Wales (Cymru)

The Labour-led Welsh Government loves to highlight the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. So why is it so comfortable in underfunding, belittling the staff of, and destroying our world-renowned national institutions? Whether it be our museums, opera companies, publications, or library, the Welsh Labour Government seems hellbent on systematically underfunding our institutions, letting them fall into a state of disrepair and decline, and their expert staff into a state of nihilism.

We are told that budget cuts are inevitable. It is of no doubt that the Welsh Government faces many challenges, with one-third of our children – the highest rate in Western Europe – growing up in poverty. Can we really afford to let down our future generations by stripping them of the benefits of our shared national assets?

Results from elections for the police and crime commissioner roles in Wales have been announced. There are four commissioners elected in the police areas of Wales - South Wales Police, Gwent Police, North Wales Police and Dyfed Powys.

The first to call was Gwent where Labour candidate Jane Mudd won with 41.67% of the vote, a nine percentage point lead over the Tory candidate.

It was then announced that Plaid's Dafydd Llywelyn retains his role as commissioner for Dyfed Powys Police. He has held the role since 2016.

Some of Wales’ most vulnerable people have been told to vacate their accommodation within 28 days after the Welsh Government decided to pull funding from people who have no legal right to be supported with public money.

Those involved are mainly single homeless people from overseas without settled status, many of whom were sleeping rough before the Welsh Government used its own resources to provide them with places in hostels.

Eryri’s national park is among the top 10 places in the UK for an ‘off-road’ camping experience. And campervan and motorhome touring is also on the increase. Eryri received 12,000 searches per year for ‘wild camping’ according to research carried out by British automotive online marketplace Auto Trader.

Going on ‘off-road’ adventures with friends and family is “the next big trend” according to Pinterest. Searches for ‘off-road camping’ have gone up by 90%, and those for ‘adventure car’ by 80%.

BMA Cymru Wales has confirmed a development in its pay negotiations – announcing that Junior doctors have secured a three-month extension to their overwhelming strike mandate.

This means that junior doctors in Wales now have the right to enact industrial action over their pay until 17 September 2024 instead of 17 June when the mandate was due to run out.

Recognising the strength of feeling amongst junior doctors and the overwhelming 98% vote by members in favour of industrial action back in December 2023, employers have agreed to honour this extension to allow talks with the Welsh Government to continue.

A Welsh Labour backbencher has broken ranks this evening and called for Vaughan Gething to return his controversial campaign donations.

The emotional speech from former Transport Minister, Lee Waters came during a double debate showdown on Wednesday (May 1).

Despite both Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives tabling motions on the scandal, the First Minister did not attend a large part of the two debates.

The Tories debate called for an independent inquiry into the donations received by Mr Gething during his campaign to become First Minister.

Plaid Cymru’s motion called for an investigation and a cap on future political donations.

Mr Waters said he felt “deeply uncomfortable” about the revelations that have blighted the opening weeks of the First Minister’s tenure.

He said he felt the donations paid to Mr Gething’s campaign by a convicted polluter were “unjustifiable and wrong”.

A charity has issued a warning over 25 beach and seafront destinations in Wales which have been polluted by storm sewage or given a poor water classification. Surfers Against Sewage, one of the UK's most successful marine conservation and campaigning charities, has published the alerts on its website.

It writes that there is an issue concerning storm sewage within the last 48 hours in the areas of Colwyn Bay, Llyn Padarn, Criccieth, New Quay, Llangrannog, Cilborth, Newport, Nolton Haven, Little Haven, Broadhaven, Dale, West Angle, Barafundle, Manorbier, Tenby, Saundersfoot, Pembrey, Swansea and Ogmore.

The charity explained how sewage pollution was "everything we flush down the loo or wash down the drain that is released into the environment through sewer overflows, or that washes off the land and roads."

Trust matters in politics. But the recent donation scandal surrounding the Labour First Minister of Wales threatens to erode that trust.

Earlier this year, during the Welsh Labour leadership election, it came to light that Vaughan Gething had accepted a staggering £200,000 donation from a convicted criminal and environmental polluter – David Neal of Dauson Environmental Group.

Not only was this the largest political donation ever recorded in the history of Welsh politics, but further investigative pieces by Nation.Cymru’s Martin Shipton discovered that Vaughan Gething had actually lobbied Natural Resources Wales on behalf of Dauson Environmental Group when he was economy minister – encouraging them to go easy on the company.

Recent figures reveal the scale of the cost of living crisis across Wales. Nearly two-thirds of those questioned in the country (65%) feel forced to make financial cuts of some kind, while some admit to feeling “financially desperate”.

These figures come from a poll undertaken by Focaldata for our campaign group, 38 Degrees. The responses from more than 24,000 people, including 1,304 in Wales, paint a picture of what the cost of living crisis means for finances in households across the UK.

