#plaid-cymru — Public Fediverse posts

"It was a fantastic, inspirational speech. But don't think it's going to happen in a few months. It will take time and people need to realise that."

#UKPol #WelshPol #PlaidCymru

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/a-buoyant-mood-among-plaid-cymru-faithful-but-there-is-much-to-do/ar-AA2duwyV

https://www.aberystwyth.net/diesel-reaches-199-9p-aberystwyth-ben-lake-fuel-duty-relief

#aberystwyth #westminster #plaidcymru #wales #petrol #diesel

https://www.europesays.com/videos/107435/ Are plans to kerb M4 congestion a bridge too far? | Sharp End #conservatives #itv #ItvNews #ITVNewsInFull #ItvWales #Labour #M4 #M4ReliefRoad #MenaiBridge #Newport #PartyConference #PlaidCymru #ReformUK #SharpEnd

https://www.europesays.com/uk/1239036/ Calls for greater support of Wales’ defence industry backed #Britain #DefenceFirm #GreatBritain #ICNNSeneddReporter #Labour #PlaidCymru #ReformUK #Senedd #UK #UnitedKingdom #Wales #WelshConservatives #WelshGovernment

The demands of Welsh devolution are simple: just give us what Scotland has | Will Hayward
By Will Hayward

Andy Burnham is a Westminster leader whom Welsh nationalists could finally work with - but only if he stands up to the devo-sceptics in UK Labour

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/04/demands-welsh-devolution-scotland-andy-burnham

#Welshpolitics #Devolution #Wales #RhunapIorwerth #PlaidCymru #Labour #AndyBurnham #UKnews #Politics #TheGuardian #WillHayward

The demands of Welsh devolution are simple: just give us what Scotland has | Will Hayward https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/04/demands-welsh-devolution-scotland-andy-burnham #WelshPolitics #Devolution #Wales #RhunApIorwerth #PlaidCymru #Labour #AndyBurnham #UkNews #Politics

https://www.europesays.com/videos/105095/ Is it over for Zack Polanski if he loses the by-election? | BBC News #AndyBurnham #bbc #BBCNews #Burnham #Election #GreenParty #news #PlaidCymru #polanski #UKPolitics #Wales #WelshPolitics #ZackPolanski

https://www.europesays.com/uk/1234736/ Plaid Cymru say Wales couldn’t afford Brexit and call for UK to rejoin the EU #EU #Europe #European #EuropeanUnion #LizSavilleRoberts #Llandudno #PlaidCymru #Politics

https://www.europesays.com/videos/104440/ Watch LIVE: First Minister Rhun ap Iorweth’s speech at the Plaid Cymru conference #Burnham #conference #FirstMinister #GOVERNMENT #greens #itv #ItvNews #PlaidCymru #politics #PrimeMinister #RhunApLorweth #Wales

Welsh first minister calls on Burnham to deliever ‘new deal’ on devolution
By Bethan McKernan, Wales correspondent

Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth says he has asked PM to ‘put Wales on equal footing with Scotland as bare minimum’

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/oct/02/welsh-first-minister-rhun-ap-iorwerth-andy-burnham-devolution-wales-plaid-cymru

#RhunapIorwerth #Devolution #PlaidCymru #Welshgovernment #AndyBurnham #Welshpolitics #Labour #Politics #Wales #UKnews #TheGuardian #BethanMcKernan #Walescorrespondent

Welsh first minister calls on Burnham to deliever ‘new deal’ on devolution https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/oct/02/welsh-first-minister-rhun-ap-iorwerth-andy-burnham-devolution-wales-plaid-cymru #RhunApIorwerth #Devolution #PlaidCymru #WelshGovernment #AndyBurnham #WelshPolitics #Labour #Politics #Wales #UkNews

How could Britain look under proportional representation? See the results for your area
By Antonio Voce and Ashley Kirk

These visualisations from exclusive polling modelling show how the UK parliament could change under different voting systems

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2026/sep/30/how-could-britain-look-under-proportional-representation-see-the-results-for-your-area

#Electoralreform #Proportionalrepresentation #Firstpastthepost #Politics #UKnews #Labour #LiberalDemocrats #Greenparty #ScottishNationalpartySNP #PlaidCymru #ReformUK #Conservatives #RestoreBritain #London #TheGuardian #AntonioVoce #AshleyKirk

https://www.europesays.com/videos/102586/ WAL SHARP END FULL PROG FOR WEB 290926 #AndreaBenfield #AndyBurnham #conservatives #itv #ItvNews #ITVNewsInFull #ItvWales #Labour #PlaidCymru #ReformUK #senedd #SharpEnd #StephenKinnock #WelshPolitics

Small window for Welsh additional learning needs funding deal, politicians told https://www.byteseu.com/2408596/ #ElinJones #KenSkates #PlaidCymru #Politics #RhunApIorwerth #WelshGovernment #WelshLabour

Russian foreign minister questions ‘what will become of UK’ and future of ‘the Celts’

Russia’s foreign minister has questioned the future of the UK, suggesting it looks uncertain with “the Celts” looking…
#EuropeSays #Russia #foreignminister #Ireland #PlaidCymru #Scotland #ScotlandandNorthernIreland #SergeyLavrov #theCelts #Wales
https://www.europesays.com/russia/69967/

" #Berlin will most likely now be governed by a Left-Greens-SPD coalition. Perhaps most striking was that a clear majority of young women (54%) voted for the “far-left” party, representing a broader #LeftWing trend among young women that continues to be ignored by most media and politics representatives."

