Wales (Cymru)

17 pro-Palestine protesters have been arrested by South Wales Police following demonstrations in Cardiff.

The bulk of the arrests were made after around 100 people gathered at Cardiff Bay Police Station to demand the release of a disabled protestor.

The man had led a sit down protest earlier in the day at the junction of Park Place and Boulevard de Nantes near Cardiff’s city centre.

Footage posted online by the campaign group Cymru Students for Palestine showed the man being led away by officers after addressing protesters with a megaphone.

Around 60 people then made their way to Cardiff Bay Police station to demonstrate the arrest.

First Minister Vaughan Gething is set to face a vote of no confidence in the Senedd this week – but would his Labour colleagues be likely to break ranks during an election period?

Controversies surrounding the embattled First Minister include a huge donation to his election campaign and a row over the sacking of a junior minister just a few weeks after appointing his Cabinet.

But Mr Gething’s short and problematic tenure as Welsh Labour leader began even before he was elected as First Minister.

Here’s everything you need to know about the story so far…

Mark Drakeford has dramatically criticised the Welsh government's decision to scrap changes to the school holiday.

The Welsh government earlier announced that plans to cut the summer school holiday had been shelved until the next Senedd election.

Visibly angry and addressing his remarks at education secretary Lynne Neagle, he said he regretted the “political damage” the decision would cause to Wales.

In response she told the former first minister: "You cannot have a consultation and then just ignore that consultation."

It comes a day before his successor, Vaughan Gething, will face a crucial no confidence vote in the Senedd.

A Welsh publisher is to release a new translation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy novel The Hobbit in Welsh.

One of the most popular and most-translated books of the twentieth century and the prelude to The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit was originally published in 1937 and has since been translated into dozens of languages, including other Celtic languages such as Irish and Scottish Gaelic.

Until now, however, the celebrated novel has never before been available in Welsh—perhaps surprisingly, given author J.R.R. Tolkien’s own interest in the Welsh language, upon which he drew for some elements of the fictional languages he invented in his works.

A think tank director who has been parachuted into a Welsh constituency as its Labour candidate has deleted social media posts from 2023 that conflict with the party’s current policies.

Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, which specialises in research on social inequality, was imposed on Swansea West last week. Ordinary party members have complained that they were not given the opportunity to vote in the selection, with Labour officials loyal to Keir Starmer ensuring that Mr Bell won the candidacy in the safe seat.

It has emerged that since he was selected for Swansea West, a series of social media posts he made in January 2023 have been deleted. The posts coincided with the publication of a report by the Resolution Foundation that criticised tax breaks given to those who invest in Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs).

A company that bankrolled Vaughan Gething's successful bid to become Wales' first minister was linked to a criminal investigation at the time, the BBC can reveal.

Mr Gething's leadership campaign accepted £200,000 from a firm controlled by millionaire businessman David Neal.

A criminal investigation into suspected environmental offences by one of Mr Neal's firms, Resources Management Limited (RML), is being carried out by Natural Resources Wales, external (NRW).

A spokesman for Welsh Labour told the BBC on Friday the issues had "previously been addressed" by Mr Gething - but later the first minister said he was "not aware of any of the details" of the criminal investigation.

Questions have been asked of the Welsh Government’s director of ethics about the controversial sacking of a junior minister who was accused of leaking information to the media.

First Minister Vaughan Gething axed Minister for Social Partnership Hannah Blythyn in an unprecedented move earlier this month.

He alleged that Ms Blythyn had disclosed messages to Nation.Cymru from a group chat used by ministers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

One previously unseen iMessages appeared to show the then Health Minister’s intention to delete a discussion because it could be subject to freedom of information legislation.

Ms Blythyn staunchly denied the claims saying, “integrity is all in politics and I retain mine.”

Nation.Cymru has never revealed how we obtained the messages.

One of the most prominent left-wing members of Welsh Labour has resigned from the party after 35 years, denouncing the direction it has taken under the leadership of Keir Starmer.

Darren Williams, who heads the PCS union in Wales and co-founded the Welsh Labour Grassroots group, said in a letter to Sir Keir: “After 35 years’ continuous, active Labour membership – including time spent on the National Executive Committee, the Welsh Executive Committee, the National Policy Forum and as a Cardiff councillor – I have cancelled my direct debit today, as I can no longer bear to remain in a party that treats its members, representatives and voters with such contempt.

“I have witnessed some pretty unedifying behaviour by various party leaders over the years but you have outdone them all. Your abandonment of all the pledges on which you originally stood for the leadership was shameless enough but you have proceeded to water down policy commitments on green investment and workers’ rights, among other areas, while failing to take a clear moral stance against the Tories’ inhuman attacks on refugees and migrants or against Israel’s genocidal onslaught in Gaza.