In a recent article, I discussed scenario planning exercises. These involve combining current trends and trying to imagine how the combination will develop, what the consequences might be, and what strategies are needed in response. One such exercise leads me to wonder about our education system.

We now live in a world in which human jobs are increasingly performed by machines – even those involving ‘human’ traits like creativity – while traditional jobs other than service roles are rapidly disappearing. Our education system has not prepared us for this. What would we want that system to achieve in a free Wales?

Steel giant Tata has confirmed it will shut down blast furnaces at its Port Talbot plant with the loss of thousands of jobs after rejecting a last-minute union plea to change its plans.

The company said that after seven months of discussions with unions it will proceed with its £1.25 billion investment to build an electric arc furnace in Port Talbot and start closure of the existing heavy end assets in the following months.

Unions and Labour criticised the decision, warning it will have a devastating effect on the industry and Welsh economy.

The absurd pantomime over 20mph continues. Our National Museum is collapsing (literally). And can our new-ish First Minister, Vaughan Gething, make it to the next Senedd Election in 2026? The latter is the biggest question in my mind.

He’s only weeks into the job, yet Gething has bounced from one scandal to another. Labour’s cooperation partner, Plaid Cymru, is calling for an independent investigation, which would be very uncomfortable for the First Minister. Jeremy Miles, Gething’s recent rival for the leadership, refused to defend the First Minister’s judgement around a controversial £200,000 donation.

Rhŷn Ap Glyn Williams never thought he’d amount to anything. More interested in doodling on his school books than doing any work, his grades inevitably fell short, with educators neglecting to provide him with the help he so clearly needed.

Only at art college was he finally diagnosed with dyslexia and OCD.

After managing to gain a degree in Art & Design he returned to a subject which he’d struggled with at school ‒ history.

“It was something I knew very little about despite growing up on the Llŷn Peninsula, where Welsh culture and history was taught,” he says.

This time he would learn about our triumphs and trials on his own terms.

“I started reading articles and watching documentaries and the more I learnt, the more I realised how exploited, suppressed and disregarded the Welsh have been and continue to be.”

He says a ‘switch flipped’ inside his head, prompting the decision for Rhŷn himself to contribute to Welsh culture.

A Plaid Cymru MS has accused Transport for Wales of disenfranchising communities along the Cambrian Coast, as the train operator moves to cut four daily services from the timetable.

Raising the matter in the Senedd, Mabon ap Gwynfor accused the transport operator of overseeing a catalogue of cuts to public transport across his rural Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency.

This includes cutbacks to the T2, T3 and 32 bus services.

Mr ap Gwynfor called on the Welsh Government to bring forward an urgent statement and to clarify what is being done to address “chronic public transport problems” impacting those living and working in rural Gwynedd.

An inquiry into the controversy surrounding the UK's largest opencast coalmine will not hear from the company or council involved.

Merthyr Tydfil council refused a request to appear before Members of the Senedd on the climate change committee while the mining firm behind Ffos-y-Fran did not reply.

Committee chairman Llyr Gruffydd said it was "hugely disappointing" as there were "big questions to be asked" of both.

The council has submitted written evidence to the committee. BBC Wales has asked the mining firm to comment about its absence from the hearing.

Reimplementing 30mph speed limits on Welsh roads could cost up to £5 million, the Welsh government has said.

Ken Skates, the Welsh transport minister, announced on Tuesday that the government in Cardiff Bay will be revising its guidance to councils on which roads can be exempted from the new lower 20mph speed limit.

The move could see councils able to return roads to their previous speed limits by the end of the year.

Mr Skates has admitted that the cost of revising roads back to their previous speeds could be up to £5 million.

This comes in addition to the roughly £34 million it cost to roll out making the default speed limit in built-up areas 20mph in September last year.

Mr Skates made the admission in an interview with LBC.

In recent weeks, Rishi Sunak and other commentators from the political right have painted a picture of life in the UK for the disabled, and specifically the mentally ill.

These are people like me, and possibly you – or at least many people you will know.

According to the Prime Minister, in a recent speech to the Centre For Social Justice, we suffer from a “sicknote culture” – mistaking trivial day to day worries and sadnesses for debilitating clinical anxiety and depression. How silly of us.

Our doctors then sign us off on our whim, so we don’t have to face the responsibilities we want to shirk at any given opportunity.

Welsh health boards have given the green light to close two Air Ambulance bases after 2026 following a vote on the matter.

A meeting of the Welsh NHS' Joint Commissioning Committee voted that the Welshpool and Caernarfon bases will be closed after 2026. The sites will be merged into a new site in north Wales.

