Wales (Cymru)

First Minister Vaughan Gething has been accused of hypocrisy following a Labour campaign video in which he declared “change will only happen if you vote for it”.

The promotional video showing the party’s bright red bus making it’s way around battle ground seats in south Wales was posted to Welsh Labour’s X account on Monday (July 1).

A Labour general election battle bus touring Wales did not have Vaughan Gething as a passenger when it visited the seat where residents’ lives have been made a misery by his criminal donor.

Mr Gething accepted £200k for his Welsh Labour leadership campaign from a company owned by businessman David Neal, who was given two suspended prison sentences for dumping toxic sludge in the Gwent Levels protected landscape.

Another of Mr Neal’s companies has been responsible for the emission of nauseous odours from the Withyhedge landfill site near Haverfordwest for the best part of a year.

At the weekend, the party battle bus visited the new seat of Mid and South Pembrokeshire. But when a number of prominent Welsh Labour politicians disembarked to be greeted by their local candidate Henry Tufnell, there was no sign of the First Minister.

Early in the general election campaign NationCymru revealed how Mr Tufnell had asked Welsh Labour to tell Mr Gething to keep away from his constituency because of the First Minister’s association with Mr Neal.

In their 2024 general election manifesto, Plaid Cymru says they will “support the devolution of broadcasting powers to Wales”.

This would include the power to regulate, oversee and secure accountability for broadcasting and communications within Wales.

They also call for “the establishment of an independent Broadcasting Authority for Wales” and say they “see no reason why governance of S4C should be in the hands of Westminster, rather than our democratically elected representatives in Wales”.

Trust and confidence in UK politics and the election system have never been lower. One of the central reasons for this breakdown in trust is the widespread popular belief that some politicians have made a practice of lying to the public. Research published in 2022 showed the British public overwhelmingly wanted lying politicians to face consequences.

And while the UK’s general election is grabbing the headlines, a proposal in Wales’ Senedd (Welsh parliament) is seeking to address this issue by introducing new legislation that would criminalise politicians who lie. If passed, Wales would become the first country in the world to introduce criminal sanctions for lying politicians.

The Conservative Party has lost half of its support in Wales since the last UK General Election, according to an exclusive ITV News poll.

Only 19% of Welsh voters said they would vote Conservative, while nearly half of all voters (49%) plan to vote for the Labour Party.

The poll by Savanta found that Reform UK looks set to match Plaid Cymru and win 12% of the vote in Wales.

The survey adds to growing evidence that Labour is heading for a landslide win in Wales with the Tories fighting to avoid a repeat of the 1997 election where they lost every seat in the country.

The Conservative Party has lost half of its support in Wales since the last UK General Election, according to an exclusive ITV News poll.

Only 19% of Welsh voters said they would vote Conservative, while nearly half of all voters (49%) plan to vote for the Labour Party.

The poll by Savanta found that Reform UK looks set to match Plaid Cymru and win 12% of the vote in Wales.

The survey adds to growing evidence that Labour is heading for a landslide win in Wales with the Tories fighting to avoid a repeat of the 1997 election where they lost every seat in the country.

With the manifestos for Plaid Cymru and the Wales Green Party now out, what is in their foreign policy and defence policy sections? And how do the manifestos compare?

Both are left wing to left-of-centre parties, so I’d expect some crossover on certain issues like nuclear weapons, Ukraine, and Palestine. They are the biggest pro-Welsh independence parties standing in this general election, and are fielding candidates in all 32 Welsh seats. Let’s take a look at what they’re promising.

Aside from winning their two target seats, Plaid Cymru’s immediate challenge is to keep their profile high.

Their leader Rhun ap Iorwerth - and the party's views and policies - have had a lot of coverage over the past fortnight across Welsh and UK media.

But this is the time when voters really start to make up their minds, and the prevailing narrative is of a potential Conservative wipe-out and a potentially enormous Labour majority.

So how does Plaid Cymru continue to attract attention - and votes?

A high-profile barrister backed plans to make it a criminal offence for Senedd members and candidates to deliberately deceive the public.

Sam Fowles, of Cornerstone Barristers, gave evidence on former Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price’s proposals to disqualify politicians from the Senedd for deliberate lying.

The lawyer was involved in the Miller case against the then-Prime Minister over the propagation of the UK parliament and appeals that exposed the Horizon Post Office scandal.

