notion presented by the
:06:06. > :06:09.Chancellor, which, in effect, says we are a society of shirkers and
:06:10. > :06:13.strivers and it is as black and white as that? I don't think it was
:06:13. > :06:17.presenteded in that black and white way. If you look at the record of
:06:17. > :06:22.the Government, since we were select electeded in 2010 and look
:06:22. > :06:26.at the film. Bear in mind everyone on welfare benefits, up until this
:06:26. > :06:30.time, have had those fully in line with inflation. Many people thought
:06:30. > :06:36.given the inflation figure in the course of the last 12 month, that
:06:36. > :06:40.was an extraordinary generous gesture. Why stop now? Because well
:06:40. > :06:43.perbenefits bill is exceeding all the money we take in income tax. We
:06:43. > :06:47.are having to borrow, we are challenged by the Labour Party
:06:47. > :06:49.about this, we are having to borrow each year �120 billion from
:06:49. > :06:52.international markets. What is being said, if everybody else has
:06:52. > :06:55.to make a contribution, and they have to, we have seen the way in
:06:55. > :06:59.which spending cuts are affecting the economy, we have seen ways in
:07:00. > :07:04.which tax is affecting the economy as well, if everybody is being
:07:04. > :07:10.asked to make a contribution, isn't it fair in those circumstances to
:07:10. > :07:14.uprate welfare benefits by 1%, for the next three years. So is it fair,
:07:14. > :07:17.the question of fairness, that is what it is? I think it is fairness
:07:18. > :07:21.question. Nobody is saying you are a nation of shirkers, it is saying
:07:21. > :07:25.that everybody must make a contribution. I don't know agree
:07:25. > :07:28.with Jonathan, I think the Chancellor did present it as black
:07:28. > :07:32.and white. Strivers versus this fictional figure who lies in bed
:07:32. > :07:36.all day with the curtains drawn, that we have heard trotted out time
:07:36. > :07:40.and time again by the Tories. The reality is, the film showed, is
:07:40. > :07:44.that the vast majority of people in receipt of benefits are working.
:07:44. > :07:48.These are the people who we saw in Port Talbot, they are on people on
:07:49. > :07:53.low pay, and for whom working-age benefits are the way in which the
:07:53. > :07:57.state enables them to make ends meet. 60% of children in poverty in
:07:57. > :08:01.Wales and across Britain are in working households. That's the
:08:01. > :08:05.reality. And the other reality, is, unfortunately, that those people at
:08:05. > :08:08.the bottom end of the income scale, the 30% with the lowest earners in
:08:08. > :08:13.our country, are the people who proportionate to their amount of
:08:13. > :08:17.income, are paying the highest price. �5 a week off the average
:08:17. > :08:20.family, if you like, at the bottom end of the income scale. �8 off the
:08:20. > :08:24.wealthiest, incomes at the top. That is an enormously different
:08:24. > :08:27.impact on the lives of those people. I will be asking what Labour
:08:27. > :08:32.intends to do about it in a second. Just coming back to the fairness
:08:32. > :08:35.issue, which has been developed there. Lots of people watching will
:08:35. > :08:39.have a difficulty understanding why some of the lowest paid, why some
:08:39. > :08:42.of the most vulnerable people in society should be bearing a share
:08:42. > :08:46.of responsibility for the wider economic picture and the kind of
:08:46. > :08:51.pressure we are under, why are you asking them to do it? What that
:08:51. > :08:56.question implies is that the welfare benefits budget must be
:08:56. > :08:59.completely insulate, no matter what we do elsewhere, in relation to
:08:59. > :09:02.welfare benefits in our country, we mustn't make changes at all. I
:09:02. > :09:07.don't think that is something the public accepts. Are you asking
:09:07. > :09:10.people to accept an unfair burden? If you ask the public, the public
:09:10. > :09:15.think it is fair that everybody be asked to pay. This isolation.
