Derek Vaughan CBE

Reform UK have manufactured an argument with a Welsh university. They contacted a student group at Bangor University (who are separate to the Uni) asking them to hold an event for them. When the group said "no" Reform threatened to cut their funding. This is totally manufactured faux outrage. It is the equivalent of me going up to someone and saying: “please can you host a party and can I come?” Them saying “no I don’t like you” and me saying that I am going to take their money away. Reform have repeatedly dodged interviews with journalists in Wales. They banned certain journalists from councils they run in England. I would suggest this makes this sudden desire to protect free speech nothing more than hypocritical opportunism.

As a previous Leader of the WLGA I can say Andrew has done a great job. A fantastic representative for RCT and Welsh local government.

Have sympathy… it must be hard treading the line between reality and the false reality of someone you clearly admire so much.

If they claim to care about the armed forces but say nothing when Trump declares British troops stayed "off the front lines" in Afghanistan - they are cowardly charlatans. If they say they want protect women and children but say nothing when Elon Musk's platform helps create child porn and underdress women with AI- they are worst kind of opportunists. If they say they want to "protect rural communities" but deny climate change - they are not serious. If they talk about "sovereignty" but say that the world would be a "better place" if Trump took Greenland - they are snake oil sellers. If they say they are pro free speech and transparency but ban journalists and attack people who disagree with them - they are lying. Judge people by their (repeated) actions, not their words.

A reminder. Only 6.9% of people in Wales were born overseas. Just 2.9% of people in Caerphilly were born overseas. Whereas 38% of medical consultants in Wales were born overseas. Immigrants are not holding our NHS back, they are propping it up.

Today is the saddest day of the year. As the years go by the memories of that day remain. Lost friends, bereaved parents devastated, father crying, a village and nation in shock #Aberfan

As always it was good to catch up with friends at Scotland House. Strong bonds and friendships created over the years.

More great Brexit news as AstraZeneca’s move to directly list its shares in New York could cost the UK as much as £200mn annually in lost stamp duty. Global firms are snubbing London because UK obsessed its self-imposed isolation from world's biggest market on doorstep

'Where does this end? Is it too much to say, blood on the streets?' @AndrewMarr9 reacts to Reform's plan to abolish indefinite leave to remain.

Always good to see a sea of EU flags at the Last Night of the Proms..!

Congress did its homework on Nigel Farage:

I’m proud of our flag as a patriotic symbol of our nation, like lots of people I’ve proudly got one up at home. Using our flag to divide devalues it.

Lord Kirkhope, "Sorry about leaving the EU.. It was a disaster" "Movements behind Brexit are suspect" "Spanish inquiry which shows conclusively the involvement of Russia in the Brexit referendum" "People were conned.. Given lies and deceit" "All the polling.. Most people in this country would like us to be back where we were before 2016" #RejoinEU @LordKirkhope

This is my view on the agreement we have done for a treaty between the UK and the EU in respect of Gibraltar. The deal is EXACTLY as we envisaged and agreed in the New Year's Eve Framework Agreement in 2020 and which the people of Gibraltar gave me a mandate to pursue into a treaty. telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

Nigel Farage would plunge UK into 'Liz Truss doom loop' - 10 times he praised Tory ex-PM mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

Deepest condolences. When I was Leader of NPT Meyrick was always willing to help the council and the local community. A lovely man who will be greatly missed.

Great to catch up with Welsh Government Rep for Europe @derekvaughan today at Scotland House. Positive discussions on our work to support the UK-EU dialogue ahead of Leaders’ Summit in May, and other areas of 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿- 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 cooperation.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇪🇺 Great to meet @derekvaughan, Welsh Govt Rep on Europe, in the @Europarl_EN today. We discussed the Ireland-Wales Shared Statement & Joint Action Plan, the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) - which replaced CAP in the UK - and the need for a possible SPS agreement post-Brexit.

There’s a few more who could be added to this list!

We have lost a great character and a great Welsh politician. bbc.com/news/articles/…