Climate justice is social justice

The following sets the case for a radical approach to tackling the climate crisis in Wales and invites contributions from Undod members to explore related topics in further detail. The real crisis looms… Viewed from the midst of a global pandemic, it might be tempting to forget that we are also in the grip of […]

Hiroshima-Nagasaki 75: working towards a nuclear-free Wales

75 years have passed since the Americans, with British agreement, dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is the first time, and so far the only time nuclear weapons of mass destruction have been used. It is commonly thought that this led to the end of World War II, but Japan was already on […]

Mental health in Wales: the gap between rhetoric and reality

Content warning: this article discusses suicide and neglect within mental inpatient settings. Introduction Late in the afternoon of Friday January 24th 2020, the Welsh Government published the third and final delivery plan for their ten year strategy on mental health. Following a six week consultation the previous summer, Ministers spent five months sitting on responses […]

The arithmetic of populism

Some months ago Angharad Dafis wrote about the closure of Ysgol Felindre.  Here she reflects on subsequent events, and how the story of a village school in Wales exposes the chimera of a caring, communitarian Wales, illustrating how deeply enmeshed we are in the fraudulent neoliberal practices of the British state. I never really relished […]

Solving the housing crisis in Wales

As long as capitalism prevails, housing will always be a commodity or investment for some whilst others live in misery Engels, The Housing Question The coronavirus crisis has been defined by class. The last few months have seen working-class people forced out to work in dangerous conditions to keep us safe whilst the rest of […]

Solving the spectre of food poverty in Wales through Universal Basic Income

Food banks have stepped up to the plate in the austerity years, and throughout the corona-crisis they are proving to be more necessary than ever with queues for emergency food parcels increasing by the week. In March, the Trussell Trust, one of many UK food bank charities, experienced an 81% increase in demand. It’s an example of […]

Cofiwch Epynt… Is it not high time that the army left the area?

This is the slogan on the side of a bus stop shelter on the road from Cwm y Glo to Llanrug, four miles outside Caernarfon. One is used to seeing ‘Cofiwch Dryweryn’, but this is a new twist. I do not know who the artist is, but they’ve chosen the same colour – red text […]

Why a truly radical movement must engage with children’s rights – lecture by Prof Elspeth Webb

Professor Elspeth Webb is a retired community paediatrician and Professor in Child Health at Cardiff University who has worked for decades in children’s rights, child protection, health inequalities, and building a human rights approach to medical training in Wales and beyond. As children continue to fall through the cracks of the Covid-19 economy, the debate […]

Solidarity with Kongreya Star and the women of Northeast Syria

A few days ago, we lost three friends in an attack on a gathering of women activists in Northeast Syria. Though we had never met them, and they lived in a region far away from ours, we were united by our common struggle for women’s lives. For devoting their lives to the fight against patriarchal […]

The land of Wales

Introduction The agricultural industry has always been deeply embedded in Wales’ land. As one of the series Wales’ next step this article aims to introduce some of the background to agriculture in Wales to an urban audience, and to ask some questions about the industry itself. We will look at ways in which farmers and […]

Why the flooding in the Rhondda is a political failure

We stand in solidarity with people in the Rhondda whose homes have been flooded for the third time this year, and we support Leanne Wood’s call for an independent inquiry into this repeated flooding. Wood, Member of the Senedd for the Rhondda, claims that urgent assistance is required to stop this happening again, saying that […]

“Who owns the history and who benefits?” – Interview with Keith Murrell, Cardiff

Over the last week the discussion about the proposals by Cardiff Council for a Military Medicine Museum on Britannia Park in Cardiff Bay have led to a great deal of debate, particularly within the wider international context of the Black Lives Matter movement. The debate has culminated in calls for a Museum for Tiger Bay. […]