Noraini Binti Husin Jamal (Nora), along with around 1,000 activists from around the world who tried and failed to deliver aid to Gaza, is ready to break the blockade with the Gaza Freedom Flotilla next time.

The flotilla of ships was stranded in Turkey in late April leaving 5,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid undelivered, after the Republic of Guinea Bissau withdrew its flag from the lead ship. Organisers have accused Israel of applying pressure to stall the departure. Nora returned to Wales and has been looking forward to rejoining the mission to the Gaza Strip.

A former Welsh Labour MP has slammed the party for parachuting two candidates with no connection to Wales into safe Labour seats.

Earlier today Nation.Cymru revealed that a think tank boss and a former Starmer aide have been selected as Welsh Labour general election candidates.

Think tank chief and former Labour aide Torsten Bell has been selected as Welsh Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Swansea West, while executive director of legal affairs for the Labour Party, Alex Barros-Curtis, was selected for Cardiff West.

Concerns that First Minister Vaughan Gething may have deleted text messages during the pandemic are being taken “very seriously” by the Covid inquiry, a representative has said.

Earlier this month it emerged that the Welsh Labour leader had told ministers in a group chat in August 2020 that he was deleting messages, saying they could be captured by a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

He may also have to give further evidence to the Covid inquiry, the representative said.

It comes at a time of heightened pressure on Mr Gething, who will face a vote of no confidence in his leadership in the Senedd next week.

The Welsh Ambulance Service has issued a stark warning that its ability to respond to major incidents such as terrorist attacks could be severely hampered by hospital handover delays. This follows a report being published that highlights the risk of “catastrophic harm” to members of the public if crews are tied up outside emergency departments during serious incidents.

The service has raised concerns after carrying out a mass-casualty simulation exercise. This found it would have failed to provide an adequate response in three out of four scenarios. The tests were conducted in the wake of the public inquiry into the Manchester Arena bombing, which identified a catalogue of failings by emergency services in the aftermath of the attack.

Campaigners claim that First Minister Vaughan Gething and two of his Cabinet colleagues have broken the Welsh Government’s own regulations in approving a new £1bn cancer centre for south Wales.

Members of the Colocate Velindre group, who oppose the building of a new standalone centre in Cardiff, are accusing Mr Gething, Health Secretary Eluned Morgan and Finance Secretary Rebecca Evans of signing off the project before the project’s full business case has been properly scrutinised.

The campaign group, which believes the new cancer centre should be built adjacent to a district general hospital, also alleges that the Welsh Government’s own procurement rules have been broken in allowing two companies convicted in their own countries of bid-rigging to continue as members of Acorn, the construction consortium that won the building and maintenance contract for the new centre.

A row has erupted after the chief executive of a London-based think tank was made the general election candidate for a safe Labour seat in Wales.

Torsten Bell runs the Resolution Foundation, which researches issues relating to poverty. A panel appointed by Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) has decided that he will be the party’s candidate in Swansea West on July 4.

Earlier this week it was confirmed that the seat’s incumbent MP Geraint Davies would not be standing for re-election because complaints alleging that he had sexually harassed a number of women remained unresolved. In line with an election timetable decided by the NEC, the choice of a new candidate for Swansea West was taken out of the hands of the local constituency Labour party (CLP) and delegated to the NEC panel.

A new poll has revealed growing dissatisfaction with First Minister Vaughan Gething from across the political spectrum.

Results gathered between 22-27 May by More in Common from a weighted sample of 805 found that only 3% of Welsh voters thought the new First Minister was doing ‘a very good job’.

Driving this low approval appears to be the scandal surrounding the £200,000 donation he received from a man convicted of environmental offences during his campaign to be Welsh Labour leader.

A third (32%) of Welsh people think Mr Gething should both resign over the scandal and give the money back.

A further 27% think he should give the money back but not resign.

The First Minister has been accused of failing patients following the publication of a damning report into mental health services in north Wales.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) was put into special measures in 2015 amid financial woes, management failings, growing waiting lists and a critical report into a mental health unit.

It was de-escalated prematurely by the then Health Minister, now First Minister, Vaughan Gething.

Opposition parties say the decision by Mr Gething was made for political purposes ahead of the 2021 Senedd election.

The mining of nonferrous metals in Wales is thought to predate the arrival of the Romans. It continued – albeit on a small scale – until the 1930s, when more concentrated and economic ores were available from overseas. Ferrous metals contain iron and nonferrous metals don’t.

