Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Did Plaid Cymru take money off Libya's Muammar Gaddafi?
Today's Western Mail contains the startling claim that Plaid Cymru received a donation of £25,000 from former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 1976.
This allegation has emerged from the autobiography of Dr Carl Clowes, a distinguished party activist and a public health consultant who co-founded the UK’s first community co-operative at Llanaelhaearn in Gwynedd, as well as the Nant Gwrtheyrn Welsh language centre near Pwllheli.
The donation allegedly came after a four-man delegation from Plaid Cymru visited Libya.
In his book Super Furries, Prins Seeiso, Miss Siberia – a fi, to be published on October 1, Dr Clowes tells how he went on the trip to Libya in 1976.
He was with Dr Phil Williams, an academic who served as a Plaid AM for South Wales East in the National Assembly’s first term and two other party activists: Brian Morgan Edwards, co-founder of the Welsh language music recording company Sain, and John Lewis. He writes:
"What was unusual was the nature of the conversation towards the end of the trip, when our guide offered to find out how much of a contribution there might be for four pacifists to put towards their dream of independence, something Colonel Gaddafi embraced as a way of disrupting the status quo in the West.
"I understood from Brian that nearly £25,000 had arrived in Plaid Cymru’s coffers.”
A Plaid Cymru spokeswoman told the paper: “The trip to Libya was well documented at the time and since. There is absolutely no record or knowledge of any such donation being made to Plaid Cymru.”
Of course as the 2000 Act requiring the public disclosure of such donations was not in force at the time, we will never know if the donation was indeed made.
This allegation has emerged from the autobiography of Dr Carl Clowes, a distinguished party activist and a public health consultant who co-founded the UK’s first community co-operative at Llanaelhaearn in Gwynedd, as well as the Nant Gwrtheyrn Welsh language centre near Pwllheli.
The donation allegedly came after a four-man delegation from Plaid Cymru visited Libya.
In his book Super Furries, Prins Seeiso, Miss Siberia – a fi, to be published on October 1, Dr Clowes tells how he went on the trip to Libya in 1976.
He was with Dr Phil Williams, an academic who served as a Plaid AM for South Wales East in the National Assembly’s first term and two other party activists: Brian Morgan Edwards, co-founder of the Welsh language music recording company Sain, and John Lewis. He writes:
"What was unusual was the nature of the conversation towards the end of the trip, when our guide offered to find out how much of a contribution there might be for four pacifists to put towards their dream of independence, something Colonel Gaddafi embraced as a way of disrupting the status quo in the West.
"I understood from Brian that nearly £25,000 had arrived in Plaid Cymru’s coffers.”
A Plaid Cymru spokeswoman told the paper: “The trip to Libya was well documented at the time and since. There is absolutely no record or knowledge of any such donation being made to Plaid Cymru.”
Of course as the 2000 Act requiring the public disclosure of such donations was not in force at the time, we will never know if the donation was indeed made.
Comments:
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Its a classic Welsh Labour/Martin Shipton smear piece, lots of accusations/insinuations that can't be substantiated, but intended to do as much damage as possible and distract from Labour's adoption of UKIP policies on immigration and splits that can't be healed. Check the comments even the Welsh hating-trolls on WalesOnline see through it.
# posted by 
: 1:33 PM
: 1:33 PM
Plaid knew Gaddafi was funding the IRA in 1973 so why did they visit him in 1976?
It's all very fishy. Clowes didn't realise how serious this story is and had already watered it down before publishing. I dread to think what was really said..
It's all very fishy. Clowes didn't realise how serious this story is and had already watered it down before publishing. I dread to think what was really said..
# posted by : 7:22 PM
: 7:22 PM
I was Plaid Cymru's General Secretary between 1971 and 1993. No donation was ever received from Libya during my period of office. The reason for the visit was to promote possible trade links, especially for Welsh agriculture and to investigate the economic system in Libya. That was made public at the time, but we are well accustomed to smears.
# posted by : 10:37 AM
: 10:37 AM
Did Plaid know (Yes or No) if Gaddafi supported the IRA, prior to the visit to Libya/Gaddafi??? Yes or No
There were many links with Libya at the time, my father negotiated with the Libyan authorities to take a fairly large intake of students for the college he worked for, not unusual at the time for m any organisations to have links with the relatively new government there.
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