Hiraeth - Welsh Politics

Six months after a disappointing election result for Plaid Cymru, Adam Price has reached agreement with the Welsh Government to deliver a number of key policies for the party. Was it a deal worth the price? In this pod, we discuss the deal and the role of Plaid Cymru in Wales with The National's Chief Political Commentator Theo Davies-Lewis. You can find Theo's interview with Adam Price here: http...

Following the announcement of the Welsh Labour-Plaid Cymru Cooperation Agreement, we discuss the potential and potential pitfalls of the agreement with Victoria Winckler of the Bevan Foundation and Mark Hooper of Banc Cambria, IndyCube and #WelshTwitter. You can find our guests online: Vicoria Winckler: https://twitter.com/vwinckler The Bevan Foundation: https://twitter.com/BevanFoundation Mark Ho...

We take a look at the UK Government's plans for 'Levelling Up' and try to get to the bottom of how to define it and whether it is a genuine attempt to raise the standard of living across the union or whether it is simply a political slogan. Joining us are: Professor Nick Clifton of Cardiff Metropolitan University - https://twitter.com/FrannysTash and Kellie Beirne, Chief Executive of the Cardiff C...

Following the UK Government's 2021 Spending Review announcement from Chancellor Rishi Sunak, we speak to to Dr Ed Poole and Guto Ifan of the Wales Fiscal Analysis team at Cardiff University's Wales Governance Centre to find out whether it is good or bad news for Wales. You can find out more from our guests on Twitter: Dr Ed Poole: https://twitter.com/EdGarethPoole Guto Ifan: https://twitter.com/Gu...

The future of work has become one of the most pressing policy concerns in the wake of global health crisis caused by COVID-19. Is greater home- or remote-working a desirable economic or social goal and what, if anything, can the Welsh Government do in this regard? We speak to Sarah Williamson and Nicolas Webb of the newly-formed Constructive Policy Centre about their first paper 'Remotely Desirabl...

With Scotland imminently hosting the global climate summit COP26, we speak to a panel of experts to discuss the expectations we should have of the national government in Cardiff and the union government in Westminster and what success for the summit might look like. Our guests: Kate Evans - Energy & Construction Lawyer at Capital Law, Green energy and sustainability enthusiast and Cynnal Cymru Tru...

Following the announcement that all school children in Wales will be taught about racism and the contributions of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities as part the new curriculum, we speak to Prof. Charlotte Williams OBE who led a working group set up by the Welsh government to look at how BAME contributions through history could be taught in schools. You can find Charlotte on Twitter here:...

With party conference season in the rear view mirror and the parliaments of Britain resuming business once more, we are joined by Theo Davies-Lewis of The National to discuss the UK Conservative and Unionist Party Conference, the Welsh Conservatives and Gareth Davies's Zoom no-show on the crucial Senedd vote on Covid Passes. You can follow Theo here: https://twitter.com/TDaviesLewis And read his c...

We speak to Will Hayward, Welsh Affairs Editor at WalesOnline and author of Lockdown Wales: How COVID-19 Tested Wales and an upcoming book exploring the debates, rationales and real-world implications of independence for Wales. You can find Will on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/WillHayCardiff And read him at WalesOnline here: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/authors/will-hayward/ His first book,...

Following an eventful UK Labour Party Conference in Brighton, we are joined by Rebecca Wilks of The National to discuss the highlights and lowlights of the event, Keir Starmer's essay 'The Road Ahead', Brexit, and the ongoing negotiations between Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru in the Senedd. You can find Rebecca on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/WilksBecca And read her in The National here: https...

Following the announcement that the Wales Green Party and Plaid Cymru are going to stand on a joint platform in the 2022 local government elections in Cardiff, we speak to Rhys ab Owen MS of Plaid Cymru and Wales Green Party Leader Anthony Slaughter to discuss how the agreement came to be, what their ambitions are for the project and whether it has scope elsewhere in the country. Our guests: Rhys...

In this episode we speak to editors and contributors to 'The Welsh Way: Essays on Neoliberalism and Devolution', a new book from Parthian that challenges the concept of Wales as a left-leaning and radical political nation and offers suggestions for new approaches that go beyond 'clear red water'. You can buy 'The Welsh Way' here: https://www.parthianbooks.com/products/the-welsh-way-essays-on-neoli...

