09/05/2014 BBC Wales Today

one of his daughter's friends. That's all from the BBC News at Six,

so it's goodbye Welcome to Wales Today. Tonight's

headlines. The fight to win back manufacturing

from China - the former boss of electronics giant Sony says Wales

can do it. Posting abuse online - after a man

is jailed for eight weeks, a family who became victims of internet

trolls say people should report offensive comments.

They attack people who have lost somebody and tragic circumstances.

Most of the time they don't even know the person they are attacking.

One of Britain's oldest coal-burning power stations is to close with the

loss of 83 jobs. A community comes together to

treasure the past. A memorial to a mining tragedy finally finds a new

home. And in tonight's sport.

Former Cardiff City boss Malky Mackay says sorry to the club's

owner Vincent Tan after deciding to drop legal action.

Good evening. Manufacturing in Wales can be rebuilt despite years of

decline. The former boss of Japanese electronics giant Sony, Sir Howard

Stringer, has told BBC Wales companies can win back business

that's been lost to Asia. It comes as new figures show the economy is

close to being as strong as it was before the recession hit, with

manufacturing going from strength to strength. Our business correspondent

Brian Meechan has more. Manufacturing has always played a

significant part in the Welsh economy and that continues to be the

case today. Much of it has moved to Asia where wages are much lower,

making production costs cheaper. But some manufacturing work is

returning. Sony is now making this, a basic credit card sized computer

for children. There is a lesson in that for Welsh manufacturers

according to Sir Howard Stringer, the Cardiff born businessman who

became the first Westerner to run Sony's global operation. The way to

bring manufacturing back to Wales is to find a way to make it worthwhile

for Japanese companies. One of them is the distance to the customer. It

is very long from China. Your market can change within six or ten weeks.

If you do your manufacturing in Wales at a reasonable cost, you will

have a tremendous advantage on your competition. But the employment

figures are startling. In the 2001 census, just over 200,000 people

were working in manufacturing in Wales. Ten years later that number

had dropped to just under 145,000. Over the last two years, Sony has

transformed how it manufactures its cameras. Gone are the old production

lines and now one operator creates one kit. That means people like

Claire take about 90 minutes to put something like this together. Sony

has also moved production of the smaller camera to Wales. It is

innovation like this that brings that extra work in. Innovation and

quality would be the two drivers of everything we do. We are always

trying to innovate and change processes to make them more

efficient, higher quality and how do we get it to our customers faster.

Manufacturing may never return to Wales on the scale that it left but

rising costs in Asia and longs -- shipping times mean there are long

opportunities for Welsh firms. Brian joins me now. What can we take

from his comments? We have to remember that Sir Howard Stringer

ran one of the biggest manufacturing companies in the world. He knows

what he's talking about. There are a lot of positives we can take from

these comments. The trend over the last decade or so has been for

manufacturing to move towards Asia because wages are lower and that

lowers production costs. What we have seen is that you can offer

something different. And innovative approach. We can never compete on

wages but we can save money on transportation costs and offer

something different with better quality. But we saw there that there

has been a 30% reduction over a 10-year period in manufacturing jobs

for Wales. Are we going to see that come back as quickly as it left? I

think that is extremely unlikely if not impossible. But it is not all

bad news for Welsh manufacturing. And his remarks do seem to chime

with the wider economic picture on manufacturing? We are respecting

over the next humans the UK economy to bounce back to the level it was

before 2008 so when that does come back, it is being driven in no small

part by manufacturing, proportionately a bigger part of the

Welsh economy, so good manufacturing is really good for Wales.

