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Stuart Burrows, internationally renowned opera singer, dies at 92
Stuart Burrows, internationally renowned opera singer, dies at 92

BBC News

time29-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • BBC News

Stuart Burrows, internationally renowned opera singer, dies at 92

The internationally renowned Welsh opera singer Stuart Burrows has died aged 92 following a short in Cilfynydd in Rhondda Cynon Taf, he performed for the first time with the Welsh National Opera in 1963 and went on to sing at world famous La Scala in career took in the Met Opera in New York for 12 seasons and he also appeared at the Carnegie Hall in New York, and the Royal Opera House in the height of his career - in the 1970s and 80s - Burrows starred in his own BBC Two series, Stuart Burrows Sings. 'We've lost a great' Burrows received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Wales in 1981, a Fellowship of Trinity College, Carmarthen in 1989, and he also received an Honorary Fellowship from Aberystwyth 2007 he received an OBE for his services to a tribute, the former UK government culture minister, Kim Howells, said: "Stuart Burrows had an amazing voice, he was an internationally renowned singer and very remarkable individual who came from this south Wales valleys village which has produced so many extraordinary people from rugby players to politicians."We've lost a great here and I send my condolences to his family."Burrows' family said he died on Sunday morning following a short a post on Facebook, his son Mark said: "Words cannot express how much I will miss this true Welshman who (as he liked to say) loved to sing a bit!"

Top former Welsh Labour MP blasts winter fuel payment U-turn as 'incompetence'
Top former Welsh Labour MP blasts winter fuel payment U-turn as 'incompetence'

Wales Online

time10-06-2025

  • Business
  • Wales Online

Top former Welsh Labour MP blasts winter fuel payment U-turn as 'incompetence'

Top former Welsh Labour MP blasts winter fuel payment U-turn as 'incompetence' Kim Howells said the Labour administration was 'rudderless' Kim Howells, former MP for Pontypridd (Image: western Mail ) Former Welsh MP Kim Howells said the U-turn by the UK Labour Government over winter fuel payments "smacks of incompetence". The former Labour minister went on to say that U-turns "never look good". Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast said the current UK Government is "rudderless". Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed on June 9 that over 75% of pensioners will now receive the winter fuel payment this year. The policy proposal had been hugely unpopular with voters and caused unrest within the parliamentary party. ‌ Mr Howells, who represented Pontypridd from 1989 to 2010 and was in both the Blair and Brown governments, said it showed the UK Government was "kind of rudderless, floating around, not knowing which way to turn. Now they face this kind of humiliation, and, really, there was no need for it." ‌ "For a Labour government to be doing this just seemed daft, really. This along with a number of other decisions has allowed people, quite validly, to level really very significant criticism at the government," he said. In July 2024, the government announced that they would be means-testing the winter fuel payment, introducing a cap that meant only those on pension credit would receive the payment. The move was widely criticised. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here . This latest U-turn means that pensioners earning an annual income of £35,000 or under will be eligible for the payment – around nine million people. Article continues below Mr Howells also warned that the government's communication strategy risks them losing support to Nigel Farage's Reform UK. "I don't understand anything Keir Starmer says. It's this kind of London techno speak which nobody understands. It's kind of a mist, instead of a clear policy. "People need a hope. They need to see that there is a future and not just this constant attempt to patch up everything that they see going wrong,' said Mr Howells. He said parties like Reform UK were better at "communicating in a language that people can understand." ‌ Mr Howells also said that the decisions being made by the Westminster government would impact Welsh Labour. Polling ahead of next year's Senedd election shows an uphill battle for Eluned Morgan's party. In the most recent poll Welsh Labour had slipped to third with 18% of the vote share, behind both Plaid Cymru and Reform UK. You can read that here. Mr Howells said Welsh Labour would 'undoubtedly' pay the price for their decisions, and that devolution requires "fresh thinking". "We fought for devolution, brought it in in Tony Blair's first Labour government. It was designed to make Wales better," he said. "But our health service is even worse than in England. This is not making Wales better – this is just about managing to patch up and stop it sinking,' he said. ‌ "What we should be concentrating on is creating new industries and new jobs and a new future for Wales. Not constantly trying to get subsidies from south-east England – that's not the way to do it. 'This has been the curse of the Welsh Assembly [now Senedd] all along. It's not been about encouraging entrepreneurships and getting people to start their own businesses, vibrancy, it's been constantly about the old politics, of getting our share,' he said. Mr Howells said that public investment is very important, but that 'radical thinking' was needed to secure a good future for Wales. Article continues below "It needs Keir Starmer's government in London [and the Senedd in Cardiff] to realise that the world is changing at a fantastic pace, and we've got to change with it and that means we've got to reassess all of these priorities of government," he said. Both Welsh secretary Jo Stevens and a representative from Welsh Labour were asked to speak on the programme but both declined, the BBC said.

Ex-Labour minister says winter fuel U-turn smacks of incompetence
Ex-Labour minister says winter fuel U-turn smacks of incompetence

BBC News

time10-06-2025

  • Politics
  • BBC News

Ex-Labour minister says winter fuel U-turn smacks of incompetence

A former Labour minister from the Blair-era says the UK government's U-turn over the winter fuel allowance "smacks of incompetence".More than three-quarters of pensioners will receive the winter fuel payment after Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed she would roll back her decision to cut the Howells said the original policy was "daft" and that UK Labour ministers seemed to be "rudderless" and "floating around".The UK government was asked for comment. The former Pontypridd MP told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast: "The problem… is it smacks of incompetence. These U-turns don't look good, they never look good."This seemed to be kind of rudderless, floating around, not knowing which way to turn, and now they face this kind of humiliation, and really there was no need for it."It's true that people like me on a decent pension don't need it, but there are millions and millions who do need it."For a Labour government to be doing this just seems daft really."I'm afraid that this, along with a number of other decisions, has allowed people quite validly to level really very significant criticism at the government." Howells had a series of ministerial jobs under Tony Blair, including in the Foreign Office, before he was reshuffled out by Gordon Brown in 2008. He left Parliament in the radio interview Howells criticised the communication style of the prime minister."I don't understand anything Sir Keir Starmer says."It's this kind of London techno speak, which nobody understands."It's a mist instead of a clear policy, and that's what we need really. People need something to aim at, they need a hope, they need a future." He said Welsh Labour would "undoubtedly" pay the price for the UK government's actions - but Howells also criticised the Welsh government's former minister said devolution was designed "to make Wales better, but our health service is even worse than in England"."Welcome to Wales means you get all those tunnels in Newport," he said, referring to the 2019 scrapping of plans for an M4 relief road by former Labour first minister Mark Drakeford."We have to do much more than we have done at the moment."Howells complained about what he saw as the "curse of the Welsh Assembly" in calling for subsidies, using the original name for the Cardiff Bay legislature which was changed to the Welsh Parliament in 2020."It's not been about encouraging entrepreneurships and getting people to start their own businesses. It's been constantly about the old politics of 'we haven't had our share, we must get our share'."Asked about the row over whether Wales would benefit from funding for the Oxford to Cambridge railway line, he said: "Sure, that public investment is very important."But I don't think that's going to sort out transport problems in Wales or the future of Wales."It needs this outfit in Cardiff, it needs Keir Starmer's government in London, to realise that the world is changing at a fantastic pace and we've got to change with it."

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