138-562: Ebbw Vale ( / ˈ ɛ b uː v eɪ l / ; Welsh : Glynebwy ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales . It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough . The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a population of roughly 33,000. It has direct access to the dualled A465 Heads of
276-627: A Liberal and subsequently Labour MP; Hugh Foot, Baron Caradon (1907–90), Governor of Cyprus (1957–60) and representative of the United Kingdom at the United Nations from 1964 to 1970; Liberal politician John Foot, later Baron Foot (1909–99); Margaret Elizabeth Foot (1911–65); Jennifer Mackintosh Highet (1916–2002); and Christopher Isaac Foot (1917–84). Michael Foot was the uncle of campaigning journalist Paul Foot (1937–2004) and of charity worker Oliver Foot (1946–2008). Foot
414-464: A Tribunite like Foot, and Peter Shore , a Eurosceptic . In 1980, Healey was widely expected by the media and many political figures to be the next Labour leader. However, Steve Richards notes that while "Healey was widely seen as the obvious successor to Callaghan", and that sections of the media ultimately reacted with "disbelief" at Labour not choosing him, the "choice of Foot was not as perverse as it seemed". He argues Labour MPs were looking for
552-526: A British victory over Argentina , opinion polls showed the Conservatives firmly in the lead. Their position at the top of the polls was strengthened by the return to economic growth later in the year. It was looking certain that the Conservatives would be re-elected, and the only key issue that the media were still speculating by the end of 1982 was whether it would be Labour or the Alliance who formed
690-441: A Welsh Language Scheme, which indicates its commitment to the equality of treatment principle. This is sent out in draft form for public consultation for a three-month period, whereupon comments on it may be incorporated into a final version. It requires the final approval of the now defunct Welsh Language Board ( Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg ). Thereafter, the public body is charged with implementing and fulfilling its obligations under
828-594: A Welsh-language edge inscription was used on pound coins dated 1985, 1990 and 1995, which circulated in all parts of the UK prior to their 2017 withdrawal. The wording is Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad (Welsh for 'True am I to my country'), and derives from the national anthem of Wales, " Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau ". UK banknotes are in English only. Some shops employ bilingual signage. Welsh sometimes appears on product packaging or instructions. The UK government has ratified
966-545: A body with independence from government. Foot was one of the mainstays of the "no" campaign in the 1975 referendum on British membership of the European Communities . When Wilson retired in 1976, Foot contested the party leadership and led in the first ballot, but was ultimately defeated by James Callaghan . Later that year Foot was elected Deputy Leader, and during the Callaghan government Foot took
1104-663: A census glossary of terms to support the release of results from the census, including their definition of "main language" as referring to "first or preferred language" (though that wording was not in the census questionnaire itself). The wards in England with the most people giving Welsh as their main language were the Liverpool wards of Central and Greenbank ; and Oswestry South in Shropshire . The wards of Oswestry South (1.15%), Oswestry East (0.86%) and St Oswald (0.71%) had
1242-667: A competition run by the council, several plots were developed in time to be demonstrated at the 2010 Eisteddfod, which was held on the steelworks site. In 2010, Blaenau Gwent council and the United Welsh Housing Association built two eco-friendly prototype buildings. The Larch House and the Lime House, designed by Bere Architects , were both highly energy-efficient houses, meeting both Passivhaus and Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6 and Level 5 respectively. The buildings were open for demonstration at
1380-544: A double-digit lead for Labour, boosting his hopes of becoming prime minister at the next general election , which had to be held by May 1984. When Foot became leader, the Conservative politician Kenneth Baker commented: "Labour was led by Dixon of Dock Green under Jim Callaghan . Now it is led by Worzel Gummidge ." Foot's nickname in the press gradually became "Worzel Gummidge", or "Worzel". This became particularly common after Remembrance Day 1981, when he attended
1518-401: A figure from the left who could unite the wider party with the leadership, which Healey could not do. Richards states that despite being on the left of the party, Foot was not a "tribal politician" and had proved he could work with those of different ideologies and had been a loyal deputy to Callaghan. Thus Foot "was seen as the unity candidate" and won the election. When he became leader, Foot
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#17327732019011656-570: A general election. The Conservatives were then unpopular because of the economic policies of Margaret Thatcher , which had seen unemployment reach a postwar high. The Labour left was still strong. In 1981, Benn decided to challenge Healey for the Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party , a contest Healey won, albeit narrowly. Foot struggled to make an impact, and was widely criticised for his ineffectiveness, though his performances in
1794-666: A high-profile member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). He wrote several books, including highly regarded biographies of Aneurin Bevan and H. G. Wells , and was a vice-president of the H. G. Wells Society . Foot was an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association . In 1988, he was elected a Fellow of
1932-467: A large catchment area. Penycwm Special School is also located in Ebbw Vale, in a joint building with the primary phase of Ebbw Vale Learning Community. Alongside this there is also the Ebbw Vale campus of Coleg Gwent , a Further Education college teaching a range of subjects from Mechanics , Media Studies , Humanities to Hairdressing and Beauty therapy . There is also an institute which provides
2070-538: A long history. Rugby and cricket have flourished with the town’s Eugene Cross Park as their home. Ebbw Vale Rugby Football Club can trace its roots back to the 1890s. Nicknamed the "Steelmen" after the area’s former industrial base they have a successful record with many players achieving international honours. By 2015 they were playing at a semi-professional level in the Welsh Premiership just one level below regional rugby. Cricket predates rugby in
2208-605: A look at him.") At the outbreak of the Second World War , Foot volunteered for military service, but was rejected because of his chronic asthma . In 1940, under the pen-name "Cato" he and two other Beaverbrook journalists ( Frank Owen , editor of the Standard , and Peter Howard of the Daily Express ) published Guilty Men , which attacked the appeasement policy and slow pace of British re-armament under
2346-507: A new CP policy of backing a Popular Front , including non-socialist parties, against fascism and appeasement . In a 1955 interview, Foot ideologically identified as a libertarian socialist . He was an avid anti-imperialist and was heavily involved in the India League . As an Oxford graduate, he was influenced by the founder of the India League, Krishna Menon . The India League was the premier UK-based organisation that fought for
