Latest news with #WelshLabour
ITV News
a day ago
- Politics
- ITV News
High-profile Reform defection causes stir, but what does it mean for 2026 Senedd Election?
The defection of Laura Anne Jones has shocked and surprised even some of her closest colleagues. The significance of it has yet to be fully realised but certainly for now it has caused a sensation. In the short term, it gives Nigel Farage's Reform UK a Senedd member, another symbol that it's gaining support at all levels of government and a possible leader in Wales and even, if the polls are correct, a potential candidate for First Minister. But it brings its own problems. Laura Anne Jones is yet to be formally cleared by the Senedd's Standards Commissioner, Douglas Bain, after South Wales Police cleared her of expenses allegations. And her presence adds to those who say that Reform UK is mostly the home of disgruntled, former Conservative politicians, something that might put off those supporters of other political parties who, polls suggest, have been tempted by what they're hearing from Reform UK. For the Welsh Conservatives, it's a blow and one they weren't expecting. One Welsh Conservative source made the jibe, 'She'll have to turn up to cabinet more often now,' while another expressed disappointment that Ms Jones hadn't confided in even her closest colleagues, particularly those who'd offered help and support including 'emotional support' in recent years. Still, there's no doubt that her defection has shaken up a Welsh politics that is already being shaken up. Next year's Senedd election is one that is likely to bring huge change. Laura Anne Jones has just become a much bigger part of that change. Those other parties are contemplating what change means for them. There's the same mix of bafflement and frustration. When I bumped into Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth on the Royal Welsh Showground earlier, he highlighted the fact that he's a leader rooted in Wales but it's the visitor flown in from elsewhere who was getting the attention. Similarly former Welsh Conservative leader, Andrew RT Davies, has been at the Royal Welsh in a personal capacity for the last few days before taking up political tasks today. He rather wryly laughs at the rumours suggesting it would be he who'd defect, repeating his mantra that he was 'born blue.' A Welsh Labour spokesperson said, 'Today's defection is further proof that Reform are just the Tories in teal ties. Neither party cares about the people of Wales. 'Laura Anne Jones has seen the polls and, in a desperate attempt to keep her Senedd seat, is leaving the sinking Tory ship. This is someone who backed Liz Truss' reckless economics which crashed the economy, lost her front bench role over expenses claims and her own party said they were embarrassed by her racist slur in a WhatsApp group. 'She claims she's now part of the solution not the problem. Reform have no plan for Wales only Welsh Labour is listening and delivering for the people of Wales.' In his statement, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS said 'This is yet another desperate Tory defection who knows the writing is on the wall for their party's prospects next May. 'Our national parliament is not a plaything for those who want to set Wales on a road to ruin. Only a Plaid Cymru government will build a fair, ambitious and prosperous nation.'Welsh Liberal Democrat MP David Chadwick said, 'The Conservatives are clearly dead as a political force in Wales. But let's be clear: Reform has no answers for Wales, just more noise, division, and is seemingly now only a vehicle for failed Conservative politicians. 'The Welsh Liberal Democrats are standing up to Reform and defending the public services our communities rely on, offering the serious leadership Wales desperately needs. 'Our party's DNA is interwoven with Welsh history and identity. Next year, we will be fighting hard to build a fairer, more Liberal future for Wales. For voters who feel the Conservatives have abandoned them and are appalled by Reform, our door is open.'
BBC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Welsh Labour accused of incompetence over Senedd candidate selections
Frustration is mounting among prospective Labour candidates over what some are calling "incompetence" and a "lack of urgency" in the party's selection process for next May's Senedd election, BBC Wales has been selections have been confirmed but other would-be candidates are still awaiting a decision and complain they have had little or no communication from the central Welsh Labour party members had hoped selections would be finalised by last month's spring conference but there are growing fears they will not conclude until the Labour said ranking for all those seeking re-election had been "completed" and shortlisting for the "remaining slots" was ongoing. BBC Wales understands some deadlines to apply to be a candidate have been extended until 3 August."People assume there must be a conspiracy behind these delays," one prospective candidate said."But the truth is it's just incompetence. It's frustrating. "It's the most unprofessional process I've ever seen in any field, inside or outside politics, throughout my career."The party's executive committee is responsible for considering all candidates who apply, through a process of due the new more proportional electoral system, once a maximum of eight candidates are approved, local branches and other party organisations will vote to rank their preferred process will be used to narrow the field down to no more than eight final candidates who will go on to stand in one of the 16 constituencies under the new electoral constituency will return six Members of the Senedd. 'Significantly off-track' Another prospective candidate said there seemed to be a lack of urgency within Welsh Labour, with the election less than a year away."The Welsh Labour Party really needs to urgently get on with the process of selecting candidates," they said."There are quite a few of us who have complained about the way the party has dealt with the candidates' due diligence process."We need to ensure that we have quality, local candidates who are willing to work hard for their communities."Another prospective candidate, who has been through similar selection processes in the past, added: "The process is significantly off-track. "It's very frustrating on a personal level, I've had to turn down a job which has created difficulty and uncertainty.""I don't know whether party headquarters are under-resourced and are feeling a sense of burnout, following an election campaign last year and then spring conference, but it is off-track." What is Labour saying about selections? A Welsh Labour spokesperson responded: "Welsh Labour is currently running selection processes for the 16 new constituencies formed for the next Senedd elections in 2026 following a timetable agreed by the Welsh Executive Committee."Ranking for all those seeking re-election has been completed. "All those who have applied to be a candidate for the remaining slots have gone through robust due diligence procedures and the process of shortlisting those candidates is ongoing." Where are other parties on selections? A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said it had "already selected and confirmed over 80 candidates for the Senedd elections following local selection processes led by party members".The Welsh Conservatives' selection process is underway with the ranking of candidates expected to take place before the end of September.A Reform UK spokesman said the party hoped to have a full slate of candidates in place "by the end of the year".