The British Virus

Images by youtookthatwell 1. The Capitalist Virus When the full scale of the Coronavirus crisis first became apparent in the UK, one could have been forgiven for presuming that it signalled an existential blow to the global economic order as we know it. As the country began to comprehend the struggles we were about to face, […]

Flushed away? Penygroes factory workers need an alternative

Originally published by Dolan Northwood Hygiene’s threatened closure of the paper products factory in Penygroes should surprise no-one. The facilities have been under threat before, but have survived. But it looks like that COVID-19 will finally kill off the factory according to its owners. But is this true? This is what the company had to […]

Undod urgent appeal: 24 hours to save Tramshed

“We want Cardiff Council to feel the outrage that its people feel over the idea of another Gwdihŵ and over the umpteenth time their interests have been steamrolled in favour of some corporate development.” Cardiff Council, infamous for their short-sighted approach to preserving culture in a city as historic as Cardiff, are yet again on […]

The military museum is an insult. Let’s work together to stop it.

Plans for the building of a Museum of Military Medicine at Britannia Park, down Cardiff Bay, have met fierce criticism over the past week. There is a widespread feeling that, once again, Cardiff is being developed outside of the influence of its residents. This proposed development is one story among many in Cardiff. We have […]

The end of Welsh farming?

As the world faces a global pandemic that originated with unsafe food production, you might think that food safety would be high on the political agenda. Similarly, as many countries brace for food shortages arising from Covid-19’s disruption to the global supply chains of both produce and labour, you might think that food security and […]

No going back to normal – the left must seize the moment and dominate the crisis

Originally published by the author on 26 Ebrill 2020 The Italian Marxist revolutionary Antonio Gramsci dedicated much of his thought to the concept of crises. This was the result of him coming of age and then living through a series of crises on the world scale (WW1, the 1929 stock market crash), and a domestic crisis which […]

Remembering George Floyd: Undod stands in solidarity with anti-racist protesters

Undod stands in solidarity with those demanding justice for George Floyd, a Black man murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, and all those who fight against racism and state violence everywhere. The violent suppression of protests across the US, from casual brutality to rubber bullets and the indiscriminate use of pepper spray reveals […]

No going back to normal: Gramsci, capitalism, political crisis, and our response

 By: Tad Davies, Ted Jackson, Garmon ab Ion “This is the Italian Marxist revolutionary Antonio Gramsci. He dedicated much time and thought to the concept of crisis. Through the upheavals of the first world war and then the bienno rosso, the “two red years” of near-revolution in its aftermath , he believed that from […]

Buying local: sustainable communities, the Caernarfon way

Part of the series Wales’ next step A year ago, everyone took great delight in the colourful umbrellas on Stryd y Plas, not because it was raining cats and dogs, but because it was a pleasant, sunny day. This was the latest idea on the street to make it more attractive. Indeed, on the weekend […]

Why would I be interested in something political like Undod?

Part of the series Wales’ next step I’m not going to pretend that I’m not a political person – I am. I always have been. As are my family and as my children will grow up to be. So, it is easy for me to say that everyone should be actively interested in politics – […]

News round-up: Covid, furlough, and breaking up the UK

Winning radical independence for Wales requires a network of organisations to communicate our ideas, bring people together and agitate for the transformation we want to see. That’s why we’ll be sharing highlights from Wales’ growing grassroots media that you may have missed. English The crew at Voice.Wales have analysed Welsh Government’s picks for post-Covid advisers […]

A national movement for political change is possible – and it is necessary.