And you can hear the full interview with Sir Howard Stringer on BBC

Radio Wales' Wales at Work programme, at 7.00am tomorrow

morning. There are calls for more of us to

report offensive material on social media to the police. It comes a day

after a man from Port Talbot was jailed for posting offensive

messages on Twitter following the stabbing of teacher Ann Maguire in

Leeds. Online safety experts say we shouldn't leave it to others to take

on the so-called internet trolls. Joy Lamb from Llanfihangel Glyn

Myfyr near Corwen is more cautious online than she used to be. It's two

and a half years since her 16-year-old granddaughter Georgia

was killed by a train at this station in Liverpool on a night out

with friends. The family's distress was deepened when Georgia's father

discovered a Facebook tribute page set up by schoolmates had been

targeted by trolls posting offensive pictures and messages about the

teenager. They said to me, don't look at it because it will just

accept you. I did look at it and it did set me but I felt that was the

reaction the trolls wanted. We totally ignored the whole thing in

the end and we did not give them the time of day because that is the

reaction, they claim to fame. But increasingly, police aren't ignoring

them. Yesterday, Robert Riley from Port Talbot was jailed for eight

weeks for remarks on Twitter about the stabbing of Ann Maguire at a

school in Leeds. Henry Platten from Hawarden in Flintshire runs an

organisation which calls itself the social media police. He says the

onus should be on the everyday user to report the worst offenders. The

key sites such as Twitter and Facebook are doing a lot of work

within schools in terms of trying to educate people about how to be

responsible. Legislation will tie up the courts and police time so

through people and parent engagement and community engagement, it is a

more effective way to resolve this long-term. Earlier this year,

Childline reported that it had seen an 87% increase in contacts from

victims of online bullying, whilst overall reports of bullying only

rose by 8%. With most of us now having access to smartphones or

tablets, it has never been easier to post things online but the 24-hour

nature of online bullying means there is no escape for victims and

that can sometimes lead to feelings of low self-esteem and in extreme

cases, self harming or suicide. Joy and her family had hoped the

internet would be a place where they could share their happiest memories

of Georgia, but the trolls have only added to their heartbreak.

A man suspected of abuse in the north Wales care system has been

found dead. Kenneth Wheatley, who was 62, was being questioned by the

National Crime Agency over historical claims. He was found dead

on a railway line three days after he was arrested and bailed by

Suffolk Police on suspicion of indecent assault against a boy near

Ipswich in 1976. It's one of the oldest coal-fired

power stations in the UK. Now, Uskmouth Power Station in Newport is

to close, putting 83 jobs at risk. Its owners, Scottish and Southern

Energy, say they're unable to find a buyer for the site. Jordan Davies

has more. It has been producing power for 50

years. Converting coal into elegant city for thousands of homes. Now the

Uskmouth power station is due to close, putting 83 jobs at risk. Its

current owners, Scottish and Southern Power, unable to find a

suitable buyer. Some of the younger guys, it is bad. It is one of the

oldest and least efficient stations in the UK. It actually stopped

producing electricity at the end of March. A new gas-fired power station

was opened next door three years ago. Uskmouth is eight coal powered

fire station. The amount of electricity it could produce was

already limited under European lose -- rules. It would have closed in

nine years anyway whether or not a buyer could have been found. This

man represents workers at the site. He says a deal was on the table as

late as last night. People say it was a UK-based purchaser. When did

it break down? We are led to believe the discussions ceased late last

night and they were informed of that decision this morning. Scottish and

Southern Power are now looking at moving the staff to other sites. The

last people to work at a landmark building that some may say did not

quite fit the times. Still to come in the programme.

The new Swansea boss Garry Monk says he can be a successful Premier

League manager at the tender age of 35.

And it is certainly not going to be barbecue weather this weekend. More

like a taste of autumn. Stay tuned for a full forecast.

With the European elections less than a fortnight away, former Plaid

Cymru leader Lord Wigley has attacked the three main UK parties

for allowing UKIP to steer the agenda. In a speech in Merthyr

Tydfil tonight, he will warn that leaving the EU would be disastrous

for the economy. Daniel Davies reports.

