Wales (Cymru)

A battle to save Blackwood Miners’ Institute from being “mothballed” looks set to drag on, complicated by the venue’s charitable status.

Caerphilly County Borough Council leader Sean Morgan announced today (Thursday September 19) a decision on the historic site’s future would be postponed while the local authority takes legal advice.

The council has proposed mothballing the cultural venue – which it currently subsidises to the tune of £347,000 annually – because of the need to make a further £45 million in budget savings over the next two years.

A Welsh Labour minister defended cuts to winter fuel payments for most pensioners in a debate on Wednesday.

Conservatives challenged Labour in the Senedd to back calls for the UK government to reverse the plans, warning they will have a "devastating impact" with an estimated 500,000 losing up to £300 this winter.

But Jane Hutt, Social Justice Secretary, said "difficult decisions" were being taken because of a £22bn "black hole" in UK public finances.

Plaid Cymru will lead a debate in the Senedd this afternoon calling for the Welsh Government to honour NHS commitments made by the last three First Ministers.

Former FMs Mark Drakeford and Vaughan Gething both made promises to tackle long waiting lists which now stand at a record breaking high in Wales.

In an interview with Politics Wales at the weekend, the newly installed First Minister Eluned Morgan sparked a row with health bosses after saying she would hold them to account on getting long waits down.

The junior minister who was sacked by Vaughan Gething after being falsely accused of leaking messages to the media has been elected the Chair of the Senedd’s Standards of Conduct Committee.

Hannah Blythyn was removed from her Welsh Government role of Social Partnership Minister by the former First Minister in May.

Mr Gething claimed she was the source of a screen grab leaked to Nation.Cymru from a Covid-era ministerial group chat.

A Welsh Scout leader has made his fiftieth delivery of life-saving medical aid to Ukraine.

Shaun Hopkins, a 45-year-old IT expert and Scouts volunteer from Newport, began making the 2,500 mile round trip shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Since then, he has spent around 500 days on the road ferrying medical equipment to Ukraine in a transit van and this week delivered 12 hospital beds donated by Cardiff University.

“Like many people, we were sat at home as a family watching the full scale invasion unfolding on TV,” Hopkins told Nation.Cymru from the town of Ivano-Frankivsk. “We had a discussion, with my teenage sons and my wife, about what was going on.

The Welsh Government has withdrawn a Bill that would have introduced a legal mechanism aimed at ensuring the Senedd was gender-balanced.

Instead it will issue voluntary guidance to political parties in advance of candidate selection for the next Senedd election in 2026.

The decision does not come as a great surprise, given that there were serious doubts about whether enforcing gender balance was within the Senedd’s competence. Laws relating to the policy area of equality are reserved to Westminster.

Both ‘the Prince of Wales’ as a title and the person who holds it have a unique but controversial place in Welsh culture and society. There are some in Wales who dislike both and want them gone, and some who love that the title exists and see the person who holds it as being an honour for Wales as a country and as part of the UK. Some view the very existence of the title as proof that Wales is, or is seen as, inferior or beholden to England.

Yet the title itself holds no true power and its holder performs no real function in modern Wales. Perhaps it should either be endowed with real meaning, or done away with, one or the other?

First Minister Eluned Morgan says she will "undoubtedly fall out" with the UK Labour government as she tries to realise her own plans for Wales.

She told BBC Politics Wales that as first minister she would have a "country first, party second" approach.

Asked whether she would be prepared to have difficult conversations with her Labour colleagues in Westminster when it comes to asking for more funding for Wales, Morgan said she would be "standing up for Wales".

The election of a Labour government in both Cardiff and London has been heralded as a "restart" in the relationship between the Welsh and UK governments following hostilities with the Conservatives.

For many, deep in the Valleys of South Wales, poverty is the grim reality of daily life.

Utility bills rise, school transport is cut, shops in the high-street close down and inflation bites. Austerity has done a lot to decimate the coalfields of Wales, leaving the population reeling in it’s wake.

These people are scared, poor, confused and unsure how to dig themselves out of this hole. Snake oil salesmen like Nigel Farage have opportunistically seized this shared plight in an attempt to elevate themselves materially and politically.

Tears flowed as relatives of the victims were in the audience for a premiere of a poignant new opera to mark the 90th anniversary of the Gresford Colliery Disaster.

There was a standing ovation at the end of the emotionally charged performance of Gresford – Up From Underground on the opening night of the North Wales International Music Festival at St Asaph Cathedral.