:09:15. > :09:18.public say lots of things, they want capital punishment, you don't
:09:18. > :09:22.give it to them? That is a different debate. What I'm a saying
:09:22. > :09:26.to you, if you are asking the public, as we are asking the public,
:09:26. > :09:30.to make sacrifices, it is fair that everybody has to make some
:09:30. > :09:33.sacrifice. The sacrifice that is being asked to be made in relation
:09:33. > :09:39.to the welfare benefits budget is really in the circumstances quite
:09:39. > :09:42.small, I believe, it is a fair, I didn't interrupt you, allow me to
:09:42. > :09:46.make my point. My point is that everybody has a contribution to
:09:46. > :09:49.make. It would be wrong to say that those who are on welfare benefits
:09:50. > :09:53.should make no contribution, for the people at the lowest level in
:09:53. > :09:57.work, those people have been helped significantly over what the
:09:57. > :10:02.position was when we came in, in 2010, because of the changes, in
:10:02. > :10:07.terms of tax personal allowance, many of them, taken out of tax, all
:10:07. > :10:10.together, that is already happening, when one is looking, as it,were the
:10:10. > :10:15.statisticians making figures, they did not bear in mind, already, the
:10:15. > :10:19.fact that for those people, already there has been some aleavation.
:10:19. > :10:24.have made the case about your notion of the unfairness of it just
:10:24. > :10:29.now, can I ask you directly, given thaw want to...I Want to come back
:10:29. > :10:32.on some of the other points. Before I you do that, given the strength
:10:32. > :10:35.of feeling, do you think Labour will simply vote against these
:10:35. > :10:41.measures when it comes to a vote in the House? We will need to see what
:10:41. > :10:44.is in the bill and the spes fisity of the measure, at the moment what
:10:44. > :10:48.we are contemplating is looking through it piece by piece and
:10:48. > :10:51.having a detailed response to it. If we decide it is unfair, I hope
:10:51. > :10:56.we do vote against it. That is an important line in the sand for us
:10:56. > :11:00.to draw. Do you think it is unfair. You have said that clearly?
:11:00. > :11:03.absolutely think a lot of the measures implemented here are
:11:03. > :11:07.having a deeply disproportionate unfair impact on the most
:11:07. > :11:10.vulnerable in our society. I think the Conservative Party has
:11:10. > :11:14.deliberately chosen to demonise people who are on income support,
:11:14. > :11:17.and other forms of benefit. I think Vince Cable, in the newspapers this
:11:18. > :11:21.morning, is arguing that his coalition colleagues have been
:11:21. > :11:24.extremely unwise and very unfair to do that. I think it is
:11:24. > :11:28.fundamentally wrong for the Government to try to balance the
:11:28. > :11:32.books on the backs of the poorest in our society. Let as pause for a
:11:32. > :11:37.second. While we are on the theme of been fits and the hardship being
:11:37. > :11:41.expeer -- benefits and the hardship being experienced by households in
:11:41. > :11:43.Wales. There is one growth industry. We now have over 20 foodbanks
:11:44. > :11:53.operating throughout Wales. Charities providing free food for
:11:54. > :11:58.
:11:58. > :12:03.people, we visited one of the busiest,.
:12:03. > :12:08.Last year we catered for 50 people in a two-day foot bank. On average
:12:08. > :12:12.we give one person -- foodbank, on average we give one person seven to
:12:12. > :12:17.eight kilos. Let's put some of these on the
:12:17. > :12:21.shelf. It comes in as donations, from church, and schools, we have
:12:21. > :12:30.just had our harvest collection. I must admit, all the schools in the
:12:30. > :12:33.area have given. The fod that we are receiving at
:12:33. > :12:36.the moment is from a national -- food that we are receiving at the
:12:36. > :12:42.moment is a national food collection from Tescos. A lot of
:12:42. > :12:45.the food will be redistributed to set up three new distribution
:12:45. > :12:52.centres in the area. Everybody is struggling, not just those at the
:12:52. > :12:59.called bottom of the pile. We are all struggling.
:12:59. > :13:04.The first foodbank in Wales started right here in Abervale in 2008, we
:13:04. > :13:07.have seen the foodbank increase dramatically both in numbers of the
:13:07. > :13:11.people visiting the foodbank and also the number of foodbanks in
:13:12. > :13:16.Wales, that currently total 23. We expect to feed 25,000 people in
:13:16. > :13:20.crisis throughout Wales during this financial year.