2484-589: A range of courses for mainly adult learners. A new Coleg Gwent building was opened in 2012 alongside Wales' first 3–16 educational establishment titled the Ebbw Fawr Learning Community , a £52m investment. This has resulted in the closure of both Glyncoed Comprehensive School and Ebbw Vale Comprehensive School along with Pontygof Primary School, which now functions as a Pupil Referral Unit for behaviourally challenged students, and Briery Hill Primary School. Ebbw Vale sporting organisations have
2622-728: A seat in Cabinet as Leader of the House of Commons , which gave him the unenviable task of trying to maintain the survival of the Callaghan government as its majority evaporated. However, he was able to steer numerous government proposals through the Commons, often by very narrow majorities, including increases in pension and benefit rates, the creation of the Police Complaints Board , the expansion of comprehensive schools ,
2760-479: A single discourse (known in linguistics as code-switching ). Welsh speakers are largely concentrated in the north and west of Wales, principally Gwynedd , Conwy County Borough , Denbighshire , Anglesey , Carmarthenshire , north Pembrokeshire , Ceredigion , parts of Glamorgan , and north-west and extreme south-west Powys . However, first-language and other fluent speakers can be found throughout Wales. Welsh-speaking communities persisted well into
2898-530: A subsequent by-election in Darlington , and Foot remained leader for the 1983 general election . The 1983 Labour manifesto, strongly socialist in tone, advocated unilateral nuclear disarmament, higher personal taxation and a return to a more interventionist industrial policy. The manifesto also pledged that a Labour government would abolish the House of Lords , nationalise banks and immediately withdraw from
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#17327732019013036-796: A type of duffel coat ) at the wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day in November 1981, for which he was likened to an "out-of-work navvy" by a fellow Labour MP. Foot later said that the Queen Mother had described it as a "sensible coat for a day like this". He later donated the coat to the People's History Museum in Manchester, which holds a collection that spans Foot's entire political career from 1938 to 1990, and his personal papers dating back to 1926. The formation of
3174-428: A £350 million regeneration project by Blaenau Gwent Council and Welsh Government using EU redevelopment funding. It provides scope for housing, retail and office space, wetlands, a learning campus and more. Wales' first all-individual-bed hospital, Ysbyty Aneurin Bevan , opened in 2010. A small development of four prototype houses have been built on the site as a precursor a wider residential development. Following
3312-411: Is 57 metres (187 ft) and has a vertical lift is 24 metres (79 ft). It has one car and operates from Monday to Friday, 7am to 7pm fully automatically, without attendants. The short, 20 second, journey is free to travel and it is intended to improve access between levels in the town, from 'The Works' site and Coleg Gwent , up to the town centre. The Works site is the site of the old steelworks and
3450-990: Is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people . Welsh is spoken natively in Wales , by some in England , and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province , Argentina ). It is spoken by smaller numbers of people in Canada and the United States descended from Welsh immigrants, within their households (especially in Nova Scotia ). Historically, it has also been known in English as "British", "Cambrian", "Cambric" and "Cymric". The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 gave
3588-599: Is a Grade II* listed building . Built between 1913 and 1915 it formed part of the steelworks site. A brand-new modern extension (contrasting with the original building) officially opened on 24 October 2010 and houses the Gwent Archives . The main building is partially opened, with an entrance hall and function rooms, together with a 4D cinema . The Queen officially opened the General Offices as part of her Diamond Jubilee Tour on 3 May 2012, accompanied by
3726-623: Is available throughout Europe on satellite and online throughout the UK. Since the digital switchover was completed in South Wales on 31 March 2010, S4C Digidol became the main broadcasting channel and fully in Welsh. The main evening television news provided by the BBC in Welsh is available for download. There is also a Welsh-language radio station, BBC Radio Cymru , which was launched in 1977. Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot FRSL (23 July 1913 – 3 March 2010)
3864-688: Is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, which in turn is divided into Early and Late Modern Welsh. The word Welsh is a descendant, via Old English wealh, wielisc , of the Proto-Germanic word * Walhaz , which was derived from the name of the Celtic people known to the Romans as Volcae and which came to refer to speakers of Celtic languages, and then indiscriminately to
4002-404: Is evidence of very early human activity in the area. Y Domen Fawr is a Bronze Age burial cairn above the town and at Cefn Manmoel there is a demarcation dyke believed to be of neolithic or medieval origins. In relatively modern times the area was a quiet uplands spot in rural Monmouthshire . With only about 120 inhabitants at the end of the 18th century, Ebbw Vale and the whole area
4140-511: Is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of nearly all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion , although the tales themselves are certainly much older. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts. Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The Bible translations into Welsh helped maintain
4278-732: The Cynfeirdd or "Early Poets" – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was supposedly composed in the Hen Ogledd , raising further questions about the dating of the material and language in which it was originally composed. This discretion stems from the fact that Cumbric was widely believed to have been the language used in Hen Ogledd. An 8th-century inscription in Tywyn shows
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4416-540: The 'Liberation of India' . After Indian independence in 1947, Foot's interest in India continued, and he became Chair of the India League . On the recommendation of Aneurin Bevan , Foot was soon hired by Lord Beaverbrook to work as a writer on his Evening Standard . (Bevan is supposed to have told Beaverbrook on the phone: "I've got a young bloody knight-errant here. They sacked his boss, so he resigned. Have
4554-500: The 2016 Australian census , 1,688 people noted that they spoke Welsh. In the 2011 Canadian census , 3,885 people reported Welsh as their first language . According to the 2021 Canadian census , 1,130 people noted that Welsh was their mother tongue. The 2018 New Zealand census noted that 1,083 people in New Zealand spoke Welsh. The American Community Survey 2009–2013 noted that 2,235 people aged five years and over in
4692-466: The 2021 census , 7,349 people in England recorded Welsh to be their "main language". In the 2011 census, 1,189 people aged three and over in Scotland noted that Welsh was a language (other than English) that they used at home. It is believed that there are as many as 5,000 speakers of Patagonian Welsh . In response to the question 'Does the person speak a language other than English at home?' in
