Thursday, July 31, 2025
Are Labour struggling for Senedd candidates?
The news website says that members of Welsh Labour have been sent a reminder urging them to apply to be Senedd candidates, leading to speculation that the party may be struggling to put together a credible team for next May’s election:
Members of the Labour Party have now received a letter which states:“Our candidates will play a vital role in helping Welsh Labour win.
“We are excited for a new generation of political talent combining with decades of political experience in the Senedd to be our new face of Welsh Labour. Could you be one of them?
“If you’re thinking of standing, now is the time to fill out your application and put your name forward. From there, a member of the Welsh Labour team will be in touch regarding next steps. Kind regards, Welsh Labour.”
A party member who received the letter by email told Nation.Cymru: “This makes you wonder whether they can get candidates. Who in their right mind wants to be 4,5 or 6 on the list ? Number 3 and in some constituencies 2 might struggle. And they will expect you to be canvassing every weekend until May.
“It’s all strange. 2026 was always going to be difficult for Labour. It will be the first election under a Westminster Labour government since 2007. And they didn’t do well in 2007.
“People forget that after 2019 there was talk of Labour doing very badly in 2021 Drakeford was seen as hopeless. Then he was saved by Covid and Johnson. Even then 2021 wasn’t brilliant.
“Labour has always relied on the core of traditional seats in post-industrial Wales. They might have now thrown that away, and for what? OK Starmer has made it worse. But anyone with a brain would not have got into this position.
They added: “Putting change in terms of the way the Senedd is elected in the manifesto for 2026 for implementation in 2030 might have been sensible.You have to wonder what Drakeford’s thought processes are. And the prospect of a coalition after next May’s election between Plaid and Labour makes it worse. We are heading for dangerous economic times and the only winners would be Reform and Corbyn.
“Voters are not that interested in devolution. Most haven’t got a clue about Eluned Morgan or who their MS is. And you give them the ideal electoral system if they are pissed off and want to punish the incumbent. It’s totally bonkers but typical of a Welsh Labour party that shuns debate and isolates those who think outside the box.”
None of this is surprising, while it is entirely possible that Labour are struggling to fill all the places given their present poll ratings and the vagaries of the new system. Things may well get interesting.
Wednesday, July 30, 2025
Labour cuts plunging thousands into poverty
The paper says that the work and pensions select committee report welcomed ministers’ decision earlier this month to drop some of the most controversial aspects of its disability reforms in the face of a parliamentary revolt by over 100 Labour backbenchers, but it reiterated calls for the remaining planned cuts to universal credit to be delayed until their impact on poverty, health and jobs were fully understood:
Ministers been left badly bruised by the enforced gutting of its bill, which was intended to save £5bn a year by the end of the decade. Keir Starmer, the prime minister, admitted subsequently that No 10 “didn’t get the process right”.
Although all existing universal credit claimants and new claimants with severe or terminal conditions will now be protected, from next year other claimants with limited health capacity for work will see monthly awards cut from £423.27 to £217.26.
The committee chair, Labour’s Debbie Abrahams, said, “We welcome the concessions that the government made to the niversal Credit bill; but there are still issues with these welfare reforms not least with the cut in financial support that newly sick and disabled people will receive.”
Abrahams said that on the government’s own analysis approximately 50,000 people who claim universal credit from next April after developing a health condition or becoming disabled will be plunged into poverty by 2030 as a result of cuts.
“We recommend delaying the cuts to the universal credit health premium, especially given that other policies that such as additional NHS capacity, or employment support, or changes in the labour market to support people to stay in work, have yet to materialise,” she said.
“We agree in a reformed and sustainable welfare system, but we must ensure that the wellbeing of those who come into contact with it is protected. The lesson learned from last month should be that the impact of policy changes to health-related benefits must be assessed prior to policy changes being implemented to avoid potential risks to claimants,” added Abrahams
The report also urged ministers to drop plans – currently out for consultation – to prevent young people aged 18-22 from claiming incapacity benefit.
“We share the minister’s concern about young people being trapped in economic inactivity before their working lives have even begun, but we do not see why this means they should lose entitlement to universal credit health,” the report said.
The impact of these cuts are not going to go away and it is Labour who must take responsibility for those who are suffering as a result.
Tuesday, July 29, 2025
Israel committing genocide in Gaza says human rights group
The Guardian reports that two leading human rights organisations based in Israel, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, say their government is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the country’s western allies have a legal and moral duty to stop it.
They add that in reports published on Monday, the two groups said Israel had targeted civilians in Gaza only because of their identity as Palestinians over nearly two years of war, causing severe and in some cases irreparable damage to Palestinian society:
Multiple international and Palestinian groups have already described the war as genocidal, but reports from two of Israel-Palestine’s most respected human rights organisations, who have for decades documented systemic abuses, is likely to add to pressure for action.
The reports detailed crimes including the killing of tens of thousands of women, children and elderly people, mass forced displacement and starvation, and the destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure that have deprived Palestinians of healthcare, education and other basic rights.
“What we see is a clear, intentional attack on civilians in order to destroy a group,” said Yuli Novak, the director of B’Tselem, calling for urgent action. “I think every human being has to ask himself: what do you do in the face of genocide?”
It is vital to recognise that a genocide is under way even without a ruling in the case before the international court of justice, she said. “Genocide is not just a legal crime. It’s a social and political phenomenon.”
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) focuses in its report on a detailed chronological account of the assault on Gaza’s health system, with many details documented directly by the group’s own team, which worked regularly in Gaza before 7 October 2023.
Relatives of Palestinians who lost their lives during Israeli attacks mourn during a funeral ceremony at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images The destruction of the healthcare system alone makes the war genocidal under article 2c of the genocide convention, which prohibits deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to destroy a group “in whole or part”, said its director, Guy Shalev.
“You don’t have to have all five articles of the genocide convention to be fulfilled in order for something to be genocide,” he said, although the report also details other genocidal aspects of Israel’s war.
Both B’Tselem and PHR said Israel’s western allies were enabling the genocidal campaign, and shared responsibility for suffering in Gaza. “It couldn’t happen without the support of the western world,” Novak said. “Any leader that is not doing whatever they can to stop it is part of this horror.”
The US and European countries have a legal responsibility to take stronger action than they have done so far, Shalev said. “Every tool in the toolbox should be used. This is not what we think, this is what the genocide convention calls for.”
Israel denies is it carrying out a genocide, and says the war in Gaza is one of self-defence after cross-border attacks by Hamas on 7 October 2023 killed 1,200 people, the majority civilians. More than 250 others were kidnapped and taken to Gaza, where 50 remain held hostage, with 20 of them believed to still be alive.
A key element to the crime of genocide, as defined by the international convention, is showing intent by a state to destroy a target group in whole or part.
Genocidal statements from politicians and military leaders, and a chronology of well-documented impacts on civilians after nearly two years of war are proof of that intent, even without a paper trail of orders from the top, both PHR and B’Tselem say.
The UK has sat on the fence too long. It is time that Keir Starmer and the UK government made a stand against these actions by the Israeli government.
Monday, July 28, 2025
Facing the music over Brexit
The paper says that some of Europe’s top music festivals will feature half as many British acts as they did before Brexit this summer, as red tape continues to hammer the music industry.