Similarly, look at the demographics campaigning for and voting for the #Greens here in the UK, and the #SNP in Scotland and #PlaidCymru in Wales.

#EUPol #UKPol

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/26/europe-election-trends-far-right-success-defeatist-narratives-germany

LABOUR WIPEOUT: Only Gower and Cardiff East left standing in Wales if an election were held tomorrow, YouGov model says

If a general election were held tomorrow, Labour would be left with two MPs in the whole of Wales, and one of them would be Gower’s Tonia Antoniazzi, according to YouGov’s new seat-by-seat model.

Swansea West, Neath and Swansea East, Llanelli, Aberafan Maesteg and Bridgend would all go. Across Wales the map is carved up between Plaid Cymru, projected to win 15 seats, and Reform UK on 14. The other Labour survivor is Cardiff East.

The projection comes from YouGov’s MRP, a model that takes a very large national survey and works out how each of the 632 seats in Great Britain would vote. This one is the pollster’s first since Andy Burnham entered Downing Street, built on nearly 17,000 interviews between 23 August and 18 September.

Across the UK it makes Labour the largest party in a hung parliament on 241 seats, down 170 on 2024, with the Conservatives on 130 and Reform UK on 123. YouGov says that is a marked recovery for Labour on its model a year ago, which had Reform close to a majority.

Wales is the exception. Labour won 27 of the 32 Welsh seats in 2024. YouGov’s central estimate now gives it two, which the pollster says would be the party’s worst Westminster result in Wales since 1906, and it notes that any “Burnham bounce” visible in England is far more muted here. The 32nd seat, Monmouthshire, is a narrow Conservative gain.

YouGov’s seat-by-seat map for all 632 seats in Great Britain. Zoom in for south-west Wales. Source: YouGov plc, 2026, © All rights reserved

Seat by seat: Gower held by three points, Neath and Swansea East gone by 11

Gower: Antoniazzi 26%, Reform 23%, Plaid 17%, Conservatives 15%. A three-point hold in the seat she has represented since 2017, and where she was among the first Labour MPs to call on Keir Starmer to go after May’s Senedd result.

Swansea West: Plaid 31%, Reform 24%, Labour 17%. Torsten Bell, the Treasury minister who took the seat in 2024, would be third, seven points behind Plaid.

Neath and Swansea East: Reform 34%, Labour 23%, Plaid 18%. The biggest projected Reform lead in the region, 11 points over Carolyn Harris, who backed Starmer to stay in May when Antoniazzi did not.

Aberafan Maesteg: Plaid 33%, Reform 30%, Labour 20%. Stephen Kinnock, the Secretary of State for Wales, would be third in his own seat. YouGov names him alongside Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant in Rhondda and Ogmore as cabinet ministers trailing both Plaid and Reform.

Llanelli: Plaid 34%, Reform 33%, Labour 11%. A one-point fight between Plaid and Reform, with Nia Griffith’s Labour a distant third.

Bridgend: Reform 23%, Labour 23%, Plaid 20%. A dead heat on the rounded figures; YouGov’s underlying numbers put Reform just ahead of Chris Elmore.

Further west the picture is steadier for the incumbents who are not Labour. Ann Davies would hold Caerfyrddin for Plaid on 43% to Reform’s 27%, and Ben Lake’s Ceredigion Preseli is one of the safest seats in Wales at 51%.

Two others are on a knife edge. In Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, the Liberal Democrats’ David Chadwick trails Reform 24% to 23%. In Mid and South Pembrokeshire, Reform leads on 28% with Labour’s Henry Tufnell fourth on 18%.

Why YouGov says the Reform seats are the shakiest

The model comes with a health warning of its own. YouGov says 37% of all seats are decided by five points or less, and that rises to two thirds of the seats Reform wins, which makes them vulnerable to tactical voting. Its research suggests around two thirds of Lib Dem and Green voters would switch to Labour in a straight Labour v Reform contest, enough to overturn Reform’s lead in most of those seats.

Locally that matters most in Neath and Swansea East, Bridgend and Mid and South Pembrokeshire, the three seats where Reform is projected to take a Labour seat directly. It does nothing for Labour where the challenger is Plaid.

YouGov also warns against reading too much into any single seat: the model works from demographics and past voting, cannot yet prompt for candidate names, and is less reliable where local factors are strong.

A general election is not due until 2029. But the model lands four months after Plaid Cymru won the Senedd election and formed a Welsh Government, and it suggests the shift of Welsh voters away from Labour in May has not reversed with the change of Prime Minister.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

SWANSEA: Gower MP Tonia Antoniazzi calls on Keir Starmer to step aside, as Swansea East’s Carolyn Harris backs him to stay
Where the two Swansea MPs stood in May.

SENEDD ELECTION: Rhun ap Iorwerth to lead Plaid minority government after historic victory ends 27 years of Labour rule
The May result the new model echoes.

REFORM WALES: Neath-born former teacher Helen Jenner is the party’s new Senedd leader
Reform’s change at the top in the Senedd this week.

More on Welsh Labour

https://www.europesays.com/videos/99148/ Plaid Cymru’s programme for government – a bold pledge or shifting the goalposts? | Sharp End #conservatives #EdDavey #HelenJenner #itv #ItvNews #ITVNewsInFull #LabourParty #LiberalDemocrats #NigelFarage #PlaidCymru #ReformUK #RhunApIorwerth #senedd #SharpEnd #WelshGovernment #WelshPolitics

https://www.europesays.com/uk/1219163/ Concern that Wales’ new ‘ethical framework’ for defence sector could cost jobs #AdamPrice #Britain #GreatBritain #ICNNSeneddReporter #JanetFinchSaundersAM #JasonO'Connell #Labour #PlaidCymru #ReformUK #Senedd #ShavTaj #UK #UnitedKingdom #Wales

NEATH PORT TALBOT: Council leader Steve Hunt quits and admits he got so drunk he fell over

Neath Port Talbot‘s council leader has stepped down, and admitted he got so drunk at a private function that he fell over.

