To think wales is a huge problem that no one ever talks about?

[Cocklodger]

Right now Theresa May is cracking down on no win no fee solicitors
Mainly south Wales, in particular the valleys.
Back years ago when the mines were shut down rightfully there was nothing left to replace it. Nothing at all, it killed thousands of jobs, which was to be expected, but in exchange there was no new businesses, no back ups, nothing. And it's only gotten worse since, poverty is high, benefit claimants are quite common
Public transport is awful to say the least and if you can't commute to Cardiff by some means, you're screwed, most can't afford cars and if you're in a public transport black spot then you're severely limited to warehouse operative positions which have over 100 applicants in one to three days. Meanwhile house prices in Cardiff are rising, I think in 40 years we will have a new London.
In the valleys most looks grey, worn out and pretty dead to be honest. Where I live there are a few car dealerships and a train station, which is more like a bus stop with tracks next to it than an actual station and the nearest station with people actually manning the booths is pontypridd (45mins away by train) I spent years working as a volunteer for an agency that helps people with problems (poverty related) such as MH issues, finding work, food bank referrals and the like. I saw it every single day, people wanting to work but seldom getting anywhere.
There are articles and documentaries about it, but I never see them talked bout on here or elsewhere really, aibu to think that Wales is a big problem that no one really talks about?

Glasgow has the shortest life expectancy in the UK yet we've got the friendliest people who had the sense to vote remain, where was the sense in Wales when you all needed it??

Where is the Welsh government in all this? Isn't it kind of the point of them that they fight for and look after Wales? I never hear of them doing anything.

What Wales needs (along with other areas of the U.K.) are jobs. And at the moment, jobs that don't require a whole load of education. It almost needs to go back to the Industrial Age and start again. I am not saying that the Welsh are unintelligent, but when generations have lacked educational opportunities and drive, you can't suddenly stick in a whole load of graduate level jobs and expect that to solve the problem. You need the base level jobs at the moment because that's where people are, then you raise the levels over the generations.

Oh and as an aside, the SE of England isn't a homogenous place. There are very deprived areas with little or no public transport there too.

Ssd- it was finding someone to blame and listening to the likes of farage that we'd be better off out I think.

Burntheblacksuit- but how would we achieve that?

(I thought the link would be Welsh people abusing no win no fee - like how the adverts say not in N.I because fraud is a big issue there)

WTF? Wales and other areas with high poverty levels may indeed have big problems, but I don't think libelling Northern Ireland is the way to go to solve any of them! No win no fee adverts say not in NI because they are a different jurisdiction, with a different court system, and no win no fee agreements are not allowed. That's all.

GOT GOT GOT. Not gotton.

I forgot how bloody ugly Port Talbot is.

Oops. My throwaway comment (which to be fair was irrelevant a bit of a stupid argument) has started an argument

Massive tax breaks for manufacturing companies who base themselves in Wales? A lot more focus on the manufacturing sector rather than the service or financial sector.

I was talking to my brother who lives in Rhondda Cynon Taf and a lot of the people who voted for Brexit to do with jobs. One concern is that if skilled workers come in from the EU (e.g. stereotypical Polish Builder) who are already fully trained then what incentive is there for employers to spend money training up local young people to do the jobs. If young people without great academic qualifications can't get get entry level jobs what's left for them?

What about the Welsh assembly? What do they do and what are their responsibilities?

Mum is Welsh and she moved to England after the war for work. Nothing new.

Saundersfoot is breathtaking

No idea.
I think it's about time the Welsh government got their fingers out of their arses

Saundersfoot and Tenby are stunning. Beautiful part of the country

I wonder if Cocklodger lives near me, I live in one of the towns they mentioned (also ex-Cardiff!)

Have scanned through the thread but get the gist.

