Oportillunism

Labour councillor Kevin Madge waxes indignant over Michael Portillo's one-man show in the Miners' Theatre in Ammanford next Friday.

"I remember what the Tories did to this valley and the days when we had three million unemployed," he said, "that was the true legacy of the Thatcher government. This man was part of that administration and I think it's appalling he's going into a place that was built by the hard-earned pennies of our forefathers."

A tenable point of view, but Cllr. Madge was being opportunistic when he said: "I will not be attending the Miners' Theatre on principle - and I don't think anyone else should too".

The point is that the event has been advertised (in the South Wales Guardian, for one!) and the tickets have been on sale for at least four weeks. Couldn't Cllr Madge have protested in March?

I am told by a fellow party member that Portillo gives a very enjoyable performance, though his jokes are a little weak. His weekly contributions to Andrew Neil's "This Week" reveal someone who now regrets some of the excesses of the Thatcher-Major years. Rather than boycott the theatre, this could be a good opportunity for citizens of the Amman valley to wring a public apology from the man for the forced pit closures, and for creating confrontations between police and miners.