‘Independent’ McEvoy goes after the First Minister

Leanne Wood needs to pay attention to the approach of this AM, he is attacking Labour on their atrocious performance in government, he is the only politician unaffraid to hold the Welsh government to account. He is doing what Plaid Cymru should be doing being an opposition.

True. I ended my Plaid membership because of their cowardice.

I mostly like McEvoy's style, and he brought Plaid to a position in Cardiff that was frankly unthinkable some time ago, by nearly dethroning Drakeford. If Plaid kick him out they'll have done Labour's dirty work for them, and that will be unforgivable. It is about time that Carwyn Jones was scrutinised, and that the opposition went after him properly. He is opaque, evasive and it's true that on lobbying he has demonstrably changed his story (the Lisvane thing needs ot be cleared up too). Plaid is lukewarm about the lobbying thing because one or two of their own ex (failed) politicians have gone into lobbying and have gone after McEvoy too. I am a member of Plaid, and I'm a centre-left Europeanist, and I think Plaid is being ruined by the Assembly comfort blanket and by glorified student politicians unwilling to grasp what serious opposition means.

Is this website a Neil McEvoy propaganda outlet? I seem to remember the same was true of Daily Wales before it disappeared - article after article either written by or about McEvoy. Your reporting is hardly impartial. Have you wondered why the Plaid group in the Senedd voted unanimously to suspend him? Why not speculate on that? I watched the Plenary debate yesterday and it was full of Plaid AMs attacking the Labour government. I predict that Plaid will expel McEvoy. He will take a few hundred members with him and form a new party - the Welsh National Party. This will split the nationalist vote. If the UK state wanted someone to fragment and tarnish Plaid then they couldn't have come up with a better stooge than McEvoy - someone who was in Labour for nearly 20 years and without a drop of Welsh blood running through his veins. Land of his Father? Hahaha. This, IMJ, Daffy2012, Dafis, Royston Jones et al, is your Messiah. Da iawn.

Interesting though the Labour Spokesperson say the attack is to take attention away from his suspension. Nothing about him being wrong and no answers to the charges. If he was taking attention away from his suspension. Why is he speaking as he says an Independent Assembly Member. Bit weak that one.

He was kicked out of Paid Cymru just for wanting people to be able to buy their council homes.........he wasn;t kicked due to his lack of wanting Welsh self rule Bluebird!.............My parents stopped voting Plaid Cymru about 3 years ago as they seem to be losing the plot talking about international issues they have no influence........my parents however felt very warmed to Neil McAvoy's confidence and energy...........my parents used to be dye in the Labour.....food for thought for PC Im currently weighing up whether to end my party membership

dye in the wool*

Bluebird, you are a racist. Yes, my black grandfather did come here on a boat. My father is English and my foremothers and forefathers were Irish. I'm a Cardiff mixture. Crucially, I'm Welsh, but people like you deny me that on the basis of race. I hope your comment stays up. It exposes you.

Thank God for mavericks like, Neil Mcavoy, they have the ability to make us check the facts for ourselves; and keep us interested in politics.

Amazing that racists are allowed on this site! Perhaps it shows were the moderators leanings are, I don't know, but I do now a racist when I hear one! Totally pathetic and yet another sad and sorry excuse for a human being hiding behind a made up name with no face to put to it!

What colour is Welsh blood then I wonder ??

Plaid are now experiencing the toxic political force Mr Mcevoy is. A cursory investigation into his past would highlight issues which may be in conflict with his new found persona of corruption campaigner. His campaign in the senedd is likely more to do with past grudges and score settling. As for the issue of council housing, would he care to give his own history of the property market, just for transparency. As with his personal history, which seems vague enough to fit whatever his agenda is, clarity around his dealings in property would help others gain a wider understanding of his motivation. Here's a very simple question, why would he join a party he fundamentally disagreed with on so many issues? His tribalist, populist, dog whistling politics is great for a headline but an awful strategy for a decent political party like plaid and it's members tend to be. He can easily leave and be free to pursue any cause he wants. Interestingly, it seems many of his biggest "fans" on social media, are either not members or do not share plaids policy objectives. Plaid is not Mr mcevoys personal fan club, it's a political party with policies that are clear. If people don't support plaids policies, don't join or vote plaid, it's easy. Is my reply related to the main points of the article, no. However, the main points of the article aren't related to reality, just Mr mcevoys fragile ego.

Strange that two individuals who hide behind pseudonyms, deliberately attack Neil McEvoy in a nasty, personal way. My AM is Lord Dafydd, former member of Plaid. His Lordship cares about his Lordship and lives in Lordship world. Of course Neil McEvoy bites the heads off cuddly toys. And eats fish fingers. Of course being born in Cardiff makes him ....????...... oh dear, a Welshman!!! Heaven forbid. The bottom line is that Neil McEvoy is a politician who cares. I wish there were more like him.

