Peter Black
Cheshire, Manchester
Business Plans, Strategic Growth & Funding Expert @ Snowball Consulting
Articles by Peter Black
Reform's link to Iranian regime revealed
Guardian reports that Nigel Farage’s newest billionaire donor was in business with a powerful Iranian religious foundation under the authority of the country’s supreme leader, raising questions about his past dealings with the hardline republic. The paper says that Hossein Ghandehari, also called Sasan, was little known in the UK until he pledged to give millions to Reform UK this summer and donated £50,000 to Farage to cover the cost of two passes for the Davos World Economic Forum.
British music only!
John Harris' column in the Guardian contains some surprising news. He tells us that GB News, that bracingly rightwing TV channel whose regular faces include Nigel Farage, the Reform MP Lee Anderson and the party’s failed byelection candidate Matt Goodwin, is about to launch a music radio station: According to its promotional blurb, it will be “dedicated exclusively to artists from Great Britain and Northern Ireland”, with tagline “all British, all day”.
The church and the lifeboat memorial
a lifeboat memorial. As this site records, there is also a monument in a church at the far end of the Gower peninsula. The Gower Holidays website says of St Cattwg's church in Port Eynon that it was founded during the 6th century by St. Cattwg’s missionary to Gower, St. Cennydd: The present building dates from the 12th century and was given to the Knights of St. John by Robert de la Mare around 1165.
Plaid Cymru bottle council tax reform
BBC reports that Wales' finance minister has announced that the Welsh government wants to delay a revaluation of homes for council tax to 2032. They say that Elin Jones claimed that the decision was made because she could not afford the kind of financial relief she would want to put in place if she went ahead with a planned revaluation in two years' time.
Senior Reform official cast doubt over legality of huge donations
Guardian reports that a senior Reform UK official raised questions about whether major donations from billionaire backers Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo would be legal under the proposed new foreign donors cap three months before they gave £72m to the party.
More ministerial dissent over Labour's immigration policies
Times reports that the energy secretary has become the latest cabinet minister to criticise Shabana Mahmood’s plans to make it harder for foreign workers to claim permanent residence in the UK.
A U-turn too far
Labour’s motion calls on the Welsh Government to begin work on a new relief road and rule out closing junctions 25, 26 and 27. Given their record on this issue it feels like opportunism on their part: Welsh Labour leader Ken Skates has backed an amended version of the previously proposed black route south of Newport. TAN Cymru transport campaigner Gwynfor Edwards said: “A new motorway is the wrong answer for Newport.
Green leader doubles down on Zionism is racism policy
Guardian reports that Zack Polanski has said Zionism in its current form is racist, that no country has a right to exist, and that the Green party motion on the issue was not controversial.
Farage let off Reform staffer accused of racist slur
Independent reports that Reform UK is facing a fresh crisis after a new undercover sting showed Nigel Farage appearing to let off a mayoral candidate accused of racism. The paper says that secretly filmed footage showed Farage telling his director of communications, Ed Sumner, that the party’s mayor candidate for Hampshire and the Solent, Chris Parry, must apologise to David Lammy for a social media post in which he said the then-deputy prime minister should “go home to the Caribbean”.
The pub with no name and the Swansea poet
Cross Keys pub is the No Sign Wine Bar. The historic cellars of this establishment are located at 56 Wind Street and feature underground brick-arched vaults. These subterranean levels—known today as The Vault—were built in the 1600s as wine and spirits cellars. They feature parallel brick-arched rooms separated by old cast-iron columns, alongside an antique gantry crane on rails once used to hoist heavy casks of liquor.
Reform continue to block journalists from doing their job
Mirror reports that the Reform UK leadership of a council which blocked a journalist who reported on a pensioner’s row with the local authority is being urged to U-turn.
Some of the churches of Gower
In line with the churches featured below, All Saints also has a famous connection, containing the grave of Thomas Bowdler. This site lists ten fascinating churches on the peninsula that are worth visiting. It's author tells us that most of them are small, dating from the early medieval (12th and 13th centuries) period, and were built in an area under Anglo-Norman rather than Welsh control.
