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Transport for Wales has defended its latest annual report after the Welsh Conservatives condemned it as “grim reading”.

The Welsh Government owned not for profit rail operator published its 2023 / 2024 report on Wednesday (July 31).

It revealed details of its latest achievements and successes as well as its expenditure figures including staffing costs and new trains.

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens has cast further doubts over the £1bn plan to electrify the north Wales rail mainline, stating she “suspects the money isn’t there".

The new Labour UK government is reviewing all infrastructure plans, including rail projects, amid a major spending review prompted by a £22bn gap in public finances.

The north Wales electrification plan was a key part of the previous Conservative government’s transport proposals.

Dozens of residents are opposed to plans to knock down some garages as part of a scheme to develop 20 new flats.

Cardiff Council’s planning committee will make a decision on the plans for the small parade along Fishguard Road, Llanishen at a meeting on Thursday, August 1.

The main concerns that residents have about the development, which will consist of mainly of one and two-bedroom flats if approved, is that it could increase the strain on local services and lead to an increase in criminal activity.

New polling on voting intentions at a Senedd election suggests that Plaid Cymru is running just 1% behind Labour – a sensational finding that raises the possibility of Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth becoming First Minister in less than two years’ time.

The figures suggest that the scandals involving outgoing First Minister Vaughan Gething, coupled with increasing disillusionment about the quality of public service delivery, have seriously damaged Labour and threaten to dislodge it from the leading role it’s had in Wales politics for more than a century.

New polling on voting intentions at a Senedd election suggests that Plaid Cymru is running just 1% behind Labour – a sensational finding that raises the possibility of Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth becoming First Minister in less than two years’ time.

The figures suggest that the scandals involving outgoing First Minister Vaughan Gething, coupled with increasing disillusionment about the quality of public service delivery, have seriously damaged Labour and threaten to dislodge it from the leading role it’s had in Wales politics for more than a century.

New polling on voting intentions at a Senedd election suggests that Plaid Cymru is running just 1% behind Labour – a sensational finding that raises the possibility of Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth becoming First Minister in less than two years’ time.

The figures suggest that the scandals involving outgoing First Minister Vaughan Gething, coupled with increasing disillusionment about the quality of public service delivery, have seriously damaged Labour and threaten to dislodge it from the leading role it’s had in Wales politics for more than a century.

If the 2024 General Election results in Wales tell us anything, it’s that the Welsh Conservatives are in a lot of trouble.

In Wales, the Conservatives not only lost all the seats they held, they were beaten handsomely in nearly all of them. In only four seats were they within 5% of the winning party, while the party saw large majorities overturned in areas like Monmouthshire, and Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr; the latter of which had never returned a Labour MP in its long history as the constituency of Montgomeryshire.

MS Society Cymru is thrilled to announce that a group of Year 8 students from Bryntirion Comprehensive School in Bridgend has won the First Give competition, securing a £1,000 prize for our charity. This victory brings their total donation to an impressive £1,305, marking a significant achievement in youth-led fundraising and awareness efforts for multiple sclerosis (MS).

The First Give School Final saw 13-year-old students Pranay, Ben, Iestyn, Ollie, Kathleen, and Daniel from class 8T deliver a powerful presentation about MS and the work of MS Society Cymru. Their dedication, creativity, and passion for the cause set them apart from seven other presentations, earning them the top prize.

During an interview with Ciaran Jenkins for Channel 4 during the general election, Rhun ap Iorweth was asked about NATO membership for an independent Wales. The Plaid Cymru leader said a relationship with NATO would be important to Wales, but that he’d prefer some form of associate membership, akin to Ireland’s relationship with NATO.

So, for the time being, NATO membership for an independent Wales is off the cards in Plaid Cymru’s vision for the country. What other options for defence policy could the party consider?

Plaid Cymru has renewed calls for the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales following the announcement of record £1.1bn profits earlier today (24 July).

The Crown Estate said earnings surged by more than £658 million during the year ending March 31, from £443 million the previous year.

The spike in profits was mainly down to option fees, payments made by companies to reserve a patch of the seabed to eventually build their wind turbines on.

Child poverty expert turned Welsh Labour MP Torsten Bell has defended his decision to vote against scrapping the two child benefit cap, despite arguing in favour of doing so for years.

Until being elected to Parliament as the MP for Swansea West at the general election, Mr Bell was chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, a think tank that specialises in the study of poverty and how to relieve it.

Three different groups of health campaigners have expressed anger at the prospect of Health Secretary Eluned Morgan becoming First Minister.

With Jeremy Miles’ decision not to stand in the Welsh Labour leadership election called following Vaughan Gething’s resignation, it is considered highly likely that she will be the only candidate for the post when nominations close at noon on Wednesday July 24.

If that happens, the Senedd will almost certainly be recalled to elect Baroness Morgan as First Minister. If, however, there is more than one nomination, Mr Gething will stay on as Acting First Minister until after the result of the election is known on September 14.