4830-535: The Commons – most notably on the Falklands War of 1982 – won him widespread respect from other parliamentarians. He was criticised by some on the left for supporting Thatcher's immediate resort to military action. The right-wing newspapers nevertheless lambasted him consistently for what they saw as his bohemian eccentricity, attacking him for wearing what they described as a " donkey jacket " (actually he wore
4968-482: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Welsh. The language has greatly increased its prominence since the creation of the television channel S4C in November 1982, which until digital switchover in 2010 broadcast 70 per cent of Channel 4's programming along with a majority of Welsh language shows during peak viewing hours. The all-Welsh-language digital station S4C Digidol
5106-755: The Labour Party politician who was main architect of the National Health Service (NHS), was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ebbw Vale from the 1929 general election until his death in 1960, when he was succeeded as MP by Michael Foot . The seat joined with the neighbouring Abertillery constituency to form Blaenau Gwent . In 2010, the former community of Ebbw Vale was abolished and replaced by Ebbw Vale North and Ebbw Vale South . The Ebbw Vale conurbation today runs in an almost unbroken housing street plan 3 miles or so from Beaufort in
5244-535: The National Governments of Ramsay MacDonald , Stanley Baldwin , and Neville Chamberlain ; it became a runaway bestseller. (In so doing, Foot reversed his position of the 1935 election – when he had attacked the Conservatives as militaristic and demanded disarmament in the face of Nazi Germany .) Beaverbrook made Foot editor of the Evening Standard in 1942, when he was aged 28. During
5382-488: The Parliamentary Labour Group in 1963, when Harold Wilson became Leader of the Labour Party after the sudden death of Hugh Gaitskell . Harold Wilson — the subject of an enthusiastic campaign biography by Foot published by Robert Maxwell 's Pergamon Press in 1964 – offered Foot a place in his first government, but Foot turned it down, instead becoming the leader of Labour's left opposition from
5520-756: The Polish name for Italians) have a similar etymology. The Welsh term for the language, Cymraeg , descends from the Brythonic word combrogi , meaning 'compatriots' or 'fellow countrymen'. Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic , the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons . Classified as Insular Celtic , the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and
5658-604: The Prime Minister of India , after she prompted the declaration of a state of emergency . In December 1975, The Times ran an editorial titled 'Is Mr Foot a Fascist?' — their answer was that he was — after Norman Tebbit accused him of 'undiluted fascism' when Foot said that the Ferrybridge Six deserved dismissal for defying a closed shop . Following Labour's 1979 general election defeat by Margaret Thatcher , James Callaghan remained as party leader for
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5796-466: The Royal Society of Literature . In a poll of Labour Party activists in 2008, he was voted the worst post-war Labour Party leader. Though Foot is considered by many right-wingers to be a failure as Labour leader, his biographer Mervyn Jones strongly makes the case that no one else could have held Labour together at the time, particularly in the face of the controversy over the infiltration of
5934-774: The Scotswoman Eva (née Mackintosh, died 17 May 1946). Isaac Foot was a solicitor and founder of the Plymouth law firm Foot and Bowden (which amalgamated with another firm to become Foot Anstey). Isaac Foot, an active member of the Liberal Party , served as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Bodmin in Cornwall from 1922 to 1924 and again from 1929 to 1935, and as a Lord Mayor of Plymouth. Michael Foot's siblings included: Sir Dingle Foot MP (1905–78),
6072-478: The Second Shadow Cabinet of Harold Wilson in various roles between 1970 and 1974. In April 1972 , he stood for the Deputy Leadership of the party, along with Edward Short and Anthony Crosland . The first ballot saw Foot narrowly come second to Short winning 110 votes to the latter's 111. Crosland polled 61 votes and was eliminated. It was reported in the next day's Glasgow Herald that Short
6210-532: The Standard in 1945 to join the Daily Herald as a columnist. The Daily Herald was jointly owned by the Trades Union Congress and Odhams Press , and was effectively an official Labour Party paper. He rejoined Tribune as editor from 1948 to 1952, and was again the paper's editor from 1955 to 1960. Throughout his political career he railed against the increasing corporate domination of
6348-480: The Tory right-winger Enoch Powell to scupper the government's plan to abolish the voting rights of hereditary peers and create a House of Lords comprising only life peers – a "seraglio of eunuchs" as Foot put it. Foot challenged James Callaghan for the post of Treasurer of the Labour Party in 1967, but failed. After 1970, Labour moved to the left and Wilson came to an accommodation with Foot. Foot served in
6486-640: The United States spoke Welsh at home. The highest number of those (255) lived in Florida . Sources: Calls for the Welsh language to be granted official status grew with the establishment of the nationalist political party Plaid Cymru in 1925, the establishment of the Welsh Language Society in 1962 and the rise of Welsh nationalism in the later 20th century. Of the six living Celtic languages (including two revived), Welsh has
6624-733: The West 's handling of the Korean War , an opponent of West German rearmament in the early 1950s and a founder member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in 1957. Under his editorship, Tribune opposed both the British government's Suez campaign and the Soviet crushing of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. During this period, he made regular television appearances on the current-affairs programmes In The News ( BBC Television ) and subsequently Free Speech ( ITV ). "There
6762-404: The "hugely important role", adding, "I look forward to working with the Welsh Government and organisations in Wales in developing the new system of standards. I will look to build on the good work that has been done by the Welsh Language Board and others to strengthen the Welsh language and ensure that it continues to thrive." First Minister Carwyn Jones said that Huws would act as a champion for
6900-532: The 1880s identified a small part of Shropshire as still then speaking Welsh, with the "Celtic Border" passing from Llanymynech through Oswestry to Chirk . The number of Welsh-speaking people in the rest of Britain has not yet been counted for statistical purposes. In 1993, the Welsh-language television channel S4C published the results of a survey into the numbers of people who spoke or understood Welsh, which estimated that there were around 133,000 Welsh-speaking people living in England, about 50,000 of them in
7038-409: The 1993 Act nor secondary legislation made under it covers the private sector, although some organisations, notably banks and some railway companies, provide some of their information in Welsh. On 7 December 2010, the Welsh Assembly unanimously approved a set of measures to develop the use of the Welsh language within Wales. On 9 February 2011 this measure, the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 ,
SECTION 50
