ROGER WATSON

The Welsh ‘government’ appears unshaken in its pursuit of economic and cultural self-destruction. Wales—a nation in its own right or an appendage, depending on perspective—shares with Scotland a focus on legislative posturing and virtue signalling over genuine economic progress. Both countries harbour a form of racism directed against the English and, increasingly, against white people in general.

If Scotland is teetering on the brink of economic dependence, reliant on the Barnett Formula’s generous subsidy from England, Wales fares even worse. Despite its population being just 57% of Scotland’s, it receives over £20 billion annually—less than half of what Scotland receives, yet proportionally substantial. Scotland, at least, has its whisky trade and oil reserves, although the former is largely English-owned and the latter constrained by Net Zero policies. Meanwhile, Wales trails behind economically, with a per capita GDP even lower than Scotland’s. Its equivalent to Scotch malt whisky is barely drinkable, and its oil reserves are described as “meagre.”

Tourism remains a lifeline for both nations, for now. But the Welsh Labour government seems determined to sabotage even this. In 2027, a tourist tax is set to take effect, imposing a European-style levy on visitors. It seems you can take a country out of Europe, but not its hankering after all things European. While expected to generate only tens of millions annually, it risks driving tourists away—hardly a worthwhile trade-off. A mere £1.25 per night might seem modest, but when combined with other aspects of Welsh mismanagement, it could deter potential visitors.

Certainly, Wales boasts many charms (my spouse being one of them), and for some, the tax may be worth enduring. However, Wales’s penchant for erasing its historical icons—renaming streets, removing statues, and rechristening buildings—is deeply troubling. The targets of these efforts are often historical figures who, while imperfect, contributed to the freedoms and political foundations we enjoy today. Accused of profiting from slavery or expressing offensive views, none of these individuals were saints, but they are being judged in absentia by modern standards and summarily condemned. Yet, if Wales wishes to attract tourists, shouldn’t it preserve its history, allowing visitors to learn, reflect, and draw their own conclusions?

Not content with revising its history, the Welsh government has unveiled its Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan 2024, aiming to eradicate racism. The impetus for this initiative is unclear. In 2019, a BBC report claimed 40% of Welsh people believed racism had increased—a perception rather than a measurable reality. Undoubtedly, even in a country which gave rise to the smouldering mixed-race beauty of Shirley Bassey (I am ‘of an age’) there will be people who hold and express racist sentiments. Curiously the report omitted to report that 60%—a clear majority—did not share this view. Such selective reporting feeds into confirmation bias and the public’s tendency to give socially acceptable answers when asked such questions.

The plan targets the “beliefs and behaviour of the white majority,” a strategy that risks backfiring spectacularly. By aggressively pushing this narrative, Wales might inadvertently stoke the very racism it seeks to quell; something they undoubtedly will not have considered. The rhetoric of inclusivity rings hollow in a country that becomes less inclusive by the year. Consider the recent rebranding of the Brecon Beacons, a beloved and internationally recognized region, to a name so cumbersome that even BBC presenters struggle to pronounce it.

The tourist tax ostensibly supports “promoting the Welsh language,” though the specifics remain vague. Given that bilingual road signs already dominate the landscape, doubling the size of necessary signage, it’s unclear how much more promotion is needed, how this sits with the inclusivity agenda or why such efforts should come at the expense of possibly alienating visitors.

Should the rest of the UK care about what happens in Wales? Absolutely. Labour leader Keir Starmer recently praised his Welsh counterparts for their policies on racism, promising to emulate them at Westminster. The prospect of extending Wales’s misguided governance to the whole of the UK should give us all pause.

If you haven’t yet signed the petition to call for a general election, I urge you to do so. God help us if the Welsh model becomes a blueprint for the nation.

Roger Watson is a retired academic, editor and writer. He is a columnist with Unity News Network and writes regularly for a range of conservative journals including The Salisbury Review and The European Conservative. He has travelled and worked extensively in the Far East.

