Wales (Cymru)

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.

As I grow older, I wonder what legacy I will leave. What have I done, or could I still do, to make things better for those who come after me? When I’m seeking inspiration, all I need to do is think of my friend Esyllt Harker.

Esyllt was a beautiful and respected voice in traditional Welsh song and story, or chwedleua. She passed away 10 years ago, on 31 May 2014, but remains a strong presence in the world of storytelling in Wales.

The First Minister has been caught on camera storming off after being challenged by an ex miner over failings in mental health care in north Wales.

The confrontation took place in Llandudno where Vaughan Gething kicked off the General Election campaign with a speech to the Trade Union Congress at Venue Cymru on Thursday (May 23).

Video footage shows mental health campaigner John Stewart approaching the First Minister outside the Cottage Loaf pub to hand him a copy of a key report by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

The report, which has not yet been made public, looked into the failings of mental health services at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB).

Yr Wyddfa (formerly Snowdon) is the tallest mountain in England and Wales. It’s a phrase that annoys some people. No one ever says Mont Blanc is the tallest mountain in France and Switzerland. Closer to home, we never see England and Scotland paired so frequently, even in the same context. So why are England and Wales so often bundled together?

In this three-part series, I explore some of the historical elements of the relationship between the two neighbours, and their contemporary impacts. We previously looked at the Statute of Rhuddlan of 1284 and its effects on Wales and Welsh society. This time, I examine the two countries being combined into a single jurisdiction. This occurred through the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, which are sometimes erroneously referred to as acts of union.

Charlotte Church has issued a statement announcing she is pulling out of the Hay Festival while taking aim at the festival’s ‘hypocrisy’ of receiving sponsorship from an investment management company with links to Israel and the fossil fuel industry.

The singer was due to appear in a talk with author Mary Loudon but has now withdrawn from the festival ‘in solidarity with the people of Palestine and in protest of the artwashing and greenwashing that is apparent in this sponsorship.’

The Hay Festival runs from 23 May – 2 June.

Party Leader Rhun ap Iorwerth has kicked off Plaid Cymru’s election campaign with a 310 mile round tour of key seats.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the election on Wednesday May 23) night in a rain-soaked press statement in Downing Street, with the date set for July 4.

He made the economy and combating the global security threats facing the UK the key elements of his pitch to the nation as he announced the election date.

A July election is earlier than many in Westminster had expected, with a contest in October or November widely thought to have been more likely.

A health board is on track to meet its “worst case” planned overspend of £60 million this financial year.

That is based on spending during April, the first month of the current financial year, which was around £5m over its planned budget, described as an “adverse variance”.

Robert Holcombe, the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board’s finance chief, said it is working towards a £48.9m projected deficit – that is the difference between the amount of money it receives and how much it actually spends.

He told the board’s May meeting it has planned on making £40m in savings this year and has a worst case scenario of a £60m deficit and a best case of £48.9m.

I wish to begin this column by utterly condemning the choice of language deployed by the Daily Mail when referring to Vaughan Gething in a recent article. An archaic word was used, surely deliberately given the editorial process there, which provoked a high-click-rate reaction from readers. I believe that behaviour to be unacceptable.

The article prompted a statement from the Labour Party in Wales’ BAME Committee. The statement quite rightly, in my view, took aim at the Daily Mail’s language. It is important to note that the statement was issued the day after an emergency meeting of the Labour Senedd Group. At that meeting, supporters of the First Minister claimed that the ongoing scrutiny of Gething’s scandals by the media was racially driven.

Labour's Vaughan Gething said people across Wales are calling for a change of government as Welsh parties geared up for the general election.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ended speculation on Wednesday, saying voters will go to the polls on 4 July.

His party leader in the Senedd, Conservative Andrew RT Davies, said Labour's record in the Welsh government is a "stark warning to the rest of the United Kingdom".

Meanwhile Plaid Cymru said only it will put Wales first.

All slaughterhouses in Wales will soon be required to fit CCTV cameras after regulations were approved by the Senedd.

It will become mandatory for CCTV to be installed in all slaughterhouse areas where live animals are unloaded, kept, handled, stunned, and killed.

The regulations come into force on 1 June, followed by a six-month period before they are enforced on 1 December, the Welsh government said.

The RSPCA said it was "delighted" by the decision, saying it would "help safeguard animal welfare".

CCTV has been compulsory in every abattoir in England, external in all areas where live animals are present since May 2018.

The Labour Party has announced that the surplus funds from Vaughan Gething's campaign to win the Welsh Labour leadership will not be donated to the party. The announcement follows controversy about the environmental convictions of the company that donated £200,000 to Mr Gething's campaign.

Sources from Mr Gething's campaign had previously said that the money would be given to the party and that the First Minister wanted the money to be used to support diversity programmes. However the £31,000 that remains unspent from the huge war chest of £254,000 the Cardiff South and Penarth MS amassed during the leadership race will now be given to "progressive causes".

A Welsh Labour Party spokesperson said: "As agreed by the Officers of the Welsh Executive Committee, Vaughan Gething is donating surplus funds from his campaign to wider progressive causes."

A divide in Welsh Labour over the leadership of the First Minister appears to have deepened further over the weekend with one senior source declaring, “we can’t carry on like this”.

It comes amid claims by Vaughan Gething’s backers that scrutiny of him is racially driven.

Sources told Nation.Cymru the comments were made during an emergency meeting on Friday evening of Labour politicians following a tumultuous week which saw one member of the First Minister’s Cabinet sacked.

Plaid Cymru announced on Friday it had axed the co-operation agreement with the Welsh Government over concerns about the First Minister’s judgement.

The agreement was not due to end until December this year.