Latest news with #Llanelli
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Explosive substance charge for Timothy Jones from Llanelli
A man has appeared in court after explosives experts were called to a residential street to make a device safe. Timothy Jones, 57, from Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, has been charged with possession of an explosive substance for unlawful purpose, and possession of a firearm. A Dyfed-Powys Police explosive ordnance disposal team were called to New Dock Road in the town on 11 June. Mr Jones appeared at Llanelli Magistrates' Court on Thursday, where he was remanded in custody, and will next appear at Swansea Crown Court on 21 July. Officers initially put up a 100m (382ft) cordon around the area for public safety, with people told not to return to their homes as they dealt with the a number of hours, residents were allowed to return home.
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
The Reform surge in Wales that spells doom for Keir Starmer
While Reform's credibility in Westminster has been tarnished by public rows among its upper echelons in recent weeks, in south Wales, where support for the party is soaring, people don't seem to care. Clare Davies, 48, from Llanelli, a former steel town in Carmarthenshire, south Wales, has never voted – she has never seen the point. In next year's Senedd election, however, Davies is considering voting for Reform – despite the turbulence it has endured in the wake of former chairman, Zia Yusuf's resignation earlier this month. 'It's a change, for a start,' she says. A change is exactly what a vote for Reform represents in this part of the country. Labour has been the biggest party in Wales in every election since 1922, giving it the longest winning streak of any political party in the world. For more than a century, the red way has been the only way. If Llanelli is any indication, however, by next May (when the Senedd vote is due to take place) that will no longer be the case. 'The things [Labour] do aren't working for the working classes,' Davies says. 'I remember growing up, seeing election campaigns, and everyone talking about Labour. I thought I'd vote Labour. But times have changed. Labour means something different now than it did.' Last week, Nigel Farage chose Port Talbot, some 20 miles south-east of Llanelli, for his opening salvo ahead of next year's Senedd elections. Farage once described himself as the only politician 'keeping the flame of Thatcherism alive'. Now, gunning for the Welsh vote, he is singing a very different tune. The Reform UK leader unveiled grand plans to reindustrialise parts of Wales, re-opening the Port Talbot steelworks, which closed last year, and the coal mines. Labour First Minister Eluned Morgan dismissed these policies as 'absolute nonsense' and said she wasn't sure if 'if people in Wales want to see their grandchildren going back down the pits.' (The party has banned new coal mines from opening as part of its net zero drive.) Davies's grandfather did not work down the pits, but he did have a long career in the local steelworks. He and Davies's grandmother both recently died and she has been reflecting on their lives. They worked hard – her grandmother as a homemaker and latterly a cook – and retired early, in their 50s, to travel the world. It is the kind of life, Davies suggests, that is out of reach for people like her, now that hard work does not necessarily equal success, and nothing is certain. Davies works full time in the DVLA office; she does not know when she will be able to retire, or even drop a day to help take care of her five grandchildren. She worries that they will grow up with a poorer education and poorer prospects than their peers. Educational attainment in Wales, measured by Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores, had dropped to its lowest ever level last year. It was significantly below the average recorded across the UK as a whole and in other OECD countries. Parts of Llanelli registered among the most disadvantaged areas of the country. 'The feeling is that things have got worse if you're working class,' Davies says. 'Even if your family has always voted Labour… people are listening to stories of times gone by and thinking, 'we want things to be like that again'.' Farage and his party, then, appear to understand the Welsh electorate better than Morgan gives them credit for. There are certainly clear signs Reform is gaining ground, particularly in the Welsh Valleys. YouGov polling published earlier this year, the first of its kind since the 2024 general election, put Reform in second place among Welsh voters, with a 25 per cent share of the vote, fast gaining on Plaid Cymru. Adding to the sense the ground is shifting is the fact that the upcoming Senedd election, which must be held by May 7 next year, will be the first to use a 'closed proportional list system'. This means the number of seats a party wins will more closely reflect their percentage share of the vote – a system which is expected to benefit smaller or insurgent parties, such as Reform. Meanwhile, support for Labour has collapsed, according to the same YouGov poll, and the party has dropped to third place at 18 per cent. This is apparent in Llanelli town centre, where I find nothing but disdain for Labour (both in Wales and in Westminster). Marie Howard, 80, was a lifelong Labour supporter, until she became a first-time Reform voter last year. 