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Neil Hamilton speaks out against UK asylum policy at Penally Camp protest

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CONTROVERSIAL politician and UKIP leader for Wales, Neil Hamilton, was in Penally on Saturday (Oct 10) to add his voice to the growing number of politicians and community leaders who think that former MOD training centre is a wholly inadequate location for emergency accommodation for asylum seekers.

But Hamilton went further, saying “We have no idea how many illegal immigrants there are in this country” and that “The Home Office doesn’t have a clue.”

His attendance in his capacity as a member of the Welsh Assembly didn’t go down well with some, with local Plaid Cymru leader Michael Williams and some local residents taking to social media to ask him to stay away.

Williams tweeted: “I note that you intend visiting [Penally]. I urge you to keep away as your visit will not do other than cause further concerns for local residents. In reply Neil Hamilton tweeted: “The local Plaid council leader doesn’t think Tenby locals have any concerns worth listening to and has warned me away from speaking to my constituents. No wonder the people of Penally feel forgotten.

Nevertheless, he did arrive on Saturday morning and addressed small crowd of anti-asylum seeker protestors with a megaphone.

He said: “I’m here this morning to say this is completely an unsuitable site to house these people, and anyway, none of these people have a legal right to be here in the United Kingdom.”

His view is at odds with the actual legal position, which is all of the asylum seekers in the camp completely lawfully, whilst their asylum claims are being processed.

With police units keeping a eye over proceedings, he went on to say: “They’ve all come from a safe country which is France we all know what that as they came across The Chanel on the small boats.”
“Another small party arrived yesterday we have a government that has no interest in protecting our borders and we are spending a billion pounds a year funding the asylum and refugee system – which is completely broken. “
“When they’ve had their appeals turned down the deportation orders are made, but 90% of them disappear.
“We have no idea how many illegal immigrants there are in this country – the Home Office doesn’t have a clue.”
“Do not believe the words of the Home Secretary, look at her actions …the action we see behind us.
“These people have no connection with this area at all and are being isolated, it’s the people of Tenby and Penally that are having to pay the price of the collapse of the immigration system.”

He added: “We know that The Government has no interest in the immigration system because we have six million immigrants which have come to Britain in the last 10 years.
“Three million have how left the country so we have added three million to the population of the United Kingdom – that’s a city the size of Swansea and every single year that they’ve added to our population.
“This is going to continue indefinitely unless we have a government that has a spine to do something about it
“So, I will continue to give you all my support to people of Tenby, Penally, Pembrokeshire and indeed the United Kingdom – because there are no public demands what we are seeing around us today.
“And we have a government that are not representative of the people of this country, and that goes for Cardiff as well!”

In an official statement last month, when he first heard about the news regards Penally, Neil Hamilton said: “The UK Government has given up trying to control illegal immigration and bogus asylum-seekers. Penally is about to pay the price.

“The useless Tories have totally lost control of illegal immigration. The Border Agency is a farce, the Home Office has no idea how many illegal migrants are in the UK, and bogus asylum seekers whose appeals have failed are rarely deported.

“These people are not asylum-seekers but economic migrants. The law says asylum seekers must seek refuge in the first safe country they enter. They all come here from other EU countries, so they are not entitled to asylum in the UK. They should be sent back across the Channel not dumped in Penally.

“Penally with only 850 inhabitants is about to have 250 young male migrants dumped on them and allowed to roam free.

“The Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru voted in the Senedd to make Wales a ‘Nation of Sanctuary’ open to all-comers. Conservatives talk tough about immigration but do nothing – 3,000,000 migrants have been added to the UK population since 2010.

“The people of Penally did not vote for mass immigration or migrant camps on their doorstep. None of us voted to add a city the size of Cardiff to the UK every year by mass immigration.

“Despite having the Secretary of State for Wales as the local MP, the UK Government puts out the welcome mat for Penally’s 250 new, diverse inhabitants. Labour, Lib-Dems and Plaid Cymru welcome migrants with open arms and think we should take even more. Only UKIP will put a stop to this scandalous abuse.