#17327732019017176-428: The 2010 Eisteddfod. Ty Unnos is a two-bed property designed by Cardiff University 's Design Research Unit. It meets Code for Sustainable Homes Level 5 and utilises construction techniques that allow Welsh softwood to be used in the fabric of the building. The Environmental Resource Centre (ERC) is an educational facility run by Gwent Wildlife Trust . Designed by Cardiff University's Design Research Unit and Located on
7314-430: The Assembly which confirms the official status of the Welsh language; which creates a strong advocate for Welsh speakers and will improve the quality and quantity of services available through the medium of Welsh. I believe that everyone who wants to access services in the Welsh language should be able to do so, and that is what this government has worked towards. This legislation is an important and historic step forward for
7452-447: The Cenotaph observance wearing a coat that some said resembled a donkey jacket. After his tenure as leader, Foot would be "depicted as a scarecrow on ITV's satirical puppet show Spitting Image ." Almost immediately following his election as leader, he was faced with a serious crisis. On 25 January 1981, four senior politicians on the right-wing of the Labour Party ( Roy Jenkins , Shirley Williams , David Owen and William Rodgers ,
7590-400: The Cold War began in the late 1940s, Foot favoured a ' third way ' foreign policy for Europe (he was joint author with Richard Crossman and Ian Mikardo of the pamphlet Keep Left in 1947), but in the wake of the communist seizure of power in Hungary and Czechoslovakia he and Tribune took a strongly anti-communist position, eventually embracing NATO . Foot was, however, a critic of
7728-412: The Duke of Edinburgh. As part of the Cultural Olympiad for the London 2012 Olympics , Adain Avion, a mobile art space created from the fuselage of a DC-9 aircraft, visited the General Offices between 1 and 7 July 2012. Ebbw Vale currently is host to a selection of primary schools and infant schools , two secondary schools (Ebbw Fawr Learning Community and Brynmawr Foundation School) both covering
7866-399: The ESU USA Tour (the debating tour of the United States run by the English-Speaking Union ). Upon graduating with a second-class degree in 1934, he took a job as a shipping clerk in Birkenhead . Foot was profoundly influenced by the poverty and unemployment that he witnessed in Liverpool , which was on a different scale from anything he had seen in Plymouth. A Liberal up to this time, Foot
8004-434: The Greater London area. The Welsh Language Board , on the basis of an analysis of the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study, estimated there were 110,000 Welsh-speaking people in England, and another thousand in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the 2011 census , 8,248 people in England gave Welsh in answer to the question "What is your main language?" The Office for National Statistics subsequently published
8142-404: The Hotmill Plateau it was the first building to be completed as part of the redevelopment of the former steelworks site in Ebbw Vale. The centre is located on an ecologically rich site next to the Pumphouse cooling ponds, which have become a haven for wildlife since the closure of the steelworks. It was officially opened by Iolo Williams and Jane Davidson AM on 21 May 2010. The General Offices
8280-409: The Labour Party under Callaghan from 1976 to 1980. Elected as a compromise candidate, Foot served as Labour leader and Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983 . Not particularly telegenic, he was nicknamed " Worzel Gummidge " for his rumpled appearance. A faction of the party broke away in 1981 to form the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Foot led Labour into the 1983 general election , when
8418-402: The Labour left. He successfully urged Bevan to follow through with his threat to resign from the Cabinet in protest of the introduction of prescription charges at the National Health Service , leading to a split in the Labour Party between Bevanites and Gaitskellites . Foot and Bevan fell out after Bevan renounced unilateral nuclear disarmament at the 1957 Labour Party conference. Before
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#17327732019018556-422: The North to Cwm in the South. There are significant areas of modern housing to the north and south of the town. In 1992, the Ebbw Vale Garden Festival was the last National Garden Festival . It was sited on the south side of the recently demolished steel works. The festival ran for five months between May and October 1992 attracting over two million visitors. The development cost around £18 million. Since then
8694-405: The Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin , for seeking rearmament. In his election address, Foot contended that "the armaments race in Europe must be stopped now". Foot also supported unilateral disarmament, after multilateral disarmament talks at Geneva had broken down in 1933. Foot became a journalist, working briefly on the New Statesman , before joining the left-wing weekly Tribune when it
8832-445: The SDP – which formed an alliance with the Liberal Party in June 1981 – contributed to a fall in Labour support. The double-digit lead that had still been intact in opinion polls at the start of 1981 was swiftly wiped out, and by the end of October the opinion polls were showing the Alliance ahead of Labour. Labour briefly regained their lead of most opinion polls in early 1982, but when the Falklands conflict ended on 14 June 1982 with
8970-437: The Valleys trunk road and borders the Brecon Beacons National Park . According to the 2011 Census , 4.6% of Ebbw Vale North's 4,561 (210 residents) resident-population can speak, read, and write Welsh , and 5.7% of Ebbw Vale South's 4,274 (244 residents) resident-population can speak, read, and write Welsh. This is below the county 's figure of 5.5% of 67,348 (3,705 residents) who can speak, read, and write Welsh . There
9108-446: The Valleys Road runs just to the north with direct access to the town and its industrial estates. A direct hourly service between Ebbw Vale and Newport started in January 2024. A kilometre-long funicular was part of the Garden Festival in 1992, but closed afterwards. In June 2015 a new inclined elevator , the Ebbw Vale Cableway , was opened. The lift was built by ABS Transportbahnen ( Doppelmayr Garaventa Group ). Its length
9246-432: The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, all new signs have Welsh displayed first. There have been incidents of one of the languages being vandalised, which may be considered a hate crime . Since 2000, the teaching of Welsh has been compulsory in all schools in Wales up to age 16; this has had an effect in stabilising and reversing the decline in the language. Text on UK coins tends to be in English and Latin. However,
9384-436: The Welsh Language Scheme. The list of other public bodies which have to prepare Schemes could be added to by initially the Secretary of State for Wales, from 1993 to 1997, by way of statutory instrument . Subsequent to the forming of the National Assembly for Wales in 1997, the Government Minister responsible for the Welsh language can and has passed statutory instruments naming public bodies who have to prepare Schemes. Neither
9522-421: The Welsh language official status in Wales. Welsh and English are de jure official languages of the Welsh Parliament, the Senedd , with Welsh being the only de jure official language in any part of the United Kingdom, with English being merely de facto official. According to the 2021 census , the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8%) and nearly three quarters of