The council announced on Monday that Cllr Steve Hunt had resigned as leader for personal reasons.

In the council’s statement, he said the role carried “a significant level of responsibility, time and commitment”, and whoever held it should be able to give it “the full attention and dedication it deserves”.

He said: “For personal reasons, I no longer have the time and capacity required to give the role the commitment necessary to do it justice.”

He added: “This is not a decision I have taken lightly, and I remain committed to serving the people of Neath Port Talbot.”

But in a fuller statement of his own, the Independent councillor admitted he “drank far too much alcohol” at an invitation-only event and “did fall over later in the evening”.

He said: “I am not proud of that and I accept that, as someone holding a senior elected position, I should have exercised better judgement.”

He also admitted saying he wanted to “wipe out” Plaid Cymru politically, the party that has run the council with his Independents since 2022.

He said the heated discussions were about the Wales Communities First Independent Party, which he has registered.

He said: “That was an inappropriate political comment made while I was intoxicated, and I accept responsibility for it.”

He said the remark should be understood as “political banter and disagreement at the end of a long evening, rather than as a threat”. He apologised “unreservedly” to the Plaid Cymru group leader the following morning.

He said he had since sought views from senior colleagues in the Welsh Local Government Association, and understood that former Rhondda Cynon Taf Council leader Andrew Morgan, who was also at the event, had described his conduct as exemplary apart from the fact that he was drunk.

Hunt denies gin brag and attacking the Welsh language

Cllr Hunt rejected claims he had bragged about drinking a whole bottle of gin.

He said he had told people he “had drunk a considerable amount of gin”, but only to explain why he was so intoxicated.

He also “strongly” rejected suggestions he had criticised the Welsh language or described spending on it as a “waste of time”.

He said his three children had gone to Welsh-medium schools, and he had done a year-long course to learn Welsh himself.

His criticism that night, he said, was aimed at Welsh Government spending decisions, including the Revenue Support Grant and Additional Learning Needs provision, not at the language.

Seven Sisters councillor says he had already decided to quit

Cllr Hunt said he was aware a coalition meeting had been held to discuss his conduct. But he said he had already decided to resign, for personal reasons he had discussed with the council’s chief executive.

He said the job was “extremely demanding”, he had been dealing with family matters, and he had used the event “as an opportunity to switch off from those pressures”.

He added: “That explains the circumstances; it does not excuse my behaviour.”

He will stay on as the Independent councillor for Crynant, Onllwyn and Seven Sisters.

Plaid Cymru’s Alun Llewelyn runs Neath Port Talbot until 14 October

Deputy leader Cllr Alun Llewelyn will carry out the leader’s functions until the post is filled, the council says. A new leader will be appointed at a full council meeting currently scheduled for 14 October.

Cllr Hunt became leader in 2022 at the head of a Rainbow Coalition of Independent, Plaid Cymru, Liberal Democrat and Green councillors, the first administration not run by Labour since the council was created in 1996.

He was reappointed at every annual meeting since, most recently in May. In February he wrote to the Welsh Rugby Union warning that cutting the Ospreys would “disenfranchise a significant supporter base”.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Improvements for ‘towns, villages and valleys’ priority for new Neath Port Talbot coalition cabinet
How the Rainbow Coalition set out its stall in 2022.

Reappointed council leader vows to fight for more funding
Cllr Hunt’s 2024 warning over Welsh Government money.

Neath Port Talbot Council leader wades into Ospreys row with blistering warning to WRU
His February letter to the Welsh Rugby Union.

Cllr Steve Hunt
Every story on the former leader.

SNP MSP floats Westminster boycott if Burnham refuses independence vote

But James Mitchell, professor of public policy at Edinburgh University, posted on X: “The ‘historic’ Cardiff Memorandum of…
#London #Britain #UnitedKingdom #UK #GB #England #Headlines #News #Europe #EU #Westminster #JohnSwinney #PlaidCymru #politics #Scotland #ScottishIndependenceReferendum #ScottishNationalParty(SNP) #sinn-fein #Standard #uknews
https://www.europesays.com/gbr/london/28692/

https://www.europesays.com/gbr/london/28692/ SNP MSP floats Westminster boycott if Burnham refuses independence vote #JohnSwinney #News #PlaidCymru #politics #Scotland #ScottishIndependenceReferendum #ScottishNationalParty(SNP) #SinnFein #Standard #UkNews #Westminster

@kentishfran

thought #plaidcymru claimed to be leftist nationalists?

https://www.europesays.com/videos/94983/ What next for Reform in Wales as it tries to control the crisis? | ITV Cymru Wales #Butterflies #caterpillars #DanThomas #EducationPlan #GwaelodYGarth #itv #ItvNews #ITVNewsInFull #MatthewRhys #PlaidCymru #ReformUKWales #SarahCooperLesadd #WelshGovernment

https://www.europesays.com/videos/94413/ Is Reform UK in crisis after its Wales leader resigns and loses an MS to defection? | Sharp End #CarrieHarper #DanThomas #HuwThomas #itv #ItvNews #ITVNewsInFull #ItvWales #LabourParty #LlyrPowell #PlaidCymru #ReformDefection #ReformUK #SamRowlands #SarahCooperLesadd #senedd #SharpEnd #Wales #WelshConservatives #WelshPolitics #yougov

https://www.europesays.com/videos/94323/ Reform UK Wales leader stands down after police arrest | ITV Cymru Wales #CraigBellamy #DanThomas #itv #ItvNews #ITVNewsInFull #LucyLetby #MatthewRhys #PlaidCymru #ReformUKWales #SarahCooperLesadd #ThirwallInquiry

‘At almost exactly the same time Thomas announced his resignation, the #Reform MS Sarah Cooper-Lesadd said she was defecting to #PlaidCymru – a party nearly on the opposite end of the political spectrum.

