by Julian Ruck
To those of a more shall I say rounded, political persuasion, I appreciate that what goes on in Wales may sometimes appear to be delightfully farcical, if not plain dotty and believe me, the vast majority of Welsh folk would probably agree with you.
A typical example of Taffy complicity in keen but intuitive “Wales forever” slippery slopes, occurred last week.
The headline hitting the Welsh press went as follows: “Tourist video voiceover Is ‘too Welsh’ for English.”
Seriously, and we’re not talking here about the Welsh language.
Apparently, the story goes, Carmarthenshire county council’s marketing and tourism department (remember, that Carmarthenshire is a hot-bed of Plaid Cymru nationalism, it swung the “Yes” vote to devolution by a margin of .6% in a miserable turnout of 35.4% back in the 1997 referendum) had commissioned a video clip to help Welsh accommodation providers pull in English customers.
A young boy was employed to do the sales pitch, there was just one problem – no-one could fight their way through his worthy Welsh accent! It was concluded by the powers that be– and after some market research in Sheffield, I’m not kidding – that the target market in England would have one hell of a job understanding what the young fellow was going on about and like I say, he wasn’t even speaking in Welsh!
It gets better.
A spokeswoman for the council said, “the voiceover was changed as the young boy had lost his two front teeth just prior to filming, which made him more difficult to understand.”
Naturally, the Welsh speaking army of home rulers (Plaid Cymru) had to stick their oars in, although at least on this occasion they didn’t try and insist on the video being in Welsh and to hell with English tourists. Their reaction to the news?
“Local accents should be treasured and they play an important part in our identities. People should learn to listen to different accents in order to help us fully celebrate our diversity”
Well now, Plaid. Different accents? In other words north Walians can’t understand south Walians and vice versa, and this is when they are speaking Welsh, never mind English!
Diversity? Since when has Wales been ‘diverse’? Just two of the 360 top-earning managers in Welsh councils are from ethnic minorities.
And how many people with ethnic backgrounds hold power in the hallowed corridors of Welsh institutions?
None and why?
The Welsh-speaking Crachach would never tolerate such enlightened inclusion.
It could only happen in Wales.
Julian Ruck is an author, columnist and Freedom of Information campaigner. He also makes contributions to both Welsh and national broadcasting and media.
Tags: Crachach, Julian Ruck, Letter from Wales, marketing, Plaid Cymru
Everyone is from an “ethnic background”, it’s not a synonym for “non-white”.
Julian
Having read the original article, I was at first baffled as to why you would bother to write a whole blogpost on such a trivial matter. After all, the original article states that this video was a first draft, and was therefore not intended for publication. Also it was the local Llanelli Plaid Cymru group that were quoted (no doubt approached by the journalist who wrote the article) and not Plaid HQ or anyone of note, and Carms County Council’s Marketing and Tourism department have nothing to do with political appointments anyway, as they are civil servants engaged in the promotion of the local area and will undoubtedly be unaffected whatever the results at the next local election.
But then I worked out why you wrote it: the only reason this blogpost exists is so you can use this non-incident as an excuse to mouth out your anti-Welsh bigotry. It is to be pitied for its patheticness. Thanks to your link, anyone can check the original story and see how unnewsworthy this whole thing is, and how you are blowing up an issue out of all proportion in order to fuel your prejudice of the Cymro.
Seriously, Julian, if you are to write something on a public platform then at least make it worthwhile. There’s plenty of things you could be giving a level of critique to – other Welsh blogs manage it – but this bilge is not one of them.
And…
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/new-blow-welsh-language-communities-3901514
Come for a hoiday in Carmarthenshire!
We want Obective 1 funding but we don’t want you to buy our houses.
Yap!….”it could only happen in Wales.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2121916/How-waste-6-billion-story-Wales-Europe.html
Having just read Julian’s blog post about Welsh announcements on public transport, which he calls ‘Welshy Trains’ (!), I have no doubt that this clown is an anti-Welsh bigot, and I’m surprised that a reputable politics site gives his minority-bashing airtime.
Still, Labour Uncut didn’t mind his homophobia a few weeks back, so I guess this is par for the course.