I'm rather bothered about this bit - Later the same day he also claimed in the Siambr that the government had allowed nuclear waste from Hinkley Point C in England to be dumped in the sea near Cardiff, without an environmental impact assessment. This really should be the headline issue.

I have just published a comment on my blog http://jacothenorth.net/blog/an-existential-threat-to-wales/ from 'Brychan' that is relevant to this article. I suggest everyone reads it.

Will Bluebird and No More Heroes explain to us how McEvoy's going after the FM, which is the subject of this article, is wrong or unfounded? or do they just want to slander him like cowards and hide behind fake names? Because as far as I can tell this is a news site, and not a place where people can smear individuals with hearsay and lies. If you have information, guys, share it: soon would do.

Neil McEvoy is an honest man , he puts others first and always helps those in need , plaid cymru are clueless, without Neil McEvoy In their party I won't vote for them

Bluebird and NMH: I still want to know in what way McEvoy's challenges to the FM, which are the subject of the article, are unfounded or wrong, because I don't see you refuting anything he says. I understand you hate him, which is your right, but I want to know what he has alleged here, in this article, that's wrong or a lie. The sum total of NMH's attack on him is that he owns his own home and once rented a place out. Big deal. Call the police! The rest I'm afraid is just hate. I don't know the guy, but if you want an illustration of what he's done that can be considered a 'political success', then getting elected AM is one, and nearly beating Drakeford in Rhodri Morgan's old seat is another. This happened with masses of votes he got through his campaigning. I think you can vary your bile with some substance: if you have something on him that's genuinely criminal or unethical, state it. If you just hate and fear him, then admit it (though in a sense you already have). This article raises issues about the FM evading questions, giving misleading answers and not telling the truth. That's a story. McEvoy, whatever you think of him, has made the accusations and put his neck on the line. He's made his, now you make yours.

I met Neil McEvoy for the first time this week, when a colleague and myself from the Presbyterian Church of Wales met with the Senedd's Petitions Committee, to present our petition calling on the Welsh Government to formally commemorate the tri centenary of the birth of William Williams, Pantycelyn(1717-2017). We made the point that Pantycelyn and his 900+ hymns, his 90 literary works, his 80,000 miles of service to the Christian faith in Wales over an unbroken 40 year period, and his work as an organizer of the early forms of non-conformist churches in Wales( the Seiadau) and his role as Counsellor to thousands of new believers, both men and women all over Wales, certainly deserves his place amongst that triumvirate of national icons who created the modern Wales we now inhabit- along with nationalist hero Owain Glyndwr and Socialist pioneer Aneurin Bevan. Neil McEvoy, a member of the Petitions Committee was attentive, respectful and enthusiastic about our presentation. He thanked both of us warmly for collecting the 1,250 name petition, which will now be considered by the full Petitions Committee on October 3. People say he can be abrasive, confrontational and a loose cannon. All I can say to those people is what the Good Book tells us " Let him who is without sin cast the first stone" For me, looking in from the outside( and i acknowledge here that I may not have all the relevant facts at my disposal), Neil Mc Evoy seems a breath of fresh air in that deadly chamber of inertia, passiveness and general hopelessness- Y Senedd. So he's now going to be operating as some form of nationalist independent targeting the First Minister? Good. Carwyn Jones has had way much too much of an easy ride by both opposition politicians and the media in Wales over many years. Never trust a lawyer they say, and there is an undeniable air of shiftiness and evasiveness about Carwyn Jones whlch really has to be ruthlessly exposed. As for the Plaid group itself who have suspended Mc Evoy, I appreciate they are all trying their best , and I don't want to be uncharitable here. but the Plaid AM's in the Senedd seem to be a pretty weak, insipid and motley collection of nationalists, who all seem to be at cross-purposes with each other, Should it all kick off here in Wales, with the the nascent Yes Cymru campaign for Independence really proving a threat to Perfidious Albion and some Spanish-like responses forthcoming from Westminster: can you really see any of the Plaid members in the Assembly risking their status, careers and generous financial packages, and taking to the barricades? Really?? Plaid Cymru's decline as a real threat to the UK establishment really started back in the early 90ies when Dafydd Elis Thomas took a peerage in the Lords- against the stated wishes of the party membership. Rather than throwing him out for this act of treachery, the party grandees argued- "we must let Dafydd be Dafydd. He's too talented- we cant afford to lose him". Since this livy-livered appeasement, it's just been a long, drawn out tale of general decline for Plaid I'm afraid which has ended in this complete stasis for the Welsh National Movement in the Senedd, where :Labour are sitting pretty and just taking the mick Plaid Cymru have never really had a "street-fighter" type politician in their ranks. It's always been too respectable, too conformist, too middle-class to ever prove a real threat. It appears that the one politicians of that nature is now forever lost to them. There's talk that Neil has purposefully engineered this dispute about right to buy to start up a new national party. I don't know about that too be honest. But, I would like to wish him the very best as he seeks to shake this cosy consensus in the Bay which has sent to the Welsh public to sleep for the past 20 years to its very foundations.