She said in a statement: “[#ReformUK] … are not serious about governing Wales. They are far more interested in division, opposition and headlines than in finding solutions. Their Senedd group is a staging post in the effort to get Nigel #Farage into Downing Street.”’

https://www.europesays.com/people/229148/ Burnham must resist breaking up the nation #AndyBurnham #CardiffPact #Column #ConstitutionalReform #Devolution #DonaldTrump #DUP #EmmaLittlePengelly #GERS #GoodJobsBill #IrishUnification #JOHNSwinney #MaryLouMcDonald #MichelleO’Neill #NorthernIreland #PlaidCymru #RhunApIorwerth #ScottishIndependence #SinnFein #snp #union #WelshIndependence

"Reform has no interest in the work I came here to do. They are far more interested in division, opposition and headlines than in finding solutions."

#UKPol #WelshPol #ReformUK #PlaidCymru

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmlyrng7r525o

SNP, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Féin declare ‘Westminster’s time is coming to an end’ – London Business News

The leaders of the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Féin have declared that “Westminster’s time is coming to…
#London #Britain #UnitedKingdom #UK #GB #England #Headlines #News #Europe #EU #Westminster #PlaidCymru #politics #sinn-fein #SNP
https://www.europesays.com/gbr/london/25800/

Escocia, Gales y o norte d’Irlanda refirman un frent soberanista debant de Westminster

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://arainfo.org/escocia-gales-irlanda-frente-soberanista/

Tuesday briefing: How to understand Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland’s joint call for change
By Libby Brooks

In today’s newsletter: Plaid Cymru, the SNP and Sinn Féin have signed an agreement for greater powers, as pressure grows on Westminster over the UK’s future

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/15/tuesday-briefing-how-to-understand-wales-scotland-and-northern-irelands-joint-call-for-change

#Wales #England #Cornwall #France #UKnews #Europe #Scotland #Cardiff #NorthernIreland #Politics #Devolution #SinnFin #PlaidCymru #ScottishNationalpartySNP #TheGuardian #LibbyBrooks

Tuesday briefing: How to understand Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland’s joint call for change https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/15/tuesday-briefing-how-to-understand-wales-scotland-and-northern-irelands-joint-call-for-change #Wales #England #Cornwall #France #UkNews #Europe #Scotland #Cardiff #NorthernIreland #Politics #Devolution #SinnFin #PlaidCymru #ScottishNationalPartySnp

Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland parties unite to demand ‘self determination’, challenge Westminster

SNP, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Fein leaders signed a joint agreement in Cardiff, saying constitutional change is coming…
#London #Britain #UnitedKingdom #UK #GB #England #Headlines #News #Europe #EU #Westminster #independence #northern-ireland #PlaidCymru #Scotland #selfdetermination #sinn-fein #SNP #UKbreakup #Wales
https://www.europesays.com/gbr/london/25667/

Full press conference as SNP, Sinn Féin and Plaid Cymru sign historic declaration in Cardiff. Monday 14th September 2026.

69 minutes at https://youtu.be/juDM0R7903c

#NIpol #Scotpol #Cymru #WelshPol #ukpol #SNP #PlaidCymru #SinnFein

Westminster’s time is coming to an end, say first ministers of UK’s Celtic nations https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/sep/14/westminster-first-ministers-uk-celtic-nations-wales-northern-ireland-scotland #Devolution #NorthernIreland #Scotland #ScottishIndependence #Wales #PlaidCymru #NorthernIrishPolitics #WelshPolitics #ScottishPolitics #Ireland #Europe #Politics #UkNews

Westminster’s time is ‘coming to an end’, say first ministers of UK’s Celtic nations
By Bethan McKernan Wales correspondent

Leaders in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland discuss independence and call for ‘constitutional change’ at summit

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/sep/14/westminster-first-ministers-uk-celtic-nations-wales-northern-ireland-scotland

#Devolution #NorthernIreland #Scotland #Scottishindependence #Wales #PlaidCymru #NorthernIrishpolitics #Welshpolitics #Scottishpolitics #Ireland #Europe #Politics #UKnews #TheGuardian #BethanMcKernanWalescorrespondent

‘Westminster’s time coming to an end’ say devolved nation leaders after summit

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://metro.co.uk/2026/09/14/westminsters-time-coming-end-say-devolved-nation-leaders-summit-29603678/

‘Westminster’s time coming to an end’ say devolved nation leaders after summit

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://metro.co.uk/2026/09/14/westminsters-time-coming-end-say-devolved-nation-leaders-summit-29603678/

🇬🇧 Cumbre histórica en Cardiff: los líderes de Escocia, Gales e Irlanda del Norte firman un acuerdo sobre el derecho a la autodeterminación. 🌐 #AndyBurnham #cardiff #DonaldTrump #dublín #escocia #gales #IrlandaDelNorte #JohnSwinney #londres #MaryLouMcDonald #PartidoLaborista #PartidoNacionalEscocés #PlaidCymru #ReinoUnido #RhunApIorwerth #senedd #SinnFéin #UniónEuropea https://soyarmenio.com/escocia-gales-irlanda-norte-autodeterminacion-reino-unido/