“In other words north Walians can’t understand south Walians and vice versa, and this is when they are speaking Welsh, never mind English!”
yeah right Julian – what a ludicrous claim to make.
‘Ruck’ sinks to a new low; spite, self-hate, racism, mangled facts, awful grammar, blowhard nonsense – it’s all there! I issue my congratulations to the team that writes ‘Ruck’, you rarely fail to make this absolute turd of a character appear to be anything less than a worthless piece of faeces pie that has been left out too long and has developed a kind of pseudo level of sentience that only allows it to spew vile, rarely sensical, garbage from it’s decaying anus. Keep it up and thank you so much for your help in ensuri g the progress and advancement of devolution.
I cant see the point to this article. Somebody local picked a local lad and then it was reviewed and decided that the accent was too strong. Surely this is a good thing… the opposite to being stubborn and inward looking? and Surely the fact they did some market research in England is to be commended.
There is an ocean of things to pick on narrow minded, parochial Plaid Cymru councillors about but this doesnt seem to relate to them one bit.
my advice to you Julian…. dont lose sight of the ball! You have been good at being critical of certain aspects of Welsh political life but dont assume it’s all an inside job! Council workers in Carmarthenshire have about as much in common with the self righteous and self serving taffia nationalists of Pontcanna and Llandaf as you do!
To Joao Morais,
The trouble with your Welsh blogs, is that no-one reads them.
Uncut, on the other hand?
Your world might stop at the Severn Bridge, mine doesn’t.
JR
To Belowlandsker,
I take your point, but now and again a little levity is just plain irresistible, partiicularly where the frolics and tear-jerking munificence of Welsh language nationalist endeavour is concerned.
Only the other day, whilst imbibing some Pontcanna coffee shop froth, a passing BBC ap Wales journo asked why I hadn’t Welshified my name to Juianpryth ap Ruckio?
It’s the done thing in Wales these days I’m told, translating one’s birth certificate name into some made-up so-called Welsh equivalent.
Something to do with inferiority complex and insecurity, I gather.
JR
A ridiculous assumption to make, that my world ends at the Severn Bridge. An equally ridiculous assumption to make is that no-one reads Welsh blogs – you evidently do, as you were caught plagiarising the blog written by Glyn Davies MP.
Though i must admit it was a nice attempt at trying to divert attention away from the fact that this is a non-issue. We are talking about the first draft of a video that was not intended for publication – you are familiar with drafting, editing, and problem-solving, are you not? – so this isn’t the most hard-hitting of stories really. Even belowlandsker (who has largely supported you thus far) cannot see the point in it.
Julian –
Did you really pursue (for the second time) a pointless police enquiry against an obviously jokey blog and myself calling you a plagiarist, daring to compare yourself to Caroline Criado-Perez, who has received rape and death threats? http://m.thisissouthwales.co.uk/story.html?aid=19623620
Because, if so, your stance on wasting public money is rendered even more clearly an absolute farce.
I daresay there are several people that would like your world to stop underneath the Severn Bridge.
Stop making a prat’s ass of yourself ‘Ruck’ – Morais makes a valid point and you try your patented bluff-bluster-bore technique. To the team behind ‘Ruck’ : your responses are never as good, work required.
To Danny et al,
I see, so yet another intelligent yet lethal comment in respect of my life expectancy.
Have you not observed that internet bullying and abuse is becoming somewhat passé?
Your empty sails of flippant derision and painful futility amuse if nothing else.
I note that as usual, none of you are commenting on the thrust of my Letter ie that inclusion and diversity in Wales is somewhere between an unsavoury John Knox diatribe and Victorian imperialism.
Regrettably there is no ‘team’ behind me, apart from my darling wife, who sadly spends most of her time making cup-cakes, a worthy incursion into occupational thereapy she tells me.
You should try it.
JR
Another letter from Wales’ worst writer.
A daft and pointless piece, the kind of cock up that could of happened anywhere in the world why has Labour Uncut published this irrelevant rubbish from a twice caught out plagiarist?
instead of answering any points listed by Joao Morais, you dodge the issue (as always) and respond facetiously.
http://m.thisissouthwales.co.uk/story.html?aid=19623620
Have you phoned the police again, Julian, on people who criticise you? You are a man who, rather bizarrely, claims that Wales is a police state, then gets annoyed when the police do nothing to people who think you are a plonker.
http://johnabell.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/julian-ruck-comic-creation-par.html.
