Mittal Funding Scandal Makes the 'Times'

Over five months since Plaid broke the story of Labour baker Lakshmi Mittal and the slave labour conditions of his operations in Kazakhstan reported here and here, the Sunday Times have run an excellent follow up story today for their lead.

They sent a couple of journalists out to the land of Borat to investigate Plaid's claims and come up with a tragic story of reckless disregard for health and safety and primitive working conditions.

Mittals working practices across the globe are tarnished with the same brush. He is the modern day equivalent of the sort of industrial tyrant the Labour party was set up to campaign against. It just goes to show how far the Labour party have travelled over the years that an individual like this with a personal fortune of £19bn is allowed to live in the UK virtually tax free, is championed by Brown and courted by the party.

Plaid have called on the Labour party to give Mittal's latest £2m donation to the miners of Kazakhstan. Whilst I wouldn't hold my breath on that one, the Labour party in Wales does have the opportunity to follow a different path. The opportunity is there to deliver Kier Hardie's vision of the Red Dragon and the Red Flag by uniting the progressive forces in Welsh politics.