9660-445: The Welsh language, though some had concerns over her appointment: Plaid Cymru spokeswoman Bethan Jenkins said, "I have concerns about the transition from Meri Huws's role from the Welsh Language Board to the language commissioner, and I will be asking the Welsh government how this will be successfully managed. We must be sure that there is no conflict of interest, and that the Welsh Language Commissioner can demonstrate how she will offer
9798-426: The Welsh of the 16th century, but they are similar enough for a fluent Welsh speaker to have little trouble understanding it. During the Modern Welsh period, there has been a decline in the popularity of the Welsh language: the number of Welsh speakers declined to the point at which there was concern that the language would become extinct. During industrialisation in the late 19th century, immigrants from England led to
9936-682: The Welsh-speaking heartlands, with the number dropping to under 50 per cent in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire for the first time. However, according to the Welsh Language Use Survey in 2019–20, 22 per cent of people aged three and over were able to speak Welsh. The Annual Population Survey (APS) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that as of March 2024, approximately 862,700, or 28.0 per cent of
10074-502: The area are facing substantial cuts. The project was funded through the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO) with most of the money being European-sourced and the local council providing around a third. Operating costs have been cited as £16,000 per year, and these too have been questioned – especially regarding any teething troubles in the first year, or the costs of the inevitable vandalism repair. The need for
10212-552: The area with the first recorded match as far back as 1852. The town’s association with the game grew such that until the early 2000s Glamorgan County Cricket fixtures were regularly held at Eugene Park. Bowls , swimming and other football and rugby teams play locally at varying levels. The town’s leisure centre has facilities including a 33m long swimming pool . Beaufort Theatre , the largest in Blaenau Gwent, holds regular music, drama and other cultural events. In 2009
10350-582: The back benches. He opposed the government's moves to restrict immigration , join the European Communities (or " Common Market " as they were referred to) and reform the trade unions, was against the Vietnam War and Rhodesia 's unilateral declaration of independence , and denounced the Soviet suppression of " socialism with a human face " in Czechoslovakia in 1968. He also famously allied with
10488-413: The betrayals of the Callaghan government . They called for MPs who had acquiesced in Callaghan's policies to be replaced by left-wingers who would support unilateral nuclear disarmament , withdrawal from the European Communities , and widespread nationalisation . Benn did not stand for the leadership; apart from Foot and Healey, the other candidates (both eliminated in the first round) were John Silkin ,
10626-410: The case and until the late 1800s, the Ebbw Vale area was largely Welsh-speaking changing as industry brought workers in from outside the area. A railway service to Cardiff Central began on 6 February 2008, with trains serving the town from the new Ebbw Vale Parkway railway station . An extension of the line to a new northern terminus, Ebbw Vale Town , was opened on 17 May 2015. The A465 Heads of
10764-512: The census. In terms of usage, ONS also reported that 14.4 per cent (443,800) of people aged three or older in Wales reported that they spoke Welsh daily in March 2024, with 5.4 per cent (165,500) speaking it weekly and 6.5 per cent (201,200) less often. Approximately 1.7 per cent (51,700) reported that they never spoke Welsh despite being able to speak the language, with the remaining 72.0 per cent of
10902-414: The course of the 20th century this monolingual population all but disappeared, but a small percentage remained at the time of the 1981 census. Most Welsh-speaking people in Wales also speak English. However, many Welsh-speaking people are more comfortable expressing themselves in Welsh than in English. A speaker's choice of language can vary according to the subject domain and the social context, even within
11040-489: The creation of Old Welsh, Davies suggests it may be more appropriate to refer to this derivative language as Lingua Britannica rather than characterising it as a new language altogether. The argued dates for the period of "Primitive Welsh" are widely debated, with some historians' suggestions differing by hundreds of years. The next main period is Old Welsh ( Hen Gymraeg , 9th to 11th centuries); poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of
11178-413: The current focus of much redevelopment for the area. Reception of the funicular has been mixed. Commentators and journalists have described it variously as a funicular , mechanical lift, 'cable car' [ sic ] and more derisively as a ' Stannah stairlift '. Most criticism has focussed on the £2.3 million cost, at a time when Blaenau Gwent council are facing a £10M deficit and other services in
11316-479: The decline in Welsh speakers particularly in the South Wales Valleys. Welsh government processes and legislation have worked to increase the proliferation of the Welsh language, for example through education. Welsh has been spoken continuously in Wales throughout history; however, by 1911, it had become a minority language, spoken by 43.5 per cent of the population. While this decline continued over
11454-625: The establishment of a statutory responsibility to provide housing for the homeless, universal Child Benefit , the nationalisation of shipbuilding , abolishing pay beds in NHS hospitals , and housing security for agricultural workers, before the government fell in a vote of no confidence by a single vote. Whilst Leader of the Commons, Foot simultaneously held the post of Lord President of the Council . In 1975, Foot, along with Jennie Lee and others, courted controversy when they supported Indira Gandhi ,
11592-491: The following decades, the language did not die out. The smallest number of speakers was recorded in 1981 with 503,000 although the lowest percentage was recorded in the most recent census in 2021 at 17.8 per cent. By the start of the 21st century, numbers began to increase once more, at least partly as a result of the increase in Welsh-medium education . The 2004 Welsh Language Use Survey showed that 21.7 per cent of
11730-472: The headline "KGB: Michael Foot was our agent", stated in an article of 19 February that the Soviet intelligence services regarded Foot as an "agent of influence" (and a "useful idiot"), codenamed "Agent BOOT", and that he was in the pay of the KGB for many years. Crucially, the newspaper used material from the original manuscript of the book that mentioned Foot by name, something excluded from the published book. At
11868-469: The highest number of native speakers who use the language on a daily basis, and it is the Celtic language which is considered the least endangered by UNESCO . The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provide that the Welsh and English languages be treated equally in the public sector, as far as is reasonable and practicable. Each public body is required to prepare for approval
12006-476: The highest percentage of residents giving Welsh as their main language. The census also revealed that 3,528 wards in England, or 46% of the total number, contained at least one resident whose main language is Welsh. In terms of the regions of England , North West England (1,945), London (1,310) and the West Midlands (1,265) had the highest number of people noting Welsh as their main language. According to