They add that Sir Elton John is among those who have warned that the UK’s departure from the EU has caused a “logistical nightmare” and placed “leg irons” on travelling musicians:
Some of Europe’s top music festivals will feature half as many British acts as they did before Brexit this summer, as red tape continues to hammer the music industry.
Sir Elton John is among those who have warned that the UK’s departure from the EU has caused a “logistical nightmare” and placed “leg irons” on travelling musicians.
Last year he warned the issue risks jeopardising artists’ futures and the UK’s status as a cultural force, saying he was “horrified”.
Now new figures show fans in France, Spain, Germany and Denmark will miss out as the number of British acts on the bill in some of Europe’s biggest festivals plummets.
The analysis found that, on average, the number of British musicians who have played, or are scheduled to play, European festivals this summer has fallen by a quarter, compared to 2017-2019.
The study looked at four major music festivals: Benicassim in Valencia, Lollapalooza in Berlin, Rock en Seine in Paris, and Roskilde Festival in Denmark.
Overall Benicassim saw the biggest drop, with 58 per cent fewer British acts taking to the stage in Spain, the analysis by Best for Britain found.
Industry leaders and musicians have highlighted that increased paperwork and costs are still damaging opportunities, particularly to take up last-minute slots.
At the same time, British venue operators have warned of their struggle to attract EU-based artists.
Earlier this year hundreds of music industry professionals signed an open letter to Sir Keir Starmer and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen calling for action.
Naomi Smith, chief executive of Best for Britain, which campaigns for closer UK-EU ties, said: “From legends like the Beatles, Queen and David Bowie, via Britpop stars Oasis and Blur, to modern icons like Amy Winehouse, Adele and Raye, Britain is world famous for our incredible musical legacy – with live performances the lifeblood of the industry.
“Barriers for touring artists are bad news: for acts, audiences, and ultimately the UK’s vibrant £7.6bn music industry, meaning a further hit to our squeezed economy, not to mention the dimming effect on our soft power around the world. The government must urgently examine what scope there is to address these challenges – and work with our partners in Europe to implement solutions.”
This is another Brexit failure that the UK Labour government need to sort out.
Sunday, July 27, 2025
Recognising the state of Palestine will send powerful message to Israel
The paper says that the prime minister is facing a growing clamour to take action amid the international outcry over Israel’s actions, with charities saying that cases of severe malnutrition among children under five in Gaza City have tripled in the last two weeks.
They add that Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, and Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, are understood to be among ministers who believe the government should take the lead on Palestinian statehood alongside France:
The UK government’s policy is that it will formally acknowledge Palestine as part of a peace process, but only in conjunction with other western countries and “at the point of maximum impact”.
Cooper and Rayner are among more than half a dozen cabinet ministers pressing for urgent action. The Guardian revealed this week that Wes Streeting, the health secretary, Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, and Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland secretary, have all pushed for recognition of Palestine at recent cabinet meetings.
Ian Murray, the Scotland secretary, and Jo Stevens, the Wales secretary, have also raised the issue in cabinet, according to a cabinet source. Murray and Stevens declined to comment.
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, is also said to have called for action, and Lammy is said by colleagues to be pushing Downing Street to take a stronger stance. A government source said it was increasingly “everybody v No 10”.
“Too many people in No 10 just see this as a ‘left’ issue and actually don’t get how widespread public anger is,” a Labour source said.
Rayner said last month that the west needed to avoid repeating past mistakes when it came to Gaza. Addressing a service at St Paul’s Cathedral to mark the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, in which more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed by Serbian forces in 1995, she said: “The west took too long to act in the 1990s and we should have acted sooner. Now we must learn the lessons of history and the consequences of inaction.”
On Friday, 221 MPs from nine parties signed a letter to Lammy calling for British recognition of Palestine to be announced next week at a UN conference in New York.
“Whilst we appreciate the UK does not have it in its power to bring about a free and independent Palestine, UK recognition would have a significant impact due to our historic connections and our membership on the UN security council,” the MPs wrote.
“British recognition of Palestine would be particularly powerful given its role as the author of the Balfour Declaration and the former Mandatory Power in Palestine. Since 1980 we have backed a two-state solution. Such a recognition would give that position substance as well as living up to a historic responsibility we have to the people under that mandate.”
The letter’s signatories included several Labour select committee chairs, including Emily Thornberry, of foreign affairs, Sarah Champion, of international development, and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, of defence.
Other signatories included the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, the Green party co-leaders, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, the SNP’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, and the Conservative MPs Kit Malthouse and Edward Leigh.
The true number of backbench Labour MPs who support recognition is even higher. Several said they were in favour of the move but did not put their names to the letter. “We need to do more. Israel is committing terrible war crimes,” one Labour MP said. Nearly 60 Labour MPs signed a similar letter to Lammy earlier this month.
The pressure on Starmer to act comes amongst a worsening situation in Gaza. As the paper reports, the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières said that cases of severe malnutrition among children under five at its Gaza City clinic had tripled in the last two weeks and the UN World Food Programme said nearly a third of people in Gaza were not eating for days, with the hunger crisis having reached “new and astonishing levels of desperation”.
The failure of the international community to act to stop the slaughter and starvation of innocent children and civilians in Gaza is a disgrace. Recognising the state of Palestine is one step, but arms supplies must also be stopped and action taken to by the UN to intervene if necessary.
Saturday, July 26, 2025
A strategic fortfication
As the Cadw site says, although what remains of the fortification is now hemmed in by the city centre, its original location was on a clifftop above where the River Tawe used to flow, controlling a harbour and important east–west route along southern Wales. The river has since been diverted and its former route is now a road leading to a shopping mall amongst other destinations.
Though there has been a castle there since at least the early 12th century, the remains that stand today date from the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The most striking feature is the distinctive arcaded parapet on the south block, remarkably similar that of the bishops’ palaces at St Davids and Lamphey.
The castle itself has gone through many iterations. By 1650 it was described as "a decayed Buildinge". By the 1670s the square tower was being used as a bottle factory and, in 1700, a town hall was built in the castle courtyard. By the mid 1700s the Great Hall had become Swansea's workhouse.
The town hall was replaced by a post office in the 1800s and, by 1850, a military Drill Room had replaced the workhouse. The River Tawe, which had flowed near to the castle, was straightened and diverted during the 1840s. Part of the interior of the castle, in particular the large motte, was demolished 1909–1913 for the construction of a newspaper office.
In the very early 1930s, poet Dylan Thomas worked for the South Wales Daily Post at the castle site. The newspaper offices were removed in 1976 and the remains of the castle were later consolidated and opened up to view from the street.
Friday, July 25, 2025
A lack of transparency
The news site says that when the Senedd expands to 96 members next year, politicians will be banned from giving jobs to their own family members – which has been commonplace over the past 26 years. But a loophole will remain allowing politicians to employ each other’s family:
More than 15 of the current 60 Senedd members (25%) have employed family members, directly or indirectly, in the past and ten (16%) currently do so.
Now, the Senedd’s standards committee, which handles complaints against politicians, has suggested the names of family members be withheld from the public register of interests.
