Wales

Party announces Corey Edwards’ decision to quit Senedd election campaign on grounds of mental healthA Reform UK candidate for the Welsh Senedd elections in May has announced he is standing down because of his mental health, after a photograph emerged of him apparently making a Nazi salute as an imitation of Adolf Hitler.The announcement by Reform comes a day after Nigel Farage defended Corey Edwards, its lead candidate for the Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg constituency, saying he might have instead been impersonating the John Cleese character Basil Fawlty. Continue reading...

Research suggested resurgence in Christianity, especially among young people, but some respondents found to be ‘fraudulent’A YouGov survey showing a significant rise in church attendance in parts of the UK has been withdrawn after some respondents were found to be fraudulent.The poll was central to a Quiet Revival report, published by the Bible Society last year, which prompted news stories about an apparent resurgence in Christianity, particularly among young people. Continue reading...

‘Problem-solving’, child-focused courts to replace adversarial hearings, with earlier intervention to cut delaysFamily courts are “not good enough” and have treated women and children unfairly for decades, a government minister has said.Announcing a major overhaul of the family justice system in England and Wales that will play a central role in “rebalancing” the family courts, Alison Levitt said often brutal legal showdowns will be replaced with a “problem-solving”, child-focused model. Continue reading...

About a quarter of prison places are unsafe, Ministry of Justice admitsThe government has reneged on a pledge to make all prison cells fire-safe or take them out of use by the end of next year, meaning tens of thousands of prisoners in England and Wales will remain at risk.The Ministry of Justice has admitted it has known for almost two decades that about a quarter of prison places are unsafe, putting the people housed in affected cells at risk. Continue reading...

Most dangerous offenders on probation will now be watched more closely than ever before, says governmentTens of thousands of offenders will be released from prisons in England and Wales wearing tags that track their location in real time as part of the biggest expansion of electronic tagging in British history, ministers have announced.The prisons minister, James Timpson, said a new pilot scheme would track domestic abusers and stalkers, alerting authorities if they approached their victims, while other offenders will wear geolocation tags that will enable probation officers to track their live location. Continue reading...

Taith programme, set up after UK’s post-Brexit withdrawal from Erasmus+, faces uncertain future over fundingA “life-changing” international learning programme set up in Wales after Brexit is at risk of being closed down.Taith, which means “journey” in Welsh/Cymraeg, was established by the Senedd in 2022 after the UK pulled out of the Erasmus+ student exchange programme. Its reach is much wider: many participants get involved through schools, youth groups or adult education centres, and nearly half come from underrepresented backgrounds. Data suggests Taith has already funded approximately twice as many projects in Wales as Erasmus+ did, working with less money. Continue reading...

Law Commission proposal forms part of plan to modernise and simplify burial and cremation lawGraves more than 100 years old could be reused across England and Wales under Law Commission proposals that also include the reopening of some burial grounds closed under Victorian-era legislation.The changes would create a national framework for the first time, aiming to reduce pressure on burial space and modernise a system largely unchanged for more than 170 years. Continue reading...