Mick Antoniw, the Welsh Government’s counsel general or chief legal adviser, last week raised concerns the deception proposals are “unworkable”.

But Dr Fowles told members of the Senedd’s standards committee: “I would be very, very confident if I was asked to defend this in a judicial review.”

A former Labour MP has made a passionate speech to thousands of people who gathered to march in support of Welsh independence.

The event saw marchers join with locals to make their way through the streets of Carmarthen clad in Welsh flags and YesCymru banners to show their support for an independent Wales.

In a bilingual speech, “proud socialist” Beth Winter demanded a fair funding settlement for Wales from Westminster, £4 billion in owed HS2 consequentials and the devolution of the Crown Estate.

Stopping snap elections could help to support more women into politics, according to one former MS.

Bethan Sayed, who stepped down at the last Senedd elections to spend time with her newborn son, said women could be better supported by their parties if general election dates were set in advance.

Rishi Sunak's general election announcement last month caught many, including some in his own party, by surprise.

Some of the biggest names on the Welsh language music scene including Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog, HMS Morris and Mari Mathias will be among those playing at Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s gigs in Pontypridd during the week of the National Eisteddfod this year.

Dylan Jenkins, organiser of this year’s Cymdeithas yr Iaith gigs, announced some of the artists who will be playing at the organisation’s gigs this year on Huw Stephens’ programme on Radio Cymru last night (20 June).

A major TV investigation has revealed that the controversial businessman whose company donated £200k to Vaughan Gething is under suspicion for potential tax evasion.

It has been alleged that another of David Neal’s firms has been wrongly characterising the kind of waste it has been dumping at a Pembrokeshire landfill site.

If that proves to be the case, it would mean that Mr Gething was in effect able to win the Welsh Labour leadership election thanks to money that should have been paid to the Welsh Government in landfill disposals tax.

About 1,500 Tata Steel workers will begin an indefinite strike next month over the company’s plans to cut thousands of jobs, the trade union Unite has said.

The move is the first time in more than 40 years that steel workers in the UK have taken strike action, the union added.

About 2,800 Tata Steel workers will lose their jobs when the company closes both blast furnaces in Port Talbot by the end of September.

The company said if the strike affected the safety or stability of its operations it would be "forced" to accelerate closure plans.

The strike will begin on 8 July at Port Talbot and Tata's Llanwern site in Newport.

For many people going about their business on a pleasantly warm Woodfield Street, Morriston, politics and the general election didn’t fire up enthusiasm. Several said they didn’t vote, while others shrugged and said all politicians were the same.

Rosalind Willis, though, wasn’t buying that argument. “I can’t understand when people say they’re all the same,” said the 70-year-old. “Where have you been?” But start mentioning cost of living pressures, the economy, health service, or public transport, and the spark of interest was ignited.

NHS waiting times in Wales are now the highest on record, according to the latest performance data.

The Welsh Government says the “disappointing” figures for April and May show there is a “long way to go” to reduce waits built up during the pandemic.

In April the number of overall patient pathways increased from just under 768,900 to just over 775,000 – the highest on record.

The government argued that the latest figures could have been affected by a “reduction in activity” during the Easter holiday period.

Plaid Cymru says Wales’ new First Minister, Vaughan Gething, had put waiting times “front and centre” of his leadership campaign – but had so failed to deliver.

First Minister Vaughan Gething has been grilled in the Senedd over a stinking landfill site which is owned by the convicted polluter who donated a huge sum to his leadership campaign.

Residents who live close to the Withyhedge site near Haverfordwest have been complaining for months about the noxious odours emanating there which have left locals “on all fours throwing their guts up”.

It’s owned by Resources Management (UK) Ltd which is part of the Cardiff-based Dauson Environmental Group which made the controversial £200,000 donation to the First Minister’s campaign to become Welsh Labour leader.

The company’s owner, David Neal, has previously received two suspended prison sentences for dumping toxic sludge in the Gwent Levels – a sensitive wetland area near Newport.

Workers at steel giant Tata have launched a work to rule and overtime ban in protest at the company’s plans to close blast furnaces at its Port Talbot plant.

Tata is switching to a greener form of production at the steelworks, which needs fewer workers as a consequence.

Unite said 1,500 of its members based in Port Talbot and Llanwern started industrial action on Tuesday, warning that strikes will be held if the company does not row back on its plans.