#PlaidCymru #Cymru

BBC News: First minister rejects Reform-style mega donations to political parties

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1j48683w6po

¿Se rompe el Reino Unido? Escocia, Gales e Irlanda del Norte se alían #ReinoUnido #Escocia #Gales #IrlandaDelNorte #Independencia #Westminster #Cardiff #Europa #Politica #Actualidad #SNP #SinnFein #PlaidCymru #felizdomingo #13deseptiembre

https://donporque.com/escocia-gales-irlanda-del-norte-independencia-reino-unido/

Burnham must understand Wales is ‘not a region in England’, says first minister
By Peter Walker Senior political correspondent

Rhun ap Iorwerth, the first non-Labour Senedd leader, questions Westminster’s willingness to relinquish powers

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/sep/13/andy-burnham-wales-first-minister-rhun-ap-iorweth-senedd-devolution

#RhunapIorwerth #Devolution #Wales #AndyBurnham #PlaidCymru #Labour #Politics #UKnews #TheGuardian #PeterWalkerSeniorpoliticalcorrespondent

Burnham must understand Wales is ‘not a region in England’, says first minister https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/sep/13/andy-burnham-wales-first-minister-rhun-ap-iorweth-senedd-devolution #RhunApIorwerth #Devolution #Wales #AndyBurnham #PlaidCymru #Labour #Politics #UkNews

"There is a limit to which increasingly cynical voters will accept parties claiming to be the ones to beat #ReformUK without seeing results."

#UKPol #WelshPol #PlaidCymru

https://nation.cymru/news/caerphilly-by-election-taught-britain-how-to-defeat-reform-uk/

PEMBROKESHIRE: Welsh ministers seize DARC radar decision days before council vote

The decision on the US military’s planned DARC radar array in Pembrokeshire has been taken out of the county council’s hands.

Siân Gwenllian MS, the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning, has “called in” the planning application (ref 25/1101/PA) for the Deep Space Advanced Radar Concept site at Cawdor Barracks, Brawdy, near St Davids — meaning it will now be decided by Welsh ministers rather than Pembrokeshire County Council.

The council’s planning committee had been due to determine the application for 27 giant radar dishes at its meeting next Tuesday, 28 July.

The direction, issued by the Welsh Government’s planning directorate under the Cabinet Minister’s authority on Monday, says she concluded the proposed development “raises national security issues given the strategic defence nature of the proposal and is a novel planning issue”.

The letter says the proposal “potentially conflicts with national policy in relation to landscape, ecology, sustainability and placemaking”, and that a decision “may be controversial beyond the immediate locality”.

“All these matters lead the Cabinet Minister to conclude the development is of more than local importance and the application should be determined by the Welsh Ministers,” it concludes.

The letter stresses that the call-in “does not imply or infer any view from the Welsh Ministers about the merits of the application” — under Welsh Government policy, a call-in decides who determines an application, not whether permission should be granted.

The letter also lists the concerns raised by those requesting the call-in — including fears the development would make the area a military target, claims the county council is “not suitably equipped” to decide an application of this nature, and the effect on an “irreplaceable habitat” for grassland fungi.

The intervention is exactly what campaigners asked the new Plaid Cymru-led government to do — a demand put to ministers in May as the campaign warned of a Wales versus Westminster showdown over the scheme.

The pressure on ministers had been building for months: in April, the then first minister called for a halt to the project, citing Donald Trump’s “contempt for our country”.

PARC Against DARC, the campaign group set up in 2024 to fight the proposal, described the call-in as a “seismic and significant step”.

A spokesperson for the campaign said DARC was “a proposal for a huge 27-dish radar array overlooking the St Davids Peninsula of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park”, pointing to objections the group says have been lodged by the National Park Authority and Natural Resources Wales over its visual impact and harm to tourism.

The campaign says a freedom of information request showed the council received 1,121 objections to the scheme — and just one submission in favour — while almost 20,000 people have signed a petition against it.

The group claims the radar is part of a “weapons system designed to track and target satellites”, developed for the US Space Force, and could form part of Donald Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile-defence programme — describing it as an escalation in the militarisation of space.

The Ministry of Defence has said DARC will detect, track and identify objects in deep space, with the Brawdy site forming part of a three-nation network alongside installations in the US and Australia under the Aukus partnership.

DARC would keep Cawdor Barracks open beyond its planned 2028 closure date — an extension of the base’s life that was welcomed locally when first proposed.

Opposition to the plans has drawn wider attention, with Game of Thrones actor Jerome Flynn backing the campaign during this year’s Senedd election.

The campaign also says it holds a letter of support sent by Neil Kinnock during a similar anti-radar fight at Brawdy in the 1990s — noting that his son, Stephen Kinnock, is now Welsh Secretary as the scheme heads for a decision at government level.

A demonstration planned for outside Tuesday’s planning committee meeting will now go ahead as a vigil “in support of Welsh Government’s call-in decision”, campaigners said.

The application now passes to Planning and Environment Decisions Wales, with the council to be told the process for the decision “as soon as possible”.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

PEMBROKESHIRE: Wales vs Westminster showdown looms over Trump’s ‘space wars’ radar — as anti-DARC campaign asks new Plaid government to block it
The campaign’s May demand for exactly the intervention ministers have now made.