:13:20. > :13:23.Frontline care professional, such as social workers, health visitors
:13:23. > :13:27.and welfare officers hold emergency food vouchers for us, which they
:13:27. > :13:30.can give to people that they see face-to-face in a genuine crisis.
:13:30. > :13:33.People who have suddenly lost their job, people who have suffered
:13:33. > :13:38.domestic violence, or people who have entered into a sudden crisis,
:13:38. > :13:41.such as that they don't have enough money to be able to go to the
:13:41. > :13:46.supermarket and buy food to sustain their family, and meet the bills
:13:46. > :13:50.that week. The clients tell us if the
:13:50. > :13:55.foodbanks weren't here, that 100% of them would have skipped meals,
:13:55. > :14:00.they wouldn't have eaten, because they don't have food in their
:14:00. > :14:07.cupboards. I'm in financial at the moment, bankruptcy, because I have
:14:08. > :14:13.lost my shop. If it weren't for the foodbank, I
:14:13. > :14:19.wouldn't be here today. I wouldn't be able to have the food to give my
:14:19. > :14:28.wife and children. There is no jobs about. People are surviving. Trying
:14:28. > :14:35.to pay the bills, central heating, or starve to death. That's what it
:14:35. > :14:39.is coming down to. We are expecting foodbanks to continue to increase
:14:39. > :14:42.in new projects. We are opening a new project every three days at the
:14:42. > :14:45.moment. We expect that to increase over the next three years, we also
:14:45. > :14:49.expect the number of clients visiting food banks to continue to
:14:49. > :14:52.increase as well. What we are keen to do is let people to continue to
:14:52. > :14:57.support their local foodbank to meet that demand and provide that
:14:57. > :15:02.food to people, who find themselves in a crisis. Although it is a very
:15:02. > :15:06.sad thing to see foodbanks grow, and that people need this very
:15:06. > :15:09.important service, however, it is really good as well to see
:15:09. > :15:13.communities coming together to help people locally in crisis. We don't
:15:13. > :15:20.get a choice as to what we put in people's parcels, we have a list
:15:20. > :15:24.that we work to. We have to work with the donations that we get. I
:15:24. > :15:29.will say that people do give nice things at this time of year. So,
:15:30. > :15:35.yes, we can put the Christmas, the odd Christmas pudding in. Or box of
:15:35. > :15:45.biscuits and things like that. So Santa does visit, but we also
:15:45. > :15:50.
:15:50. > :15:54.remember that, for us, Christmas a very special time.
:15:54. > :15:58.Let's start with you, isn't that, David Cameron's Big Society in
:15:58. > :16:03.action, isn't that exactly what the Prime Minister wants people to do,
:16:03. > :16:06.which is to reach out and help people? No, unfortunately it is a
:16:06. > :16:10.sad indictment of where we are in this country, so many food banks,
:16:10. > :16:15.23 in Wales are required. I have two in my constituency, we were out
:16:15. > :16:18.gathering food only last weekend, outside Tescos, it is a terrible
:16:19. > :16:23.tragedy that we need so many foodbanks. What is really awful
:16:23. > :16:29.about it, I think, is that when you look at the sort of people going to
:16:29. > :16:31.them, for example, the mine in pond prid, they are not people who --
:16:31. > :16:38.Pontypridd, they are not people who are couingers and shirkers, people
:16:38. > :16:41.who have fallen on hard -- scroungers or shirkers, they are
:16:41. > :16:45.people who have fall on hard times and who have been in secure jobs,
:16:45. > :16:49.and they are ashamed of having to go to food banks. Do you see them
:16:49. > :16:53.as a statement of people's willingness to help or an
:16:53. > :16:56.embarrassment? I'm a strong supporter of foodbanks. Let's make
:16:56. > :17:00.the point the first one started more than 50 years ago, they
:17:00. > :17:04.started in Europe in the 1980s. They are not a new concept. I
:17:04. > :17:07.certainly accept that they have increased, ever since the financial
:17:07. > :17:13.crisis in 2008. It is not, frankly, since the Conservatives came to
:17:13. > :17:20.office, the growth in them, we have been able to track ever since 2008.