Dafydd Wigley has been doing his bit for the election campaign in

Gwynedd. Tonight he'll be less complimentary about the party's

rivals when he delivers a speech in Merthyr Tydfil. He has a long

association with the town. Dafydd, now Lord Wigley, was once a manager

at Merthyr's Hoover factory and a local councillor. He also has a long

association with Europe. As an MP in the 1970s, he ignored Plaid's

official policy and campaigned in favour of staying in the European

Economic Community. That was in the referendum of 1975. Wales, like

Dafydd Wigley, voted Yes. Soon after, the rest of Plaid Cymru came

round to his way of thinking. Now there's the prospect of a referendum

on staying in the EU. And a pro-European Plaid Cymru is doing

its best to convince us that the EU is good for Wales. UKIP is a totally

negative vote. I can understand people protesting about the parties

in Westminster but if we throw away the unity we have built in Europe

over the last two generations, which has prevented wars, it enables us to

cooperate on issues such as the green agenda, the dangers of global

warming, we do that at our peril. I would besiege the voters of Wales to

look to their hearts and think very seriously indeed before wasting

their vote on UKIP. With its only seat in the European Parliament

under threat, Plaid is concentrating on getting its core vote out on May

22nd. When she won the leadership of Plaid Cymru two years ago, Leanne

Wood's supporters said she would help the party take on Labour in the

Valleys. It's places like this that will decide whether that becomes a

reality. And on Monday, Dan will be

continuing our coverage of the elections by visiting the European

Parliament in Strasbourg. MEPs travel there 12 times a year to

discuss laws that affect all the 28 member states. Dan will be finding

out what our MEPs do all day, how it all works and asking how relevant it

is to Wales. That's on Monday's Wales Today.

The owners of the former North Wales Hospital in Denbigh have objected to

the council's attempt to redevelop the site. Denbigh Council hopes to

take over the derelict property by compulsory purchase and plans to

preserve the original Grade II listed building. It would be funded

by selling other parts of the site. But the owners, Freemont Limited,

are disputing the compulsory purchase order.

A Rhondda community which fought hard to stop its church closing has

today held a special service. The memorial to a mining disaster in

1885 was originally housed at All Saints Church in Maerdy. Today, that

monument and the church bell were given a new home in the village.

Jenny Rees reports. A simple image that conjures so many

memories for this community. The memorial is to the 81 men and

children who died in a mining disaster here in 1885. It first

stood in the grounds of All Saints Church but when that closed three

years ago, the people of Maerdy wanted to find it a new home. There

is one their 13 years of age. It gives where they lived. Most of them

were from one street. The whole town was gutted, it must have been. It is

not like it is today because it was only a few streets. The village has

been built up with more houses. We have brought this in here for

people. I don't know, some of them don't realise what it is all about.

It is important to make sure they know.

Which is where Maerdy Community Primary has stepped in. It's now the

new home to the church bell and today's special assembly allowed the

children to share all they've learned about the closure of the

church, the rich history of mining in the village and, of course, the

disaster of 1885. They put all the miners who died in the church and

their families went there to see them. People fought to keep it open

because some people did not have enough many to keep it open.

Services stopped at All Saints three years ago, but the community fought

on for a year to try and save it, staging protests and even a sleep-in

in a bid to keep it open. But it wasn't to be. It is so sad to think

the children of that school can't go into that church. Many people don't

enter a church in their lives and I feel very sad about that. If I had

the money, the church would be open tomorrow. We really need the church.

The bell stands in pride of place and everybody says how beautiful it

looks. It does look really stunning so I am very pleased with that.

Today's rededication once again brought Maerdy together, remembering

the past - buildings, loved ones, an industry that can never be replaced.

So after nine dramatic months for our two Premier League teams, it all

comes to an end this Sunday. Claire, it's been quite a ride.

Back in August, few of us would have thought that Cardiff and Swansea

would have sacked their managers. Today, former Bluebirds boss Malky

Mackay has apologised without reservation to the club's owner

Vincent Tan after deciding to drop legal action against his former

employers. It comes as his successor, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said

he accepted responsibility for their relegation from the Premier League.

Both Cardiff and Swansea play their last games of the season on Sunday.