However, half of the politicians who sit on the committee that made the recommendation themselves have family members employed by colleagues at a cost to the public purse.
Labour committee chair Hannah Blythyn is married to Laura Murton who is employed by first minister Eluned Morgan – according to the current, more open register – and Peredur Owen Griffiths’ spouse Angela has a job with his Plaid Cymru colleague Sioned Williams.
All meetings as part of an inquiry into declarations of interests were held in private, with the public and press excluded, and many of the related documents were declared secret.
Ms Blythyn and Mr Owen Griffiths did not recuse themselves nor declare an interest as the committee finalised its recommendations, according to records of latest meetings.
Their family ties were not mentioned in a 9,000-word report on the behind-closed-doors inquiry but reference was added retrospectively after a journalist raised concerns.
The pair flagged their interests at one earlier meeting but the transcript and video showed this was not in the public declarations part at the start of nearly every committee meeting. Instead, the declaration was made in private then disclosed in brief minutes weeks later.
In the report, Ms Blythyn wrote: “The committee was mindful of the need to minimise the release of information about family members, simply for being related to an elected member.
“To that end, we agreed publishing the names of family members employed by other members on the register was an unnecessary risk to their safety.”
Details would be provided to officials but hidden from public view. The nature of the relationship would still be disclosed although the name would not.
I wonder sometimes why politicians make things harder for themselves by hiding these things when people are going to find out anyway. Transparency was meant to be the raison d'etre of devolution. It seems we are still struggling to achieve it.
Thursday, July 24, 2025
The real Reform priorities
The first indication of this trend was found in Scarborough where, as the BBC report, Reform UK Mayor Thomas Murray, will be given a £3,500 allowance, after the authority's annual budget was approved last week, a 600% increase:
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a group of charter trustees - councillors who represented the town's unparished areas on North Yorkshire Council - were previously responsible for maintaining civic traditions.
Maw said: "Under the former charter trustees, the mayor received £500 and the deputy mayor £100, which was considered sufficient for both their civic duties.
"I just respectfully ask the following: What is the justification for increasing the allowance to £3,500, please?"
Murray said the figure was based on how many engagements he might attend in a given year and how much each event had cost him.
When questioned about this increase, Reform leader, Nigel Farage said he had no idea, which is pretty much par for the course.
And then there is the 19-year-old leader of Warwickshire council, George Finch, who the Guardian says initiated a scheme to spend £150,000 on hiring political advisers at a county council despite pledging to cut waste and save money.
He put the plan forward after being narrowly elected as the leader of Warwickshire county council during a meeting on Tuesday, which was picketed by protesters:
The protest came after a row over an attempt by Finch, as interim leader, to have a Pride flag removed from council headquarters before the end of Pride month. The chief executive refused the request, telling him she was responsible for such decisions.
However, there was fresh controversy during a meeting of the council, one of several where Reform became the largest party in the recent local elections, as it narrowly pushed through plans to hire political advisers but lost a separate vote relating to the climate crisis.
Opposition councillors accused Reform of reneging on promises to voters over the political advisers, who would be publicly funded for it and the other two largest parties, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.
“These proposals are all about spending some money so they can have a chum in their group and I think that is not particularly helpful given the financial state of this council,” said George Cowcher, councillor and deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats. He added that it was almost a quarter of the way through the financial year and there had yet to be any proposals from Reform about managing the authority’s budget.
Sam Jones, a Green party councillor, said: “Reform have had a sniff of power, they’re making it so clear that they never cared a jot for the will of their supporters. No to overpaid, unelected bureaucrats before the election, but yes to up to £150,000 of unfunded spending on political assistants now the campaigning is over.”
Perhaps the new council leader would be better off securing the future of vital services by getting a budget in place.
Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Egregious pillaging to the tune of £85 billion?
As the Independent reports, the review, led by former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe, has recommended far-reaching changes to the way the water system is regulated, calling the current landscape "fragmented and overlapping", and suggesting that ministers should ditch Ofwat and simplify the system with a powerful regulator looking at every area.
It also advised removing the regulatory roles of the Environment Agency and Natural England, which monitor the sector's impact on nature, such as companies illegally dumping sewage into waterways:
Sir Jon told BBC Breakfast: "Bills are going to rise by 30% over the next five years. There are some inescapable facts here. The cost of producing water and dealing with our wastewater is going up. Climate change, higher environmental standards, demographic pressure, the population is going up. Just that need to renew ageing infrastructure.
"The problem comes when you suddenly go from not investing for a long period, to massive investment, in order to catch up. That's really what's driven those huge bill increases that we've seen.
"We need to help the most vulnerable, we also need to smooth that over a long period so that people can cope with the higher costs of water. And the regulators have a really important job in squeezing efficiency, incentivising the companies to be more efficient."
The campaign group, We Own It, is particularly damning about the impact of privatisation on the environment and on consumer bills. They say that:
* Since privatisation, £85 billion has gone to shareholders - over £2 billion a year on average
* The water companies have built up a debt mountain of over £60 billion and used this to finance dividends for shareholders
* The average pay for a water company CEO is £1.7 million a year. The biggest earner is Steve Mogford, CEO of United Utilities, on £2.9 million
* Our bills have gone up by 40% in real terms since privatisation
* Water companies are leaking away up to a fifth of their supply
* The Environment Agency has said that by 2050 some rivers will see 50-80% less water during the summer months – so water is a precious resource we need to conserve
* Every day, the water companies discharge raw sewage into our rivers and seas more than 1000 times on average - over 9 million hours since 2016
* Only 14 percent of English rivers are considered to have good ecological status
* In Scotland, water is in public ownership. Bills are lower and rivers and seas are cleaner
* Publicly owned Scottish Water has spent £72 more per household per year (35% more) than the English water companies. If England had invested at this rate, an extra £28 billion would have gone into the infrastructure to tackle problems like leaks and sewage. Water bills in Scotland are £113 cheaper on average
Reading this litany of facts it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that our water industry has been pillaged of its resources over a twenty five year period, and that the only acceptable solution to these acts is to take it all back into public ownership.
Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Is the right to protest under attack?
He says that the decision of Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to classify and proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation has crossed a threshold that he considers uncrossable:
A country like Iceland recognises the right of citizens to engage in civil disobedience as fundamental to freedom. Of course there will be instances where the law is broken in pursuit of a cause. But defendants have been able to argue that taking action that may involve breaking the law is excusable if the intention of the action was to prevent a bigger crime being committed.
Britain was essentially in this same category until Ms Cooper issued her edict.
For her to have done so defies commonsense. No one seriously believes that Palestine Action is comparable as an organisation to Isis or Al Qaeda – groups that behave as terrorists do, murdering anyone in pursuit of an ideology that is at the opposite end of the spectrum from democracy.
However much one may disapprove of Palestine Action’s modus operandi, it is clearly very different in terms of its motivation and implementation.
No one has been killed as a result of the group’s activities, which have been directed at thwarting violent actions undertaken by a foreign nation – Israel – or support given by the British military to that nation.
It’s significant that there has been no question of proscribing the Palestine Solidarity Campaign – the group responsible for organising countless protests against Israel’s murderous attacks on Palestinians.