12144-456: The history of Welsh, with rather indistinct boundaries: Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. The period immediately following the language's emergence is sometimes referred to as Primitive Welsh, followed by the Old Welsh period – which is generally considered to stretch from the beginning of the 9th century to sometime during the 12th century. The Middle Welsh period
12282-595: The language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns. Janet Davies proposed that the origins of the Welsh language were much less definite; in The Welsh Language: A History , she proposes that Welsh may have been around even earlier than 600 AD. This is evidenced by the dropping of final syllables from Brittonic: * bardos 'poet' became bardd , and * abona 'river' became afon . Though both Davies and Jackson cite minor changes in syllable structure and sounds as evidence for
12420-562: The language, its speakers and for the nation." The measure was not welcomed warmly by all supporters: Bethan Williams, chairman of the Welsh Language Society, gave a mixed response to the move, saying, "Through this measure we have won official status for the language and that has been warmly welcomed. But there was a core principle missing in the law passed by the Assembly before Christmas. It doesn't give language rights to
12558-555: The language. As Germanic and Gaelic colonisation of Britain proceeded, the Brittonic speakers in Wales were split off from those in northern England, speaking Cumbric, and those in the southwest, speaking what would become Cornish , so the languages diverged. Both the works of Aneirin ( Canu Aneirin , c. 600 ) and the Book of Taliesin ( Canu Taliesin ) were written during this era. Middle Welsh ( Cymraeg Canol )
12696-492: The left wing of the Labour Party for most of his career, Foot was an ardent supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and of British withdrawal from the European Economic Community (EEC). He was appointed to Harold Wilson 's Cabinet as Employment Secretary in 1974, and he later was Leader of the House of Commons from 1976 to 1979 under James Callaghan . He was also Deputy Leader of
12834-554: The lift has also been questioned on health grounds, although there is good justification for this on disability access grounds and also encouraging movement between levels as part of encouraging development. Vandalism a week after opening caused it to close temporarily. In April 2023 it was announced that the cableway was to close. This decision was reversed when the council obtained funding from undisclosed sources. Welsh language Welsh ( Cymraeg [kəmˈraːiɡ] or y Gymraeg [ə ɡəmˈraːiɡ] )
12972-740: The major part in the government's efforts to maintain the trade unions' support. He was also responsible for the Health and Safety at Work Act , as well as the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act that repealed the Heath ministry 's trade union reforms , and the Employment Protection Act , which introduced legal protections against being sacked for becoming pregnant and legislated for maternity pay. His time as Employment Secretary also saw Acas adopt its current name and modern form as
13110-407: The mass unemployment that followed Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher 's monetarist economic policies to reduce inflation. Most other newspapers urged their readers to vote Conservative. The Labour Party, led by Foot, lost to the Conservatives in a landslide – a result that had been widely predicted by the opinion polls since the previous summer. The only consolation for Foot and Labour
13248-412: The medium of television , while Foot addressed public meetings around the country, and made some radio broadcasts, in the same manner as Clement Attlee did in 1945. The Daily Mirror was the only major newspaper to back Foot and the Labour Party at the 1983 general election, urging its readers to vote Labour and "Stop the waste of our nation, for your job your children and your future" in response to
13386-622: The modern period across the border in England. Archenfield was still Welsh enough in the time of Elizabeth I for the Bishop of Hereford to be made responsible, together with the four Welsh bishops, for the translation of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer into Welsh. Welsh was still commonly spoken there in the first half of the 19th century, and churchwardens' notices were put up in both Welsh and English until about 1860. Alexander John Ellis in
13524-485: The next 18 months before he resigned. Foot was elected Labour leader on 10 November 1980, beating Denis Healey in the second round of the leadership election (the last leadership contest to involve only Labour MPs). Foot presented himself as a compromise candidate, capable – unlike Healey – of uniting the party, which at the time was riven by the grassroots left-wing insurgency centred around Tony Benn . The Bennites were demanding revenge for what they considered to be
13662-538: The next opposition. Through late 1982 and early 1983, there was constant speculation that Labour MPs would replace Foot with Healey as leader. Such speculation increased after Labour lost the 1983 Bermondsey by-election , in which Peter Tatchell was Labour candidate, standing against a Conservative, a Liberal (eventual winner Simon Hughes ) and John O'Grady, who had declared himself the Real Bermondsey Labour candidate. Critically, Labour held on in
13800-707: The novelist in a fatwā , and took a strongly pro-interventionist position against Serbia and Montenegro during the Yugoslav Wars , supporting NATO forces whilst citing defence of civilian populations in Croatia and Bosnia . In addition, he was among the Patrons of the British-Croatian Society. The Guardian ' s political editor Michael White criticised Foot's "overgenerous" support for Croatian President Franjo Tuđman . Foot remained
13938-448: The number of Welsh-language speakers to one million by 2050. Since 1980, the number of children attending Welsh-medium schools has increased, while the number going to Welsh bilingual and dual-medium schools has decreased. Welsh is considered the least endangered Celtic language by UNESCO . The language of the Welsh developed from the language of Britons . The emergence of Welsh was not instantaneous and clearly identifiable. Instead,
14076-559: The old industries, and by July of that year the final works closed. Today there are no steelworks or mines left in the area. Ebbw Vale is still recognised for its innovation and contribution to the development of Britain as an industrial nation. Largely as a result of the decline of the mining and steel industries, Ebbw Vale had one of the highest unemployment rates in the United Kingdom, but has been recovering. There are several industrial estates with some significant manufacturing facilities. In 2003, work began on demolishing and redeveloping
14214-620: The outset to be Labour's choice of new leader. Foot took a back seat in Labour politics following 1983 and retired from the House of Commons at the 1992 general election , when Labour lost to the Conservative Party (led by John Major ) for the fourth election in succession, but remained politically active. From 1987 to 1992, he was the oldest sitting British MP (preceding former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath ). He defended Salman Rushdie , after Ayatollah Khomeini advocated killing