It told the story of how 266 men and boys were killed when a massive underground explosion and fire ripped through the pit near Wrexham on September 22, 1934.

First Minister Eluned Morgan has today announced above-inflation pay awards for hundreds of thousands of public sector workers in Wales.

NHS staff, teachers and public sector workers in many devolved services will receive pay rises of between 5% and 6% in 2024-25.

The announcement comes as the Welsh Government has accepted the pay recommendations from independent pay review bodies in full

After months of denying it would be closing Ynyslas Visitor Centre, National Resources Wales (NRW) announced its intention to close, not just one, but three of the successful and much-visited mid-Wales visitor centres it manages – Ynyslas, Coed y Brenin, and Bwylch Nant y Arian.

This area of Wales relies heavily on the visitors from all over the world it hosts each year, bringing much-needed money and employment to the area. These three visitor centres provide for over 750,000 people annually.

To commemorate Owain Glyndŵr, the last native Prince of Wales, children will be able to visit all Cadw locations across Wales for free.

On Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 September, families will be able to visit monuments and learn about the history of Wales and its people – including Owain Glyndŵr – who played such a pivotal role in shaping the history of Wales.

Owain Glyndŵr Day is celebrated annually on 16 September and marks the proclamation of the Welsh national hero becoming Prince of Wales in 1400.

Welsh athletes have brought home a grand total of 16 medals from the Paris Paralympics.

The haul includes 7 Golds, 5 Silvers, and 4 Bronzes.

That's an improvement on Tokyo 2020, where athletes won 4 Gold, 3 Silver, 7 Bronze- totalling 14 medals.

Vaughan Gething, the Labour former first minister of Wales who stood down following a series of scandals, has announced he will not seek re-election for the Senedd.

Mr Gething, the MS for Cardiff South and Penarth, said it had been “an immense honour” to serve his constituents and in the Welsh Government as he made the announcement.

On X, formerly Twitter, he wrote: “I have spoken to the First Minister to confirm that I will not be seeking a role in government and that I will support her leadership as a backbencher.”

Campaigners have accused the Welsh Government of committing a democratic outrage by allowing work to start on a controversial new cancer hospital before the Full Business Case has been approved.

Members of the Save the Northern Meadows group have argued that the New Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff should be built next to an existing general hospital rather than as a standalone unit on a much-loved green space that has now been destroyed.

The UNESCO Convention (the Convention) for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) came into force in 2006, but was not ratified by the UK until this year. It is now being implemented here.

Heritage helps to define who we are. Heritage has an historical aspect, but can also be contemporaneous as heritage is (re)created. It can also be destroyed, forgotten, or unacknowledged. For instance, in Wales, Anglicisation has had a negative effect on heritage rooted in the Welsh language – although that same influence has created heritage in the Anglo-Welsh realm.

Up to 50 jobs could go in Wales as the BBC implements budget cuts, starting in 2025.

BBC Wales said cuts will come from 746 staff members, with 25 to 30 editorial and production roles, and 20 jobs in the operations department set to go.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) called for urgent reconsideration of the cuts saying it would "further hollow out local news provision".

“BBC Wales, like the rest of the corporation is having to make savings to achieve the overall target set out by the director general in March," BBC Cymru Wales director Rhuanedd Richards said in a statement.

The Welsh Government has confirmed that all pupils in maintained primary schools across Wales are now able to receive a free school meal from this week.

The roll-out of the programme has now been completed as pupils return from the summer break, meaning every child up to and including Year 6 is now able to receive a free school meal from Monday to Friday during term time.

The introduction of universal free school meals for primary school pupils was part of the Co-operation Agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.

A council leader has slammed the Welsh Government funding formula used to calculate how much money the local authorities receive annually, claiming his council has been short-changed by more than £210m in seven years.

Conwy Council leader Cllr Charlie McCoubrey says the amount of money given to Conwy in its local government settlement is not enough, arguing it compares drastically unfavourably to the sums received by Gwynedd and Denbighshire.

In December both Conwy and Gwynedd came bottom of the local government settlement table of 22 Welsh authorities with just a 2% budget rise.

A notice of motion has been submitted calling for the removal of a council leader and his cabinet following the ‘disastrous’ botched launch of a new recycling scheme.

The independent group on Denbighshire council, who submitted the motion, has called for an extraordinary meeting to discuss the removal of leader Cllr Jason McLellan and his nine cabinet members due to a ‘public loss of confidence’.

