Tuesday 11 April 2023

Pages from the book ‘The Forgotten Decade’ about the creation of S4C

 As S4C enters its 40th year ‘Y Swn’ is a timely contribution to the story.

The film, ‘Y Swn’, giving an account of the events which led up to establishing S4C has attracted a lot of attention in recent days. It is timely as S4C celebrates its 40th year.

There had been a campaign going on since the 1970s with the Welsh Language Society prominent in that campaign, as was Gwynfor Evans and several of us in the Labour Party at the time.

It was the struggles in Westminister that were the crucial ones however and in Alun Gibbard and my book The Forgotten Decade (pages 49-53) we gave a flavour of went on.


Here it is:

Northern Ireland, indirectly, played into the formation of a Welsh language TV channel for the first time in the nation’s history. There had been a campaign for many years for better provision of television programmes in Welsh and a channel dedicated to Welsh programmes. As the discussions to form such a channel seemed to be heading for the rocks Gwynfor Evans threatened to go on hunger strike if the political discussions led to a rejection of a channel for the Welsh language, as was looking likely in September 1980, the time that he made his threat. 



Six months later, a major hunger strike campaign was started in Northern Ireland when IRA activist Bobby Sands led a mass hunger strike protest in the Maze prison. Bobby Sands died after 66 days on hunger strike, and a total of nine other IRA prisoners died as the result of the same action. Gwynfor Evans’ continuing threat to go on hunger strike then was made at a very sensitive political time for such action.

The discussions for a Welsh channel, in Westminster terms, went back to 1979. Both Labour and the Conservatives had promised a Welsh language fourth channel in their General Election manifestos of that year – a year, of course, that also saw the devolution referendum. After that election, however, things changed. The new Home Secretary, Willie Whitelaw, decided that there would not be a dedicated Welsh channel after all. The existing situation of opt-outs for Welsh programmes on BBC and HTV would continue. 

This situation was seen as highly inadequate by those who campaigned for a Welsh channel. Welsh opt-out programmes were usually at anti-social and inconvenient times, seen as a sign of marginalisation and disrespect. The decision to keep that status quo sparked another period of protest. There were sit-ins in TV studios, refusals to pay the TV licence and the attacking of TV masts.

 By May 1980, Gwynfor had enough of the political obstinacy from the Tories and promised to go on hunger strike if the decision wasn’t reversed. At the National Eisteddfod of that year the Eisteddfod Court asked Cledwyn Hughes, Sir Goronwy Daniel and the Archbishop of Wales to form a deputation and to intervene in the whole sorry saga.

Within the Conservative party, however, there were also those who were lobbying for the party to keep its 1979 manifesto promise: Welsh Secretary Nicholas Edwards and, in particular, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Wales, Wyn Roberts. In his autobiography Right From The Start, outlines the discussions that had been happening within the cabinet to enforce a U-turn on the fourth channel for Wales. These took place long before Gwynfor’s September declaration. 

Roberts, however, conceded that Gwynfor’s hunger strike threat had taken the publicity initiative away from the Tory government. 

They have licked us hollow in the publicity battle because they have the more newsworthy story. We can only react to it now.

In his entry for September 20, he says that on return from a short holiday in Germany, he sees that:

the government – that is Willie and Nick – has completed their oval turn on the 4th channel issue and declared that the television licence fee must be raised by a £1 to finance the project. ‘Silly Willie’, proclaimed the Sun newspaper – but Gwynfor can now feast rather than fast.

In The Whitelaw Memoirs (1989), the then Home Secretary refers to this change of mind:

Eventually, Cledwyn Hughes, whom I regard highly, led an important delegation to see me … They persuaded me that it would really cause much bitterness and anger in Wales if we persisted with our plan. I thus persuaded my colleagues that we should abandon it. A Welsh Television Channel of its own was, therefore, established offering 22 hours of Welsh Language programmes each week.

John Morris goes on to say in his memoirs:

it was the prospect of defeat in the Lords that proved to be the final turn of the screw necessary to get the government to revert to its Welsh manifesto commitment to establish the core of a national service for the Welsh speaking minority. As far as I was concerned, and Nick Edwards too, conscience played some part in it. We did not like breaking promises and fought against it as hard as we dared.

The House of Lords, he explains, was set to oppose the Broadcasting Bill, which included the Government’s opposition to a fourth channel for Wales. He ends this chapter that deals with this issue on a reflective note:

There was more than a tinge of sadness in the whole business for me because the Conservative government gained minimal credit for the establishment of the Welsh service. The hero of the hour and for many years to come was the gladiator-cum-martyr Gwynfor, with his will and determination. The beneficiaries were his nationalist followers, and the lesson of his example was not lost upon them. Our Welsh language policy would have to be rebuilt against the background of suspicion and hostility among those it was intended to serve.

The decade’s first year drew to a close with differing prospects for Plaid, Labour and the Conservatives. At this point, Plaid could be regarded as the most buoyant of the three, having secured, as they saw it, the formation of a Welsh Language television channel. Sianel Pedwar Cymru, S4C, started on November 1, 1982, a day before English Channel 4.

Wednesday 1 March 2023

How to achieve becoming ‘the world’s most exciting economic zone’?

