Reform candidate says reviving coal can help Wales' energy demands
Getty ImagesReviving coal mining in Wales could support the country's future energy demands, a Reform UK candidate has claimed.
Ben Hodge-McKenna, his party's lead candidate in Afan Ogwr Rhondda for the Senedd election, said new "safer" technologies could be used to extract Welsh coal which is of the "highest quality".
Environmental campaigners raised concerns when Reform's leader Nigel Farage called for coal mines to be re-opened on a visit to Wales last year.
Hodge-McKenna spoke to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast on the show's visit to Treorchy ahead of the Senedd election, where it also spoke to representatives of Welsh Labour, Plaid Cymru, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, and the Welsh Conservatives.
Treorchy is in the new Afan Ogwr Rhondda constituency, which will represent area with a rich coal mining heritage in the Welsh Parliament.
Welsh coal was key to the industrial revolution and a significant source of power until recent times, but concerns over carbon emissions has seen production drastically cut.
Hodge-McKenna said Wales should utilise what he called the "highest quality coal that exists in the world".
"I don't think anybody's talking about sort of going back to the 70s or 80s and reopening mines in the conditions that they were previously.
"But if there are commercial opportunities to enjoy the natural resources that we have then we shouldn't be automatically closed off to any options without at least giving them a fair consideration," he added.
Hodge-McKenna said he understood the concerns about climate change, but the emissions that are produced in Wales on a global scale "are absolutely minuscule" meaning any changes would have "virtually no impact".
"It doesn't make sense for us to be sabotaging our economic policy and sacrificing jobs in Wales when you have other countries around the world that are ramping up," he added.
Getty ImagesThere are currently no coal-fired power stations in the UK after the last coal plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station near Nottingham, shut down in September 2024 after running since 1967.
It marked a major milestone in the country's ambitions to reduce its contribution to climate change. Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel producing the most greenhouse gases when burnt.
The last coal-fired power station in Wales, Aberthaw Power Station in the Vale of Glamorgan, ceased operations in March 2020 after "market conditions made this decision necessary."
Nigel Pugh, Wales Green Party candidate, called for employment opportunities around renewable energy projects and schemes to benefit local people.
He said there was "a lot of renewable energy up in the valleys", but questioned if any of the value was "going towards those communities".
"Things like community energy is a brilliant income that could be much more of a fuel poverty alleviation, brings wealth into that community," he added.
Getty ImagesWelsh Labour's Huw Irranca-Davies, Wales' deputy first minister, said he recognised that voters were "really concerned" about the cost of living.
"People are worried about where their pennies are coming from, how they pay their mortgage," he said.
"You've got to make an offer now that is to do with being on the side of people and putting money in their pocket as well."
He said the Welsh government had already introduced free bus travel for people over the age of 60, and wanted to go one step further by extending the £1 for under 21s tickets if it stayed in power.
Labour has also pledged to cap single bus fares at £2 for adults aged 22 to 59 across Wales if re-elected on 7 May.
Plaid Cymru's Sera Evans said she shared the concerns and that people were worried abut "cost of living and about employment".
"We've obviously seen huge job losses with Tata Steel and so that is really being felt," she added.
Evans said her party would support high street shops, hospitality and small businesses by reforming business rates.
She also said Plaid would undertake a "national skills audit", adding that "we don't know what skills we are going to need in the future, and training opportunities need to be available for young people of all ages".
Dean Ronan – the lead candidate for the Welsh Liberal Democrats – said he "felt let down" by politicians who "promised there was going to be positivity on the horizon", after a Labour government in the Senedd was joined by a Labour government in Westminster.
He added that he was concerned about cuts to services to support young people after working with children in the care sector.
"I see it every day. There will be children tonight sleeping in bed and breakfasts, sleeping in hostels, because the social care system is failing them," he said.
Tom Giffard represented the Welsh Conservatives in Treorchy on Thursday although he is not standing in the Afan Ogwr Rhondda constituency.
Giffard said he was confident that voters would come to his party when they heard their plans to "cut business rates to boost the high street, cut income tax and scrap Stamp Duty to boost the economy".
Additional reporting by Ella Warrender