:17:20. > :17:25.All of the analysis shows that has been the case. During the Tory era.
:17:25. > :17:30.OK, they have may have been since 2010. I can tell you as an MEP, I
:17:30. > :17:35.went along it help our foodbanks whilst I served in the European
:17:35. > :17:39.Parliament, I left there in 2009, don't put the line that they are a
:17:39. > :17:43.completely modern phenomenon. They started at the time of the
:17:43. > :17:49.financial crisis to see this expansion. I think that they are an
:17:49. > :17:55.excellent thing. You saw on the main person talking there, the
:17:55. > :17:58.Trussle Trust, they are a Christian charity and the main player in the
:17:58. > :18:01.scenario. They are basically giving effect to what their Christian
:18:01. > :18:04.values are, in trying to encourage people, if they are shopping to
:18:04. > :18:09.come up with something that can help other people. Gentleman, we
:18:09. > :18:13.are out of time, thank you both for coming in.
:18:13. > :18:19.Those of you, following Prime Minister's Questions, at
:18:19. > :18:23.Westminster, will have seen a rather tearful Ann Clwyd, the --
:18:24. > :18:27.complaining about nursing standards in Wales, and saying her husband
:18:27. > :18:31.fell victim to a culture of coldness and lack of compassion.
:18:31. > :18:37.There are increasing complaints about nurses who fail to show care
:18:37. > :18:40.and compassion. To their pensioners, what factually will the Prime
:18:40. > :18:44.Minister do about that? honourable lady speaks for the
:18:44. > :18:49.whole House and the whole country in raising this issue, and I know
:18:49. > :18:53.how painful it must have been with watch she has witnessed in her own
:18:53. > :18:57.life with her own family. I am, as she is, a massive fan of our
:18:57. > :19:01.National Health Service, but we don't do our NHS, or indeed our
:19:01. > :19:07.nurses any favours if we don't point out there are some very real
:19:07. > :19:14.problems in parts of our health and care systems. The week -- The week
:19:14. > :19:17.brought a new training strategy in England, there needed to be less
:19:17. > :19:21.emphasis on technical expertise, more on compassion and care and
:19:21. > :19:24.those kinds of skills. The director of the Royal College of Nursing in
:19:24. > :19:28.Wales is with me now. Thank you for coming in.
:19:28. > :19:32.What on earth were you thinking when you say Ann Clwyd, who is one
:19:32. > :19:35.of our most prominent Members of Parliament, in that state, in that
:19:35. > :19:39.emotional state, asking the question, did that really cause you
:19:39. > :19:44.a lot of pain? Of course, any time you see any relative who is
:19:44. > :19:47.grieving the loss of a loved one, that does, it irks something within
:19:47. > :19:55.you to say, well if things have gone wrong, they need to be
:19:55. > :19:58.investigated and put right. So, my initial impression was, I hope that
:19:58. > :20:03.Ann has raised that with the local Health Board, so there is an
:20:03. > :20:06.investigation. We need to be absolutely clear, as a professional
:20:06. > :20:10.nurse myself, making sure we have the standards, which are akin to
:20:10. > :20:17.how we were trained, and want to care for our patient, is the utmost
:20:17. > :20:21.for us, as individuals. We cannot engage in the nursing profession
:20:21. > :20:24.without having compassion and care, that is the very reason that we are
:20:24. > :20:30.nurses. What can give rise to these
:20:30. > :20:33.situations? Is it to do with attitudes, or is it to do with
:20:33. > :20:36.something maybe more practical, which is that there are too few
:20:36. > :20:40.nurses around at certain times of day, to be able to provide the kind
:20:40. > :20:44.of level of care needed? I think it is important to note where we are
:20:44. > :20:50.as the royal college. Two years ago I found it necessary, within Wales,
:20:50. > :20:54.to issue a Time To Care Campaign. I didn't do it on the back of a hunch
:20:54. > :20:57.that things weren't going right. I did it on the back of the fact that