Writing like this is not criminal, of course. As a man who hates wasteful public expenditure, why do you persist on wasting police time?
The only thing not totally hilarious in this article is where the churnalist is gullable enough to call you prominent.
What an unpleasant article: a child is proud to be asked to do a voice over for an advert, then is dropped because someone doesn’t like his accent and they make up some excuse about his lost teeth. The boy is quite rightly hurt and his family too, and any political party , frankly, would be quite right to say that local accents are to be treasured – but not for the Welsh-hating Ruck and his band of anonymous troll-supporters like Belowlandsker and Origami. Nasty Welsh-bashers like Ruck show no sensitivity to the child’s feelings or his family’s, and take the opportunity, instead, to abuse Welsh-speakers and Wales.
You’re a nasty piece of work, mate, noting more, nothing less.
Steve – yes, Ruck’s attempt to get the cops in again is a standing joke in these parts.
He has apparently also threatened Welsh publishers who rejected him with breach of confidentiality if they reveal whether or not they rejected him, and asking for copies of his abusive emails to them.
So much for FOI campaigns! Can you believe it? He accuses them of being secretie and hiding stuff, while threatening them with legal action if they… er.. don’t hide stuff about him.
He’s a liar and a coward.
And he compares himself with women who have campaigned for important things being threatened with rape? The man is frankly disgusting.
‘And how many people with ethnic backgrounds hold power in the hallowed corridors of Welsh institutions? None and why? The Welsh-speaking Crachach would never tolerate such enlightened inclusion.’
So you are accusing the Welsh of being racist, even though, as has been pointed out to you before there are a number Ethnic Minorities in the devolved government and other institutions. Not many, but not significantly less then any other part of the UK outside of London. Plus, I still don’t understand your confused position on the Welsh language, you criticize any opportunity to promote it yet argue that all funding should be taken away from English publishing and diverted to Welsh Language texts… Actually, this is pointless, you won’t answer and just repeat the same groundless accusations next week! Why don’t you just sue one of us… Since you started simply regurgitation the same boring un truths this blog’s ‘Alan Partridge’ humourusness has withered.
Ruck has in the past on his blog compared himself with Martin Luther King!
I kid you not.
Julian, you talk of people of ethnic minorities not getting into positions of power in Wales. What a load of unsubstantiated rubbish. Here is a list of councillors for Cardiff, where I live:
http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=2872%2C4274%2C4280&parent_directory_id=2865
As you can see, ethnic minorities are well represented in the council, I would say roughly in line with cities ethnic make up.
As usual, you make sweeping statements with no factual basis whatsoever, purely because of your hate everything Welsh agenda.
When is your house sale going through, so you can bugger off to England or anywhere else that will have you?
I’m confused. Why does Ruck complain about “hate, insults and abuse” while telling people who ask him where his ‘facts’ come from, “Actually, come to think of it, you could always join Mosby in the tattoo stakes by having one chiselled onto your shiny pate saying ‘I’m a twat’”.?
http://labour-uncut.co.uk/2013/07/12/letter-from-wales-blackballed-by-the-welsh-establishment/comment-page-2/#comment-19561
From Steve Mosby’s interesting link above it seems clear to me that a) Dyfed Powys police are very sensible people who can spot a clown when they see one and b) you’re lucky they don’t charge you with wasting police time (and public money).
Were this a real newspaper, not a blog, you would by now have been taken to the press council for your countless inaccuracies and misrepresentations.
Sue one of you?
I wouldn’t waste my time, let alone money.
Your anonymous insignificance is as worthless as your bank accounts.
JR
To Darren Almond,
I assume you are referring to the devolved AWEMA?
Yet another example of Welsh Labour’s lamentable nuttyness!
JR
Can we just get this clear, Labour Uncut: you are publishing a man who compares himself to Martin Luther King and claims his case, of being an object of ridicule, is analogous to rape and death threats made against courageous women in the public eye? Who chucks minority-bashing, sexist and homophobic insults around and then claims that a joke about being beneath the Severn Bridge is a ‘death threat’?
