Brewer Simon Buckley throws challenge down to councillors
Letter to the editor of the Carmarthen Journal from Simon Buckley, chief executive of Llandeilo-based brewery Evan-Evans - Dear Madam, It just goes to show that politicians do listen if you talk to the right ones! The Budget yet again produced a helping hand for the brewing and pub industry. If careful balloting of MPs and Government ministers can achieve this huge result, why is it that at a local level we cannot exercise democracy? Why can’t we see our independent councillors in Carmarthenshire do what they were elected to do: act independently and fight the corner for the electorate and council tax-payers? The Mark James fiasco is a poor example of so-called ‘Independent’ democracy at work. It was laughable. The simple fact is that Meryl’s Gravell’s Gang (and I think the former Leader is still calling the shots) respond to a ‘party’ whip line when voting. An ‘Independent’ group responding to a whip? That makes them far from ‘independent’, and certainly ema...