An Issue Forgotten: How Westminster Has Betrayed Wales

Cofiwch Dryweryn. Remember Tryweryn. These words adorn a stone wall, just outside of Llanrhystud in Ceredigion, a memorial to a town intentionally destroyed to benefit England. Outside of Wales, this betrayal is barely mentioned, purely a footnote in centuries of English desecration of Welsh land and Welsh culture. But, what exactly happened in Tryweryn, and why must we never forget this defilement of Welsh sovereignty?

the precedent it has set is unmistakeable: Westminster does not care about Wales

In 1957, Liverpool City Council proposed a bill to Westminster, later passed into law as the Liverpool City Corporation Act 1957, to enable the council to develop a reservoir in Tryweryn Valley, to provide the English city with water. To create this reservoir, rural community Capel Celyn would be flooded, and residents forced to relocate elsewhere in Wales.  Despite widespread protests by Welsh organisations, such as the Capel Celyn Defence Committee, and denunciations by 35 out of the 36 sitting Welsh MPs in Parliament, this horrific bill passed in 1962, enabling Liverpool City Council to destroy the livelihood and communities within Tryweryn Valley to pursue a project that didn’t benefit Wales. Twelve homes and countless community buildings, such as the post office and school, were submerged, and 48 people were forced to relocate elsewhere in Wales. That may seem a superficial loss, compared to other injustices carried out over the course of history, for no lives were lost, few were directly affected, but the precedent it has set is unmistakeable. Westminster does not care about Wales.

Sure, Tony Blair may have passed the Government of Wales Act in 1998, to create the Welsh Parliament, formally known as the Senedd, but devolution is not an acceptable form of reparations. Take for instance, the Aberfan coal tip disaster. Under the burden of heavy rainfall, a coal tip created by the National Coal Board, which was under the control of the British Government, collapsed, killing 144 people, including mostly children, for a school was directly beneath the tip. This tragedy could have been averted, if only the Welsh people had been listened to. Local authorities had repeatedly warned the NCB that the tip would not withstand the Welsh climate, and yet the Government chose to do nothing, costing 144 residents of Aberfan their lives.

If only the horrors had ended there. After that, the public donated money to try and help the community recover. Those funds should undeniably have been used to help survivors and relatives of victims, or rebuild. Instead, the British Government forced that donation to go towards cleaning up the tip, as if it was the fault of Aberfan. In the words of former British Prime Minister, Liz Truss, that is a disgrace.

Blame for all these scandals can be arraigned to the Labour Party

What exactly is the correlation here? Blame for all these scandals can be arraigned to the Labour Party. Although the Prime Minister in 1962, when the LCC Act was passed, was a Conservative, Liverpool City was controlled by a Labour majority when it introduced the bill and the flooding wasn’t carried out until a Labour Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, was in power. Harold Wilson was still in power when Aberfan was devastated by what can only be described as a major government failure. In the same way, Tony Blair, a Labour Prime Minister, forced devolution on Wales without any real direction or support, essentially enabling the country to descend into deprivation and economic decline. Of course, this is not wholly the fault of Westminster.

Wales is a traditionally industrial region, that has failed to diversify within industry in the same manner England has. But, is that really an excuse? The Labour Party have portrayed themselves as the party of the working man, the champions of Industrial Britain, enabling them to win a 27-year long streak of power in the Senedd, but now, the people of Wales are realising that title is unearned. Now that Labour is in national government again, Wales is beginning to see that Labour, and to the same extent Westminster, have operated under a false flag, especially after Starmer committed to creating an inheritance tax, set to attack farmers. Considering that a substantial amount of the Welsh economy is focused on farming, such a tax is set to destroy the livelihoods of many Welsh citizens. And yet, Starmer and Welsh Labour choose to do nothing.

As Plaid Cymru continues to dominate the polls, the future of Wales may look a little brighter. 

As the Senedd elections draw closer, Wales has a choice. They can reject the destructive politics of Labour and choose a new alternative, that being either Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru, or British nationalist party Reform UK. Not that Reform is any better than Labour considering they misspelt several words in Welsh on their launch manifesto for the Senedd campaign. However, as Plaid Cymru continues to dominate the polls, the future of Wales may look a little bit brighter. So, as Plaid Cymru continues to remind us, Cofiwch Dryweryn.