The Vermin Club was an organisation of grassroots Conservative Party supporters in Britain in the late 1940s .
172-644: On the evening of 4 July 1948, Aneurin Bevan , the Labour Government 's Minister of Health, addressed the annual Labour rally for the North of England at Belle Vue, Manchester , and described Conservatives as "lower than vermin ". Young Tories, disregarding the "lower than" part, took on the description with ironic self-deprecation and set up the Vermin Club. Members took to wearing vermin badges (a chrome badge featuring
344-542: A miner during his teens where he became involved in local miners' union politics. He was elected head of his Miners' Lodge when aged 19, where he frequently railed against management. He joined the Labour Party and attended Central Labour College in London. On his return to South Wales he struggled to find work, remaining unemployed for nearly three years before gaining employment as a union official, which led to him becoming
516-419: A Labour dominance of Welsh politics that continued into the 21st century. After economic growth in the first two decades of the 20th century, Wales's staple industries endured a prolonged slump from the early 1920s to the late 1930s, leading to widespread unemployment and poverty. For the first time in centuries, the population of Wales went into decline; unemployment reduced only with the production demands of
688-421: A Welsh constituency at Westminster. Yet by 1906, industrial dissension and political militancy had begun to undermine Liberal consensus in the southern coalfields. In 1916, David Lloyd George became the first Welshman to become Prime Minister of Britain. In December 1918, Lloyd George was re-elected as the head of a Conservative-dominated coalition government, and his poor handling of the 1919 coal miners' strike
860-472: A bid to become deputy leader, losing out to Jim Griffiths . He instead stood again for the role of party treasurer and was duly elected, beating George Brown . Despite Bevan's criticism of the new party leader, Gaitskell decided to appoint him as Shadow Colonial Secretary, and then Shadow Foreign Secretary in 1956. Bevan was as critical of Nasserist Egypt 's seizure of the Suez Canal on 26 July 1956 as he
1032-471: A butcher's boy at a local store. He worked at the butcher's for several months before leaving school, instead working in the local Ty-Trist Colliery . There he earned around ten shillings per week with most going to his parents to help support the family. He began attending fortnightly meetings of the local Plebs' League where he studied, among other things, Marxism . Bevan also joined the Tredegar branch of
1204-569: A deep burning hatred for the Tory Party that inflicted those bitter experiences on me. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin. They condemned millions of first-class people to semi-starvation." The comment inspired the creation of the Vermin Club by angry Conservatives, who attacked Bevan for years for the metaphor. Labour Party deputy leader Herbert Morrison complained that Bevan's attack had backfired, for his words "did much more to make
1376-402: A disagreement with the site's deputy manager over Bevan reporting information to the miner's inspector. The pair went to work at Whitworth Colliery, but fell foul of management when Bevan refused to use cheaper second-hand timber as he deemed it unsafe. He was later fired for refusing to unload, and successfully challenged the motion but was moved to Pochin, generally considered a punishment due to
1548-710: A feat with neither precedent nor successor." Owain Gwynedd (1100–1170) of the Aberffraw line was the first Welsh ruler to use the title princeps Wallensium (prince of the Welsh), a title of substance given his victory on the Berwyn range , according to Davies. During this time, between 1053 and 1063, Wales lacked any internal strife and was at peace. Within four years of the Battle of Hastings (1066), England had been completely subjugated by
1720-567: A harsh critic of those he felt opposed the working man and woman. His targets included the Conservative Winston Churchill and the Liberal David Lloyd George , as well as Ramsay MacDonald and Margaret Bondfield from his own Labour party (he targeted the latter for her unwillingness to increase unemployment benefits). He had solid support from his constituency, being one of the few Labour MPs to be unopposed in
1892-456: A highly critical right-wing Labour MP Anthony Crosland . According to The Times Literary Supplement , the book was a " dithyramb with meanderings into the many side-tracks of Mr Bevan's private and public experience". In the opening page of the book, Bevan begins: "A young miner in a South Wales colliery, my concern was with the one practical question: Where does power lie in this particular state of Great Britain, and how can it be attained by
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#17328513864062064-488: A landslide victory for the Labour Party, giving it a large enough majority to allow the implementation of the party's manifesto commitments and to introduce a programme of far-reaching social reforms, that were collectively dubbed the " Welfare State ". These reforms were achieved in the face of great financial difficulty following the war. The new Prime Minister, Clement Attlee , appointed Bevan as Minister of Health, with
2236-666: A leader, he was cut out to be a prophet". In April 1954, Bevan resigned from the Shadow Cabinet, having been rebuked by Attlee after accusing the Labour leader of surrendering to American pressure over a proposed multi-national defence organisation in Asia and the Pacific . He later said that he had resigned his position to "call attention to the fact that their movement was in grave crisis", and stated his belief that he would have been party chairman by
2408-617: A leading figure in the 1926 general strike . In 1928, Bevan won a seat on Monmouthshire County Council and he was elected as the MP for Ebbw Vale the following year. He served as an MP for 31 years. In Parliament, he became a vocal critic of numerous other politicians from all parties, particularly Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George . After the war, Bevan was chosen as the Minister of Health in Clement Attlee 's new Labour government, becoming