:20:57. > :21:01.a big number of our membership in Wales have told us they didn't have
:21:01. > :21:04.time to care. They didn't have the time to undertake the duties which
:21:05. > :21:08.they were trained to, it caused them distress. What we don't see,
:21:08. > :21:12.is the effect that something like this has on the nursing profession
:21:12. > :21:16.in Wales, and indeed, in the ward or hospital, whereby these
:21:16. > :21:20.complaints have come from. That will affect those individuals,
:21:20. > :21:23.believe me, it will affect them. That is understood, does the fact
:21:23. > :21:27.we are hearing, in this prominent case, being explained to us, does
:21:27. > :21:32.that mean that the kind of campaign that you launched, is yet to bear
:21:32. > :21:36.fruit, hasn't had any effect? think it is on going. We have
:21:36. > :21:40.launched it, we are in it for the long-term. Sadly to say, I'm
:21:40. > :21:43.concerned about the staffing levels in many of Wales hospitals, at
:21:44. > :21:49.particular times. When we are looking at our staffing levels in
:21:49. > :21:55.Wales, based on about 85% bed occupancy, quite a number of our
:21:55. > :21:57.wards are running at 100%. That doesn't leave time for nurses to do
:21:57. > :22:00.the issues certainly about preparing a bed space, it is more
:22:00. > :22:03.than that. It is the time to actually sit down to talk to a
:22:03. > :22:08.patient. When you are doing an admission, when you are doing their
:22:08. > :22:11.observations, when you are actually wanting to know with what they need
:22:11. > :22:15.to rehabilitate, and get them back into the community. That takes time.
:22:15. > :22:18.If you are running against time, and constantly pressurised. It does
:22:18. > :22:21.give the impression to patients that you don't have time for them.
:22:21. > :22:24.A difficult question to end on. There are people, and we have heard
:22:24. > :22:28.people over the last few years say that they have come across nurses
:22:28. > :22:33.who are, you know, OK they may be under some pressure, but they seem
:22:33. > :22:37.to lack something, they seem to lack a willingness to show
:22:37. > :22:42.compassion, or to be caring. They are cold, in their attitude. How do
:22:42. > :22:45.you get to a stage where you can encourage people like that out of
:22:45. > :22:52.the profession, and get people in who maybe have different qualities?
:22:52. > :22:56.I think when you get complaint of that type of approach, is made
:22:56. > :23:00.aware to the management staff or indeed to other professional groups,
:23:00. > :23:03.every single nurse has a duty to report unprofessional practice,
:23:03. > :23:06.that is why we are registered and regulated professional. I think it
:23:07. > :23:10.is down to every individual to make sure that when you are observing
:23:10. > :23:20.care, which is less than what you would expect to be giving or
:23:20. > :23:20.
:23:20. > :23:24.receiving, then you have a duty of care to report that. Now for
:23:24. > :23:34.something rather different. And who would have thought that this would
:23:34. > :23:39.
:23:39. > :23:43.Yes, our very own political soap opera, based on that real soap
:23:43. > :23:46.opera, last week, the vulnerable institution, featured a discussion
:23:46. > :23:50.on badgers, and the Welsh Government's attitude towards a
:23:50. > :23:53.badger cull. What followed was revealing, to say the least, the
:23:53. > :23:57.office of the First Minister asked for the offending episode not to be
:23:57. > :24:03.shown again. The broadcasters rejected that appeal. But is there
:24:03. > :24:05.more to this curious spat than meets the eye.
:24:05. > :24:10.David Williams has his own personal take.
:24:10. > :24:16.The economy is flatlining, or worse, more benefit cuts are on the way.
:24:16. > :24:20.The health system in Wales is unfit for purpose. Our education system
:24:20. > :24:25.doesn't pass muster, climate change is blamed for devastating floods,
:24:25. > :24:32.which have left hundreds of people homeless. What are they talking
:24:32. > :24:38.about in this place? Badgers. Badgers. In television soap operas.