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t care how many people in Britain participate in demonstrations against his war. With the practical and moral support of the US, the UK and other European nations, such protests can be safely ignored.
But damaging weapon systems produced by Israelis on British soil is another matter entirely, and something that Netanyahu won’t tolerate. Breaking into premises where deadly drones are manufactured, as Palestine Action has done, is interfering with Israel’s war aims and has to be stopped.
Classifying the group as a terrorist organisation, with jail sentences of up to 14 years for anyone who belongs to the group or expresses support for its aims, is an effective way to neutralise opposition that has proved itself capable of causing tangible damage.
What should worry us is how Israel has been able to exert such pressure on the UK Government that it has extended the definition of “terrorism” into what should be considered the realms of absurdity. But the forces of law and order aren’t treating it as absurd, and individuals who don’t have the slightest inclination to violence are now being arrested by police officers acting in accordance with political instructions – something that should never happen but, as those of us old enough to remember the miners’ strike realise, sometimes does.
On this occasion, however, we’re into new territory, with repressive measures being introduced at the behest of a foreign country – and one that can legitimately be argued to have engaged in terrorist activity itself.
A certain amount has come out already about the way British forces have been deployed to help Israel’s vicious attacks on the people of Gaza, and I have no doubt that much more will emerge as time passes.
Equally I am sure that future revelations will not be to Britain’s credit.
Martin makes a wider point about bad faith in politics and the abuse of social media to distort facts for political ends, but the argument about proscription of Palestine Action is the most potent part of his piece.
The UK Labour government have placed the country on a very slippery slope, and are directly threatening the freedom to protest as they do so.
Monday, July 21, 2025
Are Labour bringing devolution process to a halt?
They say that Antoniw, who will stand down as Labour MS for Pontypridd at next year’s Senedd election, has written an article for the Institute of Welsh Affairs’ Agenda journal in which he analyses constitutional developments in Wales:
His intervention comes less than a week after Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed that the Welsh Government would again be bypassed in the administration of post-Brexit regional aid funding for Wales. Instead it will be handled by the UK Government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, in conjunction with the Wales Office, headed by Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens.
In his article, Mr Antoniw states: “Since the general election, progress on further Welsh devolution has been non-existent. At the moment it is difficult to see that anything of consequence has changed. If anything, it has deteriorated. A lot of talk and superficial good will but little substance and lethargic commitment to reform.
“Gordon Brown recommended that there was no reason why Wales should not have the same powers as Scotland. It has been a great political irony that the asymmetrical devolution model has found so much favour with some MPs. The defence of the England and Wales justice system, an outdated, post-Victorian model that is failing in just about every respect due to lack of funding and outdated concepts of the operation and administration of justice is bizarre and almost reflects a colonial mentality.
“The Welsh Government published a detailed set of proposals for justice reform, highlighting how it was not only needed but essential to building a 21st century justice system. A move towards dispute resolution, drug and alcohol courts, family reform, youth justice and probation devolution all had at their core the recognition that justice is about resolving disputes and resolving many of the issues which are rooted in social and economic inequality and poverty. The last UK Government largely ignored the report.
“To date, I have still seen no comprehensive response or analysis. The lack of response sadly reflects a retrospective and introverted constitutional conservatism that permeates across Westminster politics.
Antoniw sets out eleven demands, which he believes the UK Government should implement:
“This is what I believe is essential if we are to get back onto a stable, workable and efficient democratic parliamentary structure:
1 Abolish the House of Lords and replace it with an elected Council of the Nations and Regions. Its function would be to be a Constitutional chamber, and a scrutineer of legislation.
2 End first-past-the-post as the electoral system for Westminster Parliament. It no longer works.
3 Introduce a new Constitutional Reform Act to put the Inter–Parliamentary Governance Framework on a statutory basis. This will protect the Constitutional structure. This should also include the Sewell Convention. Sewell can no longer depend on goodwill and trust. It needs to be justiciable. There is no longer a need for a Welsh and Scottish office. These are expensive pre-devolution creations which have become outdated, irrelevant and undermine the operational development of the Inter-Parliamentary Framework. It is time for them to be phased out.
4 Develop a new, needs-based financial settlement for the nations and regions of the UK, which has a clear constitutional framework.
5 Devolve the justice system incrementally over the next 10 years, starting with the devolution of youth justice, probation and policing, all of which are so intrinsically intertwined already with devolved functions.
6 Recognise a Welsh legal jurisdiction. This is essentially an administrative step but is long overdue.
7 Wales should have a designated judge in the Supreme Court.
8 Devolve the Crown Estate to Wales. This can be achieved without disrupting existing plans. Wales’ recent history is one of being exploited for its national resources of coal and water. We should learn the lesson of history and ensure this isn’t repeated with the Crown Estate and the resource of offshore wind and tidal energy.
9 Extend full and equal parliamentary privilege to all the Parliaments of the nations of the UK.
10 The UK Government should formally recognise responsibility for the cost of pre-devolution coal tip safety and engage with the Welsh Government over the funding of a 10-year plan for tip removal and land restoration.
11 Repeal the Tory UK Internal Market Act. This was introduced to undermine devolution and centralise UK Governmental power post–Brexit. It is not necessary and undermines the excellent common frameworks which were established to ensure hegemony across the UK internal market.
I can happily sign up to all these demands. As Antoniw says, the 'constitution is the agreement, the compact between Government and the People. It is about the exercise of power within the Rule of Law and we ignore it at our peril. It is the very essence of government.'
He is right that there is a need for a constitutional convention, but the Welsh government is not entirely without blame here. I note for example that Antoniw doesn't mention devolution of railways, a major source of tension between the Welsh and UK governments, and one that can be traced back to the refusal by the then Welsh First Minister to acceept responsibility for railways in the first place.
Welsh Labour in the past has been incredibly conservative when it comes to further devolution of powers. Antoniw is ahead of the curve in his own party on this side of Offas Dyke as well.
Sunday, July 20, 2025
What is the tipping point in Palestine Action arrests?
The paper says that demonstrations have been held in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol and Truro on Saturday as part of a campaign coordinated by Defend Our Juries:
In London’s Parliament Square, beside Mahatma Gandhi statue, police officers surrounded people at an event at which signs were held that read “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”.
Officers confiscated the placards and searched the bags of those arrested. Some people were carried away while others were led away in handcuffs.
The Metropolitan police said 55 people had been arrested in Parliament Square under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 for displaying placards in support of Palestine Action.
Defend Our Juries said on X: “The UK government is complicit in Israel’s genocide against Palestinians. They are attempting to silence those who expose this complicity.”
A woman who was detained in Parliament Square said: “We demand that Palestine Action is de-proscribed.
“Our government is not only arming a genocide, they are using terrorism laws to silence people who speak out.
“Palestine Action are campaigning for peace. They are dismantling weapons factories.”
Greater Manchester police said they arrested 16 people, who remained in custody for questioning. Avon and Somerset police said 17 people were arrested during a protest in Bristol.
In Truro Cathedral in Cornwall, eight people were arrested after protesters gathered to show support for Palestine Action.
Devon and Cornwall police said in a statement that about 30 protesters were involved in a “peaceful” Defend Our Juries demonstration.