2580-441: A left-wing group within the party became known as " Bevanites ". Attlee and Labour were ousted from power in a snap election held six months after Bevan's resignation, but Attlee continued on as Labour Party Leader. When Attlee retired from the leadership in 1955, Bevan unsuccessfully contested the party leadership with Hugh Gaitskell , but was appointed Shadow Colonial Secretary and later Shadow Foreign Secretary . In 1959, he
2752-669: A legal unit in its own right, although it remains part of the single jurisdiction of England and Wales . The Senedd has the authority to draft and approve laws outside of the UK Parliamentary system to meet the specific needs of Wales. Under powers approved by a referendum held in March 2011, it is empowered to pass primary legislation, at the time referred to as an Act of the National Assembly for Wales but now known as an Act of Senedd Cymru in relation to twenty subjects listed in
2924-506: A letter to the government on behalf of the Mosley group, raising concerns over its "failure to deal with unemployment". Mosley broke from the Labour Party in early 1931 to form the New Party , but Bevan refused to defect and instead announced that he had no intention of leaving the Labour Party. By 1932, Mosley's New Party had migrated from the left over to the far-right of British politics and
3096-437: A majority of new homes built after the war. The aim was to create new homes and communities with a place for all sections of society : We should try to introduce in our modern villages and towns what was always the lovely feature of English and Welsh villages, where the doctor, the grocer, the butcher and the farm labourer all lived in the same street. I believe that is essential for the full life of citizen ... to see
3268-548: A member of a government that imposed charges on the National Health Service. The Labour MP David Marquand has stated that the savings were introduced by Gaitskell simply to "impose his will" upon Bevan who he saw as a political rival. Bevan resigned from his position two weeks later, stating both the proposed changes and the increase in military expenditure that necessitated the need for such proposals. Two other ministers, John Freeman and Harold Wilson , resigned at
3440-438: A rat and the word VERMIN). A whole hierarchy was established, so that those who recruited ten new party members wore badges identifying them as vile vermin ; those who recruited twenty five were very vile vermin . Margaret Thatcher was an early member of the group and rose through the ranks to become a "Chief Rat". The club boasted a membership of between 105,000 and 120,000 at its height. This activism -related article
3612-505: A remit that also covered housing. Thus, the responsibility for instituting a new and comprehensive National Health Service , as well as tackling the country's severe post-war housing shortage, was given to Bevan, the youngest member of Attlee's Cabinet in his first ministerial position at the age of 47. Although described in The Times as "an outstanding back-bench critic" and "one of (Labour's) most brilliant members in debate", his appointment
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#17328513864063784-458: A series of castles: Beaumaris , Caernarfon , Harlech and Conwy . His son, the future Edward II , was born at Caernarfon in 1284. He became the first English prince of Wales in 1301, which at the time provided an income from northwest Wales known as the Principality of Wales . After the failed revolt in 1294–1295 of Madog ap Llywelyn – who styled himself Prince of Wales in
3956-505: A severe stammer as a child and, according to his younger sister Myfanwy, became "a lonely chap", due to the need to shy away from the attention it brought him. His father died by pneumoconiosis (a lung condition caused by long term inhalation of coal dust ) but no compensation was paid to him, as it was not classed as an industrial disease under the Workmen's Compensation Act . At the age of 13, in his last months of schooling, he worked as
4128-600: A system of government with a separate executive, the Welsh Government, drawn from and accountable to the legislature, the National Assembly. Following a successful referendum in 2011, the National Assembly was empowered to make laws, known as Acts of the Assembly, on all matters in devolved subject areas, without requiring the UK Parliament's approval of legislative competence. It also gained powers to raise taxes. In May 2020,
4300-525: A uniform standard of consultant led care and expertise throughout the country and to replace the patchwork of voluntary and municipal hospitals which existed at that point. The latter – sale and purchase of goodwill – often placed new entrants to the GP profession under large amounts of debt. Along with this, the Medical Practices Committee was to oversee the distribution of GP practices – a proposal which
4472-519: A varying degree and (since 2011) Welsh is the only official ( de jure ) language in any part of Great Britain. Wales is a country that is part of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom. ISO 3166-2:GB formerly defined Wales as a principality, with England and Scotland defined as countries and Northern Ireland as a province. However, this definition was raised in the Welsh Assembly in 2010 and
4644-571: A victory for the Celtic Britons at Badon Hill against the Saxons, which was attributed to Arthur by Nennius . Having lost much of what is now the West Midlands to Mercia in the 6th and early 7th centuries, a resurgent late-7th-century Powys checked Mercian advances. Æthelbald of Mercia , looking to defend recently acquired lands, had built Wat's Dyke . According to Davies, this had been with
4816-526: A week was paid by the members of the local Miners' Lodge. His new job arrived in time for him to head the local miners against the colliery companies during the General Strike . When the strike started on 3 May 1926, Bevan soon emerged as one of the leaders of the South Wales miners. The miners remained on strike for six months. Bevan was largely responsible for the distribution of strike pay in Tredegar and