The same man who is threatening people if they go public with evidence that he 1) was rejected by the publishing industry and 2) abused said publishers in follow-up emails.
Laughable. As Messrs Hewson and Mosby (not noted Welsh nationalists…) have suggested, you are harming your reputation associating yourselves with this nasty piece of work.
Julian –
As I’ve indicated in the past, I have counted up my bottle of change, and – should you decide to sue me for calling you a plagiarist – I have enough money to pay you for any damage to your reputation: several times over, in fact. However, I also have ample evidence that you are a plagiarist, so perhaps I can spend said saved funds on a copy of Heat, or something.
But let’s be honest – the reason you don’t sue me for calling you a pagiarist is that you know you would lose, isn’t it?
God no wonder Labour in the dumps.
“People should learn to listen to different accents in order to help us fully celebrate our diversity.”
They could have had someone from the Polish community to fully celebrate “our” diversity. …No chance with Keri “minority basher ” Thomas.
http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Row-street-drink-problem-blamed-Poles/story-17031352-detail/story.html#axzz2bel3qEuQ
To David Hewson,
Well, well, well.
I have often wondered what has motivated your year long campaign of hate towards me. You are after all an English author, with no connection to the Welsh writing world – or so I thought.
Your petty spite, poison gas and unctuous commentary, has I confess, caused me the odd moment of perplexion.
Until now.
You are soon to be a passenger on the Welsh literati taxpayer gravy train, according to the October Events calender on the Literature Wales website, a talk no less at the Dylan Thomas Festival, Swansea (incidentally, my home town).
Tell all, what fee is the taxpayer paying you?
So Mr Hewson, who is the disingenuous ‘charlatan’ now? Who is the ‘clown and fantasist?’
Who has been behind your relentless but futile attempts to discredit me? As if I don’t know.
Is this invitation your reward?
Who has been sending ‘Final Warnings’ and making threats of civil action to Welsh authors who have chosen to challenge you?
Well Mr Hewson, I will shortly be writing a full-blown article on your scurrilous exploits and if you think you are an expert on the law of libel, believe me this time you really are right out of your league.
I just hope your pockets are as deep as mine, send your solicitor’s correspondence through my website.
JR
PS When Richard Davies of Parthian invited me to attend the Penfro Book Festival this September, I initially accepted, provided the taxpayers’ fee was paid to the Salvation Army. As it turned out, other commitments made it impossible for me to attend.
I look forward to meeting you at your talk Mr Hewson, you can service your Writ then, let’s see how brave you really are, face to face and without a computer screen.
A question for the editor(s):
Given that you still haven’t explained why you give house-room to this self-regarding crank, no doubt you think you’re being ‘challenging’ and ‘pushing the envelope’ by publishing his rot.
In which case, might I suggest you take the beginning of Ruck’s second paragraph:
“A typical example of Taffy complicity…”
replace the word ‘Taffy’ with the word ‘Muzzy’, or even ‘Kike’, and see then if you still feel yourself/-ves to be so bloody clever.
I read this site frequently and I’m not sure why it is obsessed with what I would consider minor local/regional/organisational/PR decisions of public bodies in Wales.
To be fair, most English people are aware that Wales exists and is rather a beautiful place to visit. If I’m also perfectly honest, I’d rather hear a good strong local accent wherever I am in the world than to hear a non-descript souless accent. If the advert showed the beautiful valleys, the stunning coasts, the castles and even the sheep while making clear it’s Wales, then the voice-over is largely irrelevant.
I’m not really sure it’s a political or party cause for concern.
Talking of clowns Mr.Hewson are you already looking forward to your visit to the Wales later this year ?
I for one can’t wait. And let’s hope your appearance will be worth the public purse.
Gillian
Oh dear Ruck. You really are in a bad way. Swansea does offer a fee like all good festivals. If you were a real author you would know this. But I won’t take a fee – I rarely do. And the travel expenses are covered by my publisher.
Can you get anything right?
First as point of order. Gill, you talk of taxpayer gravy trains for writers? Gill, you silly old tortoise, you received a grant for a book you didn’t even complete!
http://www.literaturewales.org/writers-of-wales/i/129546/desc/brightmore-gillian/
Did you repay your bursary Gill, or did you ‘nobble’ the taxpayer? I see you a Literature Wales events all the time Gill, enjoying taxpayer funded hospitality! You are a hypocrite and a fool, and a z rate writer to boot, like your friend Julian.
