Wales (Cymru)

Transport for Wales has defended its latest annual report after the Welsh Conservatives condemned it as “grim reading”.

The Welsh Government owned not for profit rail operator published its 2023 / 2024 report on Wednesday (July 31).

It revealed details of its latest achievements and successes as well as its expenditure figures including staffing costs and new trains.

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens has cast further doubts over the £1bn plan to electrify the north Wales rail mainline, stating she “suspects the money isn’t there".

The new Labour UK government is reviewing all infrastructure plans, including rail projects, amid a major spending review prompted by a £22bn gap in public finances.

The north Wales electrification plan was a key part of the previous Conservative government’s transport proposals.

Dozens of residents are opposed to plans to knock down some garages as part of a scheme to develop 20 new flats.

Cardiff Council’s planning committee will make a decision on the plans for the small parade along Fishguard Road, Llanishen at a meeting on Thursday, August 1.

The main concerns that residents have about the development, which will consist of mainly of one and two-bedroom flats if approved, is that it could increase the strain on local services and lead to an increase in criminal activity.

New polling on voting intentions at a Senedd election suggests that Plaid Cymru is running just 1% behind Labour – a sensational finding that raises the possibility of Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth becoming First Minister in less than two years’ time.

The figures suggest that the scandals involving outgoing First Minister Vaughan Gething, coupled with increasing disillusionment about the quality of public service delivery, have seriously damaged Labour and threaten to dislodge it from the leading role it’s had in Wales politics for more than a century.

New polling on voting intentions at a Senedd election suggests that Plaid Cymru is running just 1% behind Labour – a sensational finding that raises the possibility of Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth becoming First Minister in less than two years’ time.

The figures suggest that the scandals involving outgoing First Minister Vaughan Gething, coupled with increasing disillusionment about the quality of public service delivery, have seriously damaged Labour and threaten to dislodge it from the leading role it’s had in Wales politics for more than a century.

New polling on voting intentions at a Senedd election suggests that Plaid Cymru is running just 1% behind Labour – a sensational finding that raises the possibility of Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth becoming First Minister in less than two years’ time.

The figures suggest that the scandals involving outgoing First Minister Vaughan Gething, coupled with increasing disillusionment about the quality of public service delivery, have seriously damaged Labour and threaten to dislodge it from the leading role it’s had in Wales politics for more than a century.

If the 2024 General Election results in Wales tell us anything, it’s that the Welsh Conservatives are in a lot of trouble.

In Wales, the Conservatives not only lost all the seats they held, they were beaten handsomely in nearly all of them. In only four seats were they within 5% of the winning party, while the party saw large majorities overturned in areas like Monmouthshire, and Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr; the latter of which had never returned a Labour MP in its long history as the constituency of Montgomeryshire.

MS Society Cymru is thrilled to announce that a group of Year 8 students from Bryntirion Comprehensive School in Bridgend has won the First Give competition, securing a £1,000 prize for our charity. This victory brings their total donation to an impressive £1,305, marking a significant achievement in youth-led fundraising and awareness efforts for multiple sclerosis (MS).

The First Give School Final saw 13-year-old students Pranay, Ben, Iestyn, Ollie, Kathleen, and Daniel from class 8T deliver a powerful presentation about MS and the work of MS Society Cymru. Their dedication, creativity, and passion for the cause set them apart from seven other presentations, earning them the top prize.

During an interview with Ciaran Jenkins for Channel 4 during the general election, Rhun ap Iorweth was asked about NATO membership for an independent Wales. The Plaid Cymru leader said a relationship with NATO would be important to Wales, but that he’d prefer some form of associate membership, akin to Ireland’s relationship with NATO.

So, for the time being, NATO membership for an independent Wales is off the cards in Plaid Cymru’s vision for the country. What other options for defence policy could the party consider?

Plaid Cymru has renewed calls for the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales following the announcement of record £1.1bn profits earlier today (24 July).

The Crown Estate said earnings surged by more than £658 million during the year ending March 31, from £443 million the previous year.

The spike in profits was mainly down to option fees, payments made by companies to reserve a patch of the seabed to eventually build their wind turbines on.

Child poverty expert turned Welsh Labour MP Torsten Bell has defended his decision to vote against scrapping the two child benefit cap, despite arguing in favour of doing so for years.

Until being elected to Parliament as the MP for Swansea West at the general election, Mr Bell was chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, a think tank that specialises in the study of poverty and how to relieve it.

Three different groups of health campaigners have expressed anger at the prospect of Health Secretary Eluned Morgan becoming First Minister.

With Jeremy Miles’ decision not to stand in the Welsh Labour leadership election called following Vaughan Gething’s resignation, it is considered highly likely that she will be the only candidate for the post when nominations close at noon on Wednesday July 24.

If that happens, the Senedd will almost certainly be recalled to elect Baroness Morgan as First Minister. If, however, there is more than one nomination, Mr Gething will stay on as Acting First Minister until after the result of the election is known on September 14.

Health Minister Eluned Morgan seems likely to become the new First Minister after former contender Jeremy Miles announced he would not be standing to replace Vaughan Gething.

Mr Gething resigned last Tuesday, July 16, following months of controversy over donations totalling £200,000 that he took from a convicted criminal and the revelation that he had deleted messages during the Covid crisis because he feared they could be disclosed under freedom of information legislation. He subsequently lied to the UK Covid Inquiry.

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.