'Labour promised everything and we got nothing,' she says, citing the removal of her winter fuel allowance (now restored for most pensioners). 'They didn't keep their promises. Mind you, Nigel Farage is promising everything, and I don't know where he's going to get the money from.' One passing shopper, who declined to give his name, says he 'hasn't voted for the past three elections, because nothing changes.' This emerges as a theme, as people young and old tell me they haven't cast a ballot in years as they feel there's no point. Joseph May, a 24-year-old pub bartender, says: 'Most of my friends didn't vote, for similar reasons to me – they didn't feel like any [party] appealed.' Another passer-by adds: 'I've said to myself I'm never voting again.' This, though, could work in Farage's favour: if the findings of the British Election Study bear out, traditional non-voters are likely to favour Farage, relative to Sir Keir Starmer, and if activated, may therefore be likely to offer Reform their backing. Dr Jac Larner, a lecturer in politics at Cardiff University, has studied the reasons behind Reform's rising popularity in Wales. He has conducted research that shows emerging support for the party is, in the main, not coming from former Labour voters. His analysis suggests that just four per cent of people across Wales that now support Reform voted for Sir Keir Starmer's party in last July's general election. Instead, these new potential voters are mainly coming from two sources: firstly, from mopping up the Conservative vote. 'Reform has essentially cannibalised the Conservative-Brexit coalition,' Larner explains. 'These are people who voted Conservative in 2019, many of them for the first time. They didn't particularly like the Conservative Party, but they voted for them for Brexit. Now, they've switched to Reform.' The second and potentially more significant demographic is the disillusioned section of the electorate who had given up on voting entirely. Traditionally, turnout at UK Parliamentary elections has been higher in Wales than in the rest of the UK, Larner explains. 'Now, it was lower in the last election, so we could read something into that,' he says. However, 'turnout at Senedd elections [held every five years for members of Welsh Parliament] is low. It was knocking up against 50 per cent at the last election; a lot of people just don't bother to vote at all.' The reason this matters now, he explains, is because evidence in England suggests that Reform is winning support from first-time voters and others who haven't turned out for a long time. 'I don't see why it would be any different in Wales,' he says. 'If that's the case, it's important.' So important, in fact, that it could be the key to the party's success. Outside of those two groups, and in Wales especially, there is another set of voters among whom Reform appears to be gaining a foothold: those who are socially conservative but, given the Conservative Party's legacy in Wales, could never bring themselves to vote Tory. 'In South Wales, you have a lot of voters who, values-wise, line up with the Conservatives but won't vote for them,' says Larner, because of all the 'baggage' that comes with the party. 'There isn't that baggage with Reform,' he says. There has always been anti-Tory sentiment in this area; now there is anti-Labour feeling, too. The final significant factor in Reform's surge is that there is 'mass dissatisfaction' with the Welsh government, Larner explains. Frustration with Westminster's ruling class is 'nothing new,' but 'for the first time, a majority of people now think that the Welsh Government is doing a really bad job,' he says. 'It's driving people towards Reform.' Natalie Evans, who runs a café and sports supplement company with her husband in Llanelli, is one of them: she has long been fed up with Labour, but moved from voting Conservative, to voting for UKIP, to voting Reform. 'We've been burdened by politicians in the past saying, 'we'll do this,' and then doing the opposite,' she says. 'And that's exactly what the Labour government have done – they're taking more money off people, and they're not stopping illegal immigration. 'This town has [had] 100 years of Labour and you see the state of it. The shops have all shut down, small businesses have been hit hard, [and there is] antisocial behaviour,' she continues. Many people in the area voted Labour in 2024 on the basis of the party's vow to secure the future of the steel industry. But in September last year, Port Talbot's last blast furnace – the same furnace Farage said he will seek to reopen – was closed. The key issue for Evans, however, is immigration and its impact on public services. 'You've got people who aren't skilled coming in, putting pressure on the NHS,' she says. 