14352-577: The party by Militant . Oleg Gordievsky , a high-ranking KGB officer who defected from the Soviet Union to the UK in 1985, made allegations against Foot in his 1995 memoirs. Essentially, the allegations claimed that, up until 1968, Foot had spoken to KGB agents "dozens of times", passing information about politics and the trade unions, and Foot had been paid a total of around £1,500 for his information (said to be worth £37,000 in 2018). The Sunday Times , which serialised Gordievsky's book under
14490-495: The party obtained its lowest share of the vote in 65 years and the fewest parliamentary seats since 1935 , which remained the case until Labour's defeat at the 2019 general election . He resigned the party leadership following the election, and was succeeded as party leader by Neil Kinnock . Foot was born in Lipson Terrace, Plymouth , Devon, the fourth son and fifth of seven children of Isaac Foot (1880–1960) and of
14628-473: The people of Wales in every aspect of their lives. Despite that, an amendment to that effect was supported by 18 Assembly Members from three different parties, and that was a significant step forward." On 5 October 2011, Meri Huws , Chair of the Welsh Language Board , was appointed the new Welsh Language Commissioner. She released a statement that she was "delighted" to have been appointed to
14766-551: The people of the Western Roman Empire . In Old English the term went through semantic narrowing , coming to refer to either Britons in particular or, in some contexts, slaves. The plural form Wēalas evolved into the name for their territory, Wales. The modern names for various Romance-speaking people in Continental Europe (e.g. Walloons , Valaisans , Vlachs / Wallachians , and Włosi ,
14904-436: The population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills. Other estimates suggest that 862,700 people (28.0%) aged three or older in Wales could speak Welsh in March 2024. Almost half of all Welsh speakers consider themselves fluent, while 20 per cent are able to speak a fair amount. 56 per cent of Welsh speakers speak the language daily, and 19 per cent speak the language weekly. The Welsh Government plans to increase
15042-471: The population not being able to speak it. The National Survey for Wales, conducted by Welsh Government, has also tended to report a higher percentage of Welsh speakers than the census, with the most recent results for 2022–2023 suggesting that 18 per cent of the population aged 3 and over were able to speak Welsh, with an additional 16 per cent noting that they had some Welsh-speaking ability. Historically, large numbers of Welsh people spoke only Welsh. Over
15180-502: The population of Wales aged 3 and over, were able to speak the language. Children and young people aged three to 15 years old were more likely to report that they could speak Welsh than any other age group (48.4 per cent, 241,300). Around 1,001,500 people, or 32.5 per cent, reported that they could understand spoken Welsh. 24.7 per cent (759,200) could read and 22.2 per cent (684,500) could write in Welsh. The APS estimates of Welsh language ability are historically higher than those produced by
15318-407: The population of Wales spoke Welsh, compared with 20.8 per cent in the 2001 census , and 18.5 per cent in the 1991 census . Since 2001, however, the number of Welsh speakers has declined in both the 2011 and 2021 censuses to about 538,300 or 17.8 per cent in 2021, lower than 1991, although it is still higher in absolute terms. The 2011 census also showed a "big drop" in the number of speakers in
15456-411: The potential for a claimed 6,000 new jobs (although other estimates put it at 3,300) the scheme had strong support from some local and national government, although as of 2019 the project has been cancelled indefinitely due to doubts over the financial viability of the project and plans. South East Wales does not generally have a high incidence of Welsh speakers in the population. That was not always
15594-476: The press. Foot fought the Plymouth Devonport constituency in the 1945 general election . His election agent was Labour activist and lifelong friend Ron Lemin. He won the seat for Labour for the first time, holding it until his surprise defeat by Dame Joan Vickers at the 1955 general election . Until 1957, he was the most prominent ally of Aneurin Bevan , who had taken Cripps's place as leader of
15732-542: The required fresh approach to this new role." Huws started her role as the Welsh Language Commissioner on 1 April 2012. Local councils and the Senedd use Welsh, issuing Welsh versions of their literature, to varying degrees. Road signs in Wales are in Welsh and English. Prior to 2016, the choice of which language to display first was the responsibility of the local council. Since then, as part of
15870-651: The shift occurred over a long period, with some historians claiming that it had happened by as late as the 9th century , with a watershed moment being that proposed by linguist Kenneth H. Jackson , the Battle of Dyrham , a military battle between the West Saxons and the Britons in 577 AD, which split the South Western British from direct overland contact with the Welsh. Four periods are identified in
16008-438: The shirt number 90. This made him the oldest registered professional player in the history of football. Foot was married to the film-maker, author and feminist historian Jill Craigie (1911–1999) from 1949 until her death fifty years later. He had no children. In February 2007, it was revealed that Foot had an extramarital affair with a woman around 35 years his junior in the early 1970s. The affair, which lasted nearly
16146-632: The site has been considerably redeveloped, with new housing, some light industry, and the Festival Park Branded Outlet, a retail outlet comprising approximately forty shops. However, by 2021, the shopping park had fallen into disuse and, in August 2021, it was sold to a real estate and investment company which planned to redevelop the site into a "mixed use business centre". The last store closed in early 2022. The Ebbw Vale Steelworks site known as "The Works" has been re-developed with
16284-628: The so-called "Gang of Four") left Labour and formed the Social Democratic Party , which was launched on 26 March 1981. This was largely seen as the consequence of the Labour Party's swing to the left, polarising divisions in an already divided party. The SDP won the support of large sections of the British media . For most of 1981 and early 1982, its opinion poll ratings suggested that the SDP could at least overtake Labour and possibly win
16422-543: The steelworks site. By 2015, the site was completely changed, with a new hospital, college campus, school and leisure centre. Ebbw Vale first hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1958. The Welsh language was dominant in the area until the last quarter of the 19th century and remnants of the language (Welsh hymns and pockets of Welsh being spoken in nearby Rhymney ) persisted into the 1970s. The National Eisteddfod returned to Ebbw Vale in 2010. Aneurin Bevan ,
16560-410: The then- European Economic Community . Gerald Kaufman , once Harold Wilson 's press officer and during the 1980s a prominent figure on the Labour right-wing, described the 1983 Labour manifesto as " the longest suicide note in history ." As a statement on internal democracy, Foot passed the edict that the manifesto would consist of all resolutions arrived at conference. The party also failed to master
