Archaeologists find remnants of medieval priory under former Ocky White store in Haverfordwest
The remains of more than 240 people, including about 100 children, have been discovered beneath a former department store in Pembrokeshire among the ruins of a medieval priory.
Archaeologists believe they have discovered the remnants of St Saviour’s Priory underneath the former Ocky White store in Haverfordwest, which closed in 2013.
Continue reading...Hepworth prize winner’s works have been shown around the world and now arrive in Llandudno
His twisty neon installations and glittering towers of light are frequently shown in some of the world’s most exclusive galleries in New York, Mexico City, Tokyo and Shanghai.
For his first major solo show in his home country of Wales, Cerith Wyn Evans’ work is on display in the traditional surroundings of a gallery built in Edwardian times in the resort of Llandudno, best known for its old-fashioned pier and seafront – and the bold goats that descended on the town during the first lockdown.
The exhibition runs until 5 February 2023.
Continue reading...Inmates in England and Wales still held under ‘imprisonment for public protection’ scheme scrapped 10 years ago
Almost 3,000 prisoners in England and Wales stuck behind bars under an abolished “irredeemably flawed” indefinite sentencing scheme should be re-sentenced, MPs and peers have said.
The indefinite nature of jail terms under the imprisonment for public protection (IPP) scheme has contributed to feelings of hopelessness and despair that has resulted in high levels of self-harm and some suicides among prisoners, according to the justice select committee.
Continue reading...Latest updates: Labour delegate says current electoral system allows Tories to get away with measures like ‘protecting bankers’ bonuses’
In June, as the RMT union launched what has become an ongoing series of strikes, Keir Starmer ordered Labour frontbenchers and shadow ministerial aides not to join picket lines. This infuriated leftwing Labour MPs and some union leaders, notably Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite.
At one point it looked as if there might be a huge row at conference about whether shadow ministers should or should not be allowed to join picket lines. But, in an interview with the Today programme this morning, Graham suggested that a truce of sorts has been agreed – even if the two sides do not entirely see eye to eye.
My issue about this … isn’t necessarily around one person on a picket line because, quite frankly, that isn’t the issue. The issue is the mood music [ordering shadow ministers not to join picket lines] suggests. It suggests a mood music that being on the picket line is somehow a bad thing. It’s a naughty step situation.
The party who is there to stick up for workers should not give the impression – that’s the problem, it gives the impression – that they are saying picket lines are not the place to be. And I think that it was unfortunate. I think it was a mistake. I think, to be honest with you, Labour knows it was a mistake. And I don’t actually think it’s holdable.
When people go on strike it is a last resort at the end of negotiations. And I can quite understand how people are driven to that … I support the right of individuals to go on strike, I support the trade unions doing the job that they are doing in representing their members.
I’m incredibly disappointed that as delegates we’ve been excluded from this key part of the conference’s democratic process.
This is an unprecedented move silencing members’ voices. Our CLP sent us here to Liverpool to promote our motion on public ownership and a Green New Deal, but we’ve been unfairly denied that right.
Continue reading...Home secretary directs police chiefs to focus on ‘common-sense’ policing over diversity and inclusion initiatives
Suella Braverman has ordered police chiefs to spend less time on “symbolic gestures” and more time on policing.
In an open letter to police leaders in England and Wales, in which she set out her policing agenda, the new home secretary said diversity and inclusion initiatives “should not take precedence” over tackling crime.
Continue reading...Tax cuts to cost Treasury around £37bn in 2023-24, official figures reveal
There are no urgent questions in the morning, and so Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor, will be delivering his statement soon after 9.30am.
The Commons starts sitting at 9.30am, but they always begin with prayers in private, and so Kwarteng will be up a few minutes later.
The last time they did it one third of the beneficiaries were people buying second homes or buy to let, so we are sceptical that this is the magic bullet to increase homeownership. What we really need to do is to build more houses and to help get people onto the property ladder by increasing the supply of housing.
When this has been done before, it has often fuelled an already hot market and many of the beneficiaries have been people buying a second or third home, rather than the first time buyers that we really want to help who are often trapped in private rented accommodation where they’re paying as much in rent every month as they would in a mortgage.
Continue reading...Proposal to tax visitors – including Welsh residents – branded a ‘misguided and damaging bed tax’
Everyone who overnights in Wales, whether it be in a luxury hotel, a cosy holiday cottage or the most basic campsite, may face a “visitor levy” under a hugely controversial Welsh government scheme.
The Labour-led government has launched a consultation on the proposal that could result in almost all visitors – including Welsh residents staying away from home – being taxed for their stays.
Continue reading...Mahmood Mattan, a British Somali, was hanged in 1952 after he was found guilty of a murder in Cardiff
The family of a man wrongly convicted of murder has been given a police apology for the “terrible suffering” the miscarriage of justice caused, 70 years after he was executed in a British prison.
Mahmood Mattan, a British Somali father of three, was hanged aged 28 in September 1952 after he was convicted of killing Lily Volpert in her Cardiff clothes store. He protested his innocence to the end.
Continue reading...Government urged to ensure thousands living in park homes in Great Britain receive £400 payments
Gypsy and Traveller groups are calling on the government to ensure thousands of households living in park homes are not excluded from its energy bills support scheme this winter as bills soar.
The scheme will pay out a total of £400 to all households in Great Britain with a domestic electricity connection between October and March, with monthly payments administered by their energy supplier.
Continue reading...Sgt Gavin Hillier was shot at Castlemartin range by short-sighted soldier not wearing corrective lenses
An army sergeant who led a “distinguished career” was shot and killed after being mistaken for a firing target by a short-sighted soldier during a training exercise, a report has found.
