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ELECTION FRAUD PROBE

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election scandalTHE FINDING of guilt by a council committee investigating the electioneering activities of Council Deputy Leader Rob Lewis might only have resulted in two weeks’ suspension for the representative from Martletwy, but The Pembrokeshire Herald now understands that there could be significantly wider fallout from the affair.

The preparation of candidates’ election leaflets by Cllr Lewis and former County Councillor David Wildman, and their printing by a commercial printer, could mean that candidates who failed to declare who published and printed their election material could have their election declared void and be debarred from public office.

QUESTIONS continue to arise from the conduct of Deputy Leader of the County Council, Rob Lewis of Martletwy. Also the scandal could spread and affect candidates whose literature and promotional material was prepared by Cllr Lewis and then printed and circulated without proper declarations required by election law being made. In a breach of the Council’s clear rules of conduct, Cllr Lewis used and abused Council facilities to plan election campaigns for supposedly “independent” councillors, who were members of an IPG slate in the 2008 & 2012 Council elections.

For those breaches, Cllr Lewis was controversially suspended from the Council for only two weeks and tried throughout to deflect blame by painting himself as a victim of wrongdoing. The scandal about the IPPG’s election tactics and abuse of publicly-funded facilities was blown wide open by East Williamston councillor Jacob Williams on his online blog jacobwilliams.com.

It appears that his explosive revelations about the conduct of senior IPPG Councillors David Wildman and Rob Lewis, will have considerable further fall out.

Online comments made by other Councillors have suggested that far from being at all contrite Cllr Lewis has expressed no remorse since the suspension was handed down.

The new questions arise out of declarations that candidates for election must make on their campaign material as to who has published and printed their election literature.

Cllr Lewis was found to have prepared election literature and commissioned its printing from a business run by a Council employee who works in the Council’s own printing department. The rules on elections provide that Candidates must ensure that all their election materials (leaflets, posters, placards and all other printed materials), clearly bears on the front of the material, details of:-

• The name and address of the printer of the document

• The name and address of the promoter of the material

• The name and address of the person on behalf of whom the material is being published (and who is not the promoter)

For example: printed by Bloggs & Co of Anytown, published by Mrs Candidate on behalf of Mr Candidate of Anytown.

Failure to observe these requirements may lead to summary conviction and a fine, even if the candidate was unsuccessful. An elected candidate who is found guilty can have his/her election voided. As the duty of care in respect of the offence requires no criminal intent but a finding of fact as to whether the material used to promote a candidate is misleading, the offence is one of strict liability. In other words, a candidate is stuck with the penalty for wrongdoing, even if he was unaware what they did was illegal, as they are supposed to make sure they are aware of the relevant election laws. As advice to potential candidates on an English county council’s website puts it, quoting a former Lord Chief Justice:

“People who employ crossing sweepers to mend watches, cannot complain if the result is unsuccessful”.

The consequences for the ruling IPPG group could be particularly serious. The Pembrokeshire Herald is aware of once instance at least in 2012 where an unsuccessful candidate appears to have had his election literature prepared by Rob Lewis and printed by a commercial printer but failed to declare the same.

The candidate on that occasion, Byron Frayling, stood against David Bryan in the Haverfordwest Priory Ward.

Certainly, the pre-press versions of many candidates” election literature which were then commercially printed are in breach of election law.

The number of IPPG candidates who are potentially affected include members of the current Cabinet. A Councillor whose election literature was potentially in breach of election law even appeared on a list of “recruiters” for the then IPG at the election counts in May 2008. His role was to hand out cards inviting new, unaffiliated councillors to a meeting to join the IPG. That Councillor subsequently stated publicly that he had not decided to join the IPG until a time

AFTER the election took place.

On computer files seen by The Pembrokeshire Herald that candidate, Cllr Ken Rowlands, the Cabinet Spokesperson for Education, appears in a list of IPG candidates for canvassing on Tuesday April 29, 2008, a few days before the election. That file is shown as being printed on April 22, 2008 and created on April 7, 2008.

It is not clear whether Cllr Rowlands literature was printed by Clive James, the printer Cllr Lewis says printed IPG material, but Mr Rowlands election literature in the 2008 election was created and edited in mid-April by former Councillor David Wildman and current Deputy Leader, the suspended Rob Lewis. That is contrary to the declaration on that literature’s face, which states that the document was printed and published by the candidate’s wife.

Similarly, the properties of the material for Mr Rowlands election in 2012 show that it was created by his then fellow Cabinet member, David Wildman, despite a declaration on the same material that it was printed and published by Mr Rowlands himself.

We can re-assure Mr Rowlands, and we are happy to confirm in print, that not only did we not receive the material we publish today from Cllr Jacob Williams, but that it was provided it to us by a concerned third party. We have not discussed the story with Cllr Williams, other than to ask whether he would be happy for us to credit his website with breaking the story in the first place.

The Electoral Commission told the Herald that it has no powers to investigate allegations of election fraud, and that allegations of illegality should be immediately reported to the Police. The Commission also referred us to its online guidance, which suggested that it works closely with Returning Officers to monitor elections. The Returning Officer for Pembrokeshire is Bryn Parry Jones.

