³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Tomorrow Labour goes public with its 'everything you wanted to know about why we messed up the Assembly Election' report - a hard-hitting piece of work, commissioned by the Executive, that will basically say Welsh Labour has to read the writing on the wall and start working far harder for votes, or perhaps that should be far cleverer. It must become a more campaigning party.

It'll spell out the arguments already heard this week: that the campaign this time round was holed below the water by problems in the health service, that the party failed to reach beyond the core vote and should therefore reconsider the clear, red water strategy. In other words, banging on about it being Blair's fault and down to Iraq just won't wash.

It's then over to the Assembly group who'll have the unenviable job of drawing up an action plan to turn round the party's fortunes asap. Will the report be buried? No. Why are they taking the unusual step of going public at all? Because that makes damn sure it won't be buried.

More on that tomorrow I'm sure.

But somehow, for today, I can only think of writing about one thing. This afternoon I went to say farwell to Justin Smith. I thought I was going to the funeral of an old school friend but I was wrong. It was a celebration of a life that was lived to the full and one that feels as though it's still going strong because so many people will remember Justin.

I never could believe that I shared my 1K, 2K and 3F2 days in Llanhari with a future glam rock star. But if you'd had to guess which one of us would become Pepsi Tate and take the world of glam rock by storm as Tigertailz bassist and ideas man, then it could only have been Justin.

I was Ysgol Gymraeg material through and through. Justin and his mate Damon weren't. I was in awe of them both, especially when they didn't bother coming top of the class because easy as it would have been for them, they had so much else to do.

Biol test circa 1977: Two wells are cut into a potato half in preparation for the experiment. Why must you pour iodine into only one?

Correct answer: The other should be left as a control.

Damon and Justin answer: Because you should always leave well alone Miss.

Today I was surrounded by suits and leather trousers. I stood in the company of schoolfriends, politicians, 70 year olds and 20 year olds, Mr Davies, my old Welsh teacher and long-haired, leather-clad glam rock fans. We all looked at each other in a slightly bewildered way and realised that only one person could have made us turn up in the same place at the same time; only one person had an attitude to life that was so all-embracing that there was room for us all in it.

And that was Justin Smith.

• Bookmark with:
• |
• |
• |
• |
• - What's this?