Well, according to PM Rishi Sunak get ‘‘privileged access’ to EU single market

In his desperation to get the DUP and the Tory euro sceptics to support the Windsor Agreement Sunak has got very over excited and thereby inadvertently' but quite unbelievably, has let the cat out of the bag.

The event in Windsor was rather effusive and the warmth of feeling between them was palpable. Sunak and von der Leyen (EU President) know each other well from their years in Stanford University, USA. Hence her addressing him  ' dear Rishi'.


Northern Ireland he said is in a unique position of the entire world –‘having privileged access not just to the UK home market, the fifth biggest in the world, but also the EU single market.’



Sunak went on:

 ‘’ Nobody else has that. No one – only you guys only here...I can tell you, when I go around the world and talk to businesses, they say: ‘That’s interesting’’.

 ‘’It’s like the world’s most exciting economic zone.”

 The irony is of course that before Brexit all of U.K. benefited from this ‘privileged access’.

 The question now for him and indeed the leader of the Labour party, Keir Starmer, is why not extend this ‘fantastic deal’ to the rest of the U.K.?

 Instead over three years the Tory government has erected immense barriers to trade between the UK and the EU. Its impacting on imports and exports, hurting investment and has contributed to significant labour shortages in several sectors of the economy. A whole range of businesses farmers, fishermen, across Britain have had to cope with all sorts of trade barriers, form filling and red tape.

 The economy has already taken a hit and businesses have suffered, losing trade and business opportunities.

 Studies show that by the end of 2022 the UK economy was 5% (£31bn) smaller than if the UK had not left the single market. The Office for Budget Responsibility says Brexit will have a long-term effect of cutting UK GDP by 4%. The Financial Times says such a decline amounts to £100bn in lost output and £40bn less revenue to the Treasury

So, the PM having opened Pandora’s box, it is now time to redouble the effort to re-join the single market so all the nations of the U.K. can achieve this ‘privileged access’’ to the huge EU market.

Time was of course that Sunak extolled the virtues of the Northern Ireland Protocol deal negotiated by Boris Johnson claiming that Brexit depended on it. Anything else would have been a sell out. For three years he saw nothing negative with the deal.

In the House of Commons on Monday however he boasted how he had managed to change the protocol highlighting in detail what had been wrong with the 2019 deal. More or less admitting it all had been a rubbish idea from the outset.

But that’s politics I suppose. 

Saturday 11 February 2023

Sixty years this weekend I was in Murrayfield for Scotland v Wales

 All the struggles just to watch the most boring game in history

The beginning of 1963 witnessed heavy snow and freezing conditions since the worst of all winters which was in 1947. I recall the 1947 winter vividly with snow on the ground for four months. It was just as bad in 1963 but nothing on quite the same scale.

Wales and England was only played at Cardiff Arms Park in the January because some 15 tons of straw had covered the playing field for quite a while to protect it from the snow and the severe frost.  In the final days of 1962 a severe blizzard had spread throughout south Wales.)

 In the hours before the game dozens of volunteers helped to clear the straw just beyond the touchlines. It was said that the temperature was minus 6 degrees during the game.   Wales lost 13 -6 in a game that was the only sporting event that took place in the UK on that day. In truth it should not have been played, parts of the playing surface were frozen and the referee tried to get the game called off, but there were some 55,000 in the ground.

I was there being a rugby fanatic and a student at Cardiff University.

A fortnight later, February 2nd, Wales was due to meet Scotland at Murrayfield. The weather was still bad – snow and frost – but the pitch had an underground heating system so there would be no doubt about whether the game would go on.

In any event along with a few of my student friends I was sat in the common room of what was known as the new Arts block of the University. Somehow the topic of the game in Scotland came up and more surprisingly the conversation about going to see the game came up. This was the Thursday afternoon.

Anyway it ended with a bet between me and William ‘Nash’ Bevan, a school mate from Gwendraeth Grammar days as well. The bet was who had the courage to thumb it to Edinburgh. Matters got out of hand and both of us foolishly agreed to meet at 4.30 that afternoon outside Cardiff castle and go from there.

I remember going to my digs in Grangetown to collect some stuff, all the while desperately hoping that ‘Nash’ would not be there by the castle. My heart sank – he was.

So off we went along Queen Street and then on to Newport Road trying to catch a lift. Eventually a jeep stopped with an open back. We sat there until Birmingham, desperately cold. When we were dropped off in the centre of the city the first thing we did was to go into a telephone kiosk to plan what to do next, but more importantly warm up. Why a kiosk and not a cafe or pub – don’t ask me!

By now it was around eight in the evening so off we went again and this time got a lift from a lorry. I am not sure which way we went – was it towards the North West or the North East of England. In any event around eight in the morning we were dropped off not too far from the Scottish border. We came across a pub, and went in, explained to the landlord what had happened and he was kind enough to let us wash etc and also cooked us a breakfast. We stayed there a while to recover and warm up.

As we were about to leave a man came in for a break and it turned out he too was going to Edinburgh so he offered us a lift in his rather big car I seem to recall.

By mid afternoon we were in Edinburgh. Now came the decision what were we going to do about accommodation for the Friday night. But first we took a stroll along Princes Street. Then to my surprise we came across a group of Tumble RFC players and got chatting and going to a pub with them. (In the 1962/63 rugby season I was playing for them every Saturday – travelling back home from Cardiff on the Friday night each time).

