I am flattered by J.Powell’s description of me as “leader of Blaenhonddan council”, in her letter to this week’s “Neath Guardian”, but have to correct her - I am the mere ward councillor on the county borough council. I don’t recall a letter of mine being published on May 7th, either.

I do recall making the comments about hooligans - and I hasten to add that these were stated to be incomers, not locals - to the assistant editor of the “Guardian” in an interview on election night. These remarks were reported in the May 7th issue, and I stand by them, in that I was relaying problems which were reported to me by constituents. Not every problem in Cadoxton affects all the ward.

At their first monthly meeting after the May 1st elections, Neath and Port Talbot Liberal Democrats welcomed Joanne Foster, the new Chief Executive of Welsh Liberal Democrats. There were congratulations for John Warman (Cimla) and Keith Davies (Coedffranc North), who retained their seats, and for new councillors Des Sparkes (Cimla) and Frank Little (Cadoxton).

It was felt that the strengthened Liberal Democrat group (now third-largest on the council) would increase its effectiveness out of proportion to the increase in its numbers.

The meeting resolved to campaign on behalf of the people of Baglan, who had been denied a democratic choice at the election, after the last-minute defection of two Ratepayer candidates to the Labour party.

It was reported that the ruling Labour group on Neath Port Talbot council had voted against offering chairs of any scrutiny committee to opposition councillors. In view of the fact that LibDem-led Swansea had proposed that the Labour opposition should have the choice of Swansea’s scrutiny chairs, and a similar move in Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot’s obduracy was condemned as undemocratic.

During the formal opening of the Liberal International’s 55^th Congress in Belfast, LI President Lord Alderdice presented his words of welcome to the assembled members of the international liberal family: “It is a very special pleasure for me to welcome Liberal International back to Belfast for our 55^th Congress. When the LI Executive came to Belfast in 1995 we had just begun a ceasefire but hopes were modest and anxieties still high that we could easily revert to the political violence which had plagued our country. Now we celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and the picture has changed completely. […]

“Liberals are not just about the freedom and dignity of individual people; we also recognize that none of us can fulfil our potential on our own, especially when we are struggling against the giants of hunger, disease, poverty, war and increasingly, of environmental degradation. These are giants which can only be addressed when we work together.

“It is no accident that we are gathering in Belfast, a place where hope has gradually emerged out of the ashes of a city of despair.”

David Ford, leader of the Alliance Party, also welcomed the Congress: “The theme of our Congress is our Shared Future. […] A shared future goes beyond ethnic divisions. Without social inclusion, society’s fruits are not shared with the poor. Improving our environment is about sharing the planet with other species and future generations.”