“A number of placards which were contrary to the law remained on display despite police advice,” the force said. “Eight people, two men and six women, were arrested on suspicion of offences under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000. They remain in police custody.”
At a high court hearing on Monday, the co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, will ask for permission to challenge the home secretary’s decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws.
UN experts, civil liberties groups, cultural figures and hundreds of lawyers have condemned the ban as draconian and said it sets a dangerous precedent by conflating protest with terrorism.
More than 70 people were arrested last week at demonstrations across the UK where references to Palestine Action were allegedly made.
Police Scotland arrested a man in Glasgow on Friday “for displaying a sign expressing support for a proscribed organisation”.
The sign read “Genocide in Palestine, time to take action” with the words “Palestine” and “action” larger than the others. Another man wearing a T-shirt with the same slogan was charged with a similar offence last weekend at the TRNSMT music festival in Glasgow.
The question is what are the court going to do with all these people? Are they going to send them to already over-crowded prisons as envisaged by the Home Secretary? And if they do, are we going to get suffragette-style hunger strikes to make the point?
And where is the tipping point when the government will have to rethink their approach to this issue? Can they face-down continued passive resistance for ever? We will have to see.
Saturday, July 19, 2025
Beware the white lady
In the twelfth century the castle was mainly owned by the first Earl of Warwick and his family. In 1203 the lordship of Gower was given to the de Breos family who ruled until the 1320s when it passed into the hands of the de Mowbray's via Alina de Breos who married John de Mowbray.
The de Mowbrays lost Gower to the Beauchamps for some time due to a legal decision and in 1461 it passed to the Herberts, the Somersets and then to the Dukes of Beaufort who held it until 1927 when it was transferred to Swansea Corporation. Currently it is the responsibility of the Swansea Council, with the Friends of Oystermouth Castle looking after the day to day running of the castle during the open season.
Famously, the castle is the home of the white lady, a ghost who, according to this site, is possibly Alina de Braose herself.
There have been a number of sightings over the year, many recorded on the Swansea Bay page. It doesnt sound like she is a particularly friendly spirit.
Friday, July 18, 2025
The seriousness of data leak becomes apparent
The paper quotes defence sources as saying that the highly sensitive document contained names and email addresses belonging to people sponsoring or linked to some individual cases. Personal information about MI6 officers was also included:
The identities of members of the SAS and MI6 are a closely guarded secret, and the possibility that following the leak such information could have ended up in the public domain was a source of significant official concern.
SAS and other special forces officers were involved in assessing whether Afghans who said they were members of the elite 333 and 444 units, known as the Triples, were allowed to come to the UK.
Defence sources said the dataset also referred to a “secret route” that Afghans could use to come to the UK.
The paper adds that the leaked data included the names, email and phone numbers for thousands of Afghans who had applied to come to the UK under an existing relocation scheme designed for those who had helped the British military:
In some instances the data contained further written information about their case and status of their application – focused on whether they had in fact helped the UK or British forces in Afghanistan – but it did not contain addresses or photographs.
This week Afghans affected by the breach received a message addressed from the UK government, and sent in English, Pashto and Dari, that warned the recipient’s email address had been used to make a resettlement application and that some personal data may have been compromised.
Details of the breach were limited, but recipients on the email – some of whom remain in hiding from the Taliban in Afghanistan – were advised “not to take phone calls or respond to messages or emails from unknown contacts” and to limit who could see their social media profiles.
Lives could be lost as a result of this leak. Did the government close the relocation scheme prematurely?
Thursday, July 17, 2025
Is Starmer losing his grip on the Labour Party?
The paper says that the four MPs who have lost the whip are Rachael Maskell, Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman and Chris Hinchliff. They were informed on Wednesday afternoon and told their positions would be kept under review. Apparently, the whip has been removed because they are “persistent rebels”:
All four MPs facing suspension have been openly critical of several government policies, including the welfare bill and cuts to the winter fuel allowance.
MPs who lose the whip are no longer considered part of the parliamentary party, though they retain party membership unless that too is revoked. The suspension is usually for a set period, and then reviewed.
Three other Labour MPs who have rebelled against the whip – Rosena Allin-Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Mohammad Yasin – had their trade envoy roles removed. Trade envoys are parliamentarians who help the government promote trade and investment with specific regions, and can be drawn from opposition as well as government.
One Labour MP on the left of the party said those suspended had been told they faced an inquiry lasting a few months and that the decision to suspend them had come from Downing Street.
The MP said the move was intended to create a “climate of fear” in the party and made the government look “brittle”. “What those MPs, what we all did, were to defend Labour values. The fact that the government was humiliated was all of their own making. There are elements around No 10 who now want to lash out vindictively rather than acknowledge the mistakes that were made. This is now frankly a punishment beating … They’ve learned nothing.”
Another Labour MP said: “The trade envoy sackings are particularly weird … There are Tory and Lib Dem trade envoys who vote against the government all the time and that’s OK, but a Labour one gets sacked for one rebellion? Make it make sense.”
These sackings come following similar action taken against seven Labour MPs who rebelled over the two-child benefit cap a year ago.
Starmer and his advisors may feel that these sort of disciplinary measures make him seem like a strong leader, but the reality is that the MPs concerned are far more representative of the wider Labour Party than he is. Not being able to take all of the Labour Parliamentary Party with him the PM is resorting to these suspensions instead.
If anything it makes him look weak and isolated within an increasingly narrow managerial mindset. When will this government start to bring in the changes voters expected of them?
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Extraordinary cover-up of leak that could have cost lives
They add that fears that the individuals named would be at risk from reprisals from the Taliban led the previous government to set up a secret relocation scheme, the Afghan Response Route (ARR), involving 20,000 people at a cost in the order of £2bn.
But the most astonishing thing about this whole story are the lengths that the government went to in an effort to cover up this whole mess, involving securing an unprecedented superinjunction in August 2023 preventing the leak and secret relocation scheme to be reported and denying those in the know to even disclose the existence of the court order:
“Members of this house, including you, Mr Speaker, and myself, have been subject to this superinjunction. It is unprecedented, and to be clear, the court has always recognised the parliamentary privilege of proceedings in this house, and ministers decided not to tell parliamentarians at an earlier stage about the data incident as the widespread publicity would increase the risk of the Taliban obtaining the dataset.”
Healey said the leaked spreadsheet also included details of MPs, senior military officers and government officials.
He said: “This official mistakenly believed that they were sending the names of 150 applicants. However, the spreadsheet in fact contained personal information associated to 18,714 Afghans who had applied either to the ex gratia or the Arap [Afghan relocations and assistance policy] scheme on or before the 7th of January 2022.
“It contained names and contact details of applicants and in some instances information relating to applicants’ family members. And, in a small number of cases, the names of members of parliament, senior military officers and government officials who were noted as supporting the application. This was a serious departmental error.”
He added: “To date, 900 ARR principals are in Britain or in transit, together with 3,600 family members, at a cost of around £400m.”
