My old chemistry teacher Geoffrey “Solomon” Beaumont used to tell his pupils that everything worth knowing is difficult to understand. He was always careful to point out that not everything that is difficult to understand is worth knowing. You will have to decide into which of the two categories the following falls. Way back in... Read More »
The time of year for determining the council’s rent-setting policy is upon us, and during Thursday’s county council meeting I will again be entering the fray in an attempt to introduce a bit more fairness into the system. Unfortunately, for reasons that are lost in the mists of time, the council has more than 250... Read More »
It will come as no surprise to anyone who has been taking a close interest in the protracted police investigation into PCC’s complaint about alleged fraud in the Pembroke and Pembroke Dock Commercial Property Grant Scheme (CPGS) that the Crown Prosecution Service has decided not to lay charges. Five-and-a-half years after PCC presented a detailed... Read More »
I notice that Private Eye is taking an interest in the Pembroke Dock grants’ caper. Maybe it can persuade what it refers to as Inspector Dai Knacker to follow the evidence wherever it leads rather than looking to foster his cosy relationship with PCC..... Read More »
Things took an interesting turn at the recent meeting of full council when Cllrs David Bryan (Tory) and Jamie Adams (IPG) raised loud objections to the process by which Stackpole Community Councillor David Edwards had been recommended by the council’s appointments panel to fill a community councillor vacancy on the authority’s standards committee. Cllr Bryan,... Read More »
As Alfred Lord Tennyson famously said: “In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” However, here in Pembrokeshire at this time of year, middle-aged men’s fancy turns to thoughts of how they can wrest control of the county council (and all those juicy Special Responsibility Allowances) from Cllr David Simpson... Read More »
As councillors we are encouraged to avoid doing anything to threaten the bond of trust and confidence between members and officers. Obviously, a bond of trust is of great importance to the smooth running of any organisation, whether it be a local authority or a business. But trust is not a right, it has to be... Read More »
It seems my doubts about Major Fabian Faversham-Pullen the promoter of Camp Valour – the proposal to convert Hubberston Fort into a facility for ex-service persons – were well founded. The Major, whose photo can be seen here, had aroused the interest of several veterans’ organisations that are in the business investigating people who make dubious claims about... Read More »
One of the most difficult judgements to make is what to believe in the absence of proof one way or the other. The Scottish philosopher David Hume suggested that the way out of this dilemma is to fall back on experience to decide what is likely to be true. For instance, if you were locked... Read More »
Questions from councillors have proved to be one of the most effective ways of extracting information from PCC’s ruling elite. So effective indeed, that when they were in power, the IPPG were constantly on the lookout for ways of curtailing members’ rights to ask questions. I recall IPPG ex-councillor and deputy leader Rob Lewis once... Read More »
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If you fancy a visit to Jurassic Park, you can exhume the old fossil’s philosophisings at...
