Chinese chicken and the 20mph speed limit as Reform UK rally - and counter protest - hits Merthyr Tydfil
The Valleys Lead attended an anti-racism protest and a Reform UK rally in Merthyr Tydfil.
Hello and welcome to The Valleys Lead.
Tomorrow is election day! A big day for Wales.
Last night, The Valleys Lead visited both an anti-racism protest and a Reform UK rally in Merthyr Tydfil. We want to tell you about what we saw and heard (it’s below!), but first, we wanted to let you know we are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by reading, and then sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.
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The Valleys Briefing
(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)
A new director of Eduction for Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (MTCBC) has been announced. Ryan Morgan will replace Sue Walker, whose letter regarding ALN children sparked controversy in February. We covered the letter and the reaction to it, here. Morgan previously worked as the Chair of Headteacher Federation for MTCBC for six years before taking the new role.
Will Hayward’s newsletter recently published a deep dive asking what the future was for steel in Port Talbot. We think you’ll like it.
New polling from ITV Cymru shows that Plaid Cymru has jumped ahead and is predicted. The findings, released two days before polls open, show Rhun ap Iorwerth’s party with 33% of the vote share, four percentage points ahead of Reform UK at 29%.
Chinese chicken in schools and the 20 MPH limit
Tomorrow is election day, when people living in Wales have the chance to vote for which party they want to represent them in the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament.
Last night, Reform UK finished off their campaign trail in Merthyr Tydfil, outside of Trago Mills, with Nigel Farage, Dan Thomas, and Laura Anne Jones speaking to a crowd of hundreds expectedly awaiting for change in Wales, change in the south Wales valleys.
The Valleys Lead wanted to find out what would be said at the rally, and what the general feel would be among those attending, but before venturing past the multiple security guards, we stopped to talk to anti-racism protestors at the edge of the event.
“The south Wales valleys are full of migrants,” one of the protestors, a Merthyr Tydfil native, told The Valleys Lead, questioning why Reform is opposed to migrants.
Another said that the valleys were “built on immigration.”
They held placards and signs. The valleys are anti-fascist. Keep Reform out of Cymru. Furious grandma against fascist gobshites. Refugees welcome here. Reform are racist.
As cars pulled in past their protest, there were a number of middle fingers held up from people in cars. Honked horns. Laughing.
“In the valleys, we’re definitely seeing an increase in quite openly racist and xenophobic behaviour,” Caspar Harris, a campaigner for Stand Up to Racism Valleys, told The Valleys Lead. “There’s an increase of behaviours in person, but also online. It’s quite shameless.”
He said that not everyone who thinks about voting for Reform is racist. “People are just disillusioned,” Harris said.