I have had a twitter back and for with Mr Hewson, from what I gather his publisher is paying his travel costs (Julian you want to try getting one of them) and he is not receiving a fee. Hardly a story.
If, as Julian claims, Labour Uncut publish a column on that then this site has gone even further into the realms of parody. Is this anything to do with Labour, are any of his columns? They are the rants of a bitter, anti Welsh, failed rejection of a writer.
Hey, at least people want to see mr Hewson talk., when you advertise a talk and no one turns up, you just delete the blog post and hope no one notices!
http://jewelsfromjulian.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/oh-no-oh-stuff-of-joy/
You two are the really, truly awful writers, I suggest you should buy a copy of this and brush up on your skills:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Practical-Planning-Starting-Finishing/dp/140815742X
I think I see what Labour Ruckedup are doing, they are using Julian as a hits magnet, in the same way The Daily Fail used Samantha Brick? Is this the case, a troll blogger that everyone likes to see the backlash against?
Ruck
Since you are now boasting on your blog of my ‘silence’ on these matters I’ll elaborate on what is, even for you, a pretty catastrophic catalogue of lies.
Firstly, I don’t reply to posts on your blog for the simple reason that you censor the comments to suit your own ends. Nor do I reply to emails from people who’ve publicly told me to tattoo ‘I’m a twat’ on my head.
You ask what fee the taxpayer is paying me for hooking onto the ‘Welsh literati gravy train’. As I said two days ago on twitter – none. If you were a real author with a real publisher you might understand how these things work. Essentially they’re organised between your publicist and the festival. I really just checked my diary to see the dates are free. With Swansea this happened back in January, long before you were writing for Uncut, which rather damages your theory that I’m part of a covert operation on the part of Wales to get back at you for his lucid and penetrating political analyses here.
I see from the correspondence a fee was offered – as it should be by proper festivals. But I don’t intend to take it. I don’t even know how much it would be if I did. The travel is handled by my publisher (possibly with a hotel room for one night from the festival – I don’t know). This will be two unpaid days of my time but I haven’t done many events in Wales, it seems an excellent festival, and I’m happy to offer my support.
You then ask, ‘Who has been behind your relentless but futile attempts to discredit me? As if I don’t know.’ Firstly, I haven’t attempted to discredit you. There’s really no need since you do such an excellent job yourself. I have queried your many inventions and asked you to substantiate the numerous dodgy tales you’ve told here, with little success. But that’s not the same, and certainly not on a par with telling someone in public to tattoo ‘I’m a twat’ on his head.
As to the mysterious figure pulling my strings… you seem to know who it is. I don’t. I’ve had the third menacing email from you in my inbox this morning saying you have revelations to come from the Welsh Arts Council and Literature Wales. I have never had any contact with these organisations to my knowledge. In my entire career I’ve done more events in Australia and the US than in Wales. The one I can remember was a lovely public library on a council estate in Port Talbot a few years back (no fee, don’t be worried). Do you know something I don’t?
Finally you and your lapdog Gilligami keep making threatening noises about seeing how brave I will be at the event in Swansea when I come face to face with you. This event is a joint one with the author Emma Kennedy, about The Killing. Not about you and your obsessions. It’s a measure of your arrogant deluded nature that you think you can barge into a public event on one subject and turn it to your own ends, in spite of the fact there’s another author there who is not the brunt of your lunatic obsessions and a public who came to hear about the TV series and its associated books.
I’m there to talk about The Killing and that’s what I intend to do. Your poisonous behaviour and pathetic threats have long since taken you beyond normal discourse. I know you’re infuriated I’ve been invited to a literary event in Swansea, ‘your home town’ when you get invited nowhere except to your own failed efforts at running a festival. But that’s because you’re not a writer, deep down you know it, and anyone’s success riles you.
So don’t waste your time because I certainly won’t waste my breath on you.
Compost, you ask: “I read this site frequently and I’m not sure why it is obsessed with what I would consider minor local/regional/organisational/PR decisions of public bodies in Wales.”