The safety of the individuals was of course paramount, but as Lewis Goodall of The Newsagents podcast reports, the government did not swing into action as one might expect to get these Afghans out of danger. Instead, they effectively sat on their hands:
Months went by, yet we heard nothing. To my surprise, given that by now I was aware the breach had taken place in early 2022 and had been discussed openly in an Afghan Facebook forum, there wasn’t any wider reporting in the media. Eventually, we were summoned to another hearing, where I expected news that the super would be discharged, or at the very least a date where that would happen. To my astonishment, there was no prospect of this- instead the government was changing the rules of the game. It became clear, via the court documents that initially at least, the then Sunak government was not proposing to help very many people as a result of the breach at all- around 200 principals, perhaps up to 1000 in all including family members- 1% of the total number potentially affected and at at least some risk.
...
The government has spent a huge amount of money on this case. Defending its right to secrecy over our right to know, cloaked under Afghans right to life, but not to know. I worry about where this leaves our democracy, I worry about what precedent it sets, I worry about how easy it is in our system, for the executive to act without restraint. For all of its problems, this could never have happened in the United States, with its first amendment rights, and constitutionally bound freedom of expression. So many times I sat in court 27 and wondered- what else don’t we know? Might there be other courts like this, in other cases? In my view, there never ever should. This case, is about a question as old as politics itself- who guards the guardians?
He has a valid point.
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Reform u-turn after tasting reality of power
As the Guardian says, while Reform does not have a definitive national position on this issue, the general approach set out by Farage and his fellow MPs has been to push repeatedly for a significant fall in overall migration and curbs to work visas:
In May, Farage said care staff were not skilled and overseas care workers should only be allowed in on strictly time-limited visas. More widely, he has called for zero net migration, meaning there can be no more arrivals than departures.
Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, has said Britons should do care work rather than what he termed “a never-ending stream of cheap, low-skilled labour from overseas”.
Perhaps they should tell their new cohort of councillors, because those of them who are now having to face up to the responsibility of actually running things are finding that the reality is far different from the rhetoric being spouted by the Reform leadership.
The Guardian reports that Linden Kemkaran, the leader of Reform-run Kent council, has written to the government to express “grave concern” about a planned tightening of visas for health and care workers, despite the party’s wider commitment to significantly reducing net migration.
She told Ministers that the changes, including an imminent end to the specific visa route for care workers, could have a significant impact on local care homes:
In a letter to Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, and Stephen Kinnock, the care minister, they said that about 20% to 25% of the county’s social care workforce was from overseas and able to work via licensed sponsorships from employers.
This route expires on 22 July, part of a wider tightening of migration rules, including on health and care visas, announced by the government in May. The Reform councillors’ letter warned about the impact on “a number of displaced social care workers who may have lost their jobs, or the sponsoring provider has lost their licence”.
When care workers’ existing visas expire, they wrote, to keep a visa they would need to earn at least £41,000 a year, the new minimum salary for skilled worker visas. Added to the NICs rise, “this is totally unsustainable, and the risk is that many care workers at this level will go home and leave providers on a cliff edge”, the letter said.
They added: “Due to the challenges facing the adult social care system in general, and care providers in particular, we urge you to reconsider these changes and look forward to your support in addressing these urgent pressing matters.”
Nothing better illustrates the fantasy politics being spouted by Farage and his minions, than the fact that his own councillors think they are unworkable and will plunge health and social care into crisis. Don't believe what Reform say, judge them by what they do.
In a letter to Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, and Stephen Kinnock, the care minister, they said that about 20% to 25% of the county’s social care workforce was from overseas and able to work via licensed sponsorships from employers.
This route expires on 22 July, part of a wider tightening of migration rules, including on health and care visas, announced by the government in May. The Reform councillors’ letter warned about the impact on “a number of displaced social care workers who may have lost their jobs, or the sponsoring provider has lost their licence”.
When care workers’ existing visas expire, they wrote, to keep a visa they would need to earn at least £41,000 a year, the new minimum salary for skilled worker visas. Added to the NICs rise, “this is totally unsustainable, and the risk is that many care workers at this level will go home and leave providers on a cliff edge”, the letter said.
They added: “Due to the challenges facing the adult social care system in general, and care providers in particular, we urge you to reconsider these changes and look forward to your support in addressing these urgent pressing matters.”
Nothing better illustrates the fantasy politics being spouted by Farage and his minions, than the fact that his own councillors think they are unworkable and will plunge health and social care into crisis. Don't believe what Reform say, judge them by what they do.
Monday, July 14, 2025
Unions and campaigners opposing ban on Palestine Action
The Observer reports that the singer Charlotte Church and veteran peace campaigners are among hundreds who have signed a letter describing the move to ban the group Palestine Action as “a major assault on our freedoms”.
They add that trade unionists, activists and politicians have also added their names to the letter opposing the group’s proscription under anti-terrorism laws last week:
Church said: “I sign this letter because history shows us that when people stand up to injustice, those in power often reach for the same old playbook: label dissent as dangerous, criminalise protest, and try to silence movements for change by branding them as extremists or terrorists.
“From the suffragettes to the civil rights movement, what was once condemned as radical disruption is now celebrated as moral courage. We must remember this pattern – and refuse to let our rights be eroded by fear. This is not new, and we will not be silenced.”
“By signing this letter I am not inviting support for any proscribed organisation – people can make their own minds up – but I am making a clear and strong stand against the abuse and misuse of terrorism laws to malign direct action protest.”
A ban on Palestine Action, which uses direct action to mainly target Israeli weapons factories in the UK and their supply chain, was voted through by parliament this month. Being a member of, or showing support for the group is now a criminal offence after a last-minute legal challenge to suspend the group’s proscription failed.
The open letter states: “Peaceful protest tactics which damage property or disrupt ‘business-as-usual’ in order to call attention to the crimes of the powerful have a long and proud history. They are more urgent than ever in response to Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people.”
Other signatories to the letter include the environmental and human rights campaigner Angie Zelter, who was acquitted after disarming a BAE Hawk Jet and who also destroyed infrastructure supporting Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons system.
She said: “Effective protest often disrupts ‘business as usual’. Halting the cruel arms trade and the dangerous militarisation of our society is really important to me. I have been involved in peaceful civil resistance for decades. I am in full support of civil resistance and of people involved in upholding international law.”
Elected representatives who have signed the letter include James Dornan, the Scottish National party MSP for Cathcart who last week put a motion to the Scottish parliament calling for the proscription of the Israel Defense Forces as a terrorist organisation.
It was also signed by Gerry Carroll, the socialist activist and member of the legislative assembly for West Belfast, along with Plaid Cymru, Labour and Co-operative councillors.
A spokesperson for Glasgow Trades Union Council, which is collectively backing the letter, said: “As the UK government is attacking our civil liberties, we must ask ourselves if not now, then when?”
One of the organisers of the letter was Anne Alexander, a researcher and UCU activist at the University of Cambridge, who said more than 900 people had signed. She said: “The response to this open letter shows that people up and down the country want to stop arms going to Israel and that they don’t agree that a direct action group are ‘terrorists’ because they tried to disrupt the supply chain fuelling a genocide.”
Other signatories include Leanne Wood, the former leader of Plaid Cymru, and Suresh Grover, the veteran civil rights and anti-racist campaigner who was a founder of the Southall Monitoring Group and led campaigns to help the families of Stephen Lawrence, Zahid Mubarek and Victoria Climbié.