When they found out what we had done they thought we were nuts and in any case just asked me ‘why didn’t you come up with us on the bus?’ I explained all this was a spur of the moment decision with no thought given to the implications.

One fortuitous thing happened. They said you can stay in our hotel. The management won’t know because half of us won’t be back in the hotel until the morning.  So it turned out. When we were having breakfast on the Saturday morning in came about ten of them from their ‘night out’.

They also suggested we could travel back with them, but that was not going to be until the Tuesday, so again we foolishly declined.

So on to the game on a bitterly cold day. Two spare tickets had been given to us by the players.

What a game! There had been nothing like it before or since. In fact the rules on kicking straight to touch was changed as a result. There were 111 lineouts. It was a war of attrition between two sets of forwards. Clive Rowlands (nicknamed ‘Top Cat’) did not pass once to David Watkins the outside half – he just kicked to touch from every scrum and lineout. He set out to win, as Wales had not won in Murrayfield for over a decade, and in that he achieved his aim. Wales won 6-0.

We had already decided to start on our way back after the game. This time we would go via Glasgow. The snow was starting to fall as well. We picked up a lift pretty soon after starting from Edinburgh and reached the outskirts of Gretna Green. I just recall us hanging around in a bus stop shelter for quite some time. Snow falling and being bitterly cold.

The journey back to South Wales is vague in my memory now except arriving in Newport mid Sunday afternoon. But the irony was ‘Nash’ and I were so tired and cold we caught a train to Cardiff!

So there we go, not quite as described by Max Boyce in one of his famous songs The Scottish Trip

 

Friday 23 December 2022

 

 The Forgotten Decade: Political Upheaval and Industrial Strife in 1980’s Wales.   Gwynoro Jones. Alun Gibbard.

The 1980s - a decade of considerable upheaval and change which saw industrial tension during the Miners Strike, social unrest and riots on the streets, seismic political changes and Cold War nuclear tension. This book is a chronological account of political, economic and social events that unfolded in that decade.


This is a powerful and relevant reminder of the pain and turmoil of a decade that changed many of our communities forever, of the roots of still current inequalities, and of the obstacles that our political system places in the way of progressive change. It also benefits from being the account of an engaged and passionate witness. 

Geraint Talfan Davies.  Chairman Institute of Welsh Affairs 1992-2014.



Margaret Thatcher won the General Election on 4 May 1979, the day the Eighties began. The Conservatives were creating their new order. Labour had to respond to the electoral failing and the damage done to them by a series of strikes. From this Labour unrest, the SDP was formed, the first major new party in British politics for decades.

The main section of The Forgotten Decade is a year-by-year account of the 1980’s, from the 1980 of Thatcher’s early days through to the 1989 of the fall of the Berlin wall, political and social changes in Wales are documented, with extensive use of newspaper cuttings from Gwynoro Jones’ personal archive. This section is book-ended by a look at the decade leading up to the 1980’s and an analysis of what has happened in the decades since the ‘80’s.

With the publication of The Forgotten Decade, videos that were made in 2016, and have remained 'private' on Gwynoro's YouTube channel since then are now being made 'public'.

All of them were recorded live and are uncut or edited. No pre recording preparation took place for any of the 1980s videos, it was just Gwynoro's on the spot recollections of events. Because of that, inevitably there will be some errors of fact regarding personalities, events, dates and timelines. The authentic record however is chronicled in the book.

This video is about events in 1984/5 and concentrates mainly on happenings in Carmarthen when Dr Roger Thomas, the then MP, faced considerable pressures and turmoil. 



This book provides us with an informative and eyewitness account of unfolding events of The Forgotten Decade of Welsh political evolution. Written in a semi diary style the book is ideal as a memory jogger for those that lived through this period themselves or for historians or the general readers who wish to learn exactly what was happening at the heart of Welsh politics in the 1980s.

Professor Russell Deacon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Forgotten-Decade-Political-Upheaval-Industrial/dp/1953109632/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=1980s%20gwynoro%20jones&qid=1663093306&sprefix=%2Caps%2C52&sr=8-2&fbclid=IwAR1xYuAIDqncPq_83U1AXwVnXU9F7pOjhvPJdT1RAmODKvp1icA1HZUR-1M

Also available of Wales Books Council site

Sunday 18 December 2022

Former broadcaster and politician Wyn Thomas reviews The Forgotten Decade

This book serves as a reminder of events in the 80’s that need to be understood and recalled if the current situation in Wales, and the UK, is to be understood properly. 

I’m in the ninth decade of my life and some are recalled more easily because of events and individuals that gave that period a historical identity. The 1940’s were my first years, the era of the Second World War and the social revolution of the Attlee government,  Then the 50’s, the time when rations gave way to the Tory slogan saying “We never had it so good” and they were the era of ‘rock and roll’. This was followed by the ‘swinging sixties’, which for me was a time of trade union and political activity and while being one of the group invited to recommend the Welsh Labour party’s devolution policy I first met Gwynoro Jones, the co-author of the book ‘The Forgotten Decade’ and then Labour’s Research and Public Relations officer at Transport House, Cardiff. He immediately struck me as an intense, inspirational, determined and likeable young man. 