So many questions over Burnham's agenda
And what exactly is being proposed regarding the EU and the single market? How long will it take to make progress on this promise? The biggest questions though relate to how Burnham is proposing to pay for his new National Care Service. The Times reports that Andy Burnham has admitted there may be a “shortfall” in his plans to fund a new national care service as economists warned he would have to raise taxes to cover the cost.
Farage fails the cool, calm leadership test
She adds that the weekend incident near RAF Fairford was simply the latest in a long line of occasions that make you suspect the poster on the wall at Reform HQ reads simply: “Lose Cool and Start Shit-posting.” As the Independent points out, the Reform UK leader suggested that the incident at RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire, could be linked to the small boats crossings in a post on Sunday, hours after five men were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences and terrorism after three vans...
Is Labour's success in curbing immigration harming the economy?
As we move closer to John Healey and Andy Burnham's first budget, it is worth revisiting this article in Prospect magazine from December last year. The article refers to home secretary, Shabana Mahmood's immigration strategy which has restricted the rights of asylum seekers to stay in the UK and extended the time that legal migrants would have to wait for permanent residency.
Is the Labour government split on immigration?
Independent reports that Angela Rayner has hit out at Shabana Mahmood’s plans to make it harder for migrant workers to claim settled status in the UK, warning it would “change the goalposts”.
The wrong bridge - lost Reform UK in blunder
Nation Cymru reports that Reform UK’s Newport and Islwyn branch has been mocked for using an AI-generated “slop” advert featuring an English transporter bridge to urge locals to stand as candidates in the upcoming council elections. The website says that the AI image shared on Facebook called for “passionate and committed” Reform UK supporters in Newport to “step forward” and become a candidate at the 2027 council elections.
Smugglers and pirates in Gower
the Visit Swansea Bay site says. the peninsula – with its hidden coves and bays, towering cliffs and stormy seas – could well have been designed with rogues, brigands, illicit cargoes and maritime mayhem in mind: During smuggling’s 18th- and 19th-century heyday, seemingly sleepy Gower was a smugglers’ hotbed. Local kingpins operated with near-impunity, employing hundreds of people and running rings around overstretched customs authorities.
The continuing cost of Brexit
Guardian reports on the conclusion of the IPPR thinktank that the UK is losing out on annual exports to the EU that could be worth as much as £6.5bn without a deal with Brussels that allows manufacturers to jettison duplicate product testing.
Brexit was a 'unilateral declaration of political impotence'
The Mirror reports that former Foreign Secretary, David Miliband has said Brexit was a "unilateral declaration of political impotence" adding that he has called on Andy Burnham to reverse the decision to leave the EU. The paper adds that Miliband said that Brexit has reduced the UK to “a bobbing cork in the sea”: He accused Keir Starmer of lacking a vision for resetting relations with Europe - but said he backs Andy Burnham to do so.
Plaid Cymru take another step into the twilight zone
already commented here on the summit of nationalist leaders nine days ago in Cardiff and the mixed messages it sent about Plaid Cymru's prioritites in government.
My view on a bland Lib Dem conference
I was present in Eastbourne in 1986 for the defence debate when the representatives defied the party leadership and unconditionally rejected the compromise on defence agreed with David Owen. I saw the electrifying speech by Simon Hughes MP for the motion, and I was sitting in the block of Young Liberals celebrating our victory. I was present when Paddy Ashdown, then just a prospective candidate, conjured up the image of the doomsday clock to speak against cruise missiles at Greenham Common.
Farage's plan for a Trump satellite state?
Independent reports on comments by Lib Dem Leader, Ed Davey, that the Conservatives and Reform UK are planning to turn Britain into a “Trump satellite state”. He told the conference that the Liberal Democrat’s “orange wall” will stop Reform UK’s rise to power and “setting communities against each other”: Sir Ed warned an “unholy alliance” between Mr Farage and Kemi Badenoch is “the only way either can get into power”.
Show us the money - should politics be funded by billionaires?