Once Britain's most powerful industry, coal mining has left its mark on the geographies and communities in two particular places, the South of Wales and North-East of England, areas now strongly associated with support for Brexit. They are the subject of a new book, The Shadow of the Mine, by Professors Emeritus Ray Hudson and Huw Beynon of Durham and Cardiff Universities respectively and in this...

Following the Boundary Commission announcement of their proposals for the new UK Parliamentary map of Wales, we speak to Shereen Williams, Secretary of the Boundary Commission for Wales to learn more about the process of drawing up the new map. Afterwards Matt, Ceri & Rich mull the political impact of the proposed changes. You can find the Boundary Commission here: https://twitter.com/BCommWales a...

We are joined by Catrin Glyn, co-host of Cardiff University's Golau Podcast and LLM Student Governance and Devolution to discuss the extraordinary series of long form interviews with prominent current and ex-politicians produced by the WalesCast team at BBC Wales. What did we learn from the four long-form interviews and what conclusions can we draw about what to expect from the big four parties in...

It's just over 100 days since the Senedd election and early analysis of the data is starting to be published. Here we speak to PhD student James Griffiths of Manchester University who has published some analysis of support for different governments on Britain in relation to Covid response and for which parties independence-supporting Welsh voters cast their ballots. You can find James on Twitter h...

Wales is infamous for its domestic news and media deficit and in this pod we speak to one of the individuals committed to changing things for the better. We discuss our national media landscape with Huw Marhsall, founder of the The National. Find Huw on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Marshallmedia Follow The National: https://twitter.com/nationalwales And for all the latest pods, blogs and videos, f...

When tweets from the Rt Rev Joanna Penberthy recently resurfaced, including phrases such as 'never, never, never trust a Tory', a light was shone on the role of one of Wales's most defined - and Wales defining - institutions, the Church in Wales. It seemed to come as a surprise to many in Westminster that for the Church in Wales, you should not see the Church of England. We discuss this incident a...

With the Royal Welsh Show cancelled for a second straight year, Welsh rural life has again lost one of its main opportunities to raise issues affecting its communities and workers. In this pod we look at this important area of welsh life as it arguably faces one of the most difficult periods in its history and are joined by: Alex Heffron, a farmer in Pembrokeshire, West Wales focusing on Agro-ecol...

With parliaments heading into recess we dip into the Hiraeth mailbag to discuss some listener questions, including the state of British governments, Keir Starmer, Plaid Cymru, revelations from 1997, monarchy and, briefly, flags (but not the ones you're expecting). As mentioned in the episode, this is a link to the episode of Martin Shipton Meets...Elystan Morgan: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podc...

With Northern Ireland still feeling the effects of Boris Johnson's Brexit deal more keenly than elsewhere in the union, we discuss the challenges for the unionist and nationalist communities and the province's future status with Dr Thomas Leahy of Cardiff University. Thomas can be found on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/thomasdmleahy For all the latest blogs, pods, and videos from Hiraeth, foll...

The new (ish) Welsh Government has published its Programme for Government, legislative programme, and updated roadmap for the future of the United Kingdom in the space of just over a week. To discuss their plans for reforming the UK and governing Wales, we are joined by Gareth Axenderrie of The National. You can find Gareth here: https://twitter.com/gaxenderrie The National here (do subscribe): ht...

One of the biggest changes in the new government is the Ministry of Climate Change, including transport and housing. After twenty years of devolution is this a moment to cheer for environmental campaigners or will the scope of the portfolio exceed the capacity of the government to deliver on its objectives? Indeed, is the government focussed enough on delivery? To discuss, we are joined by: Jess M...

In this mini-series marking five years since the UK's referendum on EU membership and Wales's surprising vote to join England in voting 'Leave', we speak to three voices with different experiences of that day and the subsequent period of reflection. In this episode we speak to Robert Griffiths, Chair of the 2016 Lexit Campaign and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain to discuss Lexi...

In this mini-series marking five years since the UK's referendum on EU membership and Wales's surprising vote to join England in voting 'Leave', we speak to three voices with different experiences of that day and the subsequent period of reflection. In this episode we speak with Rachel Trezise, author of 'Easy Meat', a novel set in the Rhondda that takes place on the 23rd June 2016 - the EU refere...