:24:38. > :24:44.Yes, badgers. You couldn't make it up, well, actually you could, and
:24:44. > :24:53.they did. The script writers for the popular S4C soap opera "People
:24:53. > :24:56.of the Valley", in a recent edition, had the temerity to suggest that
:24:56. > :24:59.the Welsh Government didn't have the backbone to cull badgers. Now
:24:59. > :25:05.the culling of badgers is an emotive issue in Wales, which has
:25:05. > :25:09.seen a rise in TB in cattle. Apparently these pesky little
:25:09. > :25:14.creature, much-loved by Queen munitions, are to blame. Any way, a
:25:14. > :25:19.fictional character, called Cadno, there is a joke there somewhere,
:25:19. > :25:23.because that means in Welsh "fox", he put the boot into the Welsh
:25:23. > :25:30.Government's lack of bottle in failing to put these nocturnal,
:25:30. > :25:33.black and white earth dwellers, to the sword.
:25:33. > :25:39.It is at this point we have to remind ourselves that all of this
:25:39. > :25:43.is the stuff of TV soaps. Even here in the fictional location for the
:25:43. > :25:49.soap opera, this is the old set, I digress. The point is, that a line
:25:49. > :25:53.about badgers in the script would hardly cause a ripple in a themable.
:25:53. > :25:59.Its significance or otherwise for people in other valleys in Wales,
:25:59. > :26:05.would probably be lost all together. But such audacious script writing
:26:05. > :26:09.did not escape the eagle eyes of the Welsh Government. And its ever-
:26:10. > :26:14.watchful media minders. Perched high up in their ivory eerie in
:26:14. > :26:17.Cardiff bay, they don't miss much, especially if it is at all critical
:26:17. > :26:21.of their political masters. Those are the people who run Wales, by
:26:22. > :26:26.the way. Shocked by what their cone-eyed media observers had
:26:26. > :26:31.discovered, the Welsh Government swung into action. And without any
:26:31. > :26:35.fear of the consequences, attempted to have the offending repeat
:26:35. > :26:40.episode of the soap opera hauled off air.
:26:40. > :26:49.This week, in the political circus ring that is the sen ned chamber,
:26:49. > :26:55.we found out who had attempt today silence the lambs in cym deri, it
:26:55. > :27:00.was no less than the First Minister himself. We will await to see the
:27:00. > :27:04.BBC and Ofcom's response to the issue raised. The First Minister
:27:04. > :27:08.had seen the offending episode, not only had he seen it, he had read
:27:08. > :27:15.the script as well. How is it that the First Minister of Wales has
:27:15. > :27:19.time to watch soap operas, read the script, and edit, otherwise known
:27:19. > :27:22.as censorship, and run the country. There are producer guideline that
:27:22. > :27:27.is have to be observed, there was an election on Thursday, on the day
:27:27. > :27:32.the programme was broadcast, that is an issue that has to be resolved.
:27:32. > :27:35.I am not aware, I will offer the opportunity to give me example, of
:27:35. > :27:39.any soap opera, where direct criticism of a Government has been
:27:39. > :27:46.included in the script of a soap opera, ever in history in the UK.
:27:46. > :27:52.Give me an example. We all know that the soap opera is popular, it
:27:52. > :27:56.has English subtitles, but would an episode about badger culling in a
:27:56. > :28:01.TV soap opera in Wales, threaten a democracy in bliarks in England. No
:28:01. > :28:06.it wouldn't, and it didn't, all three Labour candidates won
:28:06. > :28:14.comfortably. And the badgers were safely put back in their Seths,
:28:14. > :28:21.television sets that is. Thanks goodness that is all over.
:28:21. > :28:27.Or is it? There is a nasty Rumour doing the rounds, that, in an
:28:27. > :28:32.upcoming Christmas Special of Gavin and staysy, Smitty is openly
:28:32. > :28:36.citkaflt Welsh Government's failure to build a relief road around Barry
:28:36. > :28:40.island. I'm told the Welsh Government is on the case and are
:28:40. > :28:43.considering pulling the plug on all comedy viewing at Christmas time.
:28:43. > :28:47.Understandably they are very concerned that there is far too
:28:47. > :28:57.much hilarity about, when we should be concentrating on the economy,
:28:57. > :28:58.
:28:58. > :29:01.health, education and building flood defences.
:29:01. > :29:06.That was the battle of the badgers, that is the last Wales report
:29:06. > :29:15.before Christmas, we will be back in January, with new stories and
:29:15. > :29:19.interviews, any suggestions please Get in touch. Thanks for being with