PEMBROKESHIRE: Planning application lodged for 27 giant radar dishes at Brawdy as campaigners say Morgan’s intervention doesn’t go far enough
The MoD’s application was formally submitted in March.

Welsh first minister calls for halt to Pembrokeshire space radar project over Trump’s “contempt for our country”
The April intervention that signalled the Welsh Government’s hardening stance.

PEMBROKESHIRE: Game of Thrones star urges voters to back Plaid or Greens to block DARC radar — as planning application opens for public objections
Jerome Flynn’s backing put the campaign in the Senedd election spotlight.

How could Britain look under proportional representation? See the results for your area
By Antonio Voce and Ashley Kirk

These visualisations from exclusive polling modelling show how the UK parliament could change under different voting systems

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2026/jul/22/how-britain-would-look-proportional-representation-local-mp

#Politics #UKnews #Labour #LiberalDemocrats #ReformUK #Conservatives #Greenparty #PlaidCymru #ScottishNationalpartySNP #TheGuardian #AntonioVoce #AshleyKirk

How could Britain look under proportional representation? See the results for your area https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2026/jul/22/how-britain-would-look-proportional-representation-local-mp #Politics #UkNews #Labour #LiberalDemocrats #ReformUk #Conservatives #GreenParty #PlaidCymru #ScottishNationalPartySnp

FARM FUNDING: Welsh farmers promised £1bn over Senedd term in multi-year deal

The family farms of Carmarthenshire and the wider region have been handed the multi-year funding certainty they have been asking for — but the amount on the table is already being challenged as a real-terms cut.

The Welsh Government announced at the Royal Welsh Show on Monday that the Sustainable Farming Scheme will be funded at £340 million a year for three years, until March 2030.

It means Welsh farmers will receive more than £1 billion across this Senedd term, a commitment the Plaid Cymru government says fulfils a pledge made in its first 100 days in power.

Of the annual pot, a guaranteed £238 million goes to the scheme’s Universal layer — the baseline payment most farms will claim — with £102 million for the Optional and Collaborative layers covering environmental and habitat work.

The move ends the year-to-year funding model that has dogged the sector since Brexit. The UK’s departure from the EU stripped away the stability of the bloc’s seven-year financial framework, leaving Welsh farm support to be set one year at a time.

Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability Llŷr Gruffydd made the announcement — his first major intervention since taking the portfolio — at the showground in Llanelwedd.

“Giving farmers only 12 months’ line of sight to funding is not sufficient,” Gruffydd said. “We know how hard it is to plan and make business decisions without knowing what funding is coming.”

He added: “Farmers told us loud and clear they need certainty and stability — and that is exactly what we are delivering.”

The Minister also announced early moves to cut red tape, following initial feedback from an independent review into the bureaucratic burden on family farms led by John Davies.

Chief among them is a simplification of the Animal Health Improvement Cycle within the Universal layer. From 2027, farmers in an aligned farm assurance scheme will complete a single form covering both assurance and scheme compliance, delivering both from one vet visit.

The Welsh Government also confirmed that applications for Organic Conversion and a “Capital: Production and Efficiency” grant category open from the end of July, with the Small Woodland Creation and Woodland Creation grant windows opening from 20 July.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales, which met the First Minister at the show on Monday morning, welcomed the multi-year commitment while pressing for more.

FUW President Ian Rickman said recent years had brought “significant financial uncertainty” that made it hard for farm businesses to plan. He said the union had consistently called for a five-year funding framework, and that certainty until March 2030 was “a welcomed relief for the family farms of Wales”.

But Rickman signalled the fight over the amount is not over, saying the union would continue to press for an increase to the scheme’s base-level funding “to mitigate any economic impacts and match the policy ambitions of the Welsh Government”.

The opposition went further. Welsh Conservative shadow farming minister Andrew RT Davies said the £340 million figure was the same the sector had received since 2012 and amounted to a substantial real-terms cut once inflation was taken into account.

Davies said farming and environment groups had warned that £500 million a year was needed, and accused the government of finding money for other priorities while failing to “fund Welsh farming adequately”.

Reform Wales echoed the criticism on the figure. The party’s shadow rural affairs secretary Laura Anne Jones said multi-year certainty was welcome “but certainty alone is not enough”, arguing that £340 million still fell “well short of what many farms require”.

Monday’s announcement is the latest chapter in a scheme that has been years in the making. The Welsh Government unveiled the final Sustainable Farming Scheme in July 2025 amid opposition warnings over food security, and last year used the same Royal Welsh platform to launch £33m in transition support for farmers preparing to move onto the new system.

For the farms of Carmarthenshire, mid Wales and beyond, the settlement answers the question of how long the money is guaranteed. Whether it stretches far enough is the argument now taking shape for the rest of the decade.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Welsh Government unveils final Sustainable Farming Scheme amid calls for transparency and food security
How the post-Brexit farm support scheme took its final shape in July 2025.

Welsh Government launches £33m transition support for farmers at Royal Welsh Show
Last year’s Royal Welsh announcement of tools and funding for the switch to the new scheme.

Senedd rejects call for final vote on farming support scheme
Opposition pressure over the Sustainable Farming Scheme in the last Senedd term.

BROADCASTING: Wales’ new media watchdog won’t exist until 2028 — as critics call it “constitutional navel-gazing”

Wales is getting a new broadcasting body — but not until 2028, and its first form will be a working group advising on how to set it up.

Culture minister Heledd Fychan set out the timetable for a Shadow Broadcasting and Communications Authority for Wales in a written statement on Wednesday, meeting the Plaid Cymru government’s pledge to publish plans within its first 100 days.