The 70’s started with a general election when, surprisingly, the Labour Leader, Harold Wilson, lost to the Tory Leader, Ted Heath. Not surprisingly I failed to be elected in the Montgomeryshire constituency. The disappointment was eased with the news from Carmarthen that Gwynoro, after a bitter battle, had beaten the President and idol of Plaid Cymru, Gwynfor Evans. Mr Evans had himself caused a political shock in a by-election in Carmarthen immediately after the 1966 General Election, when Labour had won a sweeping victory, when he won the seat to become Plaid Cymru’s first elected Member of Parliament. I was persuaded not to pursue a career in the House of Commons, but to maintain my interest in current affairs by becoming a journalist in broadcasting. The 70’s was a decade offering much to discuss from the failures of Heath, the miners strike, blackouts, strikes leading to the ‘winter of discontent’ and the beginnings of the Thatcher era – all discussed in the book

Then we get to the 1980’s, a decade described in this book by Gwynoro and his writing partner Alun Gibbard as ‘The Forgotten Decade’. At first glance this is a very surprising title for a period which saw the Falklands war, marriage of Prince Charles to Diana Spencer, the miner’s strike and the fall of the Berlin wall, establishing the Welsh language television channel, S4C. But it will mostly be remembered as the decade that launched Thatcherism, when Margaret Thatcher became the first female prime minister, a forceful, idealistic, free-marketeer and dedicated anti trade unionist. She took on the NUM and won a year long strike. It was ten years when Wales faced changes that were as great as the start of the industrial revolution which brought the heavy industries of coal, iron, and slate with new populations inhabiting new towns and villages. Pits, iron works that established those 200 years ago.  Come to think of it, perhaps Gwynoro and Alun were perhaps correct in their choice of title, with all that upheaval who would want to remember such a decade.

This book serves as a reminder of events in the 80’s that need to be understood and recalled if the current situation in Wales, and the UK, is to be understood properly.

There are libraries that could be filled with books about events and people from the 1980’s, but this one is different. It is not an objective history account of ten important years as recalled by one person, Gwynoro Jones. His experience as a researcher has given him the advantage of collecting an archive of papers, journals, notes and press cuttings that give access to minutiae of records of this decade. His much respected co-writer the BBC journalist and author, Alun Gibbard, will also have access to archive material that adds to the historical accuracy of the book.

Gwynoro retained his Carmarthen seat by 3 votes, after five recounts, in the February General Election of 1974 before losing to Gwynfor Evans in the other General Election of that year; it was the end of his parliamentary career, but not of his political ambitions.

During his parliamentary career he was Parliamentary Secretary to Roy Jenkins the Home Secretary. His relationship with Jenkins continued after the 1974 loss of power when Roy Jenkins was in Brussels as President of the European Commission.

Jenkins and Gwynoro had become disillusioned with the leftward direction of the Labour Party and they discussed how a new third force in British politics could be established. By 1981 Gwynoro helped to establish the SDP, the Social Democratic Party with other former prominent Labour figure figures, Roy Jenkins, Shirley Williams, Dr David Owen and Bill Rogers, ‘The Gang of Four’.

They supported electoral reform, European integration and a decentralised state. They would also have gained the wrath of many in the Labour Party by rejecting the possibility of trade unions being too influential. These policies would be attractive to members and supporters of the Liberal Party and developing a policy of co-operation between the two parties could often become vexed and eventually to see the end of the SDP as an independent political party.

The story of establishing and the demise of the SDP in Wales and the UK through Gwynoro’s eyes and experience dominate this book, perhaps in too much detail at times, give us a detailed history of this important period through the eyes of one of Wales’ most prominent, influential and easily recognised political commentators. Thanks to his vast archive of notes, cuttings, minutes of many, many meetings, broadcasts, and clear recollections we are given a chronological and lively journey through the 1980’s which is very revealing about important events, the personalities involved and the internecine fights that led to the establishing and the ending of the SDP. Newsprint photographs of newspaper cuttings and events litter the book, but sadly the quality of reproduction spoils some of them.

Two matters that run through the SDP story in the book is the emphasis on how the SDP in Wales kept the aspiration of devolution and an Elected Assembly for Wales at the top of their agenda – when the labour party and Plaid Cymru ignored the topic after the drubbing in the 1979 Referendum. The other was the determination of the party’s Welsh members to secure a clear, separate voice from the party’s London base. Often it led to direct conflict between Gwynoro and David Owen.

Gwynoro will describe himself as a “Welsh radical” rather than a socialist, but his regard for devolution and a form of independence for Wales, his social conscience and regard for his fellow beings make him into a person, as this book shows, a person that would have added a great deal to the benefit of Wales should he have been able to align his ‘radicalism’ with a political party that has influence and power.

Those familiar with Gwynoro will be aware of his strong convictions and readiness to share them. In the 19th century he would have been a reforming, non-conformist preacher performing sermons that would get his congregations shouting “clywch, clywch” and “diolch iddo”. The SDP enjoyed his oratory skills and in this book we can all enjoy the ‘hwyl’ that he brings to his own history.