“The UK Government needs to get a grip and stop bogus asylum seekers now. But don’t hold your breath!”

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Welsh Water has increased sewage discharges into waterways ‘by 40%’

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NEW figures released by the Environment Agency have shown that Dwr Cymru discharged sewage into waterways for a staggering 23,354 hours last year, a 40% increase on 2022. 

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are now calling for tougher action against sewage dumping in Welsh waterways.

The party has also called for a halt on bonuses for water company bosses whose firms have dumped sewage into waterways.

Conservative MPs have consistently voted against measures which would have helped to tackle the crisis.

The Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said: “It is a complete scandal that filthy sewage is being pumped into our nation’s rivers and waterways without consequence.

“It’s beggars’ belief that both the UK Conservative Government and the Welsh Labour government are allowing water firms to get away with this environmental vandalism.

“We as a party are calling for tougher action to stop sewage being dumped in local waterways. We have also called for a halt on bonuses for water company fat cats whose firms have pumped filth into our waterways.”

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New bus services announced by Pembrokeshire County Council

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A NUMBER of changes to local bus services will be introduced in the coming weeks as a result of a shake up to bus funding. 

From April 2024, the funding which has been provided directly to bus operators by the Welsh Government to keep services going in the wake of the Covid pandemic will cease. 

Additional funding will instead be provided to Local Authorities to support their local bus network.

In total, Pembrokeshire County Council and the Welsh Government will provide over £3million in support for bus services in Pembrokeshire during the coming year.

As part of this process, all Pembrokeshire’s local bus services have been re-tendered. 

A public consultation, receiving over 300 responses, helped to inform decisions about which services should be prioritised. 

Councillor Rhys Sinnett, Pembrokeshire County Council Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services said: “I am delighted to be able to report that we are able to maintain the whole of Pembrokeshire’s current local bus network in the coming year.

“We have also secured key improvements such as reinstating an hourly service on the 349 route between Haverfordwest and Tenby via Pembroke Dock, and the popular Strumble Shuttle and Puffin Shuttle coastal bus services during the summer.”

The changes will also see two key services, the 302 Haverfordwest to Milford Haven and 349 Haverfordwest to Tenby via Pembroke Dock, brought under Council oversight for the first time. 

This will give the Council greater oversight of service operations and fares.  Pembrokeshire residents will also benefit from a new fare structure on all First Cymru services, due to be introduced from 1 April 2024. 

This will use Tap On Tap Off to allow passengers to pay the cheapest fare depending on the number of journeys they make or distance travelled, and will cap the maximum adult fare at £3 single and £5.40 return. 

More information about these fares can be found on the First Cymru website

A number of additional service changes and improvements are being considered for introduction during the course of the coming year in response to feedback received from the public consultation.  

The following bus service changes have been confirmed:

From 23 March 2024:

  • The Celtic Coaster (403) on the St Davids peninsular will restart for the 2024 season on Saturday 23 March and will run until Sunday 29 September. This is an hourly service, increasing to half-hourly during the whitsun half term and school summer holidays. There will be no service departing Caerfai Road at 13.00 and 13.30.
  • The 351 (Tenby to Pendine via Amroth) will return to its summer timetable.

From 1 April 2024

  • An hourly service will return on the 349 (Haverfordwest to Tenby via Pembroke Dock) service (April to September only).
  • The 356 (Milford Haven to Monkton) service will no longer call at Waterston and Hazelbeach due to operational issues caused by the narrow lanes in this area. The Fflecsi service will still be available.
  • A Saturday service, between 07:30 and 18:30, will be reintroduced in the Fflecsi Mid Pembrokeshire zone (formerly known as Bwcabus). This zone covers the area between Letterston, Crymych, Clunderwen and Wiston.  Passengers can also travel from this zone to Fishguard and Haverfordwest. 
  • The 302 (Haverfordwest to Milford Haven) and 349 (Haverfordwest to Tenby via Pembroke Dock) services operated by First Cymru will come under Pembrokeshire County Council control, giving the Council greater oversight of service operations and fares.
  • The 322 (Haverfordwest to Carmarthen) and 381 (Haverfordwest to Tenby via Narberth) services will be run by First Cymru. The 322 timetable will remain the same. The 381 timetable will remain the same from Haverfordwest to Tenby but journeys from Tenby to Haverfordwest will depart slightly earlier (37 past the hour instead of 45).
  • The X22 and X61 services which provided journeys at the start and end of the day between Pembroke Dock and Kilgetty, and Pembroke Dock and Haverfordwest will be withdrawn.
  • The 410 (Fishguard Town) and T11 (Haverfordwest to Fishguard via St Davids) services will be operated on a commercial (T11 part commercial) basis by Richards Bros. An improved connection with the ferry at Fishguard Harbour will be provided at 12.30.