I voted to stay in the EU but in a way I thing being in in some ways have really fucked us up. When we opened trade and work deals with 3rd world countries such as India etc. then it did these countries an amazing amount of good but we stitched ourselves up. What I mean is that manufacturing and production type jobs became difficult here because we work (quite rightly) to strict H&S and other regulation including minimum wages etc that these countries just don't. There just isn't a level paying field when they can have 14 year olds working 50 hours on slave wages to produce something for a particular cost. How can we ever match that cost in the UK or Europe? Then you have all the banking/finance etc jobs that have gone. In reality you could probably bring those back at no extra cost. They may be a third of the cost but they end up creating extra work in terms of complaints and service failures so in the end they are doing a third of the work.

If the UK went simply into the high end production then they may have a chance to redress the balance in that the higher costs associated with production are reflected in the higher unit price for the goods. However where are those skills going to come from to produce high end goods?

Scotland has fared better in that the whisky industry is doing just that, producing high end goods for a decent export price (there are some bottles you simply can't buy here anymore as the entire production goes abroad!) However Japan are catching up with a number of the top whiskies in the world being produced there now.

I'm not sure what I think should be done, but we are failing our own people. I've been a labour voter all my life but I'd like to finish by saying, whatever the question is, Corbin is not the answer.

The south east doesn't have enough water for the people already living there

#prayforlondon

Tatertots

Totally agree re: Thatcher - she was psycho! Some of the things she did ere evil - destroyed industries - mining, steel, ship building - just to bring the unions to heel, no matter what the human cost (Scargill played into her hands there, though). We (in the NE) have had nothing to replace them either; insisted that there "was no such thing as society" and therew the mentally ill out not the streets ("care in the community" - ha bloody ha!); fostered an ethos of sheer entitlement - and we're not talking about people on benefits, here - we're talking about the Phillip Greens of this world, who think that they are the only ones who matter; sold off the councils' housing stock and prevented them from getting the money the sales brought in, to build new council homes..

Greed is NOT good! It is destroying our wonderful country.

People complain about kids turning to crime and drugs etc - but many have no hope of ever achieving a decent standard of living. I'm not saying it's right, but you can see why the lure of easy money or oblivion is often impossible to resist.

Tragically, poor areas are wealthy - in lost opportunities, wasted potential, squandered talent and despair. I don't know how we can ever get kindness and consideration back, but the chance of a job and a home of their own would be a dream come true to many people.

Love South Wales, it's beautiful and it has so much potential. Agree with BurnTheBlackSuit, companies need to be incentivised to base themselves in Wales. Perhaps the answer is to match Ireland's tax laws for large companies and encourage a few into Wales.

I live in the Rhondda (about a 15 minute drive from Pontypridd) and YANBU. This part of Wales has never recovered properly since the closure of the mines and it is difficult to find work here. I agree young people could move away - ut it's very hard to find a job and relocate etc, especially when you know nobody. I myself wouldn't be 100% against doing it, but I'd need a good job waiting for me. Most people have never left the valleys to live, so wouldn't move somewhere they know noone. The unemployment is rarely talked about though. Interestingly, I find public transport in the valleys better than other areas of Wales such as Carmarthen, if you're from London or similar though it will seem awful I suppose. Buses and trains are very regular.

I disagree though that there is nothing here. It might be a relatively poor place but it's also a beautiful place (although our lovely green areas are being got rid of to build houses - 'how green is my valley' indeed ) and although I can't speak for everyone, there is a great community spirit in my area (which is deprived). I would feel much safer walking through here in the early hours of the morning than Cardiff. I think the valleys are a lovely place - what we lack in terms of money we make up for in character and friendliness. BTW I am not a zombie or gormless. Nor is anyone else I know. We're not all the same you know. Yes there is a lot of addiction problems though (addiction and deprivation seems to go hand in hand). There is a mixture of wealth just like anywhere else - my street has families living in real, desperate poverty. Not a 10 minute walk away lives my friend whose parents are both solicitors and are definitely not in poverty.