Part of the series Wales’ next step You may be among those that have asked, so what’s the story? Or reflected on a question that is asked fairly often, namely: ‘Why?’ What follows sets out some considerations on the purpose of Undod, at this time. The starting point is the need for a group that […]

Wales’ next step: Solving street homelessness

Part of the series Wales’ next step “The previous homelessness system was not appropriate or fair, and the bold actions taken during this crisis demonstrate this clearly. There must be no going back to the old system. The crisis must be the catalyst to finally solve homelessness.” In Cardiff, a city which has embarrassingly become […]

Wales’ next step: a new series

No more top-down politics: a one-way track to more poverty, more inequality, and a deepening of the ecological crisis. We need to take the initiative. Over the coming weeks we will set out the possibilities that present themselves to the country as it emerges from the crisis. The coronavirus represents the most drastic manifestation of […]

Stories from the grassroots: Wales and Covid-19

Winning radical independence for Wales requires a network of organisations to communicate our ideas, bring people together and agitate for the transformation we want to see. That’s why we’ll be sharing highlights from Wales’ growing grassroots media that you may have missed. Desolation Radio have been providing regular analysis of the Welsh government’s pandemic response […]

VE Day – and the other realities of war

May 1st was International Workers ‘ day. A Bank Holiday, as usual, but back in 2019 the Westminster government announced that it would be moved to May 8th in 2020, in order to celebrate 75 years since VE Day – the day when the Second World War ended in Europe. The intention was to hold […]

Community, society, and economy: response to Covid in Penygroes

This is a translation of the original article in Welsh. On Sunday evening, March 15th, 2020, Yr Orsaf community café in Penygroes was comfortably full. Local poet Karen Owen was hosting an evening with Aled Jones Williams, and the café had just celebrated its first year in existence. “Things were progressing really well” said one […]

Gordon the Big Engine: a political appointment

In a recent series of blogs, Undod has been forthcoming in its criticism of Welsh Government for its handling of the Covid-19 crisis from the very beginning, when a rugby match between Wales and Scotland was not cancelled until the last minute – and when it was too late to stop thousands of fans from […]

Building a better Wales: beyond incarceration

Today should have been a celebration of Welsh culture, identity and independence in one of Wales’ most iconic towns, Wrexham: home of Welsh football, excellent lager, Gŵyl Twm Sbaen, Saith Seren, and pioneer of Welsh nonconformism, Morgan Llwyd. Instead, we are holed up during a period of self-isolation in a desperate crisis that few would […]

Vaughan Gething should go

The world will change utterly, even for those of us who make it through alive… But the people who led us into the disaster are still there. * In our recent round-up of the crisis, we drew attention to a litany of errors from the Welsh Government. We expressed the hope that their handling of […]

Now is not the time to “get behind” the dear leaders.

October 21st, 1966 We are in a schoolroom; on the eve of the half-term holidays. In a few seconds the vast mound of dirt and coal waste and mud on the hillside above us will start to slide downhill. Most of us will die, and those who live will live forever with the unspeakable guilt […]

Welsh Government has the powers to reduce crisis poverty – now

Attention has rightly turned to basic income as a way of ensuring financial security for everyone during the pandemic and resulting deep economic recession. Facing the prospect of shattered livelihoods and disappearing incomes, we have seen the UK Treasury make guarantees to business in the form of an 80% wage subsidy, rate relief and various […]

Welsh Government: always one step behind

More than two weeks into the COVID-19 crisis and the signs are not good in Wales. The NHS Health Board bearing the name of its founder is currently recording higher levels of infection per 100,000 people than London, while the state of Wales as a whole is comparable to the English West Midlands – one […]

The politics of mutual aid during the COVID-19 crisis

Crisis and community There has been endless talk about the politics surrounding the COVID-19 crisis—including important critiques of the disastrous response by the UK and the Welsh governments. This is an important place to start, because we need to recognise this as a political crisis, especially during a time when some are condemning others for […]

In a pandemic scenario, Welsh Government must offer decisive political leadership

Following last night’s announcement by the UK Government, echoed by the First Minister, Wales is now entering a soft version of the lock-downs that have been enacted  in Italy, Spain and France. Yet there should be no doubt, immediate further action is needed here in Wales as outlined in Undod’s statement two days ago. Our […]

