Wednesday, 1st January, 2014
DonQui gong
There were a number of worthy candidates for the inaugural Golden DonQui, but the results are now in, and the winner you’ve chosen for the 2013 award is none other than Pembrokeshire County Council cabinet member for the economy, Cllr. David Pugh.
Cllr. Pugh beat council leader Cllr. Jamie Adams into second place, and is a thoroughly deserving recipient – congratulations. Publicly accusing another councillor of being incompetent or a liar is serious stuff, and even more serious when the accusation is based upon untrue information presented as fact. The main thread of Cllr. Pugh’s botched attempt at discrediting Cllr. Mike Stoddart at the December 12 full council meeting was based on something he had made up. He has since apologised, and will have come to realise that the only character he was assassinating in his bungling tirade, was his own.
The UK New Year Honours list for 2014 is apparently the first time the number of female recipients has outnumbered the males. Conversely, the crowded field of runners in the DonQui Derby was entirely male:
A look through the Queen’s official honours shows that none of the high flyers at Pembrokeshire County Council received recognition through the system. This must come as a bitter pill to swallow for some in the Kremlin on Cleddau, especially in a year in which the leader of Neath Port Talbot council managed to bag an OBE for services to local government, and the Chief Executive of Rhondda Cynon Taf council, a CBE for the same.
Even closer to home, a couple of years back the 2012 New Year Honours list had a CBE in store for a Carmarthenshire council bigwig – the Chief Executive, no less.
Maybe better luck next year? As the old adage goes: ‘Every DonQui has its day!’
May I thank you – all of my readers, contributors and moles – for all of your efforts during 2013, and wish you all the best of wishes for 2014; it could be another bumpy ride.
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I must say for consistency over the last 12 months, the award would have gone to Cllr Jamie Oversight Adams, but following Cllr Pugh’s unexpected but spectacular form in the IPPG sponsored 2000 Pieces of Silver classic in December, he richly deserves this award.
I for one cannot wait for the next classic race, the Grand Nondisclosure and see which of Jamie’s Stable makes the running, as no doubt Cllr Pugh will be wearing blinkers to make sure he does not have another runaway success.
May I suggest that nobody would wish to receive the Golden DonQui award, but also who in their right mind would accept an award which meant they became a member of a defunct British Empire.
Although I did not support him, I would like to congratulate the winner of this fine trophy which will only serve to enhance his reputation.
Although I am no fan of Cllr Pugh, it seems to me that your readers have delivered rather a harsh judgement.
What has to be remembered is that his error-strewn speech followed an inspection visit to Pembroke Dock together with the Leader.
Presumably, they were accompanied by a council officer, who, we can assume, told them about the fictitious “third side elevation” at No 25, and the “most” (actually less than 15%) of the retail space at No. 29 (Paul Sartori charity shop) that was given over to “storage and cleaning clothes and so on.”
Of course, their mistake was to believe what they were told, not because it was the truth, but because it was what they wanted to believe.
It is inconceivable that Cllr Pugh’s carefully-prepared speech wasn’t approved by the Leader, so it seems a little unfair that he is taking most of the flak.
I hope the Golden DonQui award will be presented at the next full council meeting for all to see. Keep up the good work, informing the good people of Pembrokeshire, the shady tactics of the IPG.
From this day Councillors who wish to approve speeches by CC Pugh will be required to indicate their approval with a loud Hee Haw instead of the more traditional Hear Hear.
Can’t remember whether I voted for him or not! It was such a close run race. Perhaps he can share the award with the rest of his chums, after all, some of them have worked jolly hard towards this award!
Good work Jacob, keep it up!
Mike Stoddart, if someone told Pugh to stamp on a cowpat and he was stupid enough to do it, it’s hardly reasonable for him to complain that he was the only one left covered in sh*t.
I must say I do like Bayard’s description of the IPPG as a cowpat, very apt with Farmer Adams in charge of the herd. I would say however that there is more than one covered in sh*t at the moment.
– Cllr Pugh for being caught out giving false information to Council and making defamatory remarks against another member on the back of inaccurate statements.
– Cllr Allen-Mirehouse for his customary diversionary attacks.
– Cllr Adams, well the list is endless.
– And of course the IPPG lemmings for allowing it all to happen.
Cllr Summons has also attracted some scrutiny for setting himself up as Prosecution Barrister using information that he claims was obtained via an FoI request, which must have been disclosed within an uncharacteristically fast turnaround time by PCC.
Cllr Stoddart’s blog was attacked in Council, but had it not been for his and Jacob’s websites, Cllr Pugh’s totally false statements and unwarranted attack would have gone unanswered, with any future debate stifled by the IPPG with the public none the wiser.
Keep up the good work Mike and Jacob.
Does a DonQui grow up to become an ass?
No a Cabinet Member Tony. They can be hard species to differentiate!
His retraction surely proved him to be an ass-h***.
For students of local politics, and the IPPG in particular, it should be noted that a donkey and an ass are the same thing.
However, there are other variations such as the mule – the product of breeding a female horse and a male donkey – and the hinny which arises from the reverse cross.
As female donkeys are more particular about who they mate with than female horses, hinnies are much rarer than mules – though both can be equally stubborn.
According to Wikipedia: “Male hinnies and mules are usually castrated to control their behaviour.”
Only saying!
Let’s hope that the mules/hinnies in Pembrokeshire are never allowed to breed then. As for castration, might be the way forward. If an ass had links with the Swansea ara would it be ok to call them a jackass?