Wales (Cymru)

The Welsh government’s response to the Covid pandemic was “hampered by undue complexity," a public inquiry has found.

In the UK Covid-19 Inquiry's first report, which looks at the UK's preparedness for a pandemic, the Welsh Government was criticised over its preparations.

The report said that the system in Wales was a “labyrinthine,” and that there were failed opportunities to create a coherent system.

Some GPs in Wales have been running at limited capacity without computer systems following a global IT outage.

Planes have been grounded throughout the world, many industries disrupted and TV channels forced off air.

In Wales, trains have been delayed or cancelled, GPs are having to revert to handwritten notes and are turning away all but the most serious patients.

The exact cause of the problem is unknown, although several firms have blamed an issue with Crowdstrike cyber security software.

Welsh language campaigners have targeted Welsh Government offices across Wales, claiming Labour ‘chaos’ is causing delays to a promised White Paper on housing.Cymdeithas yr Iaith members have taken direct action against Welsh Government offices across Wales overnight (17 July) in response to delays in publishing their long-awaited White Paper on housing, declaring that solving the housing crisis will be the biggest challenge for the next First Minister of Wales.

In April, Julie James, the Welsh Government’s former Cabinet Secretary for Housing, committed to publishing a White Paper on the Right to Adequate Housing and Fair Rents, which would precede a law, before the summer recess of the Senedd.

Fresh calls have been made for an independent Wales-specific public inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic following the UK probe’s first report.

Published today (July 18) the Wales section of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry described the Welsh Government’s preparations for a pandemic as “labyrinthine” with the reality not matching the rhetoric.

Outgoing First Minister Vaughan Gething said the publication was an “important moment for Welsh families bereaved by Covid-19” and for the frontline staff who “worked so hard” during the pandemic.

An extra £5m has been allocated to reassess the speed limit on 20mph roads, the Welsh government has announced.

Transport Minister Ken Skates previously said the decision to reverse parts of the controversial £34m default 20mph policy was in response to “consistent” concerns raised by "a lot of people".

Updated guidance to councils said there was no need to reassess all roads.

The Welsh government said it expected most changes from 20mph to 30mph to be on A and B roads "which are typically main or strategic roads" and "away from places that attract frequent pedestrians".

Vaughan Gething has announced that he is stepping down as the first minister of Wales, following a series of controversies that left his position untenable.

All eyes now turn to who might replace him - and how that process will work.

While it is too soon to know for sure, who are the most likely candidates to run for Wales' top job?

All 11 water firms in Wales and England are under scrutiny by Ofwat as part of its major investigation into whether their sewage treatment works are polluting the environment.

The water regulator said it showed “how concerned we are about the sector’s environmental performance”.

Ofwat announced it had served formal enforcement notices on the four remaining utilities firms – Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, Hafren Dyfrdwy, Severn Trent and United Utilities.

It means it has gathered evidence and found the firms may have breached their obligations to protect the environment, which could lead to fines.

Vaughan Gething has resigned as First Minister following weeks of controversies and a mass walk out by his cabinet.

He said the assertion that some kind of wrongdoing had taken place is “pernicious, politically motivated and patently untrue”.

In a statement published on Tuesday morning (July 16) he said: “I have this morning taken the difficult decision to begin the process of stepping down as leader of the Welsh Labour Party and, as a result, First Minister.

Concerns have been raised that an energy firm is “courting” Welsh politicians with gifts and donations in order to gain favour and influence for future wind farm projects.

Details uncovered by Nation Cymru reveal how several Labour Senedd members and a Labour MP have received tickets to sporting events and cash from Scottish company Bute Energy over the last three years.

The firm is currently developing a portfolio of onshore wind and solar power energy parks across rural parts of Wales.

A leading anti-corruption organisation has called for an independent probe into the sacking of junior minister Hannah Blythyn.

Transparency International UK is a global movement working to expose serious governance issues in both the UK and devolved governments through impartial, evidence-based research.

The organisation says an investigation should be launched immediately to establish the facts surrounding the ongoing confusion relating to the dismissal of the former social partnership minister.