16698-874: The time a leading article in The Independent newspaper asserted: "It seems extraordinary that such an unreliable figure should now be allowed, given the lack of supporting evidence, to damage the reputation of figures such as Mr Foot." In a February 1992 interview, Gordievsky declared that he had no further revelations to make about the Labour Party. Foot successfully sued the Sunday Times , winning "substantial" damages. Following Foot's death, Charles Moore writing in The Daily Telegraph in 2010 gave an account that he said had been provided to him by Gordievsky, containing additional uncorroborated information concerning his allegations. Moore said there
16836-499: The town centre underwent a great deal of improvements, including the addition of a major art work in the form of a 10.5-metre-high clock that cantilevers over the central boulevards. By 2015 an 830 acre motor sport complex and technology park, the Circuit of Wales was in the advance planning stage with commitments from major investors. To be located on moorland to the north of Ebbw Vale it was to host major motor bike racing events. With
16974-526: The use of Welsh in daily life, and standardised spelling. The New Testament was translated by William Salesbury in 1567, and the complete Bible by William Morgan in 1588. Modern Welsh is subdivided into Early Modern Welsh and Late Modern Welsh. Early Modern Welsh ran from the 15th century through to the end of the 16th century, and the Late Modern Welsh period roughly dates from the 16th century onwards. Contemporary Welsh differs greatly from
17112-700: The war, Foot made a speech that was later featured in the documentary TV series The World at War broadcast in February 1974. Foot was speaking in defence of the Daily Mirror , which had criticised the conduct of the war by the Churchill government . He mocked the notion that the Government would make no more territorial demands of other newspapers if they allowed the Mirror to be censored. Foot left
17250-476: Was a British politician who was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983. Foot began his career as a journalist on Tribune and the Evening Standard . He co-wrote the 1940 polemic against appeasement of Hitler , Guilty Men , under a pseudonym. Foot was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1955 and 1960 to 1992 . A passionate orator, and associated with
17388-465: Was already 67 years old and frail. Following the 1979 energy crisis , Britain went into recession in 1980, which was blamed on the Conservative government 's controversial monetarist policy against inflation, which had the effect of increasing unemployment . As a result, Labour had moved ahead of the Conservatives in the opinion polls. Following Foot's election as leader, opinion polls showed
17526-416: Was certainly nothing wrong with his television technique in those days," reflected Anthony Howard shortly after Foot's death. Foot returned to parliament at a by-election in Ebbw Vale , Monmouthshire , in 1960, the seat having been left vacant by Bevan's death. He had the Labour whip withdrawn in March 1961 after rebelling against the Labour leadership over Royal Air Force estimates. He only returned to
17664-622: Was complete by around AD 550, and labelled the period between then and about AD 800 "Primitive Welsh". This Primitive Welsh may have been spoken in both Wales and the Hen Ogledd ('Old North') – the Brittonic-speaking areas of what are now northern England and southern Scotland – and therefore may have been the ancestor of Cumbric as well as Welsh. Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to
17802-405: Was converted to socialism by Oxford University Labour Club president David Lewis , a Canadian Rhodes scholar, and others: "I knew him [at Oxford] when I was a Liberal [and Lewis] played a part in converting me to socialism." Foot joined the Labour Party and first stood for parliament, aged 22, at the 1935 general election , where he contested Monmouth . During the election, Foot criticised
17940-594: Was educated at Plymouth College Preparatory School , Forres School in Swanage , and Leighton Park School in Reading . When he left Forres School, the headmaster sent a letter to his father in which he said "he has been the leading boy in the school in every way". He then went on to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Wadham College, Oxford . Foot was a president of the Oxford Union . He also took part in
18078-575: Was no evidence to show that Foot gave away state secrets. Foot was a passionate supporter of Plymouth Argyle Football Club from his childhood and once remarked that he was not going to die until he had seen them play in the Premier League . He served for several years as a director of the club, seeing two promotions under his tenure. For his 90th birthday, Foot was registered with the Football League as an honorary player and given
18216-518: Was passed and received Royal Assent, thus making the Welsh language an officially recognised language within Wales. The measure: The measure required public bodies and some private companies to provide services in Welsh. The Welsh government's Minister for Heritage at the time, Alun Ffred Jones , said, "The Welsh language is a source of great pride for the people of Wales, whether they speak it or not, and I am delighted that this measure has now become law. I am very proud to have steered legislation through
18354-517: Was probably spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth . During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, thus evolving into Welsh and the other Brittonic languages. It is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Linguist Kenneth H. Jackson has suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern
18492-630: Was set up in early 1937 to support the Unity Campaign, an attempt to secure an anti-fascist united front between Labour and other left-wing parties. The campaign's members were Stafford Cripps 's (Labour-affiliated) Socialist League , the Independent Labour Party and the Communist Party of Great Britain (CP). Foot resigned in 1938 after the paper's first editor, William Mellor , was sacked for refusing to adopt
18630-566: Was that they did not lose their place in opposition to the SDP–Liberal Alliance , who came close to them in terms of votes but were still a long way behind in terms of seats. Foot was very critical of the Alliance, accusing them of "siphoning" Labour support and enabling the Tories to win more seats. Foot resigned days following the bitter election defeat, and was succeeded as leader on 2 October by Neil Kinnock ; who had been tipped from
18768-482: Was the favourite to pick up most of Crosland's votes. The second ballot saw Short increase his total to 145 votes, while Foot's only rose to 116, giving Short victory by 29 votes. When, in 1974, Labour returned to office under Wilson, Foot became Secretary of State for Employment . According to Ben Pimlott, his appointment was intended to please the left of the party and the Trade Unions. In this role, he played
18906-467: Was the largest in Europe, although it attracted very little attention from German bombers during World War II . By the 1960s, around 14,500 people were employed at the steelworks. The end of the century witnessed a massive collapse of the UK steel industry. A strike in 1980 was followed by closures and redundancies which resulted in the dismantling of many of the old plants. In 2002 only 450 were employed in
19044-688: Was transformed by the Industrial Revolution . Ebbw Vale Iron Works , which later became the Ebbw Vale Steelworks , opened in 1778, followed by the opening of a number of coal mines around 1790. Rails for the Stockton and Darlington Railway were manufactured at Ebbw Vale in 1829. Steel from Ebbw Vale was used to construct the Sydney Harbour Bridge . At its height (1930s—40s), the steelworks in Ebbw Vale
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