Poverty is a problem, but I disagree with the amount of money that is the threshold for poverty. According to the figures, I've lived in poverty all my life - but I've never felt poor, never gone without, and poverty in Wales has improved since my parents and grandparents generation. I think we've lost sight of what poverty is sometimes. Poverty is higher here than in other areas of Wales and the rest of the country - I believe that everyone should have the same opportunity to reach their full potential and this isn't happening in the valleys at the moment. People here deserve more, especially young people. It's pretty 'normal' here for kids to grow up in poor families (by poor I mean relying on state help) with their parents not getting the help they need, going to a school where the teachers try their best but how much can they do when the kids don't attend or bunk off?, leaving at 16 with no GCSE's, becoming unemployed, getting drug/alcohol issues and turning to crimes. That's not a generalisation as I also know plenty of people who don't fit that mould but I know loads who have. My school wasn't the best one (probably quite rough really) but the teachers did believe in us and the GCSE and A level results at my school have improved a lot over the past few years. 40 years ago we had a proper industry here - ok we weren't going to be the richest country in the world, but we were great. Look at us now, it is disgraceful.

Sorry if this message was a bit long and ranty but it's something I'm passionate about.

Apart from OP have any of you people slagging off Wales ever actually been here? The old mining valleys are a very small part. It's a bit arrogant to judge and condemn a whole country for the relative dowdiness and poverty of a few towns. It'd be like writing off England because of Brixton.
Cardiff and a large area surrounding it is amazing. Most of Wales is beautiful and the towns and villages have all you'd want from rural areas. We have lovely coastal towns and beaches and if anyone doesn't like living in Wales there are plenty of places to move to most of which, with the exception of London, probably have cheaper or similar priced housing.
OP you say "most can't afford cars". That really isn't true. Maybe a lot of people near you can't, but when you live in Wales a car is a necessity and people prioritise running a car. The trade off is much cheaper housing than in London where you don't need a car.
The Welsh Assembly is very aware of any problems and are doing their best to address them. No, I'm not political.
I was brought up in London and moved here 40 years ago. If you don't like or aren't getting on as you'd like where you live then move. I did.

Not ranty at all 1995. Excellent post with well-made points.

Er did you miss the comments above you and throughout the thread from people who live here? I've said its mostly south Wales and mostly the valleys and surrounding areas like merthyr and Caerphilly.
You sound like you're on a ship, and every other ship in your immediate radius is burning, but that's fine because you're not on fire. Look at the statistics and tell me it's not a problem..

Interesting that the ignorance about Brixton still continues....

I don't live in Wales, but I do live in an area that has very similar problems. Lots of lovely scenery, no bloody jobs. Also voted Brexit, despite almost our entire infrastructure being subsidised by the EU.

We're in for a bumpy ride for the next 10 years, will be interesting to see if the area survives it.

Perhaps the answer is to match Ireland's tax laws for large companies and encourage a few into Wales.

They tried something like that with LG. Was an unmitigated disaster. Ditto valleywood studios.

The problems you describe apply to many areas of the UK which relied on heavy industry and mining for jobs. Those days are gone. It wasn't the government at the time that closed the mines, it was the fault of the unions who priced coal too high (while feathering their own corrupt nests) and priced the UK out of the market.

I come from an area of high unemployment and went to school in the shadow of a pit. I moved south after uni to find work. As did DH who lived in a rural and poor part of the UK.

The answer to long term poverty is not pouring in tax payers money but encouraging small and medium businesses to evolve and grow. In my experience, many people in communities who relied on mining and heavy industry have grown up with a 'world owes me a living ' mentality. I know of my old school friends who wouldn't move outside the area to find work.
Those of us who are working are already paying for free prescriptions for the Welsh and the Scots. You get an awful lot without being grateful, in my opinion.

Good points Made! My butty from another thread. (And btw I suspected you were Welsh as you referred to your mum as Mam). I agree with what you say. I'm a couple of Valleys over. I'm still reeling from the Gormless comment...I'm off to get drunk at 1:15 in the afternoon lol! (Only joking I'm at work, shock horror!)