However, the decision hinges on acceptable plans being developed for a bespoke car-based service in rural areas.

A former Welsh Labour leader is set to look into the electoral finances of the current First Minister.

Vaughan Gething has appointed Carwyn Jones, a former Welsh first minister, to carry out a review of how the party’s elections are carried out, including examining campaign financing.

Welsh Conservatives have objected to the review, arguing it is Labour “marking their own homework”.

Welsh Labour has been contacted asking for more details on the review.

The announcement comes after Mr Gething, who became the Welsh government leader in March, received a controversial £200,000 campaign donation from a man convicted of environmental offences.

His decision to take the money has been criticised by political opponents and members of his own party, with his leadership opponent, Jeremy Miles, saying on Sunday that he would not have taken it.

The Welsh Government has clearly signalled that it’s about to make major changes to the way its 20mph default speed limit on urban roads is implemented. The new First Minister and Welsh Labour leadership have said they “hold their hands up” and that guidance “has to be corrected”.

This is a hugely important decision, and not just because of the 20mph issue itself. The matter sits firmly on the boundary between evidenced policy-making on the one hand and populism on the other.

The controversy surrounding donations to Vaughan Gething's leadership campaign has hit the headlines once again, as opposition party leaders have called for an independent investigation.

£200,000 was given to Mr Gething by the director of Dauson Environmental Group Ltd, David Neal, who was convicted twice for environmental offences.

Neal was given a suspended prison sentence in 2013 for illegally dumping waste on a conservation site on the Gwent Levels. His companies Atlantic Recycling and Neal Soil Suppliers were also prosecuted and ordered to pay fines and costs of £202,000.

Speaking to BBC Politics Wales on Sunday, cabinet minister Jeremy Miles MS, said that he "would not have accepted" the donation.

Also revealed over the weekend was the loan that Dauson Environmental Group Ltd had received from the Development Bank of Wales, a bank owned by the Welsh Government.

It has prompted the leader of Plaid Cymru to call for a "wholly independent external investigation" into "unanswered questions" surrounding the donations.

A Plaid Cymru MS has launched a bid to transform healthcare for women and girls and counter the normalisation of women’s pain and suffering during gynaecological procedures.

South Wales East MS, Delyth Jewell has applied to the Senedd to seek agreement to introduce the ‘The Strengthening Women’s Voice and Agency in their own Healthcare (Wales) Bill’.

She hopes it will address barriers to women’s rights to health – particularly concerning gynaecological conditions such as endometriosis, menstrual problems and menopause – and services for health conditions where gender-related disparities occur.

Any Senedd Member wishing to propose a Bill can apply to be included in a ballot which is held by the Presiding Officer.

To be eligible for the ballot, Members must table certain pre-ballot information, including the proposed title of the Bill and its policy objectives.

An MS who is successful in the ballot can then table a motion asking the Senedd to agree that they can introduce a Bill to give effect to the proposal included in the ballot.

Huw Edwards has resigned from his high profile newsreader role and left the BBC on “medical advice”.

A BBC spokesperson said: “Huw Edwards has today resigned and left the BBC. After 40 years of service, Huw has explained that his decision was made on the basis of medical advice from his doctors.

“The BBC has accepted his resignation which it believes will allow all parties to move forward. We don’t believe it appropriate to comment further.”

The BBC previously apologised to the family of the young person at the centre of the Huw Edwards furore after a review into how non-editorial complaints are handled at the corporation.

A report, commissioned in the wake of the scandal, has found a need for “greater consistency” in how complaints at the corporation are processed.

The family of the young person originally complained about Edwards to the BBC in May 2023 and the BBC said it tried to contact them twice before The Sun published an exclusive story detailing the allegations he paid a young person for sexually explicit photos.

A stunning mural of local heroes Manic Street Preachers has been unveiled today in their hometown of Blackwood.

The band was formed in the town in 1986 and are rightly considered one of the greatest Welsh groups of all time.

So the fact that it’s taken just the little matter of 38 years for a mural to appear where it all started is perhaps a little surprising.

Still, better late than never and this mural of the band from circa 1991 painted by leading Welsh street artist Paul Shepherd known as ‘Walls by Paul’ is certainly a fitting tribute.

A grandmother is campaigning for more road signs warning of goats in and around Llandudno after a small herd of the animals was killed. Four goats were hit by a vehicle on the A470 at Wormhout Way earlier this month.

The goats have roamed Llandudno and Craig y Don since the pandemic lockdowns saw them venture from the Great Orme into the resort’s empty streets. Conwy Council has previously said it won’t fence in the goats due to the risk of the authority becoming solely responsible for the creatures’ welfare. But following the accident last week, some are calling for more road signs in and around Llandudno to warn motorists of the presence of the goats.