AN AMMAN Valley councillor is calling for a boycott of a talk by Michael Portillo in Ammanford on Friday night.

The former Tory minister is due to appear at the Miners' Theatre for "an intimate and entertaining evening".

But Labour's Kevin Madge has described the presence of the one-time Margaret Thatcher protégé as "an "insult" to the legions of Amman Valley miners who lost their jobs under Margaret Thatcher's controversial administration.

And Cllr Madge wants Mr Portillo to "publicly apologise" for the "devastation" of the Amman Valley coalfields which saw a generation of miners thrown onto the dole.

"I will not be attending the Miners' Theatre on principle - and I don't think anyone else should too," Cllr Madge told the Guardian.

"I remember what the Tories did to this valley and the days when we had three million unemployed. That was the true legacy of the Thatcher government.

"This man was part of that administration and I think it's appalling he's going into a place that was built by the hard-earned pennies of our forefathers.

"Lots of people were thrown onto the scrapheap and had their lives shortened thanks to the likes of Portillo and his cronies.

"In my home village of Garnant, unemployment shot up to 38 per cent. In other places throughout the valley, it also went through the roof and loads of homes were re-possessed - people should remember that the next time they see Portillo looking so nice on the telly."

Mike Reynolds, former NUM lodge secretary at Betws Colliery, commented: "It would have been nice to have seen Mr Portillo in town in 1984-85 so he could have witnessed at first hand the effect the mine closures had on our community."

Gerald Jones, chairman of Ammanford Arts Club who has arranged the evening, said he had received one or two "barbed comments", but tickets were selling well.

"When I mentioned the fact Mr Portillo was seeking overnight accommodation in the area, one Labour party member said he had a very nice shed at the bottom of his garden," he said.