The reason, sadly, is that despite Welsh politics being rather colourful in good and bad senses, and pretty interesting, Labour Uncut have decided to employ as their Wales correspondent a man who is known as an embittered buffoon, who has been caught out plagiarising (on this site as well in newspaper ‘columns’. His big beef is that he had his terrible books rejected by by several Welsh publishers, so he has been reduced to self-publishing and attacking all forms of arts subsidy in Wales (not in other countries though – just Wales).
He writes very badly and, as you can tell, uses words like ‘Taffy’ and ‘Welshy’ and mocks peoples’ languages, names and cultures – none of which seems to bother Labour Uncut. He also gets endless facts and stats wrong.
It is , as you indicate, mystifying, that a website that normally hosts actual political content should decide that, when it comes to Wales, they’ll allow him to pursue his sad vendetta agains a whole country, throwing homophobic and anti-minority insults about the place.
Who knows?
Perhaps Labour Uncut think we’re worth no more than that here in Wales. I see no ‘Letter
from Scotland’ mocking ‘Jocks’ and their accents, or belittling Scottish names or Gaelic speakers. Or indeed one from Ireland – no ‘Micks’ or ‘Fenians’ having their cultures trashed by a bitter ignoramus.
Who knows the logic of Labour Uncut…
Dear Mr Hewson,
Thank you for that.
For the record, your campaign of hate and smear began on 31st July 2012, with your ‘Car crash in Kidwelly….’ outburst . Anyone can find this by Googling my name, the evidence is there for all to see.
Uncut doesn’t come into it.
Readers are advised to go to my personal blog for more detailed comment on Mr Hewson’s discomfiture: julianruck.wordpress.com
You can all draw your own conclusions.
JR
PS As I say, I look forward to meeting you in Swansea, you can perhaps give me the odd personal tip or two on how to write?
You have yet to apologise for the lies above, Ruck. I am waiting.
In the Kidwelly article I wrote, ‘How this nightmare ever came to pass is beyond me. I feel sorry for the handful of people who’ve clearly been disappointed, and lost time and money, because of it.
‘In a way I feel sorry for Julian Ruck too. He seems to have truly fallen for the line that there’s a pot of gold at the end of the ebook rainbow, just waiting for someone to trip over it, if only you can find the right social media strategy, whip up enough reviews on Amazon and as for the writing… well, who the hell cares about that?’
http://davidhewson.com/2012/07/31/car-crash-in-kidwelly-few-hurt-not-many-witnesses/
No hate and smear there. Another day, another Ruck lie.
I have no intention of exchanging words with you in Swansea or anywhere else.
Dear Mr Hewson,
PS My apologies and I don’t mean to cause offense, but your last comment really has made my morning.
I’m still chuckling.
Getting a wee bit rattled, aren’t we? Not that damned hair loss problem again, is it?
All the best,
Julian
Dear Mr Hewson,
You have as much chance of receiving an apology from me as you do of suddenly being endowed with a mop of luxuriant ginger hair.
Damn Dave, you really are quite irresistible!
Keep ’em coming!
Best wishes,
The man you love to hate
Oh dear Mr Ruck, I am now rather worried by the extent of this conspiracy against you. If an appearance at the Dylan Thomas Festival is proof that Mr Hewson is plotting against you, and is yet another in cahoots with the Welsh literati, then it leads to the obvious assumption that you may have made enemies in high places. Didn’t Jimmy Carter appear at the festival a few years ago? Is he too a conspirator to silence your truths? What CIA blacklist are you on as a consequence? Are you to be the new Bradley Manning? Take care my dear Mr Ruck, take care. The Welsh people don’t want you to be a hero for our sakes, really we don’t. regards Mrs PennThomas
I fail to see how it can be a campaign of ‘hate and smear’: first off, David Hewson’s comments have ranged from the amused and pitying (before he realised how nasty you were) to a sort of exasperated irritation at your deceit, journalistic fraudulence and bad writing. As for ‘smear’ that implies some degree of untruth: but you are a plagiarist and you have lied profusely; you’ve made homophobic and anti-minority comments and you did run a catastrophic festival and you did submit books to Welsh publishers and you did get rejected and then turn nasty on them.
There is simply no way around these facts.