From 19 May 2024

  • The Tenby Coaster service between Tenby and Saundersfoot will return for the summer season.

From 25 May 2024

  • The 400 Puffin Shuttle and 404 Strumble Shuttle services will return to the coast between Marloes and St Davids, and St Davids and Fishguard. These services will operate 7 days a week until 29 September 2024.  The Fflecsi service is also available in this area throughout the year.
  • The 387/388 Coastal Cruiser service around the Angle Peninsula will also return to its summer timetable, operating 7 days a week until 29th September 2024.

Further information about all Pembrokeshire bus services can be found on the Council’s website.

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Surrogacy: Carmarthenshire solicitor calls for legal reform

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ON the anniversary of the Law Commission’s call for surrogacy law to be overhauled, JCP Solicitors’ Angela Killa, Director in the Family team, is calling on prospective surrogates and parents to better understand the legal rules around this complicated path to parenthood.

Proposing a new regulatory route for surrogacy arrangements in the UK, the Law Commission’s recommendations for the Government puts forward a change to the law so that intended parents would become parents of the child from birth in certain circumstances. Currently, intended parents must wait months to obtain a parental order ¾ which causes stress and anxiety, not to mention administrative difficulties when registering the child.

A Surrogacy Register would also be created under the new proposals, allowing surrogate children to trace their birth origins later in life. Overall, the recommendations laid out in the report would improve regulation of domestic surrogacy to dissuade UK residents from going abroad, as international surrogacy agreements can bring greater risk of exploitation of women and children in some countries.

A year on from the reform suggestions, surrogacy rates continue to rise in the UK – surging by 350% over the past 12 years. Now, legal experts say it is more relevant than ever to understand the full implications of entering a surrogacy agreement.

Angela Killa, Director in the Family team at JCP Solicitors, explains: “In the UK, a surrogate (and her husband or male civil partner, if relevant) are considered the mother (and father) of a child at birth. Intended parents must apply for a Parental Order, which is heard before the Court ¾ making it highly advisable for those involved in surrogacy cases to appoint a Solicitor.

“We often see immense stresses from both the parents and the surrogate, as the current law means that the parental order can take months to obtain which can be incredibly anxiety-inducing.

“For example, intended parents may worry that the surrogate will change her mind or will not give her consent freely, whereas surrogates may also worry that the intended parents may change their mind(s) or make unreasonable demands during pregnancy.

“This feels particularly difficult given the fact that many intended parents are likely to have dealt with a lot of trauma before considering surrogacy: many have faced fertility struggles and may even have dealt with the devastation of failed pregnancies or baby loss. For LGBTQ+ couples, there may have been additional challenges faced due to discrimination or prejudice. Therefore, empathy and consideration is of paramount importance when discussing this issue.”

The government published an interim response to the report in November 2023, with Maria Caulfield MP stating: “While we appreciate the importance of this work, parliamentary time does not allow for these changes to be taken forward at the moment.” Despite this response, legal experts working in surrogacy encourage the Government to take action and fully consider the proposed amendments. 

Angela explains: “The reforms laid out in the Surrogacy Reform Act by the Law Commission may help to ease the stress and pressure for all involved. The Government are encouraged to provide a full response as soon as possible so progress can be made in this important area of law”.

Angela Killa is a member of Resolution, a family law organisation advocating for a constructive approach to family issues.

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