WELSH Conservative Samuel Kurtz has taken Pembrokeshire’s Labour MP to task following the Chancellor’s announcement that the Labour Government will slash Agricultural Property Relief (APR)—a move the local MP had promised would not happen.

During the recent General Election, the Labour candidate publicly assured farmers at a husting event hosted by NFU Cymru, the Farmers’ Union of Wales, and Pembrokeshire Young Farmers’ Club, that APR would remain unchanged under a Labour Government. Similarly, Labour’s DEFRA Secretary told the Financial Times in November 2023, “we have no intention of changing APR,” reinforcing the pledge to farmers across the UK.

However, Wednesday’s Budget revealed a reversal on this promise, with the Chancellor announcing cuts to APR, potentially jeopardising thousands of family farms by increasing the Inheritance Tax burden. APR provides critical relief on the transfer of agricultural property, allowing farming families to pass their established food producing business down to future generations.

Speaking after the Budget, Samuel Kurtz commented told The Pembrokeshire Herald: “Labour’s Budget was a string of broken promises, but none will be as harmful to hardworking farmers as their cut to Agricultural Property Relief.

“For the Labour candidate to assure farmers at the husting that no changes would be made to APR—and then have Labour go back on that—shows that the party will say whatever it takes to win votes.

“Trust in politicians is at an all-time low, and this U-turns only helps feed that mistrust. Decisions like this threaten the future of family farms and undermine the promises made to the communities Labour claims to represent.”

Wales’ tourism numbers have been dropping recently. Several members of an organisation revealed in a summer survey that they had experienced a decrease in visitor numbers.

The latest findings by the Welsh Association of Visitor Attractions (WAVA) have revealed that almost 60% of its members shared the same conclusion. This has led to questions about how they can promote sustainable tourism in the country.

Wales suffering from the weather

According to the survey’s findings, three key reasons were highlighted in the respondents’ suggestions for why visitor numbers decreased this summer. They pointed to economic issues and the fact that fewer people simply viewed the country as a tourism destination.

However, the main point was thought to have been the poor weather. It was a wet season, and the latest suggestions from Meteorologists don’t make for positive reading. It’s thought that the season will only get wetter in the future. This has led to discussions about how they can promote tourism and keep visitor numbers up. The idea of ‘weatherproofing Wales’ has been brought up.

Leaders have discussed what they could do to keep physical attractions open, such as providing shelter or drying facilities. However, could technology help them in a different way?

Moving attractions online

One suggestion is to move attractions online, if possible. While many attractions are physical, technology has helped make them accessible digitally. This option could be explored, especially as so many different industries have already done this.

Museums have started to offer exhibits that can be viewed online. Cultural sites have also gone online, allowing visitors to stay dry and obtain an immersive experience from the comfort of their homes. Even the entertainment sector has experienced moves online, with several games now available online. Bingo is a game that used to require participants to go to a physical hall. Now, they can stay in the dry and play at home by using a site that offers a variety of bingo rooms online to choose from.

Although it might reduce the footfall experienced within Wales, taking attractions online and making them virtual can keep them open. This can attract people from everywhere as they become more accessible.

Can taking attractions online and weatherproofing them boost The economy?

While footfall can potentially increase the spending generated by tourists in the area, the economy can still grow when using online services. Businesses with attractions that can be turned into digital offerings can still sell tickets as they would physically. However, there is the likelihood of other costs being lost (add-ons, etc.).

Nonetheless, Wales can’t let the economy suffer because of the weather, despite the poor conditions being the main reason cited for recent troubles. Tourism is said to generate almost £4 billion every year. If the weather continues to be a problem and put visitors off, this figure could start to dwindle, and it can be hard to recover from.

By ‘Weatherproofing Wales’ and its attractions, it can support tourism and keep it a potentially attractive visitor destination, even if some experiences have to be enjoyed online rather than in physical form.

THE RIVERSIDE LIBRARY in Haverfordwest has won an All Stories national competition to host a fully funded workshop, which aims to encourage and support aspiring writers from underrepresented backgrounds.

The workshop, taking place on Monday, 25th November at 2pm will introduce participants to the basics of writing for children and inspire them to develop their creativity.

Intended as a true introduction, the workshop requires no awareness of publishing, writing as a career or previous written work.

The workshop welcomes people from underrepresented backgrounds of any kind, including people of colour, disabled, neurodivergent, LGBTQ+, working class and socio-economically marginalised.

The workshop is one of 16 All Stories workshops being held across the UK, and made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council England, Inclusive Books for Children and the Authors’ Licencing and Collecting Society.

All Stories will also establish a writing group at The Riverside Library to continue supporting local writers, as well as providing a ‘writer resources’ pack, containing information about supportive writing organisations. The pack will be made available to workshop participants, along with anyone visiting the venue after the workshop.

The library team said: “We are thrilled to be part of this exciting opportunity to support budding children’s authors within our community. We hope it will be a successful event for all involved and look forward to meeting new people as well as continuing our relationship with those who already use the library.”

The workshop will be presented by Eloise Williams, an award-winning Welsh author. 

She has written seven books for young people including Gaslight, Seaglass, Elen’s Island, Honesty & Lies, all with Firefly Press and The Tide Singer and The Curio Collectors with Barrington Stoke.

She was a writer and co-editor of The Mab, a vibrant retelling of the stories of The Mabinogion published by Unbound. She was the inaugural Children’s Laureate Wales 2019-2021.

To find out more and book your free place at the workshop, please go to: allstories.org.uk/writing-workshops/

A direct ticket link is here: tickettailor.com/events/allstories1/1415035

If you are unable to attend a workshop in person, All Stories is also running online workshops. The final online workshop of the year takes place on Saturday 2nd November, 10am-12noon, and you can book a place via this LINK.