4988-596: A well-known local orator and was seen by his employers, the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company , as a troublemaker. The manager of the colliery found an excuse to get him dismissed . With the support of the Miners' Federation, the case was judged as one of victimisation and the company was forced to re-employ him. He and his brother Billy did eventually leave Ty-Tryst and worked at the Bedwellty pit, but were forced to move again after
5160-590: Is Cymry , and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales. These words (both of which are pronounced [ˈkəm.rɨ] ) are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi , meaning "fellow-countrymen", and probably came into use before the 7th century. In literature, they could be spelt Kymry or Cymry , regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of these names, Cambrian , Cambric and Cambria , survive as names such as
5332-529: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about an organisation in the United Kingdom is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Aneurin Bevan Aneurin " Nye " Bevan PC ( / ə ˈ n aɪ r ɪ n ˈ b ɛ v ən / ; Welsh: [aˈnəɨ.rɪn] ; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, noted for spearheading
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5504-510: Is a generally mountainous country on the western side of central southern Great Britain. It is about 170 miles (270 km) north to south. The oft-quoted " size of Wales " is about 20,779 km (8,023 sq mi). Wales is bordered by England to the east and by sea in all other directions: the Irish Sea to the north and west, St George's Channel and the Celtic Sea to the southwest and
5676-480: Is coal mining which became the industry synonymous with Wales and its people. Initially, coal seams were exploited to provide energy for local metal industries but, with the opening of canal systems and later the railways, Welsh coal mining saw an explosion in demand. As the South Wales Coalfield was exploited, Cardiff, Swansea, Penarth and Barry grew as world exporters of coal. By its height in 1913, Wales
5848-457: Is described as a country rather than a principality.' In the House of Commons – the 650-member lower house of the UK Parliament – there are 32 members of Parliament (MPs) who represent Welsh constituencies . At the 2024 general election , 27 Labour and Labour Co-op MPs were elected, along with 4 Plaid Cymru MPs and 1 Liberal Democrat MP from Wales. The Wales Office is a department of
6020-447: Is largely livestock-based, making Wales a net exporter of animal produce, contributing towards national agricultural self-sufficiency . Both Welsh and English are official languages . A majority of the population of Wales speaks English. Welsh is the dominant language in parts of the north and west , with a total of 538,300 Welsh speakers across the entire country. Wales has four UNESCO world heritage sites , of which three are in
6192-399: Is pure Socialism and as such it is opposed to the hedonism of capitalist society. Conservative opposition of the National Health Service scheme feared that the sudden access to free health care would be overrun. In its early stages this proved true, as the service went vastly over budget in its inaugural year, and Attlee was forced to make a radio address to the nation in an attempt to limit
6364-506: The Aberffraw dynasty from Gwynedd and Powys and then codified Welsh law in the 940s. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was the only ruler to unite all of Wales under his rule, described by one chronicler after his death as king of Wales . In 1055 Gruffydd ap Llywelyn killed his rival Gruffydd ap Rhydderch in battle and recaptured Deheubarth . Originally king of Gwynedd, by 1057 he was ruler of Wales and had annexed parts of England around
6536-612: The 1931 General Election , and this support grew through the 1930s and the period of the Great Depression . Soon after Bevan entered Parliament, he was briefly attracted to Smethwick Labour MP Oswald Mosley 's arguments, becoming one of the 17 signatories of the Mosley Memorandum in the context of the MacDonald government's repeated economic crises, including the doubling of unemployment levels . In January 1931, Bevan wrote
6708-630: The Battle of the Ebro , and he is a sergeant." Dunbar had been recommended for a commission, but rejected it himself to remain with his unit. Bevan was subject to further disciplinary action in 1944, when he deliberately voted against Labour's stance on new defence regulations. He also voiced criticism of trade union leaders, which drew complaints from both the Miners' Federation and the Trades Union Congress . An administrative committee voted 71 to 60 in favour of retaining Bevan as an MP, although it
6880-466: The Bedwellty Colliery, closed down ten months later. Bevan then endured another year of unemployment, the family surviving on his sister's wages, when his unemployment benefit was stopped due to her income, and his father's sick pay. In February 1925, his father died of pneumoconiosis , an illness caused by the inhalation of coal dust. In 1926 he found work as a paid union official. His wage of £5
7052-528: The Cambrian Mountains and the Cambrian geological period. Wales has been inhabited by modern humans for at least 29,000 years. Continuous human habitation dates from the end of the last ice age , between 12,000 and 10,000 years before present (BP) , when Mesolithic hunter-gatherers from Central Europe began to migrate to Great Britain. At that time, sea levels were much lower than today. Wales
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7224-648: The Fifteen Tribes of Wales . The 400-year period following the collapse of Roman rule is the most difficult to interpret in the history of Wales. After the Roman departure in AD 410, much of the lowlands of Britain to the east and south-east was overrun by various Germanic peoples , commonly known as Anglo-Saxons. Some have theorized that the cultural dominance of the Anglo-Saxons was due to apartheid-like social conditions in which