Guardian reports that British politics is increasingly being funded by individual billionaires with a wave of mega-donations having flooded into UK political parties over the past two parliaments. The paper says that research has found that a total of £179m has been donated by wealthy individuals since 2019: The figures from the IPPR thinktank show how big money is playing an ever more influential role in Westminster, with a particular rise in mega-donations of more than £1m.
Torchwood, Dr Who and centuries of history at the edge of Gower
Rhossili Down and Cliffs are among the larger of the commons on Gower covering 354 hectares in total and also boast prehistoric stone circles, cairns and burial chambers.. Rhossili Down is predominately composed of dry acid dwarf shrub heath (Biodiversity Action Plan priority habitat) and bracken dominated areas. The site supports a good biodiversity of flora and fauna including a number of protected species. There is also considerable historical interest on both the cliffs and Down.
The abuse that threatens democracy
Independent reports that more than half of all candidates standing in this year’s local elections suffered abuse and harassment, triggering growing alarm over the safety of democratic representatives.
Government must do more to help people onto the housing ladder
This article in the Guardian therefore, is not just timely, but illustrates what can be done when politicians think outside the box. The paper reports on the outcome of a government review, which concluded that George Osborne’s scheme to reduce costs for first-time buyers represented “very high value for money”.
Is Reform UK self-destructing in Wales?
The first defection is so improbable that I had to check twice to make sure that I was reading it correctly. But it is true, Reform UK MS Sarah Cooper-Lesadd, an ex-Tory who represents the Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg constituency (Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan) in the Senedd, has defected to Plaid Cymru.
Mixed messages from Plaid Cymru
Wales-on-line's political editor, Ruth Mosalski reflects on yesterday's meeting of the three nationalist leaders of the devolved nations of the UK, Wales' Rhun ap Iorwerth, Scotland's John Swinney and Northern Ireland's Michelle O'Neill.
What can £72 million buy nowadays?
THe Guardian reports that communities secretary, Angela Rayner believes that the donation could be caught in a new bill which will apply retrospectively.
Austerity revisited
article in the Guardian is thirteen years old, but as the new Chancellor of the Exchequer considers his first budget, it is worth revisiting. The paper says that the theories on which chancellor George Osborne based his cuts policies in the 2010 coalition government have been shown to be based on an embarrassing mistake.
A stone out of place and time
As the Discover Britain website tells us, the stone is easy to miss from the road and not marked on many maps, but walk just 10 minutes from the parking area and you’ll come to a giant, balancing boulder, standing watch over the North Gower coastline and across the Loughor estuary to the ‘mainland’: Known as Arthur’s Stone, or Maen Ceti in Welsh, legend has it that the king found the rock in his shoe and threw it all the way from Carmarthenshire.
Back to reality on datacentres
The Guardian reports on new research that has found that datacentres in the UK will create just a quarter of the jobs predicted by the tech sector, while consuming vast amounts of energy.
Will Burnham abandon neoliberalism by adopting a radical agenda?
Guardian reports on the view of more than a dozen influential thinkers who have called on Andy Burnham to tackle inequality in the UK by introducing a wealth tax, universal free personal social care and bringing gas and electricity networks under public ownership.
Should the Reform UK leadership take responsibility for violence at their conference?
The Times reports that climate protesters who were attacked while disrupting Nigel Farage’s speech at the Reform UK conference have called on Robert Jenrick to apologise for “trivialising” the violence.
Billions lost to Brexit could save NHS
The Independent reports that a leading economist has warned that the billions that the UK has lost to Brexit could wipe out NHS waiting lists and create a world-class service if recouped. The paper says that Nick Bloom, a professor at Stanford University, said up to 8 per cent of GDP was wiped off the UK economy by leaving Europe, through lost trade, increased red tape and delays in pushing the Brexit deal through.
The thirsty businesses using billions of litres of public water in drought-hit England
Guardian reports that fewer than 1% of businesses in England use more water than the daily needs of 10 million people, as millions of households face hosepipe bans and three-quarters of the country is in drought. The paper says that businesses across England use 2.6bn litres a day from the public water supply, which includes potable and non-potable water provided by water companies.