The authority is intended to protect and strengthen public service media in Wales — and the Welsh Government says it is the first step towards pressing for broadcasting powers to be devolved from Westminster.

What actually happens, and when

The first step is a working group. Recruitment for its members starts in September, with the group expected to hold its first meeting early in 2027.

Fychan says she expects detailed recommendations on the authority’s structure, status and remit early in 2028, with a formal decision confirmed in spring 2028.

She has set aside £45,000 from Creative Wales’ budget to fund the work this financial year.

That means the “shadow” authority itself — a body watching over broadcasting in Wales without yet holding formal powers — is at least two years away, with the working group doing the design work in between.

“Completely unnecessary”

The plan has vocal critics in the Senedd — Fychan’s statement acknowledges “concerns expressed by some Members”.

Reform UK’s shadow culture minister Louise Emery called the authority “completely unnecessary” in a Senedd debate last month, describing the government’s culture plans as “more constitutional navel-gazing, more quangos, more slow state-building towards independence, and more cost.”

Welsh Conservative culture spokesperson Paul Davies questioned the spending. “Surely this is not the best possible use of resources, especially given that these powers are not devolved,” he told the Senedd, pressing the minister on how much the body would cost and how it would operate.

The previous Labour government considered the same central recommendation — made by an Expert Panel on Broadcasting in 2023 — and stopped short, opting for an advisory group rather than a shadow authority. The Plaid government is going further than its predecessor was willing to.

“Plans agreed for and about us”

Fychan says the case rests on evidence that a UK-wide broadcasting framework “does not cater to the realities of how a devolved UK operates”, pointing to backing from the Institute of Welsh Affairs and the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales.

Her statement singles out the UK Government’s new Local Media Fund — support for local journalism designed in Westminster — as “the latest example of plans agreed for and about us, where we have no role in how those plans are shaped and implemented.”

Broadcasting and communications are currently reserved to Westminster, with services like S4C and BBC Wales operating under UK-wide frameworks — the structures the authority would eventually scrutinise from a Welsh vantage point.

Fychan says she is “certain that any resource channelled towards a Shadow Broadcasting and Communications Authority for Wales will pay dividends.”

Whether it survives contact with the Senedd arithmetic is another question — the government lost its first budget vote 49–44 on Tuesday night, and every spending line now faces a chamber where it lacks a majority.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

BUDGET DEFEAT: Plaid government’s £294m spending plan voted down 49–44
The new government’s first budget was rejected by the Senedd on Tuesday night.

SENEDD: South-west Wales politicians take key roles in the first Plaid Cymru Cabinet
How the new government was assembled after May’s historic result.

AMMANFORD: Radio 2 star Owain Wyn Evans named among BBC’s highest earners
One of only two Welsh names on the corporation’s top-earners list this year.

CYMRU OR WALES? What a new Senedd petition could mean for Swansea, Neath and Carmarthen’s names
Another front in the new Senedd’s constitutional arguments.

WELSH LABOUR: Ken Skates confirmed as leader — the morning after his nine MSs sank Plaid’s budget

Ken Skates has been confirmed as the permanent leader of Welsh Labour — hours after the party helped inflict the heaviest defeat yet on the Plaid Cymru government it now leads the opposition to.

Welsh Labour says all nine members of its Senedd group nominated Skates when nominations opened last Thursday, confirming his appointment without a wider contest.

Among the nine is Mike Hedges, the Gŵyr Abertawe MS and the region’s longest-serving Labour member in the Senedd.

His deputy is a Swansea MP. Carolyn Harris, the member for Swansea East, is deputy leader of Welsh Labour, and said Skates had her full backing.

“He has my full backing as he undertakes the big task ahead of him — listening, learning, rebuilding and doing that crucial job of holding Plaid Cymru, and Reform UK, to account in the Senedd,” she said.

A leader confirmed in a week of open warfare

The confirmation lands in the middle of the sharpest fight of the new Senedd term. The Plaid government’s £294m budget was voted down 49–44 on Tuesday night, with Labour among the parties that rejected it — and the government’s finance minister accusing Labour of destructive opposition.

The wreckage he inherits

Skates became interim leader in May, after Eluned Morgan lost her seat at the election and stood down as leader.

That election ended 27 years of Labour rule in Wales, with Rhun ap Iorwerth confirmed as the first Plaid Cymru First Minister — and Labour reduced to nine seats in the enlarged 96-member Senedd, having held 30 of 60 in the old chamber.

Lee Waters, the former Llanelli MS, said after the result that the party faces an “existential crisis” — conceding the 20mph policy he masterminded had come at a political price.

Two coronations in one year

The pattern is now familiar at both ends of the M4. At Westminster, Andy Burnham succeeded Keir Starmer as UK Labour leader without a contest — the man now tipped to be Britain’s next prime minister — and Skates’ confirmation makes it two Labour leaders installed unopposed this year.

Harris was on the losing side of the first. In May she publicly backed Starmer to stay, while Gower’s Tonia Antoniazzi joined the calls for him to go.

Four leaders in under three years

Skates is Welsh Labour’s fourth leader in under three years. Mark Drakeford’s departure triggered the last contested leadership election — and it turned on a Neath politician.

Jeremy Miles, then the Neath MS, narrowly lost that contest to Vaughan Gething in March 2024. Gething stood down within months, and Eluned Morgan took over that summer without a contest.

Morgan’s resignation after May’s election defeat brought Skates in as interim leader. His confirmation this week means three of the four leaders since Drakeford have been installed unopposed — the Miles-Gething race remains the only time the members have had a say.

Miles did not seek re-election to the Senedd in May.