In the meantime, protestors opposed to this government's 'abuse' of the terrorism legislation, and who are determined to test the law, are being arrested, including an 83 year old priest. We have yet to see how the courts will treat those protesters but if others follow their example I imagine that the government will have an embarrassing problem on their hands.
Sunday, July 13, 2025
The growing number of children in poverty affected by two-child benefit cap
The Independent reports that new figures have revealed that more than 1.66 million children are living in households affected by the cap. This new data brings the total number of children affected by the cap since Labour came into power a year ago to 300,000:
New figures have revealed that more than 1.66 million children are living in households affected by the two-child benefit cap as campaigners ramp up calls for the controversial measure to be scrapped.
There are nearly 470,000 households facing benefit reductions due to the policy, the latest official figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show, housing nearly 1.7 million children.
The government has faced intense pressure from campaigners, charities and opposition parties over the measure, which experts say is a chief driver of child poverty in the UK.
Ministers have so far resisted calls to scrap the Tory-era policy, with prime minister Keir Starmer saying it could only be done when fiscal conditions allow. Shortly after Labour’s landslide victory last July, seven of the parties MPs were suspended for voting with the SNP to scrap the cap.
Speculation has grown that the government may announce an end to the measure in autumn when it is due to publish its delayed child poverty strategy. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said earlier this month that such a move was “not off the table,” adding that ministers are “looking at every lever” to reduce child poverty.
The two-child benefit cap prevents parents from claiming universal credit or tax credit for their third child. It was introduced by the Conservatives and came into place in April 2017. It only affects applies to children who were born after 6 April 2017.
The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) said its analysis suggests an estimated 400,000 children would be lifted out of poverty immediately if the policy was scrapped, with 109 more children pulled into poverty by the measure every day.
The charity’s chief executive Alison Garnham said: “The government’s moral mission to tackle child poverty will make our country a better, stronger place, but families urgently need action not just words.
“Giving all kids the best start in life will be impossible until government scraps this brutal policy - and a year after the election families can’t wait any longer for the help they desperately need.”
Labour's inaction on this issue is a disgrace and has real consequences. Isnt it time they grew some cojones and started to live up to their 'Change' electiom slogan?
Saturday, July 12, 2025
A remarkable politician
As the site says, Val Feld’s plaque, the first Purple Plaque in Wales, is located on the Senedd building in Cardiff Bay, and was unveiled by her daughters and granddaughters on 6th March 2018:
Val was born Valerie Breen Turner in Bangor on 29 October 1947 and died in Swansea on 17 July 2001.
She was one of the most highly regarded members of the National Assembly for Wales across the political spectrum, as one of the leading architects of devolution, achieved in 1997. She promoted women’s participation in Welsh politics. At the time the Welsh Cabinet was the first in the world to have a majority of women members, which was remarkable in a very traditional, macho political culture.
Val became the first Director of Shelter Cymru in 1981, independent from the English organisation for the first time. After completing a Women’s Studies course in Cardiff, she was appointed Director of the Equal Opportunities Commission in Wales. Val was instrumental in ensuring that the Government of Wales Act 1998 included clauses requiring due regard to equal opportunities.
All Val’s work was underpinned by her commitment to equality and social justice, and she was a powerful force for women and minority groups, including Swansea Women’s Centre, Jazz Heritage Wales, Women’s Archive of Wales, Multi Ethnic Women’s Network (MEWN Swansea) and Chwarae Teg.
I served in the National Assembly for Wales with Val, who represented Swansea East, the constituency I lived in. She was a force to be reckoned with.
Val was born Valerie Breen Turner in Bangor on 29 October 1947 and died in Swansea on 17 July 2001.
She was one of the most highly regarded members of the National Assembly for Wales across the political spectrum, as one of the leading architects of devolution, achieved in 1997. She promoted women’s participation in Welsh politics. At the time the Welsh Cabinet was the first in the world to have a majority of women members, which was remarkable in a very traditional, macho political culture.
Val became the first Director of Shelter Cymru in 1981, independent from the English organisation for the first time. After completing a Women’s Studies course in Cardiff, she was appointed Director of the Equal Opportunities Commission in Wales. Val was instrumental in ensuring that the Government of Wales Act 1998 included clauses requiring due regard to equal opportunities.
All Val’s work was underpinned by her commitment to equality and social justice, and she was a powerful force for women and minority groups, including Swansea Women’s Centre, Jazz Heritage Wales, Women’s Archive of Wales, Multi Ethnic Women’s Network (MEWN Swansea) and Chwarae Teg.
I served in the National Assembly for Wales with Val, who represented Swansea East, the constituency I lived in. She was a force to be reckoned with.
As I said in the Plenary session following her death, her work on homelessness and equal opportunities, and in other fields was pioneering. She was a builder of opportunity for those who had been unable to find their own voice.
Friday, July 11, 2025
Details needed on Welsh rail investment
Wales-on-line reports that there is currently no date for when rail improvements promised by the UK Government will start, nor any indication of where the first works will take place.
The Treasury's paperwork said the following was being promised: "£300m for rail investment in Wales, including for the Burns Review stations, North Wales Level Crossing, Padeswood Sidings and Cardiff West Junction.
"This [spending review] and the upcoming 10-year infrastructure strategy will recognise Wales’ long-term infrastructure needs and will deliver at least £445m of rail enhancements to realise them."
But in terms of what will be delivered and when there was no more detail available then. In the following days we had tried to get details from the Welsh secretary, the Department for Transport, and the Treasury about what would take place when and exactly what the money was to be spent on.
The best we could get was from the Department for Transport (DFT). "We will be working with industry partners such as Network Rail and Transport for Wales in the coming months to agree the programme of further work to deliver the investment. This work will update will confirm the costs and delivery schedule for the overall programme," we were told.
Neither Network Rail nor Transport for Wales were able to give details and our questions were directed to the Welsh Government's transport minister, Ken Skates and our repeated requests to sit down with him to ask questions have also been unfulfilled.
"I think that's absolutely right because obviously the Welsh Rail Board has produced the priority list that went into the spending review to get that money They'll now look at how how it is delivered."
She was then asked by Mrs Jones if there was a "timeline for their timeline" and the Welsh secretary said there was not.
She added: "Not that I'm aware of. I know that work is starting on it pretty imminently and so I would hope it would not be too long because now we've got the funding secured, we've got to get on with delivering it.
All-in-all this funding announcement sounds rushed and not very well planned out. Given the previous track record of government railway projects, I will be surprised if there will be a single spade in the ground before the next Senedd election.
Thursday, July 10, 2025
Have we lost the ability to build infrastructure?
A perfect example of that is HS2 (or any railway project for that matter), which is taking far longer to build and costing far more than was ever envisaged for it.
The Guardian reports that the boss of the high-speed rail project has told MPs that HS2 construction contracts priced at £19.5bn have already cost £26bn despite being “just over halfway done”.
The paper adds that the transport select committee heard that the civil engineering to build tunnels and cuttings for the 100-mile line should be almost finished but is closer to 60% complete, while only a third of the wider project – including laying tracks and wiring – is done:
Mark Wild, chief executive of HS2 Ltd, told the committee that the rush to start work in 2020 without balancing the risks in the contracts was the major reason for costs spiralling upwards.