Tuesday 13 December 2022

Dr John Ball reviews The Forgotten Decade

 

For students of political history or indeed the occasional reader interested in one of the most turbulent decades of the twentieth century, Jones and Gibbard The Forgotten Decade is a very readable, if long, read. It covers a wide range of events that happened in that decade

Subtitled Political Upheaval and Industrial Strife in 1980s Wales, it is ultimately a history of the SDP, its growth and failure set against the economic and political confusion and disorder of that unsettled decade.

The book begins with birth of the SDP. The need for a third force in UK politics, the optimism and excitement, the experience and status of its founders and early growth are all dealt with clear enthusiasm. However, despite early successes and anticipation of further success, the party became in turn a victim of the political fallout that followed the Falklands war and ultimately Westminster’s first past the post voting system with the failure to retain the Commons seats of those who had left their former political parties.

As the decade wore on the cracks began to appear. It soon became clear that this was a party without a guiding philosophy and even in the very early days, differences in opinion and approach between the founding leaders. Of the four founders, Roy Jenkins was the thinker and political leader but lacked an outgoing, public charm; David Owen was the opposite, charismatic, determined and very much a public figure. As David Owen eventually became the leader and “face” of the party, another characteristic came to the fore – his overbearing personality and the need to have his own way in all matters. Although to a great extent “forced” to collaborate with the Liberal leader David Steel, he did not like the Liberals, regarding them as soft on the fundamental issues. It was this view that led to his implacable opposition to the (eventual) merger of the SDP and Liberals and his decision, unsuccessfully, to maintain a separate SDP. Differences in approach also underpinned a different problem that helped to undermine the SDP. The media constantly raised the issue of coalition and the potential role of the SDP and Liberals as potential coalition partners. The question was not addressed but gave the impression that whatever transpired, neither party – nor especially the SDP – were strong enough to form a government and thus in the public mind questioned the value in voting for either party.

The lack of guiding philosophy meant that the SDP never really knew why it existed and where it was going. This comes through strongly in the book, throughout the entire decade there were endless meetings about rules, structure and policy, endlessly discussing the same issues. The impression given is one of not knowing what to do or say, so just keep talking; policy such as it was appears to have been at best flexible, at worst irrelevant.



Dealing with Wales during this decade is where the book comes into its own. Set against the background of Thatcherism and the disappointment of the 1979 referendum, the SDP emerged very much as Wales “nationalist” party. Not surprisingly it attracted members from across the Welsh political landscape. What is truly notable is the success of Welsh members in successfully maintaining a separate Welsh party and insisting that the establishment of an Assembly was central to policy. Reflecting David Owen’s centralist view, the SDP in London was clearly unsure of this separate organisation but significantly was totally opposed to an Assembly being central to policy. It is to the major credit of the members at this time that this policy was maintained throughout the decade and certainly contributed to the referendum result less than a decade after the SDP’s demise.

Although not central to the narrative, the failure of the 1979 referendum, the loss of dozens of councillors and the dismal performance in the general election of that year, resulted in Plaid Cymru all but disappearing during the decade. This was not helped by Dafydd Elis Thomas’ unsuccessful attempt to turn the party into a left-wing socialist movement. The irony of politics is that as the decade ended, the SDP and its glorious hopes had disappeared and Plaid Cymru began to re-emerge as a political force.

Written from Gwynoro Jones’s extensive archive, who was central in the activities of the SDP in Wales. The book sometimes reads as an autobiography. However, his commitment both to the need for a new force in politics within the UK, coupled with his determination that there should be a national voice for Wales, clearly shines through and makes this book highly readable.

Overall, for those reading this book today, it provides a fascinating picture of what might have been and how things have changed. Indeed, this was in some ways the forgotten decade and yet also one of upheaval and strife. The eighties did change the political landscape and informs life in Wales today – and Gwynoro Jones was there.


Thursday 24 November 2022

 

The Forgotten Decade - political and industrial upheaval in 1980s Wales


With the publication of The Forgotten Decade, videos that were made in 2016, and have remained 'private' on my YouTube channel will now be made 'public'.

The video in this post is about events leading up to the 1983 General Election.



This is a powerful and relevant reminder of the pain and turmoil of a decade that changed many of our communities forever, of the roots of still current inequalities, and of the obstacles that our political system places in the way of progressive change. It also benefits from being the account of an engaged and passionate witness. 

Geraint Talfan Davies.  Chairman Institute of Welsh Affairs 1992-2014.





Whilst the book covers a wide range of events in Wales, the UK and internationally that happened throughout the decade, there is also a sizeable portion which is centred on the SDP in Wales and its Alliance with the Welsh Liberals.

The videos are the story of the SDP in Wales.

There are some eight in all. All of them were recorded live in 2016 and are uncut or edited. No pre recording preparation took place for any of them it was just my on the spot recollections of events. Because of that, inevitably there will be some errors of fact regarding personalities, events, dates and timelines.

The authentic record is chronicled in the book. Until some months back, minutes, policy papers, press cuttings, conference material and many more (some 15 boxes ) followed me as I moved house some three/four times over 40 years. Now however they are at the Wales Political Archive. 

The book took Alun Gibbard and I some two years to complete.


Book available on

 Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Forgotten-Decade-Political-Upheaval-Industrial-ebook/dp/B0BG99JWMY

Also Welsh Books Council site  - gwales.com

Thursday 20 October 2022

The Forgotten Decade - political and industrial upheaval in 1980s Wales


With the publication of The Forgotten Decade videos that were made in 2016, and have remained 'private' on my YouTube channel will now be made 'public'.