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Rugby Weekly – Tenby’s promotion push continues

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It’s crunch time for all rugby clubs around the county, whether promotion is their aim or fighting relegation or even just trying to improve their league position, it’s now or never. 

Last weekend saw an important win for Fishguard in division two west which should put any relegation fears to bed completely. James Griffiths added an impressive 18 points for the Seagulls as they defeated Nantgaredig 33-19. 

Elsewhere in the second division, Milford were beaten 32-8 by a good Lampeter outfit. The Mariners are still a little too close for comfort with the drop zone but should have enough quality to see them safe. 

At the other end of the table Tenby sit in second place and have played fewer games than leaders St Clears and third place Lampeter. They won impressively again last weekend, beating Pontyberem 64-19 at Haywood Lane. Fletcher Broadhurst impressed with two tries as did Hywel Baker who also grabbed himself a brace. Another excellent performance in an outstanding season so far in which promotion would be the absolute icing on the cake. 

In Division Three West, Pembroke were well beaten by Laugharne 74-15 in which the outstanding Liam Price and Nico Setaro both crossed the whitewash 4 teams a piece. The latter also added 7 successful conversions. 

There was a local derby at Pill Parks where Llangwm hosted Pembroke Dock Quins and it was an exciting clash. The visitors won narrowly 28-23, Craig Barnett and Gethin Bradney both scored two tries for the Quins. The Wasps battled hard and will be proud of their performance, Gethin Thomas impressed for the hosts with two tries of his own but it wasn’t enough to secure the points. 

St David’s hosted the high flying Cardigan outfit and were unable to score in reply to the visitors 20 points, with it ending 20-0. The Saints however won’t be losing too much sleep over it as they have had a great season so far. 

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Business

Stephen Crabb leads inquiry on retaining community bank services  

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PRESELI Pembrokeshire MP, and Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee Stephen Crabb is leading an inquiry in Parliament that will investigate the closure of high street banks in Wales, as well as access to cash.

In November 2023, Pembrokeshire saw the closure of Lloyds Bank in St Davids, and in the coming months both Barclays Bank and Halifax in Haverfordwest are set to close. In recent years, Wales has experienced a rapid decline in the number of high street banking services available to the public. Already in 2024, 23 high street bank closures have been announced in Wales, while automated teller machines (ATMs) declined by nearly a quarter between 2018 and 2023.

The Committee willconsider how declining high street banking services are impacting vulnerable people and small businesses across Wales, who are often more reliant on cash than digital banking. It will also examine how Wales is being affected by the loss of high street bank services, and whether the problem is worse in Wales than other parts of the UK.

Mr Crabb is a staunch advocate for retaining community banking facilities, especially in rural communities like Pembrokeshire where many local branches remain the only source of face-to-face banking provision for miles.

Recently Mr Crabb challenged Barclays Bank senior management on their decision to close the bank branch in Haverfordwest– a move that will see Barclays not only pull out of the county town, but means they won’t have a branch left anywhere in Pembrokeshire. He has also engaged with LINK – the UK’s largest cash machine network – and continues to campaign on the basis that a Banking Hub is established and that ATM machines should be retained or installed, especially in areas worst affected by the closures.  

Following the launch of the inquiry, MP Crabb added: “It is really sad to see so many banks across Wales closing as online banking grows in popularity. Despite the advantages of online banking, for a rural community with an ageing population like Pembrokeshire, bank branches hold huge importance as they offer face-to-face customer service.”

“I am acutely aware of the inconvenience that the bank closures locally have already caused following hundreds of replies from constituents to my ‘online banking survey’ ”

“I am looking forward to gathering further evidence on this subject through the committee’s inquiry, and will continue to put pressure on the relevant stakeholders to ensure that adequate alternative provisions are made through the establishment of banking hubs as well as the instalment of ATM machines where necessary.”

“In this inquiry, we are particularly keen to hear from those likely to be directly affected by the shift away from cash and physical banks. I encourage anyone with first-hand experience of losing banking services to give evidence to the Committee”

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Trains resume between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock as works end

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TRAIN services resumed this morning (Thursday 28 March) after ten days of essential round-the-clock work to upgrade track and drainage between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock.

The railway was closed from Monday 18 March to Wednesday 27 March to allow Network Rail teams to replace more than 200 metres of track and 300 tonnes of ballast (track stones) between Pembroke station and Pembroke Dock.

Work to improve the drainage between Narbeth and Kilgetty stations was also completed at the same time.

Nick Millington, Network Rail Wales and Borders route director, said: “This essential work in Pembrokeshire demonstrates our commitment to improving the reliability of the service we provide to passengers along our route.

“We know that replacing the track can be disruptive and very noisy, so I would like to thank the residents of Pembroke for their patience while our team carried out this crucial work.”

Colin Lea, Planning and Performance Director at Transport for Wales said: “We’re pleased that our colleagues in Network Rail have completed this essential work and that Transport for Wales rail services resumed today.

“We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while this work has progressed and look forward to welcoming passengers back in time for the Easter weekend.”

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