What’s it like being a European? Well, here’s a Welsh speaker happily doing an interview in English which she then translates live into French for a Basque who just conversed with an Italian referee for 80 minutes in English but is happy to be spoken to in his language by a person who is speaking her second language oh and also she can speak Spanish too Being a European is wonderful

Clywch Clywch!!!!! Unionists have always held Cymru back. #bbcqt

I wrote a piece on why upland sheep farming sucks not just for people and nature, but for the sheep themselves. I forgot to mention in the article how most of the lambs which do survive the bleakness of the hillside (~75%) end up bled to death in halal slaughterhouses. Pretty grim all round, frankly. bengoldsmith.substack.com/p/…

I found another big reason for restoring our native carnivores –in particular wolves – to Britain. Wolves are shown to reduce substantially the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) in both wild animals and livestock. It’s obvious that for farmers growing crops, vegetables, vines and so on, wolves are a true friend, because wolves patrol the fields and control the number and movement of deer and wild boar that otherwise decimate their crops. Now it seems that wolves are also the livestock farmers’ best friend as well. Northern Spain, which has wolves, has massively lower prevalence of livestock TB than the rest of Spain, where wolves have been eradicated. A peer-reviewed study shows why: Tanner et al. 2019 (Scientific Reports)- “Wolves contribute to disease control in a multi-host system.” nature.com/articles/s41598-0… In Asturias (NW Spain), areas with wolves showed a sharp drop in wild boar TB seroprevalence (from ~17% to ~4%) as wolf numbers rose during 2000–2014, while boar density stayed similar or rose slightly (predation mortality offset by lower disease mortality). In wolf-absent parts of the same region, boar density roughly tripled and TB prevalence soared, with higher environmental pathogen load and rising cattle TB. Modelling showed that wolves selectively target infected animals, which is the key to this effect. This matches the broader pattern in Spain: the north (wolves present) has low livestock TB; the south (wolves absent) has high wildlife TB (wild boar often 40–80%+, red deer high) and the highest livestock prevalences (e.g. Ciudad Real, Jaén >10%).” While wolves are not claimed as the sole national driver of the huge discrepancy in TB prevalence between north and south (wildlife densities from hunting management, extensive farming interfaces, climate, cattle movements and residual infection are also major factors), the paper provides clear evidence that it’s a major one. The study there confirms that the presence of wolves *substantially* reduces TB in the wildlife reservoir and therefore the spillover effect on livestock. Another great reason to bring back wolves! TB affected farmers really ought to join up with their arable peers and get on board! 🐺

The only answer to the surging overpopulation of deer in Britain is wolves. In northern Spain, just ~0.3% of deer have TB. In southern Spain it’s ~30%. The difference is that the north still has wolves. Wolves sniff out unwell deer and eat them. It’s so blindingly obvious.

There are *a lot* of sheep in Britain - in case you’re wondering why it is that you see hardly a tree or a bush or wildflower or a bird across much of the British uplands.

Plaid Cymru's plan to provide free childcare for millionaires comes straight from the Conservative Party handbook. It's not fair and it's not progressive.

You are denying 1000 years of Welsh history for foreign Marxist ideas that have existed on the fringe here for only a few decades. You need an education in Welsh history, one day you will receive it!

1. "As long as a Welsh pedigree" 354 results on IA dating as far back as 1662. 2. "seventh generation" Giraldus Cambrensis 1193-1194 Descriptio Cambriae. 3. Ancestry traced to 9 generations, linked to freedom & nativity S. R. Meyrick, History and Antiquities..., p. lvxi, 1808.

An *elected representative* just asked me if I’m “100% certain” that children in Welsh-medium schools learn English too. For absolute clarity: 1/ Welsh-medium doesn’t mean Welsh-only 2/ Children are educated mainly in Welsh 3/ They learn English too 4/ They’ll be bilingual

On the verge of being expelled from the party and jumps ship before being pushed. Sarah Cooper Lesadd represents the worst of our politics. - Lied to and manipulated assessors throughout a new party selection process to ensure her election - Refused to open a constituency office - Refused to speak or acknowledge to colleagues and staff - Only speaks about herself on social media, the opposite of a team player. Check promote her (check her X account) - Once elected claimed she didn’t believe in many of Reform’s policies she believed in during her selection and election campaign - Openly admitted in a recent anauthorised media interview that she used Reform to get herself elected and wants to pursue her own agenda and not that of the party She was elected on a list system under a Reform banner with a clear intention to pursue her own agenda and not @RUKWales She was not elected as an independent. She has shamefully manipulated the party and the electorate. She should resign. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmly…

BREAKING WELSH NEWS Reform MS Sarah Cooper-Lesadd has defected to Plaid Cymru. She has released an absolutely damning statement regarding Reform: “Today I have left Reform UK and joined Plaid Cymru and its Senedd group. “I grew up in the care system. I stood for the Senedd to be a voice for care-experienced people, who are still badly under-represented in our politics. I want to improve people’s lives, stand up for people who are overlooked and get things done. My approach is evidence-led and rooted in what works for our communities. “Reform has no interest in the work I came here to do. They are not serious about governing Wales. They are far more interested in division, opposition and headlines than in finding solutions. There is a real appetite in the group to want the government to fail, and no interest in what that failure would mean for the people we represent. “They oppose measures without any coherent explanation. I wanted to vote for the supplementary budget, which every party should have supported, and I argued against tabling the Nation of Sanctuary debate, and I was criticised for sitting it out. Having just spoken about my own childhood trauma, I could not in good conscience sit through it. “I cannot support Reform's attacks on people seeking sanctuary or other vulnerable groups. I particularly reject the way minorities have too often been used as political targets. I do not believe anyone should be scapegoated or dehumanised to win votes, and I will not be part of a politics that does that. “The party centrally has no interest in Wales. Their Senedd group is a staging post in the effort to get Nigel Farage into Downing Street, and that was glaringly obvious at its conference this week. “To everyone who voted Reform in May: I have not stopped listening to you. You told me you felt ignored and let down. Those concerns are real, and they will be answered by delivery, not division. “Wales is a small country with enormous potential. Devolution is how that potential is realised, with decisions made closer to the people they affect. "I believe in a Wales that is confident, compassionate and ambitious. A Wales that uses the powers it has to improve people’s lives and seeks the powers it still needs. "Plaid is serious about governing, serious about delivery and serious about Wales. It is a party that believes in our communities and believes Wales can do more when decisions are made closer to the people they affect. “I know what I am asking of Plaid members who spent May campaigning against the party I stood for, and I will work to earn their trust. “I came into politics to give people a voice, improve lives and get things done, including for every child growing up in care in Wales today. Plaid Cymru is the best place for me to do that, and I am ready to get to work."