Smelting and processing of imported ores continues to keep some Welsh workers employed. And there are nonferrous metals including gold and manganese remaining in Wales. However minor they might seem now, nonferrous metals are an important part of our pre-industrial and industrial history – and some are emerging once more as advanced economies compete for critical raw materials.

The Conservatives' national service plan for 18-year-olds could leave Wales £275m worse off, according to new research.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said Cornwall would be £72m a year worse off, and the north east of England and Tees Valley £46m a year.

Proposals announced at the weekend would use cash from a £1.5bn scheme originally earmarked to replace EU economic aid.

The Conservative Party has been asked for comment.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves accused the Tories breaking "their promises on levelling up".

Labour said it is committed to providing economic help for poorer areas, while restoring decision making powers to the Welsh government.

Plaid Cymru accused the Conservatives of wanting to level down the economy.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have announced they will vote against the First Minister Vaughan Gething in a no-confidence vote expected in the Senedd next week.

Mr Gething will face the motion of no confidence in the Senedd on Wednesday (5 June) following scandals over campaign donations and deleted messages from during the Covid pandemic.

The Welsh Conservatives tabled the motion following the collapse of the co-operation deal between Labour and Plaid Cymru.

Welsh Labour have been criticised for claiming voters don’t care about donations to Vaughan Gething’s leadership campaign despite a new poll showing that the public overwhelmingly agree he should return the money.

The poll conducted on 18-19 May by Redfield and Wilton Strategies in partnership with WalesOnline quizzed Welsh voters on the controversial £200,000 donation which the First Minister accepted from a convicted polluter.

70 per cent of the weighted sample of 900 people from Wales agreed or strongly agreed that the money should be handed back – a call the First Minister has so far rejected.

Only 9 per cent disagreed or strongly disagreed that the money should be returned.

Former Welsh Labour leader Carwyn Jones is set to look into the electoral finances of the First Minister in an internal investigation.

Labour's health secretary in Wales has been accused of misleading voters after she held placards saying the party will "modernise our NHS".

Eluned Morgan posted pictures of herself to social media holding the campaign message at a general election event.

Plaid Cymru said the slogan did nothing to improve understanding of devolution in Wales, where Labour has been in charge of the NHS since 1999.

Welsh Labour has been asked to comment.

Plaid Cymru has challenged Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer to a Wales specific TV debate with Senedd leader Rhun ap Iorwerth to give a “full picture” of choices faced by voters in the upcoming General Election.

Westminster Leader Liz Saville Roberts made the call in letter to the leaders of the Conservative Party and the Labour Party saying that any televised debate that excludes Plaid Cymru will “mislead viewers in Wales”.

She warns that the election – set for July 4 – is so far being framed “through an English lens” due to Wales’ “weak media landscape”.

A Plaid Cymru MP has reiterated the party’s call to rejoin the Single Market and Customs Union – denouncing a Labour election victory as “little more than a change of branding”.

Plaid Cymru Treasury Spokesperson, Ben Lake, has today criticised the Labour and the Tories for being “wedded to a fiscal consensus that will continue to hold Wales back”.

The MP for Ceredigion, who is Plaid Cymru’s candidate for the new seat of Ceredigion Preseli, said that Labour offered “little more than a change of branding”.

He listed “sticking to Conservative spending rules”, “denying Wales’ fair share of transport funding” and “sticking with a damaging European trade policy” as examples where Labour was not offering real change.

Bereaved families have gathered outside HMP Parc in Bridgend following nine sudden deaths at the prison since the end of February.

Security firm G4S has managed the prison since it opened in 1997 and it received a 10-year contract to continue operating it in 2022.

A G4S spokesperson said that HMP Parc ‘has for a long time had a good reputation as a safe and decent prison’, according to the last inspection by the Chief Inspector of Prisons.

Frances Jones' nephew Mikey, 19, died at the prison just less than three weeks ago after struggling with addiction and had been recently recalled to prison. He took his own life.

She told ITV Wales: "Where were [the prison guards]? He was on [suicide] watch. Why was it that he was allowed to die?

"We can't stand here and say Mikey had done it to get any sort of help. We can't say that because we weren't there.

Welsh language social media star Doctor Cymraeg is about to launch a series of online Welsh lessons.

Revealing the news to his tens of thousands of social media followers, Stephen from Doctor Cymraeg explained that over the last few years, people have regularly asked if he’s planning to move from offering general tips and advice or signposting to going one step further and providing his own online lessons.

Finally able to share the news, he explained that he’s currently putting the finishing touches to an online course.