This article (No Welcome in the Hillside) was published by The New Conservative and is republished here under “Fair Use” with attribution to the author Roger Watson

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Starmer’s pledge to govern Britain like Wales is beginning to sound like a threat

Devolution has left the region vulnerable to the worst impulses of Left-wing policymaking

TOM HARRIS

When Keir Starmer described his party’s record in Wales as a “blueprint for what Labour can do across the UK”, he probably didn’t intend it as a threat.

But as the western principality is subjected to the latest in a long line of Left-wing experiments – tourists may be charged for the privilege of visiting Wales in future, according to a new policy published today – it might be regarded as such. Wales has become a petri dish for social anthropology students curious to see what might happen if the more extreme elements of the students union is given free reign in at least one corner of the country.

The Welsh Government has already courted controversy by allowing various strands of Welsh civic society to press ahead with its ludicrous obsession with the “decolonisation” of Welsh history. Not previously known for his membership of the Ku Klux Klan, David Lloyd George, one of Wales’s most celebrated political figures, has nevertheless been targeted by publicly-funded “anti-racist” consultants.

The former war-time prime minister’s home in Llanystumdwy in rural Wales, which has been turned into a museum, will in future “promote a multicultural, vibrant and diverse Wales”. Think red non-binary dragons against a rainbow background.

But it’s the tourist tax that is worrying leaders of the country’s beleaguered hospitality industry. When visitor figures have yet to recover from the Covid pandemic and skills shortages are already pushing up wages costs (not to mention the new UK government’s recent increase in employers’ national insurance contributions), there could hardly be a worse time to impose further disincentives on tourism.

The tax is envisioned as being relatively modest, added to visitors’ bills for overnight accommodation. The money raised would be spent – so ministers tell us – on improving facilities for tourists and hence increasing revenue as part of a virtuous economic cycle. And if you believe that, I have a talking steam engine with a baby dragon resting in its furnace to sell you.

The policy was part of an agreement between the ruling Labour administration and their nationalist rivals in Plaid Cymru, which should surprise no one. Welsh nationalism in its more extreme forms has a history of cultivating a warm welcome in the valleys for English incomers: remember that “Not The Nine O’Clock News” sketch from the 1970s? “Come home to an open fire – buy a cottage in Wales.”

Rather than make Wales a vibrant, forward-looking part of the UK, devolution has turned it and its politicians inwards, fixating on dictating how people should lead their lives.

Of course, devolution was always intended by its enthusiastic and naïve promoters as an opportunity to do things differently at a Welsh and Scottish level from the way things were done at Westminster. It was just never explained why “different” must always mean “better”.

Any Welsh citizens tired of being constantly used as the subjects of clever experiments by academics and activists who wouldn’t get a foot in the door in Whitehall might, therefore, blame the principle of devolution itself for their plight. After all, wasn’t the devolution project supposed to improve the standard of living for those lucky enough to live in those areas?

Yet in key areas of public policy – health, education, transport, etc – it is at least a challenge to produce empirical evidence that the promise of devolution has been realised.

Confirming the Labour Party’s role as the nation’s Human Resources Department and its instinct either to make everything free, forbidden or compulsory, the Senedd has already subjected Welsh motorists to a nationwide ban on driving above 20 mph (since adjusted to allow local authorities to decide on speed limits), a policy that was conceived and imposed by over-mighty climate change activists-turned-government advisers. The same minister who imposed the 20 mph policy also opposed scrapping tolls on the Severn Crossing on the dubious basis that it would be too car-friendly.

The Welsh Government’s anti-car strategy and its new plans to charge visitors (mostly from the UK) to visit Wales are two faces of the same philosophy.

Under devolution, Welsh Labour sees economic growth and a healthier environment for business as unimportant.

This article was created and published by The Telegraph and is republished here under “Fair Use”

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