Election Tour 2017: Some complete misunderstandings

The previous post ended with the ravings of Dr Felix Aubel, Carmarthenshire's best known Tory. Since then the leaders of all of the parties represented in the Senedd, except of course for Neil Hamilton (UKIP), signed a pledge not to stoke the fires of racism during the council elections.

Specifically, the statement commits candidates not to "address immigration in a way that builds resentment against different races or nationalities".

How does Andrew RT Davies square this lofty declaration with the activities of one of his most prominent supporters, you may wonder.

The answer, it would seem, is to refer to the small print. Following complaints about some of his social media postings, the Tories have reacted by saying that Aubel's views do not "in any way" represent the views of the party. Cough. However, Aubel is not standing for election in May, so presumably he will not only remain a member but continue to represent the party on public platforms such as Pawb a'i Farn, it being OK to whip up "resentment against races and nationalities" provided you are not standing for election.

Both the BBC and Golwg360 picked up on this story, and Aubel told the BBC that it had all been "a complete misunderstanding".

When he wrote, "When will today's Christian Europe say 'Enough is Enough', just like the Christian Spaniards did at the end of the Middle Ages?" he had simply been responding to a Swedish neo-Nazi with an open question, he told the BBC. Just as anyone would in Trelech who bumps into a Swedish neo-Nazi.

The BBC helpfully reminded readers that he had been referring to the very bloody campaign waged by the Spanish against Muslim and Jewish subjects in which countless thousands were tortured before being burned alive. He did not support religious persecution, Aubel said.

The trouble with this is that Aubel's Twitter feed is awash with "misunderstandings" and xenophobic material put out by a whole menagerie of far-right extremists.

Here he is replying to someone called Patricia Bernier ("English and proud, supporting Brexit 100%", etc.) who warns that "we will fight the importation of Islam every step of the way". 

Note that, unprompted, Dr Aubel brings his pal Ulster Crusader into this cosy chat. Here's how Crusader describes himself:

Proud British Brexiteer.Northern Irish/English roots.I support UKIP, President Trump,Geert Wilders,Marine le Pen. Opposed to radical Islam, liberals & leftists.

By some unfortunate freak coincidence, Ulster Crusader's Twitter page is decorated with a picture of lots of brave English knights of old wearing the Cross of Saint George, busily hacking a greatly outnumbered Muslim army to bits.

So there we are. Dr Aubel is a respected minister of religion and leading light of the Conservative Party in Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion who has been completely misunderstood. He always tells the truth and is most definitely not a bigot.

For an even more richly illustrated example of Dr Aubel's misunderstandings, have a look at BlogMenai.

Ms Understood

Another much misunderstood political figure in Carmarthenshire is deputy leader of the Labour group on Carmarthenshire County Council, leader of Llanelli Rural Council and holder of numerous other public positions, Cllr Tegwen Devichand.

On Tuesday evening Cllr Devichand successfully saw off a vote of no confidence as leader of Llanelli Rural Council. The rather lengthy motion questioned her suitability for the post, but the Labour troops rallied to her defence.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Devichand told a journalist that she had reported "the blogs" to the police and claimed that she was no longer under investigation by the Labour Party for sharing material put out by Britain First. She finished by warning that she would set her solicitors on the newspaper if it printed anything she considered to be an untruth about her.

Cneifiwr still has not heard from the boys in blue, so perhaps she has been complaining about different blogs. Possibly the blogs which Cllr Jeff Edmunds claims published statements he said he made when he thought he was talking to a Labour Party member - blogs which have eluded all Google searches.

If the Labour Party really has called off its investigation into this high profile member, it has not told anyone, including the party's campaign manager, Rosemary Emery, who tweeted this on 10 March in reply to a query about Michaela Beddows and Tegwen's Facebook account:

Perhaps there has been another misunderstanding, which is probably what Tegwen's daughter, Sharen Davies, will tell the ombudsman as he sets about investigating complaints that she called a fellow councillor corrupt.

With any luck, our tour will continue over the weekend, with even more misunderstandings.