The Shadow Welsh Secretary has come under fire for displaying a “patronising and contemptuous” attitude towards Wales in a general election interview.

Jo Stevens was heavily criticised after an interview with Catrin Haf Jones on S4C’s Y Byd yn ei Le programme, during which she backed Wales’ embattled First Minister, claimed HS2 doesn’t exist and refused to commit to devolving policing to Wales – something long called for by Labour in the Senedd.

Asked whether Ms Stevens’ party was “undermining devolution” by ignoring a vote of no confidence in Vaughan Gething, she branded the motion, “a political stunt by the Tories aided and abetted by Plaid Cymru”.

The vote of no confidence passed in First Minister Vaughan Gething has led to tension between members of the Senedd Labour group and the party’s whips office at Westminster, we have been told.

Mr Gething lost the vote earlier this month when two Labour MSs – Hannah Blythyn and Lee Waters abstained on the motion that was supported by all three opposition parties. He has, however, refused to resign.

The motion, moved by the Welsh Conservatives, condemned Mr Gething for accepting donations totalling £200,000 to his Welsh Labour leadership campaign from a businessman who received two suspended jail sentences for illegally dumping toxic sludge in the protected landscape of the Gwent Levels.

Happening on the Welsh version of Wikipedia has led one man to create a brilliant online tool that allows people to learn how to pronounce Welsh placenames.

Dafydd Elfryn has created Map Llais (Voice Map) which features more than a thousand audio files of placenames in Wales, pronounced in local dialect.

It has become a great resource for many visiting Wales and those already living here.

Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth has accused Labour of showing a “complete disregard” for Wales in its General Election manifesto.

The Plaid leader said the document failed to back policies championed by Labour’s First Minister Vaughan Gething.

Mr ap Iorwerth said it demonstrated a “lack of influence” from Welsh Labour on the party’s UK-wide policy platform.

“Labour’s manifesto proves that the party in Wales is powerless under Keir Starmer,” the Plaid leader said.

“The complete disregard towards Wales shown in Labour’s programme for government exposes both Welsh Labour’s lack of influence and the UK leader’s lack of ambition.

“There is nothing on devolving the Crown Estate, nothing on HS2 consequentials for Wales, and nothing on the devolution of justice and policing – all policies supported by Labour in Wales.

The 2019 Labour Manifesto was an inspiration, and I am immensely proud to have stood on it.

For the first time in my life here was a manifesto offering a transformative vision to create a fairer, more equal, greener, socialist society for all based on equality, dignity and social justice, – in my home, Cynon Valley, and across Cymru.

Boris Johnson’s victory was a devastating blow to me, and to socialists everywhere.

Since that election we’ve suffered almost five more years of a Tory UK government. The result is a surprise to no-one; increasing levels of inequality and poverty, especially child poverty; an acceleration in the climate crisis; crumbling public services; the worst cost-of-living crisis in living memory; living standards collapsing.

We at the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales (CPRW), the Welsh countryside charity, call on all political parties to commit to involving local communities in planning decisions and to integrating energy policies that support and benefit rural Wales. Originally named the Council for the Preservation of Rural Wales, the CPRW has worked to secure the protection and enhancement of the country’s landscapes and environment since 1928.

We’re committed and passionate about safeguarding our countryside for the benefit of our communities, biodiversity, rivers, landscapes, language, and culture, and our visitors. We care about our countryside and want people to enjoy and discover its beauty and bounty, and our local members work hard to make this happen. Musician, author, and broadcaster Cerys Matthews is CPRW’s new President. She’s passionate about the Welsh countryside and our values, vision, and cause.

Unelected Welsh Labour officials are threatening to impose a new leader on the party’s Senedd group if Vaughan Gething is ousted, according to senior Labour sources.

If that happened, Wales would be plunged into an unprecedented political crisis.

NationCymru has been told that the threat reflects a growing realisation among those who support Mr Gething that his position as Welsh Labour leader and First Minister is unsustainable and that he will have to step down.

Weeks before he narrowly defeated Jeremy Miles in the leadership election in March, we revealed how Mr Gething had accepted donations totalling £200,000 from a waste company owned by businessman David Neal, who had previously been handed two suspended prison sentences for dumping toxic sludge in the Gwent Levels protected wetland landscape near Cardiff.