Sleaze, scandal and dodgy funding
Independent reports that an embattled Nigel Farage is fighting for his political survival as a major donations scandal completely overshadowed what Reform UK hoped would be a major comeback speech at its party conference in Birmingham.
Giant's Grave, Gower
As this site tells us Giant’s Grave is a Neolithic (4000-3000bc) tomb belonging to the so-called Severn-Cotswold group: The burial site was first located in 1869 when it was plundered for stone and re-excavated in 1960-61 by R J C Atkinson. Bone fragments belonging to 40 individuals have been recovered. All were adults except for three, also discovered were two rims of Neolithic pottery.
In which I agree with Kemi Badenoch
The Independent reports: Answering questions after a speech on defence in London, the Conservative leader was asked about Reform’s decision to refuse accreditation to a series of journalists for its conference this week. One of the journalists was Anna Isaac, the Guardian’s City editor, who broke the story that Farage had accepted an undeclared £5m gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.
Same old, same old from Farage
The Independent reports that the Reform UK leader has broken parliamentary rules on his first day back, after he filmed a video of himself on the roof of the Houses of Parliament. The paper says that permission from parliamentary authorities must be sought before any filming takes place on the estate, while the roof is even more sensitive as a result of its implications for security and personal safety. They understand that Farage did not seek permission to record the social media video.
Rising social care costs for families underlines the urgency of reform and investment
Times reports on an analysis by the King's Fund, which found that families are facing a social care “stealth tax” that has cost them up to £12,350 this year.
Tories tack right as they seek to compete with Reform
As the Independent reports the Tory leader has ruthlessly sacked her shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride and replaced him with one of the architects of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-Budget. The paper says that the new shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith was financial secretary to the Treasury – number three in the department – when Ms Truss’s mini-Budget caused a run on the gilt market and almost bankrupted the country.
The ongoing cost of Brexit
Independent reports that new figures show that Brexit is costing the UK £11.7bn a year in lost exports, piling further pressure on Andy Burnham to rejoin the EU’s single market and customs union. The paper says that the damning findings by Logistics UK, which represents freight companies and is one of the largest trade associations in the UK, show that the loss in revenue compared with 2019 is worth £400 per household in the UK per year.
Farage channelling Trump again
The Independent reports that Nigel Farage’s party has published its “Election Integrity Bill” and has demanded that the government take its proposals as amendments to existing legislation going through parliament, something that fortunately is not going to happen.
The Church at the heart of Mumbles
Hywel Bennett, and past the famous Joe's Ice Cream Parlour, where the now Prince of Wales insisted on being served chocolate ice cream, you will come to an arched entrance through which are some steps and a path leading to the medieval church that is at the centre of Mumbles life. As Wikipedia records, the building is estimated to have been built in the mid-12th century, having first been mentioned in writing in 1141.
A very Russian conspiracy
Nation Cymru carries an extensive review of the new book by Luke Harding and its various revelations about former Wales UKIP leader. UKIP Welsh Assembly Member, Farage buddy and Reform UK leading light, Nathan Gill. In Betrayal: Trump, Putin and The New Age of Conquest, Harding, who has described Putin’s Russia as a “Mafia state”, suggests that Nathan Gill was part of a bigger pro-Russian network than has previously been reported.
Burnham's betrayal on political funding
Guardian reports that Andy Burnham has dropped his support for capping political donations, causing anger among activists and Labour MPs who have long campaigned for change to the way parties are funded.
Can Burnham deliver on housing?
Independent reports that Andy Burnham has pledged a £10bn package to build tens of thousands of homes, marking the first indication of how the new prime minister plans to grapple with Britain’s housing crisis.
Can Reform UK even organise a booze-up?
Mr Farage called the event "Clactonbury" when he spoke to cheering fans from the stage. Fans had to pay to enter the event, but could camp and park for free. Tendring District Council confirmed it had refused to grant a Late Temporary Event Notice (LTEN) as the application had not been made within the legal timescale required. After Reform submitted a Late Temporary Event Notice, Tendring Council responded with a "counter-notice" on the grounds that the "Late TEN" was too late.
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