Sgt Gavin Hillier, 35, of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, died at the Castlemartin range in Pembrokeshire on 4 March 2021.
Continue reading...Exhibition includes two specially commissioned works reframing story of former Trinidad governor
For more than a century, the portrait of Thomas Picton hung in a prominent position at the National Museum Cardiff, the image’s description hailing him as a military hero rather than a tyrant and a torturer, before it was removed from view in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests.
From Monday the two-metre-tall portrait of Lt Gen Picton is back on display in the Welsh capital – but in a very different context.
Continue reading...Rafiqul Islam, 51, and Mahiqul, 16, found dead with three unconscious relatives while on two-month visit
Police investigating the apparent poisoning of a British family of five on holiday in Bangladesh, which killed a father and son, are hoping the survivors could hold the key to what happened.
Rafiqul Islam, 51, a taxi driver from Cardiff, and his son, 16-year-old Mahiqul, along with three other members of their family, were discovered unconscious in a locked room by police officers on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Members of Criminal Bar Association take fight for a 25% rise in legal aid fees to parliament
Barristers are heading to parliament as they begin their first whole week of strike action over levels of legal aid funding they say are bringing the criminal justice system to its knees.
Members of the Criminal Bar Association, which represents advocates in England and Wales, began action with a two-day strike at the end of last month and have been escalating it by an extra day every week.
Continue reading...Network Rail says to avoid trains unless absolutely necessary, with much of country covered by extreme heat alert
Passengers have been urged not to travel by train from Monday as a record-breaking heatwave hits the UK, while the deputy prime minister said schools should not close and people should be resilient enough to “enjoy the sunshine”.
The country’s first ever red warning for exceptional heat comes into force at midnight on Sunday, with temperatures expected to climb up to 41C (105.8F) over the next two days, breaking the country’s heat records.
Continue reading...Space allocated to Cardiff woman’s flat is inaccessible, so she uses one reserved for disabled visitors
A disabled woman is reportedly facing fines of more than £1,000 for using a disabled-driver car parking space outside her flat.
Cerys Gemma, who lives in Cardiff, told reporters the space allocated to her flat is inaccessible as it has a pillar on one side and another car parking space close on the other.
Continue reading...Latest updates: prime minister tells Nato conference UK will spend 2.5% of GDP on defence by 2030
And in another interview Liz Truss refused to endorse Boris Johnson’s claim that “toxic masculinity” helped to explain Vladimir Putin’s conduct and that he would not have invaded Ukraine if he were a woman. Asked if she agreed, she told Times Radio:
[Putin is] clearly is capable of very, very evil acts ... I don’t pretend that I can conduct a psychological analysis on him, nor do I think it’s helpful ...
I think that both women and men are capable of terrible and appalling acts.
All of Ukraine that has been invaded by Russia is illegally occupied. And, ultimately, the Russians need to be pushed out of all of that territory, and certainly what we shouldn’t be doing as friends and allies [of Ukraine] ... is implying that there are any trade-offs or any bits of Ukrainian territory that could be traded away or compromised on.
It is realistic, and that is why we are supplying the extra lethal aid we’re supplying.
Continue reading...Angharad Williamson, John Cole and a teenager murdered boy after he suffered months of violent abuse
A mother and stepfather have been jailed for life after being found guilty of the murder of five-year-old Logan Mwangi, who died after months of violent abuse and imprisonment in the “dungeon” of his small, dark bedroom.
Logan’s mother, Angharad Williamson, was told she will serve at least 28 years before being considered for parole, while her partner, John Cole, will spend a minimum of 29 years in prison. A 14-year-old youth who was also convicted of Logan’s murder was told he will be detained for at least 15 years.
Continue reading...Foreign secretary tells Commons foreign affairs committee UK sees Nato as key defensive alliance for Europe and G7 as key economic alliance
Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, has just started giving evidence to the Commons foreign affairs committee. There is a live feed at the top of this blog.
On Sunday Emmanuel Macron, the French president, came away from a meeting with Boris Johnson under the impression that the UK was enthusiastic about his plan for a “European political community” - a proposed new grouping, taking in European countries in the EU and outside it.
That this house notes that UK economic growth is forecast to grind to a halt next year, with only Russia worse in the OECD; further notes that GDP has fallen in recent months while inflation has risen to 9.1% and that food prices, petrol costs and bills in general are soaring for millions across the country; believes that the government is leaving Britain with backlogs such as long waits for passports, driving licences, GP and hospital appointments, court dates, and at airports; and calls on the government to set out a new approach to the economy that will end 12 years of slow growth and high taxation under successive Conservative governments.
Continue reading...Census figure is up 3.5m on 2011, with more over-65s than under-15s, and gives UK population of 67m
The population of England and Wales has hit a historic high of 59,597,300, according to the first results from the 2021 census, with a 20% surge in the number of people aged 65 and over in the last decade.
The count was based on questionnaires filled out by households on Sunday 21 March 2021 and is an 6.3% increase on the 2011 figure of 56,075,912 – an extra 3.5 million people.
Continue reading...Regulator expands investigation after suggestions water firm was not complying with legal obligations
The regulator Ofwat has expanded its investigation into the dumping of raw sewage to include South West Water after finding “shocking” failures in the way the majority of water companies run their waste treatment works.
Ofwat said on Tuesday it had extended its inquiry after heightened concerns about South West Water’s environmental performance and suggestions it was not complying with its legal obligations.
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