The Labour group on Carmarthenshire County Council, propped up in power by the closet Tory Independents, has several colourful characters on its benches, but probably none more so than Cllr Keri Thomas, who represents Tyisha in Llanelli, the town formerly famous for its saucepans, pots and kettles.
Cllr Thomas has got himself into hot water by blaming an "influx" of Polish people into Llanelli for a rise in outdoor drinking in the town. You can read the story here.
This very negative picture of the Polish community will certainly come as a surprise to most of us whose experience of Polish people in Wales is entirely different.
Earlier this year a Labour candidate in the Amman Valley got himself into trouble for a string of highly offensive messages on Twitter. Despite that, he remained the Labour Party's official candidate and received the backing of Kevin Madge, who put most of the blame on Twitter.
Cllr Thomas made his comments in a public forum, and so cannot blame it on the evils of social networking.
Regular readers of this blog may recall that Cllr Thomas was absent on long-term sick leave through most of 2011 and half of this year. It came as some surprise when despite this prolonged absence he gained the backing of the Labour Party to stand again in the council elections in May, although he was apparently not well enough to campaign.
It is good to see that he made a full recovery, although his comments about the town's Polish residents are an utter disgrace.
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