7396-759: The Government of Wales Act 2006 such as health and education. Through this primary legislation, the Welsh Government can then also enact more specific subordinate legislation . Wales is served by four regional police forces: Dyfed-Powys Police , Gwent Police , North Wales Police , and South Wales Police . There are five prisons in Wales : four in the southern half of the country, and one in Wrexham . Wales has no women's prisons: female inmates are imprisoned in England. Wales
7568-548: The Normans . William I of England established a series of lordships, allocated to his most powerful warriors, along the Welsh border, their boundaries fixed only to the east (where they met other feudal properties inside England). Starting in the 1070s, these lords began conquering land in southern and eastern Wales, west of the River Wye . The frontier region, and any English-held lordships in Wales, became known as Marchia Wallie ,
7740-544: The Penmachno Document – and the rising of Llywelyn Bren (1316), the last uprising was led by Owain Glyndŵr , against Henry IV of England . In 1404, Owain was crowned prince of Wales in the presence of emissaries from France, Spain (Castille) and Scotland. Glyndŵr went on to hold parliamentary assemblies at several Welsh towns, including a Welsh parliament ( Welsh : senedd ) at Machynlleth . The rebellion
7912-645: The Second World War . The war saw Welsh servicemen and women fight in all major theatres, with some 15,000 of them killed. Bombing raids brought high loss of life as the German Air Force targeted the docks at Swansea , Cardiff and Pembroke . After 1943, 10 per cent of Welsh conscripts aged 18 were sent to work in the coal mines, where there were labour shortages; they became known as Bevin Boys . Pacifist numbers during both World Wars were fairly low, especially in
8084-524: The Second World War . Before entering Parliament, Bevan was involved in miners' union politics and was a leading figure in the 1926 general strike . Bevan is widely regarded as one of the most influential left-wing politicians in British history. Raised in Monmouthshire , in modern day Blaenau Gwent , by a Welsh working-class family, he was the son of a coal miner and left school at 14. Bevan first worked as
8256-544: The South Wales Miners' Federation and became a trade union activist: he was head of his local Miners' Lodge at 19 years of age. He was called up for service during the First World War , and was briefly arrested when his sister Blodwen burnt his conscription papers and he failed to report for duty. Bevan appeared in court but was cleared when he produced confirmation that he suffered from nystagmus . Bevan became
8428-665: The Welsh Marches , in which the Marcher lords were subject to neither English nor Welsh law . The extent of the March varied as the fortunes of the Marcher lords and the Welsh princes ebbed and flowed. Owain Gwynedd 's grandson Llywelyn Fawr (the Great, 1173–1240), received the fealty of other Welsh lords in 1216 at the council at Aberdyfi , becoming in effect the first prince of Wales . His grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffudd secured
8600-636: The Welsh Revolt against English rule in the early 15th century, and briefly re-established an independent Welsh state with its own national parliament ( Welsh : senedd ). In the 16th century the whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 . Distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism , exemplified in
8772-405: The nearby valleys . The eastern region of North Wales has about a sixth of the overall population, with Wrexham being the largest northern city. The remaining parts of Wales are sparsely populated . Since decline of the country's traditional extractive and heavy industries, the public sector , light and service industries, and tourism play major roles in its economy . Agriculture in Wales
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#17328513864068944-437: The north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate . Its capital and largest city is Cardiff . A distinct Welsh culture emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales was briefly united under Gruffydd ap Llywelyn in 1055. After over 200 years of war, the conquest of Wales by King Edward I of England was completed by 1283, though Owain Glyndŵr led
9116-561: The 18th century, lawyers, doctors, estate agents and government officials formed a bourgeoisie with sizeable houses. In the late 18th century, slate quarrying began to expand rapidly, most notably in North Wales. The Penrhyn quarry , opened in 1770 by Richard Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn , was employing 15,000 men by the late 19th century, and along with Dinorwic quarry , it dominated the Welsh slate trade. Although slate quarrying has been described as "the most Welsh of Welsh industries", it
9288-528: The 850,000 homes built in the four years immediately after the war ended was the biggest housing programme ever introduced – Bevan's rate of house-building was exceeded by his Conservative (indirect) successor, Harold Macmillan , who was able to complete some 300,000 new homes a year as Minister for Housing in the 1950s. These numbers were reached by lowering the quality standards originally put forward by Bevan, with council houses featuring gardens being largely dropped in favour of tower blocks and flats. Macmillan
9460-498: The BMA had dubbed him the " Tito of Tonypandy". They threatened to derail the National Health Service scheme before it had even begun, as medical practitioners continued to withhold their support just months before the launch of the service. After eighteen months of ongoing dispute between the Ministry of Health and the BMA, Bevan finally managed to win over the support of the vast majority of
9632-524: The Bedwellty Board of Guardians and offered Bevan advice on overcoming his stammer, stating "if you can't say it, you don't know it". Bevan followed his advice, often practising his speeches to his friends to perfect his speech and wording, and remarked that Conway's words were the "best advice I ever had". The Query club started in 1920 or 1921 and they met in Tredegar. They would collect money weekly for any member who needed it. The club intended to break