There is alarm about plans to build a dam on the Afon Cynfal near Llan Ffestiniog in Eryri. It would divert, at times, just short of 70% of the water around the iconic waterfall of Rhaeadr y Cwm, as part of a hydroelectric scheme.

Plans have been submitted for a hydroelectric scheme at Cwm Cynfal three times over the past 30 years. Three times they have been either refused or withdrawn. But in July this year the developers formally submitted another application. The deadline for objections is 20 September. Can you help?

The economic case against independence is infected by old thinking.

It has long been assumed, largely without challenge, that Wales is simply too small, too weak and too poor to make its own way in the world.

It follows from this attitude that we are doomed to eke out a living, subsisting and dependent on Westminster subsidies and being told what to do by the London establishment is an intrinsic part of the bargain.

The price of being a perceived subsidy baby is obedience.

Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens has been lobbying for disgraced former First Minister Vaughan Gething to be given a seat in the House of Lords, Nation.Cymru has been told by a political source.

But while Ms Stevens herself has not responded to our questions on the matter, the suggestion that she has been pushing for Mr Gething to get a peerage has been denied vehemently by a UK Government source.

Mr Gething resigned as First Minister in July following a succession of scandals. He accepted donations totalling £200,000 from a waste group whose owner David Neal had been given two suspended prison sentences for dumping toxic sludge in the precious landscape of the Gwent Levels

The Bank Holiday weekend is expected to draw crowds of walkers to Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), many of whom will queue patiently for their turn to take a summit photo. Most will pause for a drink, a bite to eat and some well-deserved rest.

Whether intentionally or not, some will contribute to the litter problem that has marred the mountain in recent years. The British Mountaineering Council (BMC), one of several groups striving to keep the peak rubbish-free, suggests that many items are discarded unintentionally.

"In our experience, most people will try to pick up what they have dropped," said a spokesperson. "But they can't if their litter has blown out of reach and in an inaccessible location."

Every now and then, I come across a group of people fighting for a cause so passionately that it inspires me to look closer. Often these causes are worlds away from me personally, and so I spend a while admiring the voracity of those fighting for what they believe in, and ultimately move on. This was until I discovered a group seeking safety and security for their children in Rhondda Cynon Taff, my own backyard. What I found in this group was a collection of parents fighting tooth and nail, not just for their children, but all those in their community as well.

This is their story, their fight, and my way of trying to help their cause in whatever way I can.

Welsh Labour has been accused of a “cynical attempt to harvest data” after launching a “listening” consultation asking for the public’s views on Welsh Government policies.

Labour MSs posted a link to X, formerly Twitter, encouraging people to fill in the online form on Friday (August 23).

Sharing the link, MS for Cynon Valley Vikki Howells posted: “👂First Minister @Eluned_Morgan wants to know what your priorities are for Wales.

You can let the First Minister, Deputy FM @huw4ogmore and the @WelshLabour team know by completing this online feedback form.”

With the summer recess, when theoretically politics take a break, it’s been three weeks since the last instalment of Wales on Wednesday. What a turbulent few weeks it’s been. We’ve seen shocking scenes as race riots raged up and down the UK, with several attempted pogroms taking place.

Hundreds have been arrested and many sent to prison so far for their parts in these shameful episodes. People have received significant custodial sentences for racial hatred, looting Shoezone and other shops, assaulting police officers, attacking members of the public, and inciting racial hatred online.

YesCymru Penybont is organising an exhibition and competition in collaboration with Queen Street Gallery in Neath, with the prize of a solo exhibition at Studio 40, Neath in 2025. This is a fantastic opportunity for artists to raise their profiles – and anyone can enter, amateur or professional.

The theme for this competition and exhibition is the ‘Art of Independence’. You’re invited to explore what nation-building and self-determination mean for you. How do you feel we can make and remake Cymru, developing new ideas and giving artistic expression to problem-solving and innovation? How do we turn imagination into reality for a better Cymru?

A council is asking for people’s views on the latest and final phase of a new active tavel route along a former railway line.

Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) Council has launched a consultation into phase five of the Rhondda Fach Active Travel Route which will be a new walking and cycling route between Maerdy and Stanleytown in the Rhondda Fach Valley.

The route will follow the alignment of the former railway line along the valley floor and will include links to local communities, shops, schools and leisure facilities.

The route has been split into five phases. Phase one was completed in January, 2024 and phase two was completed in July 2024.

The Welsh Government has clarified that Eluned Morgan’s “listen to Wales” summer engagement programme does not actually entail any pre-advertised events at which people can turn up to ask her questions or put points to her.