Two local councillors have submitted a motion to their constituency Labour party calling for a vote of no confidence to be passed in First Minister Vaughan Gething.

It is thought to be the first such motion to be proposed within Welsh Labour since Nation.Cymru revealed in February that Mr Gething had accepted donations to his party leadership campaign totalling £200,000 from a company owned by businessman David Neal, who received two suspended prison sentences for dumping toxic sludge in the protected wetlands landscape of the Gwent Levels.

Sir Keir Starmer, the UK’s new prime minister, brings an impressive CV: barrister, former director of public prosecutions, and ex-shadow Brexit secretary. An establishment insider who knows his way around the corridors of power, he is no stranger to leadership. But that does not necessarily make him a good leader, nor even indicate his potential to become one. Being a member of a privileged elite might land you a plum job, but it does not make you good at it.

Our ancient Welsh forebears knew this well, telling stories to expose bad and promote good uses of power, as my research has shown. Starmer could do a lot worse than to read the Four Branches of the Mabinogion from Welsh mythology during his first few weeks in office. From those skilfully fashioned tales of lordship, he might learn a lot about how to conduct himself as head of government. And, crucially, how not to.

Wales First Minister Vaughan Gething has insisted he is getting on with the job, despite a continuing row over his sacking of a minister and criticism of controversial donations to his leadership campaign.

He said there was evidence a photograph of Hannah Blythyn's phone had been sent to a website which published the story that triggered her dismissal.

Nation.Cymru used the picture to reveal that Mr Gething had said he was deleting messages from a chat group full of ministers in August 2020, during the pandemic.

Campaigners have called on the Welsh Government to ensure plans to create a new national park in the north-east of Wales will protect and enhance the special landscape there.

A joint statement led by Campaign for National Parks has been released ahead of an expected public consultation on proposals this autumn.

It’s been signed by 18 campaigners including Alliance for Welsh Designated Landscapes, RSPB Cymru, WWF and National Trust.

The organisations have called for high ambitions for the proposed area with a supporting framework that will enable a new national park, the first to be designated in Wales in over 60 years, to be an exemplar in the UK.

A number of Labour Senedd Members called on Vaughan Gething to resign during an acrimonious “away day” meeting in Cardiff, we have been told.

Mr Gething’s future hangs in the balance, with bitter divisions between his loyal band of supporters in the Senedd Labour group and those who believe the scandals he is embroiled in will not go away and would prove disastrous for Welsh Labour if he is still First Minister at the time of the next Senedd election in May 2026.

A recent poll undertaken by Beaufort Research for NationCymru showed that nearly 70% of voters in Wales believe he should not have accepted donations totalling £200,000 for his party leadership campaign from a waste company owned by David Neal, a Cardiff businessman who received two suspended prison sentences for dumping toxic sludge in the protected wetland landscape of the Gwent Levels. Mr Gething had lobbied Natural Resources Wales on Mr Neal’s behalf, asking the environmental regulator to go easy on his company.

A number of Labour Senedd Members called on Vaughan Gething to resign during an acrimonious “away day” meeting in Cardiff, we have been told.

Mr Gething’s future hangs in the balance, with bitter divisions between his loyal band of supporters in the Senedd Labour group and those who believe the scandals he is embroiled in will not go away and would prove disastrous for Welsh Labour if he is still First Minister at the time of the next Senedd election in May 2026.

A recent poll undertaken by Beaufort Research for NationCymru showed that nearly 70% of voters in Wales believe he should not have accepted donations totalling £200,000 for his party leadership campaign from a waste company owned by David Neal, a Cardiff businessman who received two suspended prison sentences for dumping toxic sludge in the protected wetland landscape of the Gwent Levels. Mr Gething had lobbied Natural Resources Wales on Mr Neal’s behalf, asking the environmental regulator to go easy on his company.

Many, including media pundits, make false claims about Welsh independence and Wales as an EU member. Here are the facts of the matter

"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much." Those words by Helen Keller are as true about politics as they are about life itself.

