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.
The protestors stood their ground as Reform supporters drove into the rally.
Once in line at the Reform UK rally, attendees spoke amongst themselves about the protestors, joking that they didn’t know what fascism was.
After a late start, Dan Thomas, leader of Reform UK in Wales, and first place candidate for Casnewydd Islwyn, spent quite some time talking about the needs of rural farmers in Wales, and the hope that his children would grow up in nature as he had. Dan Thomas was born in south Wales, but left at 18, serving as a councillor in Barnet for years until he moved back to Wales (reportedly) in 2024.
There is a lot of rural land area in Wales (82% of the land area in Wales is considered rural), but these rural areas are home to only 32% of the population. The south Wales valleys are generally not considered rural.
Thomas promised caps on council tax rises. A roaring response from the audience came when he spoke about roads – improving them, better access to them – and getting rid of the 20 MPH limit. People loved this.
He questioned why our children were being served “Chinese chicken” in schools when Wales has plenty of chickens to serve from local farms. He spoke about the need for better accountability for public services, an interesting point considering Thomas outsourced huge numbers of public services to private companies when he worked on the council in Barnet.
Laura Anne Jones, the only Reform UK representative in the Senedd, said we need to get rid of the Nation of Sanctuary, a Welsh Parliament initiative to integrate refugees and asylum seekers into Wales. If Wales were to drop the initiative, asylum seekers and refugees would still come to Wales (because immigration isn’t devolved), but without the initiative, there would be less integration into our communities.
Nigel Farage was welcomed to the stage with a standing ovation. He started off his speech mocking the anti-racists protestors, the audience chuckling.
He called Wales a “basket case” early on, before launching into his promises for Wales. The crowd cheered and clapped.
In between his promises, which can be found in their manifesto, were, comments.
He said that he and Angela Rayner were some of the sexiest politicians in the UK, but that nothing had happened. He said that Wales had an “insane addiction” to net zero. He said he had to be less “mean,” and the audience shouted, “no.” He said we can “tolerate” other religions, but that we are built on Judeo Christianity values.
What people were waiting to hear was his view on “illegal” immigration, and when he offered it, the crowd cheered. He didn’t deny previous statements that Channel crossings are an invasion, and that this invasion poses a threat to our finances, and also to the safety of women and children.
Near the end of the speech, he reminded his listeners that they were part of the “people’s army” built by Reform UK, and that they should march for the party in the lead up to the election.
As we left the rally, people driving in their cars exiting the car park, a group of children could be heard at the entrance, mocking a woman with a headscarf. “She’s an immigrant,” they shouted, pointing, laughing.
While Caspar has heard first-hand accounts of racism in the south Wales valleys (stoked quite often by Reform UK), he also noted the welcoming generosity so many in the valleys are known for.
“There are a lot of problems we face in the valleys with increased racism and xenophobia, but overall, our experience of campaigning has been a positive one, with people mainly supporting us,” Harris told The Valleys Lead. “Most people want to push back against racism and racist narratives, and we have a great community here in the valleys. I think that our strength lies in building support among these different groups and organisations and continuing to build on the community solidarity that exists here.”