Hinkley Point Nuclear Waste Sea Disposal Plan (2011) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-13501260

Nation Cymru is giving me an insight into the divisions in Wales...illuminating.

Facts as to why I am hate by the anti-Wales/Welsh brigade. Plaid Cardiff West vote 1999 (the national high water mark for Plaid) 3,402. 2016 Plaid vote: 10,205. Biggest Plaid council election vote in Wales 2017: 2414 (my seat in Fairwater). In 1999 the Plaid vote was 669 in Fairwater. In 1999, Plaid had a competitive interest in 1 council seat in Cardiff. Fast forward to 2017, we won 3, came 2nd in 20 and came a winnable 3rd (next time) in 5. Yes, I'm toxic for some. Our communities have a different view. A private sector company would look after a good salesperson who believes in the mission statement. On a personal level, I still have the same friends I had in primary and secondary school; I'm blessed to have met many brilliant people since. They know more about my "character" than any people in the Bay Bubble. Sources: http://cardiff.moderngov.co.uk/mgElectionResults.aspx?ID=37&RPID=1002163251&LLL=0 http://www.electionscentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Cardiff-1995-2012.pdf http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/wales-constituencies/W09000029 http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/RP99-51/RP99-51.pdf Sent from my iPhone 07974439640 @ neiljmcevoy

Keep up the good work Neil. Bluebird - I won't waste time on you, just to say your comments are a DISGRACE

Really disgusted at the treatment of Neil McEvoy by Plaid Cymru, and I'm now within an inch of cancelling my long-standing membership. As has been noted elsewhere, it seems to be fine for establishment 'suits' like Rhun Ap Iorwerth to take alternative, and much more controversial, policy positions... and seemingly for political expediency [I sincerely hope] rather than heartfelt personal conviction. Indeed, as I recall it was members/ bloggers who called him out for it who were subject to disciplinary action and not Rhun himself. I voted and campaigned for the leadership of Leanne Wood thinking that Plaid would become a people's movement and am deeply disappointed to see the inner sanctum remain a dull clique of white middle-class assembly-payroll careerists. If Plaid Cymru want to be some meek, bland and irrelevant club of privileged white siaradwyr milking the assembly jobs cow, then let them fade. Perhaps we instead need a range of fiery independent voices such as Neil's, from the broadest possible range of backgrounds and representing every type of 'Welshness', to be the real opposition in the Senedd, if Welsh democracy can even survive the present existential crisis that is.

I'm not inclined to add grist to the mill of political shenanigans and neither an I Welsh - I'm that most terrible of incomers - English!. However, I've been here for seventeen years now and have witnessed time and again the pitiful in-fighting that so often dominates WAG. Yes, I know it's rife in all politics, but this latest debacle seems to be all about the gang not wanting someone among them who is prepared to stand up and voice an opinion that doesn't toe the line - Well: we need more of that and a lot less party politics - which typically serve only the politicians and not their constituents. As it happens I know Neil McEvoy a little on a personal and strictly non-political level and have always found him a good listener and a helpful guy. I suspect thats all he's guilty of now - listening to his constituents and trying to help them, but I do understand that such a character will face assaults from the establishment. Lets hope he is able to expose them and their pitiful self-serving ambitions.

Plaid, and Wales, needs more people like Neil, Too long have Labour and their Third Sector stooges have had complete hegemony with no scrutiny, or accountability. Dal ati Neil, You do what needs to be done, You have my full support.

As a Plaid Cymru member we need more people like Neil McEvoy. To have raised Plaid"a profile and vote in Cardiff to this extent could be a game changer if others follow the example. Labour has had too easy a ride in the past, too comfortable, achieving little, knowing it will get reelected no matter what. That has to change. Keep up the good work!

