Plaid’s purge continues

Interesting follow-up to Plaid Cymru’s top-up fees debacle in this morning’s Western Mail. Having effectively expelled student, Arianwen Caiach-Taylor for protesting to Ieuan Wyn Jones that he had sold out the party’s principles by agreeing to a u-turn on fees, the Party Chair is now turning his attention to her mother:

John Dixon, who is Plaid’s most senior lay official, has called on chief executive Gwenllian Lansdown to organise a disciplinary hearing that could result in the expulsion of Sian Caiach, Plaid’s parliamentary candidate for Ogmore and a Carmarthenshire County councillor.

In a letter to Ms Lansdown, Mr Dixon says his complaint falls under three headings:

passing internal party information to the media;

failing to co-operate with an investigation by the party chair into a leak of private correspondence which led to damaging coverage; and

encouraging one or more persons to write and publish misleading stories which would damage the party.

Nobody likes leaks from within the party and I understand that Sian Caiach denies she is responsible, but these sort of actions hardly paint Plaid Cymru as a picture of openness, in which members are encouraged to debate issues and hold open discussion on its future direction.

Related posts:

1. Government continues to suffer consequences on Welsh Language Measure
2. Gap between rich and poor continues to widen under Labour-Plaid
3. Public healthcare systems: as efficent as the post office?