Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Llantwit Major Rotarian Donald Carsley has received a special award at the House of Lords for his commitment to Rotary and community work. A former detective, Mr Carsley was among 12 previously unsung Rotarian heroes who were honoured by some of Britain’s top politicians in Whitehall. Presenting the Rotary Great Britain and Ireland (RGBI) Champions of Change Awards, was host for the evening the Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords, the Rt Hon Lord Wallace of Tankerness. He described Rotary as “a great movement” and said he had been very humbled to see the achievements of the 12 Awardees. Nominations for the awards were in two categories — domestic and international — and invited from across RGBI’s 29 Districts, which takes in 1,800 clubs and 50,000 members. Awardees projects ranged from improving education facilities in Kenya and Uganda and raising awareness of child slavery to organising disability sports events in Wales and peace events in Scotland and Jersey. Another project in I...

Claims that the UK's Coalition Government wants an early end to direct payments to farmers following the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) were "complete nonsense", Agriculture Minister Jim Paice has told a Farmers' Union of Wales lunch at the House of Lords. "There are some stories about that we want to see the end of direct payments, as if by tomorrow," Mr Paice said at the union's annual function to promote Welsh food during Farmhouse Breakfast Week. "That is complete nonsense and an absurd proposition. Farming couldn't survive without direct payments but we need to be more ambitious in the future and I hope that when we publish our proposals we will be suggesting a long, long transition from the current CAP system." Earlier, Mr Paice acknowledged the devolved Welsh, Scottish and Northern Ireland governments had already called for the retention of direct payments and market support measures in their responses to the EC's...