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Ron Jones is the executive chairman of Tinopolis, the media group based in Llanelli.

He has an an 'opolis' as Maureen Lipman might have put it admiringly and that, perhaps, allows me to suggest another 'o' word that fits in this case. He is, as far as I know, the nearest thing Llanelli has to a business oligarch.

He brought a thriving television business to the heart of the town and then built on its success. He now wants to see it grow further. Tinopolis is one of the companies

I think it's fair to say therefore that he wields some influence, if not on the life of the nation, then on the life of Llanelli. So the 'o' word sticks.

I've no idea if he's ever stepped into a boxing ring but

What's under attack? An announcement by the Deputy First Minister recently that he will lead

Read on:

"To avoid facing up to the failure of all previous strategies our government has declared this to be year zero. We should now pretend that changes in the world economy occasion a re-focussing of our efforts, building on the excellent work and success of the past.

Our economic past is not history, we are living in it. The business model for Wales has been broken for years and we need to acknowledge that before we can move on".

Then he really gets into his stride. "Bloated" public sector of Wales, get this:

"The great levers of the economy are outside Wales, but we were entitled to hope that devolution would at least bring an understanding of our economy, empathy for what our country needs".

"Instead, post-devolution we have created the foundation of an economic nightmare. The public sector stole Objective 1. We lost the wasteful hundreds of the WDA only for them to reappear within WAG, now hidden in a new fog of bureaucracy and hidden from public view".

"The petty regulation beloved of Tory and Labour governments in London has been accepted and gold-plated. Crucially, our people are poorer now than any in the UK and falling further behind".

"Faced with this, searching for a new strategy is an insult to the people of Wales. Something should be done is an empty phrase but perhaps WAG should at long last stop analysing and consulting. We are at the stage where anything is better than that".

. . But what exactly?

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