Extracts from Cymru Rydd's contribution of 20.30 on Sept 21st read as : "....but the Plaid AM’s in the Senedd seem to be a pretty weak, insipid and motley collection of nationalists, who all seem to be at cross-purposes with each other,...." "....can you really see any of the Plaid members in the Assembly risking their status, careers and generous financial packages, and taking to the barricades? Really??...." Those 2 comments describe accurately the condition of a party dominated by grey men/women in grey suits. Dull boring and unimaginative with an addiction to careers and their rewards that would even rival the greed of certain Labour, Tory and ex Tory troughers. As for the obsevation that ...." Plaid Cymru’s decline as a real threat to the UK establishment really started back in the early 90ies when Dafydd Elis Thomas took a peerage in the Lords- against the stated wishes of the party membership. Rather than throwing him out for this act of treachery, the party grandees argued- “we must let Dafydd be Dafydd. He’s too talented- we cant afford to lose him”...." I'm not sure as I fancy that it had started before that and the elevation to the peerage was part of the reward/recognition for the sell-out. That however is to split hairs on the matter. Suffice to say that Plaid has definitely gone yellow and soft with little or no appetite for an assertive posture in Cynulliad where the opposition's primary role is to evaluate and challenge. Given Labour's notable poor performance record there has been bags of scope for all Plaid A.M's to engage in reviews and scrutiny of said performance, but the actual activity has been patchy to say the least. More fun going to receptions and photo opportunities ? Right now Plaid's 4 at the Commons display more collective energy than the gang down the Bay.

To all those above saying 'Nation.Cymru needs to implement a new comment system' - we are implementing a new comment system. But these things take time and money and Nation.Cymru is a voluntarily run site. It's not a professional news site with employees. You will need to either show a little bit of patience or pitch in and do it yourself. Best, Ifan

Nation.Cymru Why don't you offer a kind of voluntary subscription 'service' via paypal where one can donate varying amounts on a monthly basis starting with say £1.

Good stuff Neil McEvoy. We need more people like you; we can't go on ticking boxes because all we have then are ticked boxes.

English politicians like Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg have assiduously cultivated mainstream media. There was a time when Nigel Farage could get media attention just by standing at a bar holding a pint and grinning from ear to ear. No wonder the Conservatives were frightened of UKIP! The problem for any politician or any political movement in Wales is the deficient Welsh mainstream media While I don’t doubt for a moment that First Minister Carwyn Jones’ concerns about Brexit are genuine, Brexit has come as something of a blessing in terms of raising his profile and that of Welsh Labour because there’s a constant media appetite for anything Brexit. Any politician, and especially an independent, who champions issues which aren’t resonating with the public and media or who cannot get those issues to resonate with the public and media risks being dismissed as a crank on a vendetta. Battling trolls is best left to characters in story books.

Neil McEvoy is one off a kind in politics and as a person, he is the only politician that i know who has the courage to stand up for what is right, and speaks the truth even if it will get him into trouble and even then the trouble comes to him because most politicians don't like hearing the truth so they make the best to make it hard for Neil McEvoy and pursue vendettas against him and all he is doing is his job and listening to what the public people want for Wales

There is nothing unreasonable as regards Neil's belief on the right to buy a council property. I think it is perfectly reasonable to allow the right to buy a council property provided that the council either buy another property or build a new house with the money. This is only possible though if the council sells the property to the individual or family on its market value. One of the reasons why right to buy has previously failed is because the council has sold off properties for a bargain price therefore selling off the stock of social housing in the long term. Regards Aled Thomas

I would like to comment on the comments. Allowing comments on a site like this does give people who don't or can't otherwise string enough words together for a proper article/blog a chance to articulate their er...comments. So banning comments altogether (which some sites do) or constraining them only to those that fully declare their identity (same old faces) limits the variety and breadth of voices. It is also very revealing of the nature of a sites audience. Take Guido Fawkes' order-order for example which people mainly read for its virulent and scatological comment section and which reveals very clearly the sort of people that lurk within the British Tory establishment and their opinions. It's a case of knowing your enemy and this is revealed through political sites. Nation.Cymru is currently well run, has excellent contributors and is sensitively moderated which I know, from experience, is a difficult job and balancing act. I applaud Ifan Morgan Jones' efforts especially as there can't be any money in it!

I have to say the comment by the Labour spokesperson - ie only raising issue to draw away from NM's suspension - one straight out of the toxic Tony Blair's copy book. Attack the person not then issue. Don't confirm or deny the allegation but draw the media to the person making the allegation. Remember one example - those who raised issues with immigration - immediately branded as racists!. Are we going to get answers from the FM on the queries raised? Let's wait and see. Similarly will Leanne Wood follow up and carry on with the issues from her position as leader of an opposition party or side with Labour and the attacks against the person? NM may be controversial but then he is raising controversial issues and in the case of the Lisvane Land Grab he is defending Plaid from snide attacks or remarks by the FM? [snide is something the FM does well I must say].

Leanne Wood is doing herself no favours cow towing the Bullies in Local Government and the Senedd. there is a groundswell of disaffected ordinary hard working people who are being institutionally bullied by Local authorities and Government. She can chose to be on the side of the people or be swept away with all the other dross polluting the stables of a broken Political System - She has made a big mistake