The video in this post is about 1982 and part of 1983.



This is a powerful and relevant reminder of the pain and turmoil of a decade that changed many of our communities forever, of the roots of still current inequalities, and of the obstacles that our political system places in the way of progressive change. It also benefits from being the account of an engaged and passionate witness. 

Geraint Talfan Davies.  Chairman Institute of Welsh Affairs 1992-2014.





Whilst the book covers a wide range of events in Wales, the UK and internationally that happened throughout the decade, there is also a sizeable portion which is centred on the SDP in Wales and its Alliance with the Welsh Liberals.

The videos are the story of the SDP in Wales.

There are some eight in all. All of them were recorded live and uncut. No pre recording preparation took place for any of them it was just my on the spot recollections of events. Because of that, inevitably there will be some errors of fact regarding dates and timelines.

The authentic record is chronicled in the book. Until some months back, minutes, policy papers, press cuttings, conference material and many more (some 15 boxes ) followed me as I moved house some three/four times over 40 years. Now however they are at the Wales Political Archive. 

The book took Alun Gibbard and I some two years to complete.



This video is essentially about the run up to the Gower by-election 1982, events during the by election and then onwards to the 1983 General Election in Gower.

Monday 10 October 2022

The Forgotten Decade - political and industrial upheaval in 1980s Wales

With the publication of The Forgotten Decade videos that were made in 2016, and have remained 'private' on my YouTube channel will now be made 'public'.

 Whilst the book covers a wide range of events that happened throughout the decade in Wales. UK and internationally, there is also a sizeable portion which is centred on the SDP and Alliance with the Welsh Liberals.




This book provides us with an informative and eyewitness account of unfolding events of The Forgotten Decade of Welsh political evolution. Written in a semi diary style the book is ideal as a memory jogger for those that lived through this period themselves or for historians or the general readers who wish to learn exactly what was happening at the heart of Welsh politics in the 1980s.

Professor Russell Deacon




The videos are therefore the story of the SDP in Wales.

There are some eight in all. All of them were recorded live and uncut. No pre recording preparation took place for any of them it was just my on the spot recollections of events. Because of that, inevitably there will be some errors of fact regarding dates and timelines.

The authentic record is chronicled in the book. Until some months back, minutes, policy papers, press cuttings, conference material and many more (some 15 boxes ) followed me as I moved house some three/four times over 40 years. Now however they are at the Wales Political Archive. 

The book took Alun Gibbard and I some two years to complete.



This video covers events in 1981. The setting up of the SDP in Wales, its organisation, the creation of a constitution, efforts to ensure that the party in Wales would have a voice and policy making powers. Refers to the impact of the Falkland War on the SDP's progress and how Labour, under Neil Kinnock's leadership eventually had to change from being anti Europe and anti NATO.

My contention always has been that it wasn't Mrs Thatcher that made Labour change but the presence and impact of the SDP.




Sunday 25 September 2022

New book - The Forgotten Decade : 1980s Wales


 The Forgotten Decade: Political Upheaval and Industrial Strife in 1980’s Wales.   Gwynoro Jones. Alun Gibbard.

The 1980s - a decade of considerable upheaval and change which saw industrial tension during the Miners Strike, social unrest and riots on the streets, seismic political changes and Cold War nuclear tension. This book is a chronological account of political, economic and social events that unfolded in that decade.



This is a powerful and relevant reminder of the pain and turmoil of a decade that changed many of our communities forever, of the roots of still current inequalities, and of the obstacles that our political system places in the way of progressive change. It also benefits from being the account of an engaged and passionate witness. 

Geraint Talfan Davies.  Chairman Institute of Welsh Affairs 1992-2014.




Margaret Thatcher won the General Election on 4 May 1979, the day the Eighties began. The Conservatives were creating their new order. Labour had to respond to the electoral failing and the damage done to them by a series of strikes. From this Labour unrest, the SDP was formed, the first major new party in British politics for decades.

Former MP Gwynoro Jones left the Labour party to join the SDP at its beginning, becoming Chair of the SDP in Wales. Alun Gibbard worked for BBC Wales News throughout the decade, reporting on all the major events covered in this book. He is now a full-time author.

The main section of The Forgotten Decade is a year-by-year account of the 1980’s, from the 1980 of Thatcher’s early days through to the 1989 of the fall of the Berlin wall, political and social changes in Wales are documented, with extensive use of newspaper cuttings from Gwynoro Jones’ personal archive. This section is book-ended by a look at the decade leading up to the 1980’s and an analysis of what has happened in the decades since the ‘80’s.

This is a timely book. The story it tells has a strong resonance with the political and social climate of today.

This book provides us with an informative and eyewitness account of unfolding events of The Forgotten Decade of Welsh political evolution. Written in a semi diary style the book is ideal as a memory jogger for those that lived through this period themselves or for historians or the general readers who wish to learn exactly what was happening at the heart of Welsh politics in the 1980s.