9804-700: The Britons were at a disadvantage. By AD 500 the land that would become Wales had divided into a number of kingdoms free from Anglo-Saxon rule. The kingdoms of Gwynedd , Powys , Dyfed , Caredigion , Morgannwg , the Ystrad Tywi , and Gwent emerged as independent Welsh successor states . Archaeological evidence, in the Low Countries and what was to become England, shows early Anglo-Saxon migration to Great Britain reversed between 500 and 550, which concurs with Frankish chronicles. John Davies notes this as consistent with
9976-427: The Celtic languages arrived in Britain around 600 BCE. The Brythonic languages ceased to be spoken in England and were replaced by the English language, a Germanic language which arrived in Wales around the end of the eighth century due to the defeat of the Kingdom of Powys . The Bible translations into Welsh and the Protestant Reformation , which encouraged use of the vernacular in religious services, helped
10148-434: The Commons in support of a motion of censure against the Churchill government. "The Prime Minister must realise that in this country there is a taunt on everyone's lips that if Rommel had been in the British Army he would still have been a sergeant ... There is a man in the British Army who flung 150,000 men across the Ebro in Spain, Michael Dunbar . He is at present a sergeant ... He was Chief of Staff in Spain, he won
10320-407: The Commons on 5 December 1956. Bevan accused the government of a "policy of bankruptcy and despair", stating at the Trafalgar rally: Wales – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the United Kingdom (green) Wales ( Welsh : Cymru [ˈkəmrɨ] ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom . It is bordered by the Irish Sea to
10492-418: The Empire. Further Roman influence came through the spread of Christianity, which gained many followers when Christians were allowed to worship freely; state persecution ceased in the 4th century, as a result of Constantine the Great issuing an edict of toleration in 313. Early historians, including the 6th-century cleric Gildas , have noted 383 as a significant point in Welsh history. In that year,
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#173285138640610664-471: The English Crown, separate from England but under the same monarch. The king ruled directly in two areas: the Statute divided the north and delegated administrative duties to the Justice of Chester and Justiciar of North Wales , and further south in western Wales the King's authority was delegated to the Justiciar of South Wales . The existing royal lordships of Montgomery and Builth Wells remained unchanged. To maintain his dominance, Edward constructed
10836-413: The Foreign Office seem the last place a prudent Prime Minister would think of putting him at any time. His 'vermin' speech still resonated: imagination shuddered at a repetition of that on the international stage." Bevan was instead appointed Minister of Labour in January 1951 in place of George Isaacs . The move was seen by some as a sideways or backwards step, although a potential rearmament programme
11008-511: The House respectively. However, Attlee commented that Bevan was "starting with me with a clean sheet" following his appointment. Bevan tested this newfound solidarity early on by arriving to a royal banquet at St James's Palace wearing a navy lounge suit. He earned a rebuke from Attlee, but Bevan contended that his Welsh mining constituency did not send him to Parliament to "dress up", and he declined to wear formal attire at further Buckingham Palace functions. The free National Health Service
11180-424: The Labour Party should refrain from giving Adolf Hitler the impression that Britain was divided, Bevan rejected this as sinister: The fear of Hitler is to be used to frighten the workers of Britain into silence. In short Hitler is to rule Britain by proxy. If we accept the contention that the common enemy is Hitler and not the British capitalist class, then certainly Churchill is right. But it means abandonment of
11352-431: The Labour Party, including even anti-fascist Tories. When the government introduced voluntary national service in December 1938, Bevan argued that Labour should demand the nationalisation of the armaments industry, support the democratic government of Spain and sign an Anglo - Soviet pact in return for its support. When Labour supported the government's scheme with no such conditions, Bevan denounced Labour for imploring
11524-596: The Labour leadership's approach was partly based on his view that the leadership of the Labour Party was not demanding assurances from the Government on its foreign policy as a price for the party's support for re-armament as expressed in his speech to the Bournemouth Conference of that year: ...we should say to the country we are prepared to make whatever sacrifices are necessary, to give whatever arms are necessary to fight Fascist powers and in order to consolidate world peace... The Labour conference voted to drop its opposition to rearmament. When Winston Churchill said that
11696-572: The Late Bronze Age as part of a maritime trading-networked culture that included other Celtic nations . This "Atlantic-Celtic" view is opposed by others who hold that the Celtic languages derive their origins from the more easterly Hallstatt culture . By the time of the Roman invasion of Britain the area of modern Wales had been divided among the tribes of the Deceangli (north-east), Ordovices (north-west), Demetae (south-west), Silures (south-east), and Cornovii (east). The Roman conquest of Wales began in AD 48 and took 30 years to complete;
11868-425: The MP for Ebbw Vale. In March 1955, when Britain was preparing for Operation Grapple , the testing of its first hydrogen bomb , Bevan led a revolt of 57 Labour MPs and abstained on a key vote. The Parliamentary Labour Party voted 141 to 113 to withdraw the whip from him, but it was restored within a month, due to his popularity. After the 1955 general election , Attlee retired as Labour leader. Bevan contested