Responding to the coronavirus pandemic: our demands of Welsh Government

By initially following a strategy opposed to the guidance of the World Health Organisation and evidence of what has worked in other countries, the UK government has lost weeks in the fight against COVID-19  — a mistake that is likely to cost lives without urgent and radical steps to tackle the spread of the virus […]

Light shining out of darkness

The darkest hour comes before the dawn. These are words we would do well to remember, as we are plunged into the depths of the COVID-19 crisis. After the excruciating end to the Brexit debacle (whichever side of the fence you were on) and then the widespread flooding, another old saying springs to mind – […]

A lethal case of one-partyism

This weekend has seen Wales embarrassed on a global scale, as the Welsh Government stood by whilst the WRU attempted to hold the dead rubber Wales v Scotland rugby game. At first, we thought it was a mistake, a delay. They’ll cancel it, don’t worry. Memes circulated – ‘we can’t cancel the rugby mun, Denzil’s […]

Felindre’s bitter pill: we need stronger protection for rural Welsh-medium schools

This piece was contributed by Angharad Dafis, a representative of the supporters of Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Felindre. We welcome the Welsh Language Commissioner’s far-reaching verdict that the City and County of Swansea failed to take the essential statutory step of carrying out an assessment of the effect on the Welsh language within the community before setting […]

Healthy communities are the basis of our lives

Healthy communities are the basis of our lives. That’s the belief of a group of people from Gwynedd and Anglesey who are developing an alternative strategy for community development. They call themselves “SAIL” – meaning “Basis” – because community is the basis of everything. “SAIL” has nothing to do with yachting! The basis of the […]

The problems of eco-capitalism

In the middle of our multiple crises, modified forms of capitalism – usually branded New Green Deal or something similar – are presented as solutions. This is a dangerous distraction. Introduction Only a madman or an economist would dispute that the world is in the grip of a series of related ecological, climate and equality […]

Join Undod today

For the people of Wales, Thursday night served as final confirmation to an increasing number of us that there is no future for ourselves, and our children, within the structures of the British state. Alliances between our ‘progressive’ parties could have saved the day in terms of keeping the Tories out of our Parliamentary constituencies, […]

The democracy killers

Back in October, following the prorogation of the Westminster Parliament, we were provided with a short, sharp account of the limits of British democracy on this blog – exposing the extent to which it falls short of the ideal and how open it is to abuses. With little over a week to go until the […]

Precarious in the extreme: what the press isn’t saying about our universities

The pattern became obvious, soon enough. In the past, students asked for the extenuating circumstances form for a variety of reasons: an illness during the exam period, a death in the family, from time to time a personal crisis or a bout of poor mental health. But now, there are only two reasons: anxiety and […]

Mass civil disobedience breaks out in Catalunya

Cymraeg | català Undod / solidarity with Catalunya Yesterday the Spanish Supreme Court finally gave their verdicts against the nine Catalan political prisoners on charges, including ‘rebellion’ and ‘sedition’, associated with the October 1st 2017 referendum on independence for Catalunya. All were prominent politicians or cultural leaders and Catalunya has been anxiously awaiting the expected […]

Plaid Cymru and nukes – meltdown mentality

Plaid Cymru meets for its annual conference at Swansea over the weekend, and no doubt we’ll hear all sorts of promises about the independent Wales which seems to be closer than it has been for ages. But can we rely on Plaid to lead us to the promised land? Or will the party lead us […]

Does Wales even need a capital city?

Wales’ independence is an opportunity to rethink everything. In his widely praised speech delivered at the independence march in Merthyr Tudful, Eddie Butler called independence a blank canvas. A referendum will no doubt be the means by which we become independent but we shouldn’t let our vision be limited by that horizon. After the march, […]

Wales rising

Liminal 1, relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process 2, occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold *** Merthyr Tudfil; that crucible of the Welsh imaginary where industrial Wales began. Merthyr; that legendary name where the forces of Dissent first mustered in Wales; Merthyr; the word […]