'I'm not racist or anything like that, but I do believe that the illegal immigrants are putting enormous pressure on public services and haven't paid a penny into [them].' Reform's rise in support here has its roots in such sentiment. The party's growing popularity can be traced back to the summer of 2023, when the Stradey Park hotel, a popular Llanelli wedding venue, was sold. The new owners struck a deal with Clearsprings Ready Homes, one of the companies contracted by the Home Office to provide accommodation for asylum seekers. The hotel was due to house up to 241 people, a proposal that was opposed by the local council and led to months of violent protests and clashes between police and demonstrators. Six people who forced their way into the grounds of the hotel and started a fire were arrested. In October that year, the Home Office confirmed the plans had been dropped. Reform picked up on the strength of feeling, and began gaining support at pace. Davies didn't support the protests, but believes they put the party on the map in the area. 'Something as big as that happening [here] – making national news – people who didn't know about Reform now do and are swinging towards it,' she says. In the general election the following July, Llanelli was the Welsh seat that Reform came closest to winning. Gareth Beer, the party's candidate, stormed in and came second, narrowly losing out (with 11,247 votes) to the long-standing Labour MP Nia Griffiths (who won 12,751). Last month, Gareth's wife Michelle Beer, 47, was elected as Carmarthenshire's first Reform county councillor by a healthy margin. Michelle's perspective on the hotel protests is that they 'brought the community together' (others, arguing they sowed division, disagree). Michelle took part in the demonstrations, as did her husband. They invited Reform's now-Deputy Leader Richard Tice down, taught him how to pronounce Llanelli, and kick-started a Reform campaign (before joining the party, Gareth, 49, previously voted Labour; Michelle backed what was then the Brexit Party). While out canvassing voters in the run-up to last year's election, Michelle said he encountered a 'genuine, heartfelt' desire for change. 'That's what spurred people on. I think they saw the opportunity. We fell a bit short but hey, never mind.' Garteth says he decided to stand for Reform 'for the kids, really' (he and Michelle have four, aged between six and 22). 'You see things in terminal decline, and you want to make a stand,' he says. 'Wales is a microcosm of what's happening in the UK now. Wales is ahead of the curve in terms of educational decline, economic [decline]... we started when Reform was at 1 or 2 per cent, and just watched it grow.' Indeed, the Beers's success in Llanelli's local politics may provide something of a blueprint for Reform's path to power nationwide. The apparent internal discord in the party – such as Yusuf's recent resignation – matters far less to potential Reform voters than a 'common sense' approach on the ground, he says. (Farage, in his speech at Port Talbot, dismissed Yusuf's standing down as a 'speed bump'.) Beer says local supporters don't care about rows in the upper echelons of the party, as it's 'all about what happens locally'. 'It's a grassroots movement,' he says. 'It's the local stuff that matters – we just want our kids educated, our roads to work, and for the Government to run things, which now seems secondary to pushing ideas down our necks.' Reform is yet to have a Welsh leader, a Welsh MP, or even a Welsh HQ. That hasn't stopped them gaining ground. In May next year, we will see just how far the movement can go.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Llanelli special school to be built after Ysgol Heol Goffa U-turn
Proposals to build a new special needs school have been given the go ahead after a "year of torment".It comes after Carmarthenshire council said last year it was not possible to continue with the original plan in Llanelli due to construction 300 campaigners protested in September 2024 claiming the council broke a promise to fund a new building for Ysgol Heol Jenkins, chairman of governors at the school, welcomed the news, adding: "We'll be keeping the pressure on the local authority to make sure that we do get what was promised eight years ago." The unanimous vote comes after multiple U-turns over plans for the school.A replacement school was first proposed in 2017 which was due to be relocated and expanded to meet May 2024, the council said it would not go ahead with plans due to financial pressures which led to protests by council commissioned an independent review of additional learning needs (ALN) provision in the area which was published in February outlining six options for the school and of those were formally proposed to the council on Monday by Glynog Davies, Plaid Cymru cabinet member for education, and both involve building a new special school. During the meeting he said "children's welfare is an obvious priority" along with balancing the costs of the proposals would see a school created for 150 pupils which is estimated to cost £27.3m - £35.4m as well as developing proposals to build one primary and one secondary specialist centre for pupils with Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) attached to mainstream would see a review and revision of the current proposal to build a new special school and design it to include a provision for pupils with ASC with capacity for 250 pupils costing between £36.2m and £51.2m. After the meeting, Mr Jenkins said it came as a "relief" for the school after a "year of torment".He thanked the community for the "depth of feeling and love" towards the pupils and staff and said he looked forward to a "positive dialogue" with the council moving forward.