Professor Russell Deacon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Forgotten-Decade-Political-Upheaval-Industrial/dp/1953109632/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=1980s%20gwynoro%20jones&qid=1663093306&sprefix=%2Caps%2C52&sr=8-2&fbclid=IwAR1xYuAIDqncPq_83U1AXwVnXU9F7pOjhvPJdT1RAmODKvp1icA1HZUR-1M

Both authors are available for interview – gwynoro2@sky.com  alungibbard@gmail.com  or 07710 451845;  07506 928921

 

Saturday 3 July 2021

Whose Wales? is ‘a work that does Wales a huge favour’


Former broadcaster and politician Wyn Thomas on the book Whose Wales?

The much travelled and winding political path followed by Gwynoro Jones is fascinating, and reflects the agonies that so many in the UK-wide left of centre parties have suffered over the last half century.

After a campaign that reflected the bitter battles scarring the relationship between the Labour Party and Plaid Cymru in the General Election of 1970, Gwynoro defeated Gwynfor Evans who had by then become the first Plaid Cymru MP in a Carmarthen by-election four years previous.

It was one of the most emotionally charged and turbulent periods in Welsh politics – an experience that has not been replicated since. Plaid Cymru accusing Labour in Wales of just being a London dominated and focused party, and Labour painting Plaid as ‘separatists’ which were seeking to create a one-party fascist nation.

When the Labour party swung to the left wing during the 1980s, Gwynoro joined 'the Gang of Four' former prominent Labour MPs in the newly formed Social Democratic Party. The SDP, and later the Liberal Democrats, would welcome his centre-left radical style of politics and his excellent oration skills, but regretfully failed to take him back to Westminster, Brussels or the Senedd. Though my socialism differs from Gwynoro, it is a sad loss that we do not have his reforming zeal, strength of character and patriotism represented in any of these parliaments.

The one constant in his political journey has been a commitment to securing Wales’s political identity as a distinct nation through devolution or some form of independence.

During the late 1960s I joined Gwynoro and a committee of highly regarded young political academics from within the Welsh Labour Party to develop a devolution policy that led to the party’s evidence to the Crowther/Kilbrandon Commission on the Constitution.

After months of discussion and consideration of the benefits and problems presented by various forms of devolution models from the status quo, the final proposal put to the executive of the Labour Party in Wales was to establish a legislative assembly with tax raising powers. When George Thomas, then Secretary of State for Wales, read these recommendations he blew his top!

George attended one of our last committee meetings and promptly denounced us as neo-nationalists stating: ‘Look at you all, university people, the lot of you. What this committee needs are some horny handed sons of toil.’ He then left the meeting to work on the divisive pantomime of the Prince of Wales’s investiture in Caernarfon.

I felt a duty to read Whose Wales? when it was published last month, but believed it might cover some very familiar ground to my own life experience. How wrong was I to be? It takes us through some 150 years of ensuring Wales’s own political identity from the Cymru Fydd movement of the 1880/90s to today’s Senedd and the growing discussion on what form of independence we should aim for as we head into the third decade of the 21st century - a politically or culturally motivated one?

In an engaging and readable book, the authors provide a profile of Wales during various periods of its political story - from the people that fought for a Welsh Parliament and against separatism; the long campaigns over decades to establish a Secretary of State for Wales; two devolution referendums, and the Commissions and reports that gradually advanced the cause of Welsh self-determination. Gwynoro and Alun give us a fascinating and enjoyable read full of interest and facts essential to understanding how the Wales we now live in came about.

At present, there is much talk of breaking-up the UK Union, where the concept of corralling the various nations of these islands into a single unitary state - as happened some three centuries ago - can no longer be justified without question. Brexit and the coronavirus have highlighted the weaknesses of Westminster’s centralised approach. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have shown that they need and are able to act independently and with nuance in response to their specific contexts.

Be you a pupil, student, historian, politician or anyone interested in the Wales we have inherited and the Wales of tomorrow this is an essential read. It is both an informative and timely volume considering current constitutional debates.

Indeed, Whose Wales? The Battle for Welsh Devolution and Nationhood: 1880 to 2020 is a work that does Wales a huge favour.


Dyma ddywedodd  Wyn yn Gymraeg

Mae'n rhaid l longyfarch, Gwynoro Jones ac Alun Gibbard , am glamp o lyfr pwysig iawn ar holl agweddau datganoli ac anibynniaeth yng Nghymru. Fe ddylai hwn fod yn lyfr ar gyfer bob disgybl a myfyriwr sydd yn astudio hanes Cymru. Fe ddyliau bob un sydd yn cynreichioli Cymru mewn unrhyw ffordd ei ddarllen..

Nid tasg fyddai ei ddarllen, mae'r arddull yn ddiddorol, Yn gymwys, ac yn cydio ym mhob agwedd, personoliaethau, pleidiau, dulliau gweithredu, mesurau, mudiadau ac eraill. Testunau sydd yn swnio'n sych braidd, ond mae Gwynoro a Alun wedi gwneud pob un yn ddifyr ac yn hawdd i'w ddarllen.

I wir adnabod gwleidyddiaeth Cymru a'I hunaniaeth o gannol y 19eg ymlaen, mae'n orfodol darllen y llyfr yma. Mae’r awduron wedi llwyddo i ddod a nifer o ffynhonnellau ynghyd ac i ychwanegu at ein gwybodaeth o'r hanes, gan gyflwyno i ni'r Cymry lyfr mor bwysig yn hanes y DU a Chymru'n arbennig.