Contracts were signed off in April 2020 and construction formally began five months later, before designs were finalised and local planning consents were in place, he said.
Wild, who started work last December, is currently engaged in a “reset” of construction, which he said would include reshaping his direct staff at HS2 Ltd, coming up with a credible schedule and budget, and renegotiating contracts in the autumn.
He said: “The bottom line is that, at the notice to proceed, the contractors could not price the risk. What we’re seeing is the crystallisation of risk: they should have cost £19.5bn, and we’ve already spent £26bn and we’re just over halfway done … Between 50% and 100% is the likely overspend.”
The line between London and Birmingham – initially designated phase one, but now the entirety of HS2 – was originally planned to open in 2026.
The schedule was subsequently postponed to between 2029 and 2033. But on Wild’s advice, Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, told parliament last month that there was “no route” to full HS2 services until after 2033.
Wild said Covid and inflation caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had both had a significant impact on time and costs, but that HS2 had failed to manage costs.
He said the company was “unbalanced” and had “a significant gap” in its frontline workforce managing contractors, as well as having “too many consultants who’ve been there for too long”.
“We’ve ended up … locked in our own bureaucracy,” he added.
I'm almost sure that Joseph Chamberelain didn't come across any of these obstacles when he performed a civil engineering feat like no other and transformed public health in Birmingham.
Wednesday, July 09, 2025
UN panel raises concerns about impact of Labour's welfare bill
The paper says that n a rare intervention, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities asked about the legislation after receiving “credible information” that it seemed likely to worsen the rights of disabled people:
A letter from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, on behalf of the committee, said it “respectfully requests information” about the bill, and in particular the extent of any impact assessment.
It also sought information on “any measures to address the foreseeable risk of increasing poverty rates amongst persons with disabilities if cuts are approved”.
According to an impact assessment by the Department for Work and Pensions released on Monday, the revised bill will mean 50,000 fewer people are in relative poverty after housing costs in 2030. An assessment of the original plans found the measures would have pushed an additional 250,000 people into poverty, with some charities saying this figure would have been higher.
The letter also requests information on the extent of consultation with disabled people and charities ahead of the bill being presented, and whether the House of Lords would be able to give only “limited scrutiny” if, as expected, it is designated as a money bill, limiting the upper house’s powers.
The UN committee called for scrutiny of politicians and others in the UK “portraying persons with disabilities as making profit of social benefits, making false statements to get social and disability benefits or being a burden to society”.
Pointing to previous UN reports criticising the UK for its record over the rights of disabled people, the committee said it had “received credible information indicating that, if approved, the universal credit and personal independent payment bill will deepen the signs of regression” found in earlier reports.
Whatever this bill turns out to say after all the concessions to Labour MPs, there is no hiding the inevitablity that a large number of disabled people will be worse off.
Tuesday, July 08, 2025
Labour MPs getting the rebellious habit
The paper says that education secretary Bridget Phillipson has insisted that ministers are committed to reforming support for children with learning difficulties or disabilities, which currently costs £12bn a year, but has refused to rule out scrapping key documents that families rely on to guarantee specialist help:
Education, health and care plans (EHCPs) are statutory documents which outline the support needed to help children with special needs and disabilities achieve key life outcomes. Many seeing them as the only way to get schools to provide the support children need.
Asked whether she could rule out getting rid of EHCPs, Ms Phillipson described it as a “complex and sensitive area”.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, she added: “What I can say very clearly is that we will strengthen and put in place better support for children.”
“I’ve been spending a lot of time listening to parents, to disability rights groups, to campaigners and to others and to colleagues across Parliament as well, because it’s important to get this right,” she added, but said it is “tough”.
But one Labour MP told The Independent that a lot of his fellow backbenchers have strong relationships with Send campaigners, warning: “If they’re now being told by them this is a betrayal - combined with last week - they’ll be pushing back against any cuts.”
“People are angry with us. New MPs will be feeling that”, he added.
Other Labour MPs told The Times that the plans risk becoming “welfare mark two”, claiming that dozens of MPs are prepared to rebel over the issue.
One backbencher urged the government to “think again now or they’ll be repeating the same mistake they made with welfare reform.”
“We’re all in favour of reforming the system but that cannot be driven by saving money and taking support away from children”, they added.
A second Labour MP said: “If they thought taking money away from disabled adults was bad, watch what happens when they try the same with disabled kids.”
Having forced a climbdown by the government once, Labour MPs are now getting antsy and starting to assert themselves. If Starmer continues to pursue his blue Labour agenda there may well be many more rebellions.
Monday, July 07, 2025
Are MPs failing their staff?
The paper says that staff employed by MPs have said that they have been put in “extremely dangerous” situations after a small number of parliamentarians “wilfully ignored” security advice:
A confidential report sent to Commons authorities last year, seen by the Guardian, highlighted the concerns amid tension over the Gaza conflict and what it described as a rising number of “mentally and emotionally unstable constituents”.
One MP’s constituency worker reported being threatened with a knife last year, while another described a hammer attack at an MP’s surgery.
A survey of nearly 400 MPs’ employees, most of whom were based outside Westminster, found that more than one in three (38%) now fear for their own or colleagues’ safety – up from 19% in 2022.
Ninety-five staff employed by MPs said none or only some safety recommendations had been acted on, while 31 respondents said security measures had been rejected by their MP or office manager. Only 28% said all safety recommendations had been implemented at their constituency office.
The Westminster-based wellness working group (WWG), which represents MPs’ staff, said it was “shocked to our core” by its survey. It said some MPs were “wilfully ignoring security advice and putting their staff in extremely dangerous situations for unconscionable reasons such as optics in the public eye”.
Concerns about MPs’ safety have risen sharply since the murders of Jo Cox in 2016 and David Amess in 2021.
Last year, Lindsay Hoyle, speaker of the House of Commons, described Commons security as his “top priority”, saying the issue “keeps me awake at night”. The speaker’s office published a cross-party report last month warning that record levels of abuse and harassment were “stifling debate and weakening democracy”.
Yet those working for MPs said they felt there had been little focus on their own safety, particularly those in constituency offices where some felt “extremely unsafe” and “very vulnerable”.
A confidential report highlighting a spate of attacks and threats on constituency offices was handed to Hoyle and senior Commons officials last year. The 18-page audit, compiled by the WWG, described how staff endured “countless encounters with aggressive people” at their constituency office, including hammer attacks and bricks thrown through the window.
One MP was said to have reacted angrily about the use of safety tools such as lone worker devices, which send security alerts when activated.
A constituency worker said their MP “laughed off” their concerns when a man attacked the constituency office with a hammer.
Another said they were made to feel scared after being driven by an MP to the home of a constituent known to be “very unwell” and enter the property first.
One worker claimed the police had refused to help when their MP’s office was being vandalised because it was the staff member who was under threat, not the MP.
The MPs were not identified by name in the confidential report and the Guardian is not publishing detailed accounts of the incidents as it risked identifying members of staff.
This is frankly disturbing. MPs have a duty to their staff, those who don't fulfill that duty should be named and shamed.
