91Èȱ¬

It's an "ouch" moment that the Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones could well have done without. Plaid members here in Aberystwyth have voted for an amendment to a motion calling for the public subsidy given to the north-south air link to be scrapped. That's the air link known colloquially as "IeuanAir", The air link brought in by the minister for the economy and transport Ieuan Wyn Jones, and the air link that his officials worked round the clock to keep flying after the demise of original operator Highland Airways.

Ouch ouch ouch. The response from those around Mr Jones? A stiff upper lip. This shows there are no sacred cows - or planes. Admirably philosophical, yes, but with a multi-year contract to operate the service (complete with substantial public subsidy) about to be let, if the cow is to be slain, it had better be soon. Party members shouldn't hold their breath.

Talking of sacred cows, you would think that S4C, the creation of the Conservative government of the 1980s, would occupy a fairly talismanic position for that party. Yes, it was created under some duress, but it's a tangible riposte, along with the Welsh Language Act 1993, to any other party which dismisses the Tories as anti-Welsh or failing to deliver for Wales.

So what are we to make of the reports coming out of yesterday's meeting between Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and the S4C hierarchy at the DCMS yesterday which indicate that Mr Hunt came close to putting the channel's very existence on the line?

He delivered what's being described in some quarters as "a dressing down" to Authority chairman John Walter Jones and temporary chief executive Arwel Ellis Owen, complete with chart showing money UP and viewers DOWN. Something that the younger viewers of the S4C children's service Cyw would be able to grasp. Stormy is the adjective that's being used most often to describe the encounter.

They now have a month to come up with a financial plan for the channel's future. However, the timing is strange. A month from now is October 10th, or thereabouts. The Comprenhensive Spending Review will be unveiled by the Treasury on October 20th. That's too tight to carry out any meaningful negotiations, especially since the DCMS is seen as being well ahead of many other departments in deciding on its cuts.

It's been weeks since the first whispers began to come out of Whitehall that the channel's budget could be cut by up to a quarter over the next few years. So what's happened in the meantime?

The S4C hierarchy are understood to be canvassing a plan whereby the channel is protected from cuts for two years, and that its future funding is discussed alongside that of the 91Èȱ¬ licence fee income then. If they went into yesterday's meeting pinning their hopes on that strategy, then the tenor and outcome of the meeting would appear to indicated that it got pretty short shrift.

There's certainly deep disquiet amongst Welsh Tories, for whom S4C most certainly holds that talismanic property, about what's unfolding for the channel, concern amplified several-fold by yesterday's meeting.

They know the damage that will be caused to them if S4C's finances are slashed to the point where its quality and even viability are called into question. One senior source said, "Cheryl needs to wake up and realise how serious this is."

In any event, it looks fairly clear that Jeremy Hunt's view of the public subsidy for the Welsh language broadcaster is similar to the Plaid Cymru membership's view of the public subsidy for the north south air link - it's money that could frankly be better spent elsewhere.

There are a few more sacred cows who'll be looking around nervously in the coming weeks and months.

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