The National
14-07-2025
- Business
- The National
Zonal pricing snub shows Scottish Labour won't stand up for Scotland
As tumbleweed rolls down Aberdeen's Union Street and redundancies are the only thing growing in the north-east, he shuts downwatched the shutting down of the Grangemouth refinery. The justification for his decision on zonal energy pricing announced by Scotland Office Minister Michael Shanks was as craven as you'd expect from his lackey. Heaven forbid that prices might be slightly higher in the golden south of England when people in Scotland are well used to having to pay more in far harsher climes. And Scottish Labour have shown there's no policy or consequence too unpalatable to swallow if their London masters command. Zonal pricing has been championed not by pensioners in the far north but by the chief executive of one of the UK's major energy suppliers. READ MORE: Ruth Wishart: Welsh Labour can call out their UK boss. Why can't the Scottish branch? While 'Jock' voices could be treated with the usual contempt and given the same cold shoulder that pleas on the Winter Fuel Payement received, Greg Jackson is an altogether different case – a hugely successful entrepreneur who has built up Octopus Energy, and has even been awarded a CBE on his journey. His calls deserved a critical analysis, not a perfunctory rejection. Scotland has been given a second great natural bounty. The real spoils of the first – oil and gas – have passed us by and we can only look with envy at Norway and what might have been. It's still got life in it, though, and Miliband's killing of it is disgraceful. But renewables are at an early stage and although mistakes have been made, huge opportunities remain. Scotland now produces more energy than it requires, and the gap between home requirement and total production is only going to grow and exponentially so. But what's in it for us? Where's the benefit for Scotland and the Scots? Returns are paltry, with pennies for local communities blighted by onshore wind farms and the thousands paid to the Crown Estate for crossing its foreshore nothing akin to the funds which should be streaming ashore, along with the power produced. UK Energy Secretary Ed MilibandCheap energy is essential and critical for our society and economy. Folk are literally freezing in their homes in winter, as Miliband and Shanks know, while they see the turbines turning off their shores and on their hills. Our economy should be booming. Businesses currently struggling should be benefitting and new ones choosing to locate here. As things stand, Scots hoteliers struggle to compete with continental competition which is so much cheaper because of climate but also, as with the Republic of Ireland, with energy pricing. Why have a golf sojourn in Scotland – the home of golf – when you can visit the Emerald Isle and get far more bang for your buck? That applies in every sector of business from tourism through to modern technology. Similarly, why would you locate a new start-up here in whatever sector, but especially one that is energy intensive, when you could do so where it's cheaper and sunnier? But Scotland's role, according to Shanks, is just to grin and bear it, and the auld yins should just wrap up well. READ MORE: UK politicians are in the pockets of the rich. Is that really democracy? For just as our oil and gas were critical for the UK economy in decades past, renewables are to be the bedrock for the coming ones. It was Boris Johnson who termed the North Sea, 'the Saudi Arabia of wind'. It sure is – but while the desert was transformed by the Saudis with their new-found wealth, Scotland is to be deserted and once again be denied the fruits of its natural bounty. Scotland is simply to be a resource to be exploited. Its renewable energy is taken for a song, with little business and few jobs following, and many that do simply being maintenance, with the far higher-value and higher-skilled work done elsewhere. Compounding that agony, Meanwhile, higher costs and their effect for citizens and businesses in a colder climate remain. But the UK current and past regimes has worse planned. Scotland is not to get the revenue from this global resource and believe me, it is a world game-changer. Whether cabling through to Europe, and Germany in particular, or making green hydrogen for export, this has the potential for Scotland to be at the centre of a new world economy. Instead, Scotland has its environment trashed by pylons taking the energy south of the Border, with endless onshore wind farms to produce it and battery storage to house it. Perish the thought that they should build these huge super containers in metropolitan England where the power will be used. Colonel Blimp would choke on his G&T. I'm reminded of the Irish Republican song about Britain's claim for Rockall: Oh, the Empire it is finished No foreign lands to seize So, the greedy eyes of England Is stirring towards the seas. It's Scotland's onshore and offshore bounty, and our land and people must benefit from it. Zonal pricing has issues and challenges, but they can be overcome. It's why independence is essential. Energy-rich Scotland should see a vibrant society and booming economy, not unaffordable energy costs and a blighted landscape.