12040-469: The National Assembly for Wales) in 1998, responsible for a range of devolved policy matters . At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution , development of the mining and metallurgical industries transformed the country from an agricultural society into an industrial one; the South Wales Coalfield 's exploitation caused a rapid expansion of Wales's population. Two-thirds of the population live in South Wales , including Cardiff, Swansea , Newport , and
12212-403: The National Assembly was renamed "Senedd Cymru" or "the Welsh Parliament", commonly known as the Senedd in both English and Welsh. Devolved areas of responsibility include agriculture, economic development, education, health, housing, local government, social services, tourism, transport and the Welsh language. The Welsh Government also promotes Welsh interests abroad. By tradition, Welsh Law
12384-599: The Norsemen occupying Northumbria to conquer the north. This alliance later broke down and Anarawd came to an agreement with Alfred , king of Wessex , with whom he fought against the west Welsh. According to Annales Cambriae , in 894, "Anarawd came with the Angles and laid waste to Ceredigion and Ystrad Tywi ." The southern and eastern parts of Great Britain lost to English settlement became known in Welsh as Lloegyr (Modern Welsh Lloegr ), which may have referred to
12556-600: The Party". He strongly criticised the National Government 's rearmament plans in the face of the rise of Nazi Germany , saying to the Labour conference in autumn 1937: If the immediate international situation is used as an excuse to get us to drop our opposition to the rearmament programme of the Government, the next phase must be that we must desist from any industrial or political action that may disturb national unity in
12728-645: The Roman general Magnus Maximus , or Macsen Wledig, stripped Britain of troops to launch a successful bid for imperial power, continuing to rule Britain from Gaul as emperor, and transferring power to local leaders. The earliest Welsh genealogies cite Maximus as the founder of several royal dynasties, and as the father of the Welsh Nation. He is given as the ancestor of a Welsh king on the Pillar of Eliseg , erected nearly 500 years after he left Britain, and he figures in lists of
12900-489: The Romans, Caerwent , is in south east Wales. Both Caerwent and Carmarthen , also in southern Wales, became Roman civitates . Wales had a rich mineral wealth. The Romans used their engineering technology to extract large amounts of gold, copper, and lead, as well as lesser amounts of zinc and silver. No significant industries were located in Wales in this time; this was largely a matter of circumstance as Wales had none of
13072-535: The Second World War, which was seen as a fight against fascism . Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925, seeking greater autonomy or independence from the rest of the UK. The term " England and Wales " became common for describing the area to which English law applied, and in 1955 Cardiff was proclaimed as Wales's capital. Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (The Welsh Language Society) was formed in 1962, in response to fears that
13244-590: The Tories work and vote ... than Conservative Central Office could have done". It was later claimed that his words had cost Labour more than two million votes. In 1951, with the retirement of Ernest Bevin , Bevan was a leading candidate for Foreign Secretary. Prime Minister Attlee rejected Bevan in favour of Herbert Morrison because he distrusted Bevan's personality. In his biography of Bevan, John Campbell wrote: "Bevan's impetuous temperament, undiplomatic tone and reputation as an extreme left-winger combined to make
13416-612: The UK government responsible for Wales, whose minister, the Secretary of State for Wales (Welsh secretary), sits in the UK cabinet . Wales has a devolved , unicameral legislature known as the Senedd (Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament) which holds devolved powers from the UK Parliament via a reserved powers model. For the purposes of local government , Wales has been divided into 22 council areas since 1996. These "principal areas" are responsible for
13588-611: The agreement of king Elisedd ap Gwylog of Powys, as this boundary, extending north from the valley of the River Severn to the Dee estuary, gave him Oswestry . Another theory, after carbon dating placed the dyke's existence 300 years earlier, is that it was built by the post-Roman rulers of Wroxeter . King Offa of Mercia seems to have continued this initiative when he created a larger earthwork, now known as Offa's Dyke ( Clawdd Offa ). Davies wrote of Cyril Fox 's study of Offa's Dyke: "In
13760-517: The beginning of the 1945 general election campaign, Bevan told his audience that his goal was to eliminate any opposition to the Labour programme: "We have been the dreamers, we have been the sufferers, now we are the builders. We enter this campaign at this general election, not merely to get rid of the Tory majority. We want the complete political extinction of the Tory Party, and twenty-five years of Labour Government." The 1945 general election resulted in
13932-413: The border. He ruled Wales with no internal battles. His territories were again divided into the traditional kingdoms. John Davies states that Gruffydd was "the only Welsh king ever to rule over the entire territory of Wales... Thus, from about 1057 until his death in 1063, the whole of Wales recognised the kingship of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn . For about seven brief years, Wales was one, under one ruler,
14104-464: The class struggle and the subservience of the British workers to their own employers. By March 1938, Bevan was writing in Tribune that Churchill's warnings about German intentions for Czechoslovakia were "a diapason of majestic harmony" compared to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain 's "thin, listless trickle". Bevan now called unsuccessfully for a Popular Front against fascism under the leadership of