Recently the new First Minister said: “I want to lead a Wales where everyone’s voice is heard, and everyone gets a chance to contribute. That’s why this summer, I am spending time out in all parts of Wales — listening to you about your priorities for the future.”

In a video posted to social media, Baroness Morgan said: “Hi, I’m Eluned Morgan. I’m the First Minister of Wales and the leader of the Labour Party in Wales. Tonight we’ve had the first of our engagement programmes – our formal engagement programmes – with the public.

Plaid Cymru is confident it can go on to win Labour “strongholds” after falling agonisingly short of a recent by-election victory.

The leader of the Plaid group in the Caerphilly County Borough Council’s chamber believes the result is a positive sign his party can challenge across the borough at the 2027 local government elections.

A single vote separated Labour winner Christine Bissex-Foster and Plaid candidate Joshua McCarthy in the race to become the new county councillor for the Aberbargoed and Bargoed ward on August 15.

Mark Thomas, the candidate for the Green Party, finished third in the by-election.

One of Welsh Labour’s most senior figures in the early years of devolution has accused successive Welsh governments of failing to deliver the economic benefits the Senedd was intended to bring to Wales.

Andrew Davies was part of the core team that organised Labour’s campaign in the 1997 referendum that resulted in the creation of the National Assembly two years later. He was elected to be the first Assembly Member for Swansea West and later served as Economy Minister.

He left the Assembly in 2011 and is now an honorary professor at Swansea University.

A madcap comedy from a Welsh theatre group has quickly become a smash hit at Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

‘Stiff’ by Merthyr playwright Anthony Bunko and his Gurnwah Theatre Company has played to sold-out audiences, received incredible reviews and been shortlisted for a prestigious festival award.

Not bad then considering the lengths the writer and cast had to go to raise the money to perform at the fringe.

Welsh social media users have criticised a BBC newsreader over her pronunciation of one of Wales’ favourite national parks.

BBC newsreader Catherine Byaruhang was seemingly unprepared when it came to pronouncing Bannau Brycheiniog on today’s BBC news.

In a story about the increase in the numbers of tourists visiting the “Instagrammable” national park, she mangled her words badly when attempting to pronounce the name of one of the most stunning parts of Wales.

When the clip was posted online the newsreader was criticised by many from Wales on social media.

Filming for the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special is expected to begin in Barry Island, co-writer James Corden has suggested.

The finale of the BBC hit comedy has been highly-anticipated by fans, who have not seen new content from the series since 2019.

Corden, alongside writing partner Ruth Jones, confirmed last month that the script for the episode - which will be the last one - was complete.

Now, he has said he is spending the next seven weeks in south Wales, in the town forever associated with the show.

When Jurgen Klopp was unveiled as the new Liverpool FC manager in October 2015, there was a tangible air of optimism at the club. Huddled into a press conference room, Klopp plucked this emotion right out of the air and translated it into words. “You have to change from a doubter to a believer,” he said. “We have to start together, new, and then we will see what will happen.”

Fast forward nine years, and we, today in Wales, deeply resonate with this sentiment. The Liverpool of late 2015 and present-day Wales are similar on paper. Both experienced turbulent times for over 25 years. Both recently divorced from unpopular leaders who made questionable decisions. Both have been in need of a new direction and a reminder of their identity. And both need visionary investment to truly thrive.

The President of the Football Association of Wales, Stephen Williams, has resigned.

The governing body of Welsh football has not revealed the reason why he has left.

The Football Association of Wales said last month that Mr Williams, 60, had been suspended while an investigation was carried out.

A recent post highlighting some relatively un-preposing farm-land for sale in Treochy, the Rhondda Valley, South Wales saw a huge surge of interest on the Land for sustainable development in Wales – including OPD group this week.

The post was shared from the group around 30 times and saw dozens of new people join in a matter of hours.

There wasn’t anything of particular merit or interest about the listing that set it apart as being in any way special, but for some reason it caught people’s imagination.

This week, thousands of people have descended on the National Eisteddfod, a festival celebrating the Welsh language - but not all of them spoke Welsh.

People in Rhondda Cynon Taf, which is not a Welsh language heartland, currently have Europe's largest cultural festival on their doorsteps.

But what is it like to go along, to take in the activities and entertainment, when you do not speak the language?

One Pontypridd resident said she had never heard so much Welsh being spoken in the area and it made her wish she knew more, but others felt the festival could do more to cater to learners.