Saturday 26 June 2021

Book review of Whose Wales? on The Constitution Society’s website

The following are extracts from an article which appeared on the website of The Constitution Society on 16th June 2021.


‘Jones and Gibbard investigate the extensive history of calls for self-government, from the Cymru Fydd initiative of 1880/90s through to the Parliament for Wales movement of the 1950s, in order to provide a context for the intricate devolution campaigns of the 1970s.’

‘Jones’s experience in preparing Labour’s evidence to the Crowther/Kilbrandon Commission on the UK constitution, quite apart from his long engagement with Welsh and European politics, provides a unique insight into the intriguing twists and turns of the era and the fractious relationships between many key protagonists, including himself and Plaid Cymru’s then President, the notable Gwynfor Evans. Indeed, Whose Wales? is compelling for its original analysis of the subject matter.’

‘The authors suggest that devolution as introduced by the Tony Blair government of the late-1990s, a generation after the failed 1979 referendum for a Welsh Assembly, marked a return to concepts and trends which were largely put on hold by the demands of fighting two world wars in the first half of the 20th century and the economic challenges faced in their aftermath.’

Martin Shipton, in his preface to the book, affirms.’

‘Gwynoro Jones and Alun Gibbard provide irrefutable evidence that people from all four political parties in Wales played a role in promoting the cause of Home Rule… However, after nearly a quarter of a century of devolution, the future of the UK is uncertain. Within a few years, both Scotland and Northern Ireland may have left the UK. At that point, the people of Wales would have to decide on their future. Would they be content to face permanent domination by their much bigger neighbour to the east? Or would they take the plunge and decide on independence?’

‘Appendices titled A Federal Model for the UK and A Sovereign Wales in an Isle-wide Confederation articulate alternative constitutional futures for the UK.’

‘The book comes endorsed by former First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, whose recommendation indicates the text’s historical breadth and the perhaps surprising nature of the story which it tells…

 

Whose Wales? The battle for Welsh devolution and nationhood is available here.


Friday 25 June 2021

Review by Publishing Push: Whose Wales? Compelling new book dissects long-running Welsh devolution debate...

The highly-anticipated Whose Wales? The battle for Welsh devolution and nationhood, 1880-2020 has been released to wide acclaim. At the heart of this comprehensive and unique overview of the devolution battles in Wales lies one question:

So whose Wales is it? 


The track record of all four main players, Liberal, Labour, Conservative, and Plaid Cymru, is looked at, from the time of Queen Victoria to these days of devolution and Yes Cymru. 

Whose Wales? delves deeper into the degree of ambiguity that runs through Welsh politics that in turn has hindered discussions of a clear Welsh political identity. Can any one party claim to have done more than any other in the fight for securing and then developing Welsh devolution?

From one of the leading proponents of the devolution of Wales, former MP Gwynoro Jones, and an award-winning author and former BBC journalist, Alun Gibbard, this all-encompassing, well-illustrated book, Whose Wales? The battle for Welsh devolution and nationhood, 1880-2020, looks at these often-bitter claims and counterclaims. 

Intriguingly, the authors approach the subject matter from different perspectives. Alun Gibbards’ insightful documenting and analysis complement Gwynoro Jones’ first-hand experience and knowledge in a publication that is unique in both its scope and structure. Whose Wales? is a compelling book for this original analysis. 

One of the most interesting and turbulent periods in Welsh political history during the 20th century is told by former MP for Carmarthen, Gwynoro Jones, who was one of the two protagonists in three bitter elections in the constituency. He shares the story of the tensions and disagreements between himself and Plaid Cymru’s Gwynfor Evans. He also recounts his years forming the SDP with David Owen, David Steel, Roy Jenkins and Shirley Williams and his involvement in European politics, in the context of devolution.

Well written and comprehensive in its political content and breadth of historic detail, Whose Wales? is constructed into 27 thought-provoking chapters and four distinct sections: 


o The Devolution Crucible 1880 – 1966

o The Carmarthen Cauldron 1966 -1974

o The Road to Referendum 1974 – 1979

o Years of Respite and Return 1979 – 2020


The volume contains a preface by historian and former University vice-chancellor Professor Sir Deian Hopkin and Political Editor Martin Shipton. Two appendices, by David Melding CBE and Glyndwr Cennydd Jones, offer differing constitutional solutions for Wales in the years to come.

In support of the book, Carwyn Jones, First Minister of Wales 2009-2018 says:

‘Alun Gibbard and Gwynoro Jones have traced the revival of Wales from the industrializing country of the 1880s and the nonconformist consciousness that led to Sunday closing. They describe the bitter battles over devolution in the 1970s through to the small margin in favour of a Welsh Assembly in 1997 and on to the well-established lawmaking, tax-varying Parliament with solid public support that we see today. We were not meant to be here. This book shows how we survived.’   

Professor Sir Deian Hopkin states:

‘The rhetorical question in the book’s title, Whose Wales? echoes the kind of questions that historians and political commentators have raised over the decades, from Gwyn Alf Williams’ When was Wales? to Dai Smith’s enigmatic question in the title of his book on Welsh politics, Wales! Wales?’