14276-423: The college and was a brief follower of Noah Ablett , developing his left-wing political outlook. Reciting long passages by William Morris with the help of an elocution tutor, Bevan gradually began to overcome the stammer that he had since childhood. Bevan remained at the college until 1921, attending at a time when a number of his contemporaries from South Wales, including Jim Griffiths , were also students at
14448-413: The college. Some historians have questioned how influential the college was on his political development. He was not, apparently, one of the most diligent students, and found it difficult to follow an organised routine, including arising early for breakfast. Bevan was one of the founding members of the "Query Club" with his brother Billy and Walter Conway . Conway was a local miner who had been elected to
14620-481: The consultants. This is often quoted as "I stuffed their mouths with gold". Some 2,688 voluntary and municipal hospitals in England and Wales were nationalised and came under Bevan's supervisory control as Health Minister. Two of the key elements of Bevan's proposals were this nationalisation of the hospital services and the abolition of the sale and purchase of goodwill by general practitioners. The former aimed to provide
14792-489: The country in 1938. In 1936 he joined the board of the new socialist newspaper Tribune . His agitations for a united socialist front of all parties of the left (including the Communist Party of Great Britain ) led to his expulsion from the Labour Party from March to November 1939 (along with Stafford Cripps , C. P. Trevelyan and three others). Bevan and Cripps had previously been threatened with disciplinary action by
14964-418: The creation of a Welsh assembly with an 80 per cent majority. In 1997, a second referendum on the same issue secured a very narrow majority (50.3 per cent). The National Assembly for Wales ( Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru ) was set up in 1999 (under the Government of Wales Act 1998 ) with the power to determine how Wales's central government budget is spent and administered, although the UK Parliament reserved
15136-477: The creation of the British National Health Service during his tenure as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee 's government. He is also known for his wider contribution to the founding of the British welfare state . He was first elected as MP for Ebbw Vale in 1929, and used his Parliamentary platform to make a number of influential criticisms of Winston Churchill and his government during
15308-742: The day, Bevan attended a ceremony at the Park Hospital, Trafford (now Trafford General), at which he symbolically received the keys to the hospital. The scheme was achieved having overcome political opposition from both the Conservative Party and from within his own party. Confrontation with the British Medical Association (BMA) was led by Charles Hill , who published a letter in the British Medical Journal describing Bevan as "a complete and uncontrolled dictator". Members of
15480-491: The dominant source of wealth. The emerging industrial period saw the development of copper smelting in the Swansea area. With access to local coal deposits and a harbour that connected it with Cornwall's copper mines in the south and the large copper deposits at Parys Mountain on Anglesey, Swansea developed into the world's major centre for non-ferrous metal smelting in the 19th century. The second metal industry to expand in Wales
15652-531: The early 20th century by David Lloyd George , was displaced by the growth of socialism and the Labour Party . Welsh national feeling grew over the century: a nationalist party, Plaid Cymru , was formed in 1925, and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. A governing system of Welsh devolution is employed in Wales, of which the most major step was the formation of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament, formerly
15824-454: The end of the 1960s, the policy of bringing businesses into disadvantaged areas of Wales through financial incentives had proven very successful in diversifying the industrial economy. This policy, begun in 1934, was enhanced by the construction of industrial estates and improvements in transport communications, most notably the M4 motorway linking south Wales directly to London. It was believed that
15996-411: The face of Fascist aggression. Along that road is endless retreat, and at the end of it a voluntary totalitarian state with ourselves erecting the barbed wire around. You cannot collaborate, you cannot accept the logic of collaboration on a first class issue like rearmament, and at the same time evade the implications of collaboration all along the line when the occasion demands it. His opposition to
16168-460: The first written evidence of the use of Cymru and y Cymry is found in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan ( Moliant Cadwallon , by Afan Ferddig ) c. 633 . In Armes Prydein , believed to be written around 930–942, the words Cymry and Cymro are used as often as 15 times. However, from the Anglo-Saxon settlement onwards, the people gradually begin to adopt
16340-400: The flag of left-wing socialism aloft throughout—which gave him a matchless authority amongst the constituency parties and in party conference". Bevan's last decade saw his political position weaken year by year as he failed to find a winning issue that would make use of his skills. In 1952 Bevan published In Place of Fear , "the most widely read socialist book" of the period, according to
16512-669: The following year if he had remained. In July of the same year, Bevan announced his intention to stand for election as the Treasurer of the Labour Party against Hugh Gaitskell . His nomination received a severe blow on the same day it was announced, when two unions that traditionally sided with the left, the National Union of Mineworkers and the Amalgamated Engineering Union , pledged their support for his opponent. Although unsuccessful in his bid, he did celebrate 25 years as
16684-450: The forests to establish pasture and to cultivate the land, developed new technologies such as ceramics and textile production, and built cromlechs such as Pentre Ifan , Bryn Celli Ddu , and Parc Cwm long cairn between about 5,800 BP and 5,500 BP. Over the following centuries they assimilated immigrants and adopted ideas from Bronze Age and Iron Age Celtic cultures. Some historians, such as John T. Koch , consider Wales in