South Wales Argus
13-07-2025
- Politics
- South Wales Argus
Reader compares Eluned Morgan interview to Titanic captain
Capt. Smith ordered that the band kept playing, and that everybody should act like everything was fine and dandy, and for the crew not to display any anxiety to the passengers of the true extent of the damage below the waterline. The Welsh Labour Government are doing exactly the same to the proud Welsh public, gaslighting and hoodwinking us all into believing that all is well in the circus that is the Senedd. Let's quickly look at Welsh Labour's legacy over the last 24 years: Longer waiting lists in ALL of the Welsh hospitals. Some in special measures or just out of special measures £130million (estimate) squandered on the scoping exercise for the new M4 relief road £120million (estimate) in unspent covid funds returned to Westminster £15million wasted on a white elephant that was the Blaenau Gwent race track Severn Bridge Tolls scrapped completely. It is my humble opinion that every Labour Government, whether devolved or national, will leave the public purse in a poorer condition, and with the economy in a worse state than when it gained office, which post covid takes some doing. What was it that Margaret Thatcher once said: 'The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.' How true this is. Paul Graham
Wales Online
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Wales Online
The cutting term Eluned Morgan used to describe Nigel Farage
The cutting term Eluned Morgan used to describe Nigel Farage Wales' First Minister didn't bite her tongue Eluned Morgan speaking at the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno (Image: Getty Images ) Wales' First Minister Eluned Morgan has said Nigel Farage is an "idiot" for suggesting that the blast furnaces at Tata's Port Talbot plant could be reopened. The Reform UK leader visited Port Talbot last month and announced his first Welsh-specific policies. One was looking at the reopening of some mines, the other was to reopen the blast furnaces at Port Talbot. That was something experts - and even Mr Farage himself - said would cost billions of pounds because once the blast furnaces were turned off last year, it is all but impossible to turn them back on. The blast furnaces were closed as part of plan by Indian steel giant Tata to switch to an electric arc furnace. It had said the site was losing £1m a day. The First Minister was being interviewed by Sky News' political editor Beth Rigby as part of the Electoral Dysfunction podcast. When Ms Rigby asked what she thought when she heard that pledge, the First Minister replied the Reform UK leader was "an idiot". "I thought he's an idiot who doesn't understand how a blast furnace works and clearly doesn't understand, we don't have the money to do that in Wales, there's no way we can reopen a blast furnace in Wales," the First Minister said. "He's peddling fantasies to people," she said. Article continues below "I think, I hope, that people will have between now and the next Senedd election to dig a bit deeper in terms of what their answers are, not their questions, but what are their answers. We all have questions, but what are the answers? If you want to be in power, you have to have answers," she said. Asked if she was to blame for voters turning away from Welsh Labour because of a malaise against all politicians, Mrs Morgan said: "I think we've got a lot of work to do to get workers back. I think it's important we're authentic and clear with people about what we stand for. I think we have to lead with our values, we're about bringing communities together, not dividing them and I think that's what Reform is interested in, dividing people." In the podcast, the journalist asked her to score the UK Labour government's performance in its first year out of ten, something she couldn't do. You can read more on that here. The news channel had asked a Welsh focus group to rank the performance of Keir Starmer's administration out of ten. Before Beth Rigby told her the answer, she asked the First Minister what she would rank them, but she declined to answer. "Oh My God. That's a big question isn't it. It's tough. Oh My God. It's a difficult question and I'm not going to answer it because I'll get into all sorts of trouble if I do that," she said. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here Polling for Sky News released this week by More in Common showed when people were asked how they would vote at the Senedd election in May, Reform came top with 28% of the vote, followed closely by Plaid Cymru, on 26%. Labour was third with 23%. The Conservatives would go from being the official opposition in the Senedd to having 10% of the vote. The polling, of 883 people carried out between June 18 and July 3, shows less than half (48%) of Labour's 2024 voters would back the party in a Senedd election if it were held today. Article continues below