There will be one team playing in blue at the Cardiff City Stadium on

Sunday and it will not be Cardiff City. The match against Chelsea is

their last in the top, for now at least. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is

taking responsibility for what has happened. He admits he did not have

the impact he had hoped for when you have the impact he had hoped for

when you base Malky Mackay in January. But he

when you base Malky Mackay in bringing the club straight back up

next season. Whether he will have his best players is in doubt. Some

players have release clauses in their contracts which are triggered

by relegation. They will be change. I will do my very best to keep hold

of the most important players. That is vital that we keep hold of the

ones that I believe will take us back up again. That job has already

started. The sacking of Malky Mackay in December was a big moment in the

season. He was seeking compensation from the club but today he announced

he was dropping legal action after reaching a settlement. In a

statement he said it was in the best interest of all parties to have a

clean break and move on, adding that if he caused offence to anyone

during his time at the club, especially Vincent Tan, he

apologised without reservation. It was followed soon after by a similar

statement from former head of recruitment Ian Moody who apologised

for any mistakes made during his time at the club. He said he had

also reached a settlement. The club said it was a positive outcome. But

many fans are still angry towards the owner. Some will use the final

match to call again for the club's historic blue kit and badge to be

reinstated. Last night, the gates at one end of the ground were daubed

with graffiti. But it was soon painted out. The resentment of fans

may be more difficult to gloss over. This morning, the local paper

through its support behind the campaign, admitting that its

previous neutral stance on the rebranding had been wrong. It has

not been plain sailing for Swansea either with a mid-season change of

manager. This week Garry Monk was given the job on a permanent basis.

He is now the youngest manager in the top-flight and he is confident

he has got the connections and to succeed. Hopefully, I know more

people outside Swansea than people think. We have identified the

targets that we need, the areas that we need to strengthen, and we will

get the right accordingly. The Swans end their season against Sunderland.

Our football correspondent Rob Phillips is here. A day of heartfelt

apologies. What can we read between the lines? They used to say sorry is

the hardest word but I think it is the contrition with the two

statements that is most striking about this. Malky Mackay apologising

to Vincent Tan without reservation. And then saying that without Vincent

Tan's investment, their Premiership campaign would not have been

possible. It was followed by the Ian Moody statement. He went in October,

the head of recruitment, a key ally of Malky Mackay at the club, and he

says wherever mistakes were made during his time at the clip, he

wanted to apologise for any part and apologising for any offence he might

have caused to Vincent Tan. The fans will be struck by the fact that

during this season, the rift at the top of the club for all to see. It

was publicly exposed. For Malky Mackay and Ian Moody to be stating

these apologies in search contrition, I think that is

astonishing. It has been an extraordinary day. It has been a

long-running saga. Does that finally draw a line under it? Both sides are

very keen to say that is it. What it means for Malky Mackay is that,

given his track record, a very good manager with success, he has already

been linked with a number of clubs. His former club Norwich city who may

be looking for a manager this summer. West Ham United with doubts

over Sam Allardyce. Malky Mackay is now able to go and get another job.

Looking back on the season, it has been a season never to forget,

hasn't it? It has cost -- taken Cardiff City more than half a

century to get to the top flight and they are back down within a season.

Only one manager has survived the whole season from the four biggest

clubs in Wales. Congratulations Justin Edinburgh in Newport County.

Wales' Women remain second in their World Cup qualifying group after

beating Montenegro 4-0 last night. Captain Jess Fishlock grabbed a

hat-trick in the victory in Bangor, as Wales tightened their grip on

second spot, just behind leaders England. Wales' next qualifier is

next month against Turkey in Haverfordwest. The captain says they

are firmly focused on getting to the finals in Canada.

I think it is a good team display. I know that I will probably get the

headlines because I got three goals but there were some great

performances by a lot of people today. They came to make it

difficult for us, they played 11 people behind the ball, and they are

the hardest games. But we did our job and we keep on moving forward.

Rugby, and Warren Gatland is already without Sam Warburton and Leigh

Halfpenny for Wales' summer tour. Today, news that Justin Tipuric

won't make the plane to South Africa. The Ospreys flanker will

undergo surgery on his shoulder next week and could be out for four

months. Golf, and at the Players

Championship in Florida, Wales' best golfer Jamie Donaldson finished his

second round. He shot a 67 to leave him three under par for the

tournament. Germany's Martin Kaymer still leads.

Now, I'd love to say Derek's here with news of a lovely weekend ahead,

but he's not, are you,