The Skates record — and the Llanelli connection

Skates was first elected in 2011 and held several Welsh Government roles, including Transport Secretary and Economy and Infrastructure Secretary. He was re-elected in May for the new Fflint Wrecsam constituency.

His return to transport in 2024 came at the expense of a local figure. Skates took the brief over from Waters, then the Llanelli MS, whose time in the role produced two of the most contested policies of recent years — the default 20mph limit and the ban on most new road building.

Skates moved to soften both: announcing a route back to 30mph for some roads, and easing the government’s stance on new road schemes.

“I joined the party as a 14-year-old, and my belief still stands that no child’s future should be determined by their background,” he said of his appointment.

“The Labour movement for me is a movement for fairness, justice, security and liberty. It is a movement that seeks to empower people and communities, to fight against injustice, intolerance, nepotism and cruelty.”

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

BUDGET DEFEAT: Plaid government’s £294m spending plan voted down 49–44
Labour among the parties that rejected the new government’s first budget on Tuesday night.

SENEDD: Rhun ap Iorwerth confirmed as First Minister as Plaid Cymru makes history
The May vote that ended 27 years of Labour rule in Wales.

LEE WATERS: Architect of Wales’ 20mph law admits it ‘came at a price’
The former Llanelli MS’s warning that Labour faces an existential crisis.

ELECTED MAYOR: As Burnham promises to ‘rewire Britain’, could Swansea Bay ever get a powerful regional mayor?
What the new UK Labour leader’s devolution push could mean for this corner of Wales.

SWANSEA: Gower MP calls on Keir Starmer to step aside — as Swansea East’s Carolyn Harris backs him to stay
How Swansea’s two Labour MPs split over Starmer’s future in May.

Celtic leaders doubt Burnham’s devolution drive will go beyond England’s borders https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/06/celtic-leaders-burnham-devolution-wales-scotland-northern-ireland #AndyBurnham #Devolution #Wales #Scotland #NorthernIreland #Politics #Labour #TaxAndSpending #ScottishNationalPartySnp #PlaidCymru #SinnFin #MichelleOneill #UkNews #ScottishPolitics #WelshPolitics #NorthernIrishPolitics

Andy Burnham confirms he will set up ‘No 10 North’ in Manchester in major policy speech – as it happened
By Andrew Sparrow

Makerfield MP and hopeful prime minister says he will ‘bring about biggest rebalancing of power the country has ever seen’

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/jun/29/andy-burnham-devolution-speech-keir-starmer-labour-latest-news-updates

#Politics #UKnews #AndyBurnham #Labour #Labourpartyleadership #Devolution #Economics #Economicpolicy #KemiBadenoch #Conservatives #Housing #EdMiliband #PlaidCymru #Welshpolitics #Wales #ConfederationofBritishIndustryCBI #Thinktanks #UKcostoflivingcrisis #Education #Localgovernment #HouseofCommons #Business #AndrewSparrow

Reform UK makes dramatic first impression in Senedd opposition role https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/28/reform-uk-makes-dramatic-first-impression-in-senedd-opposition-role #WelshPolitics #Wales #ReformUk #PlaidCymru #WelshGovernment #Politics #UkNews

#Senedd members storm out as #Reform ‘joke’ about #Welsh kids’ reading

Welsh politicians in the Senedd staged a walk out after a #ReformUK MS claimed Welsh students “couldn’t read” and Indian nurses were taking Welsh jobs.

Members from #PlaidCymru, #Labour and the #Greens all stormed out after Martin made the claims in a speech in the chamber on Wednesday.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/26206846.senedd-members-storm-reform-joke-welsh-kids-reading/

#fascism #racism #nasty #evil #ReformPropaganda

137 MPs, from #UKLabour, #LiberalDemocrat, #Greens, #PlaidCymru, #SNP and #SDLP, have signed a motion calling for the #EHRC guidance on #Trans people using single sex spaces to be overruled.

If your MP is on this list, write and thank them; if yours isn't, urge them to sign.

https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/65938/draft-code-of-practice-on-services-public-functions-and-associations#tab-supporters

The #Senedd 2026 vote breakdown by age is stunning.

75% of the under-30 voters chose #PlaidCymru or the Greens. 75%! Three out of four!

Between them, the #LabourParty, #LibDems and #ConservativeParty got only ~10% of the under-30 votes.

If only under-30s had voted, the Senedd would have had no Labour MS, no Conservative MS, and no LibDem MS. It would have been a wipeout

#WelshPol #Cymru

#YouGov has published a fascinating breakdown of how Wales voted in the 2026 #Senedd election by key demographic and political divides. Full details at https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/54913-how-wales-voted-at-the-2026-senedd-election

#PlaidCymru’s support was higher among younger voters, those with higher levels of both education and household income, while being highest of all among those who are fluent in Welsh.

#welshpol #Cymru #ukpol

ht @leannewood

All 4 #PlaidCymru MPs have signed #EarlyDayMotion 240 in support of #trans rights! 👏

That's Liz Saville-Roberts, Ben Lake, Llinos Medi, & Ann Davies.
Diolch, Plaid ❤️💚

This is a cross-party motion tabled by Labour, LibDem and Green MPs. Any MP may add their signature. Has YOUR MP signed? https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/65938

#EDM240 asks "That the draft Code of Practice for Services, public functions and associations, a copy of which was laid before this House on 21 May, be disapproved."

#ukpol #LGBT

#Cymru for all! #Pride hapus! 🌈🏳️‍🌈

(From the #PlaidCymru Facebook page. Such a shame they're not on Mastodon).