Julian you can truly be quite pathetic, but this sudden bout of paranoia is somewhat disturbing.
I have read all that has been said between you and Mr Hewson, and I take the same conclusion that most reasonable people have.
I think Dave Rodway just about sums it up really. You did ask Mr Hewson to have ‘I’m a twat’ chiselled on his head.
Are you jealous that a real literary festival invited him to do a talk in your hometown? Are you annoyed he accepted there invitation and not the one offered by you for you disastrous festival?
If you plan on using Labour Uncut and you crappy FOI requests for things already in the public domain, to find evidence of Mr Hewson’s evil conspiracy with the WBC and Lit Wales to discredit you, then you are even more daft than I initially gave you credit for.
You do a good enough job of ‘smearing’ and discrediting yourself dear chap.
Sorry to interrupt Mr Hewson’s publicity campaign…
Yes dave, a ‘letter from Scotland’ would be interesting reading: the benefits of devolution and the saga of the de-affiliation process of Scottish Labour in the following years.
To Mr Hewson,
Come to think of it, I’ll write an apology on your Writ when you hand it to me.
JR
Julian –
With regard to the above – and the proliferation of recent posts on what I suppose we must call your blog – I would like to point out that I don’t hate you, and I certainly haven’t set out to smear you. I’ve written three posts about you: when you misbehaved on twitter; when you committed plagiarism; and when you wasted police time reporting me. There have been a few tweets, I suppose – talking amongst friends about your more outré posts and articles. Here at Labour Uncut, I feel I have been caustic but relatively kind. I have attempted to engage. And I have watched you derail your own articles with an abandon that frankly beggars belief. Anybody would think you were less interested in the subjects you’ve written about than in promoting yourself.
The idea that I might be supported by some mysterious Welsh consortium out to silence you is laughable. I hope you enjoy the blank results of your FOI requests. Aside from a childhood holiday to Anglesey – and, on one memorable occasion, a train returning to Leeds from Bristol that was comprehensively diverted – I don’t think I’ve ever even been to Wales. But I look forward to your exposé of me. In fact, I can hardly wait.
To Dave H,
You say, “I see from the correspondence a fee was offered….but I don’t intend to take it.”
Well, your noble generosity of spirit where taxpayers’ money is concerned, is to be commended Dave. A bit late though, don’t you think?
You sure as hell won’t be taking it now and that’s a fact.
That’s one hell of an expensive drink you’ve just bought me!
Thank you ta, as they say in Wales.
JR
Thank you Ruck for confirming once again that you have no regret about being caught uttering barefaced lies and feel no need to withdraw, correct or apologise when found out.
I am still waiting to hear the name of the mysterious figure ‘running’ me for the Welsh literati. You said above you knew it. So why won’t you say it? Getting cold feet? Or are you out of lies for today?
I’m not sure what my hair has to do with anything by the way but just for the record… you haven’t got that right either.
To Messrs Mosby and Hewson,
Your sterling attempts to defend your actions are of course appreciated.
However, sensible readers must draw their own conclusions as to the mindset of individuals who have embarked upon an internet crusade of insult and smear, both persistenty and relentlessly for over a year – incontrovertable evidence of this is plastered all over said internet.
Mr Mosby, your tedious and quaintly self-righteous obsession with 50 odd words of ‘plagiarised’ Hitchins, has become nothing less than comical, you have also ignored the genuine error that took place and the immediate newspaper acknowledgement and apology that was duly published.
Where you are concerned Mr Hewson, frankly words fail me but good luck with your book ‘The Killing’.
To conclude, both of you are nothing more nor less than a pair of rather sorry internet stalkers who really should find something better to do.
I am after all, in your own words a Mr Nobody (which of course begs the question as to why you both get so exercised about me in the first place?) and writer of little if any consequence.
As I have said before, Oscar Wilde was never mean-spirited and neither was he an Ancient Mariner – whoops! That damned Hitchen’s again!
So far the last time, do go away and please find something more contsructive to do with your time, I’m really not worth it.
Best of luck!
Julian Ruck
Given Mr Ruck’s concern with what he sees as the misuse of taxpayers’ money, may we be assured that his investigation of authors he dislikes isn’t funded by our taxes?