Rishi Sunak cut a lone figure on that wet Wednesday in May. He called that shot alone, and was then rejected by the country and was unable to stem the revolt of his party.

Only 18 months previously, behind the same lectern in Downing Street, he had promised to ‘unite our country - not with words, but with action’.

How hollow that promise proved to be. Divided parties don’t win elections, as the old adage goes.

The Welsh Government has made history by committing to outlaw political deception. In a move heralded by campaigners as a significant development in the fight to restore faith in democracy, the government confirmed that it will introduce legislation before the next Senedd election in 2026 to ban candidates and members of the Welsh Parliament from deliberately lying to the public.

The move follows the tabling of an amendment by Welsh MS Adam Price to create a criminal offence of political deception. The proposal had previously won the backing of the Welsh Conservatives, Plaid Cymru, and the Welsh Liberal Democrats but was originally opposed by the Welsh Labour government.

A former Labour minister has broken her silence over her sudden sacking by Vaughan Gething in May.

In a dramatic statement, Hannah Blythyn told the Senedd she has never leaked to the media.

The first minister had alleged that she was the source of a story which revealed Mr Gething told ministers he was deleting messages from a pandemic-era group chat.

But the Labour Member of the Senedd (MS) for Delyn said she was not shown any evidence before she was sacked, was not told she was being investigated, and that the situation left her with acute anxiety and stress.

A company in the group that donated £200,000 to Vaughan Gething’s leadership campaign is under investigation for the second time following the death of a worker on its premises.

South Wales Police and the Health and Safety Executive are investigating the death of a man following an incident at the Atlantic Recycling site in Cardiff.

At approximately 12.45pm on Monday, July 8, emergency services were called to a report of an injured man at the site on Newton Road, Rumney.

The man died of his injuries and his family were informed.

A former newspaper editor was publicly harassed and falsely accused by far-right activists of stealing money from a campaign fighting fund as he walked with his wife through the centre of their home town.

Rob Lloyd, who used to edit the Llanelli Star and the Carmarthen Journal, and his wife Carol were surrounded by members of UKIP and intimidated as they attended the Ymlaen Llanelli 80s Festival.

Among the hostile group were the party’s local general election candidate Stan Robinson, who lost his deposit after winning less than 1.5% of the vote, and Dan Morgan, a convicted fraudster with whom he broadcasts a far-right video blog called the Voice of Wales.

The expansion of Craig yr Hesg quarry in Glyncoch, to which there has been widespread opposition locally, was discussed in the Senedd. Plans to extend the time and area of quarrying were initially rejected by Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) Council’s planning committee after hundreds of residents objected to them.

But both aspects were allowed on appeal by an inspector from Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW) in 2022, a decision the minister supported at the time.

Sir Keir Starmer has appointed Jo Stevens Secretary of State for Wales in his new Cabinet, following Thursday’s General Election victory.

The Cardiff East MP previously served as Shadow Welsh secretary from October 2016 to January 2017 and from November 2021 to May 2024.

Ms Stevens said: “It is a real privilege to be appointed to the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales and to serve in Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s first Cabinet.

“Wales has a crucial role to play in powering the UK’s national renewal, contributing to our energy security and the industries that will deliver a prosperous future.

“My absolute priority is to deliver for Wales and work with the Welsh Government to stabilise the economy, drive investment and create jobs.

“As a result of our plans, people across Wales will share in that prosperity and we will tackle deprivation and poverty together.”

An exclusive Beaufort Research poll for NationCymru has shown that more than two thirds of people in Wales (68%) believe it was unacceptable for Vaughan Gething to have accepted donations totalling £200,000 from a waste firm whose owner had been convicted for illegally dumping waste.

Less than two in 10 people (19%) thought accepting the money from David Neal’s Dauson Environmental Group was acceptable, with the rest saying they didn’t know.

Older people were most likely to take the view that it wasn’t acceptable (with 77% of those over aged 55+ doing so, compared to 55% of 16-34s), although younger people were much more likely to answer “don’t know”.