BBC News
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
King's Birthday Honours list revealed as Ruth Dodsworth awarded
An ITV presenter and survivor of domestic abuse has been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours list. Ruth Dodsworth said being awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) was "for every single person who held my hand on that journey".The 50-year-old was awarded the title for services to victims and survivors of domestic abuse, and said it came with a "responsibility".She added she "promised to use it wisely", and to "keep talking about domestic abuse until one day hopefully we won't have to".Others also receiving honours include a cancer nurse, a music festival organiser and a TV producer. Dodsworth said her life was "saved" six years ago and felt "privileged" to have been able to use her ex-husband was jailed in 2021 for coercive and controlling behaviour and said: "If all of this can help just one person then all of this has been worth it. It isn't an easy journey to go on."We know it's not easy but there are really good things out there if you can get out of that abusive relationship, and this is one of those good things." Idwal Davies, from Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, said the award of the British Empire Medal (BEM) "came out of the blue". The 98-year-old has raised thousands of pounds, along with other members of the Llanelli and District Hospital Friends, and has written a book about his local area."The honour is something that I had never considered, but I am pleased that I will have it," he said."I was delighted when I received the letter. I have done a lot of things for the community, but I didn't do things like that to get a reward or something like that."I did this because I enjoy doing it." Couple Iain and Becky Ashcroft, from Mold, Flintshire, are both being honoured with Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). They met when they joined forces as members of a search and rescue team in north Wales. They said the role was challenging but extremely rewarding, and did not have any inkling about the said: "I was at home by myself on the day the letter arrived, and when I opened it, I simply could not believe my eyes."I cried and then I was stunned for a long time."She said: "I still find myself reeling at the unexpectedness of it all. I saw Iain had a similar letter, but I did not tell him about mine until he came home and opened his. I could see his reaction was similar - disbelief, shock, and emotion."We are also delighted that the work that North East Wales Search and Rescue does is recognised. We could not do what we do alone - there is a huge and committed team of volunteers behind and alongside us." Ann Atkinson, a former artistic director of the North Wales International Music festival, thought she had been sent a speeding fine or was being asked to do jury service, rather than receiving a nomination for an said she could not believe it after opening the official-looking letter. Cancer nurse and lawn bowler Anwen Butten, who was named team Wales captain for the last Commonwealth Games, also now adds MBE to her said she was "shocked" and "thrilled" to be recognised for services to the sport as well as to cancer 52-year-old from Cellan, Ceredigion, has represented Wales in bowls since 1988. She also plays a role in supporting patients as a head and neck cancer clinical nurse specialist."I just feel it's a huge privilege to be a part of the patient's journey," she said. The King's Birthday Honours awards celebrate the contribution of well-known personalities, government employees and ordinary people who have served their are typically awarded by the King, Prince of Wales or Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle or the Palace of can select their investiture's date and location but not which member of the Royal Family presides over the on the list from Wales are Newport GP Modupeola Obilanade who gets an MBE for promoting healthy Brian Morgan also receives an OBE for services to the Welsh economy, while Jane Tranter, from Bad Wolf studios, gets a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to television and Allison Dowzell receives an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to broadcasting.
BBC News
13-06-2025
- BBC News
Llanelli man charged with possession of an explosive
A 57-year-old man has been charged with possession of an explosive substance for an unlawful purpose, as well as possession of a firearm, following an incident in a Carmarthenshire Police reported that explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) experts were called to a property on New Dock Road, Llanelli, on 11 June, where a device was "made safe".As a precaution, residents were evacuated for a short time and a 100m (382ft) cordon was put in place around the area for public Wednesday, Timothy Jones, from Llanelli, was arrested on suspicion of offences under the Explosive Substances Act and is due to appear at Swansea Magistrates Court on 14 June.