16856-532: The formation of the Council of Action, an organisation that helped to raise money and provide food for the miners. In 1928, Bevan won a seat on Monmouthshire County Council in the Tredegar Central Division. He lost the seat in 1931, but regained it in 1932 before deciding against seeking re-election in 1934. With his success in 1928, he was picked as the Labour Party candidate for Ebbw Vale (displacing
17028-448: The foundations for stable economic growth had been firmly established in Wales during this period, but this was shown to be optimistic after the recession of the early 1980s saw the collapse of much of the manufacturing base that had been built over the preceding forty years. The Welsh Language Act 1967 repealed a section of the Wales and Berwick Act and thus "Wales" was no longer part of
17200-574: The heavy censorship imposed on radio and newspapers and wartime Defence Regulation 18B , which gave the Home Secretary the powers to intern citizens. Bevan called for the nationalisation of the coal industry and advocated the opening of a Second Front in Western Europe to help the Soviet Union in its fight with Germany. In one of his most noted speeches made against Churchill, he railed that
17372-717: The highest court of first instance as well as an appellate court . The three divisions are the Court of Appeal , the High Court of Justice , and the Crown Court . Minor cases are heard by magistrates' courts or the County Court . In 2007 the Wales and Cheshire Region (known as the Wales and Cheshire Circuit before 2005) came to an end when Cheshire was attached to the North-Western England Region. From that point, Wales became
17544-495: The hold that the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company had on the town by becoming members of pivotal groups in the community. Upon returning home in 1921, he found that the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company refused to re-employ him. Bevan ended up in a fist fight with a group of miners who refused to strike over his rejection. Apart from a six-week period as a labourer for Tredegar Council, he did not find work until 1924 and his employer,
17716-472: The increased diversity of the Welsh economy. Population growth however outpaced economic growth and the standard of living dropped. Prior to the Industrial Revolution in Wales , there were small-scale industries scattered throughout Wales. These ranged from those connected to agriculture, such as milling and the manufacture of woollen textiles , through to mining and quarrying. Agriculture remained
17888-573: The intention of recognizing that the River Wye and its traffic belonged to the kingdom of Gwent." However, Fox's interpretations of both the length and purpose of the Dyke have been questioned by more recent research. In 853, the Vikings raided Anglesey , but in 856, Rhodri Mawr defeated and killed their leader, Gorm. The Celtic Britons of Wales made peace with the Vikings and Anarawd ap Rhodri allied with
18060-519: The kingdom of Mercia originally and which came to refer to England as a whole. The Germanic tribes who now dominated these lands were invariably called Saeson , meaning " Saxons ". The Anglo-Saxons called the Romano-British * Walha , meaning 'Romanised foreigner' or 'stranger'. The Welsh continued to call themselves Brythoniaid (Brythons or Britons) well into the Middle Ages , though
18232-508: The language might soon die out. Nationalist sentiment grew following the flooding of the Tryweryn valley in 1965 to create a reservoir to supply water to the English city of Liverpool . Although 35 of the 36 Welsh MPs voted against the bill (one abstained), Parliament passed the bill and the village of Capel Celyn was submerged, highlighting Wales's powerlessness in her own affairs in the face of
18404-419: The language survive after Welsh elites abandoned it in favour of English in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Successive Welsh Language Acts, in 1942, 1967 and 1993 , improved the legal status of Welsh. The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 modernised the 1993 Welsh Language Act and gave Welsh an official status in Wales for the first time, a major landmark for the language. The Measure also created
18576-527: The large number English people living in Wales. After the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 , the National Assembly was renamed " Senedd Cymru " in Welsh and the "Welsh Parliament" in English, which was seen as a better reflection of the body's expanded legislative powers. The Welsh language ( Welsh : Cymraeg ) is an Indo-European language of the Celtic family ; the most closely related languages are Cornish and Breton . Most linguists believe that
18748-500: The law making powers of the National Assembly it is now able to make laws, known as Acts of the Assembly, on all matters in devolved subject areas, without needing the UK Parliament's agreement. In the 2016 referendum , Wales voted in support of leaving the European Union, although demographic differences became evident. According to Danny Dorling , professor of geography at Oxford University, votes for Leave may have been boosted by
18920-510: The leadership against both Morrison and Labour right-winger Gaitskell, but it was Gaitskell who emerged victorious with more than half of the ballots. Bevan's remark that "I know the right kind of political Leader for the Labour Party is a kind of desiccated calculating machine" was assumed to refer to Gaitskell, although Bevan denied it (commenting upon Gaitskell's record as Chancellor of the Exchequer as having "proved" this). Bevan also failed in
19092-507: The legal definition of England. This essentially defined Wales as a separate entity legally (but within the UK), for the first time since before the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 which defined Wales as a part of the Kingdom of England. The Welsh Language Act 1967 also expanded areas where use of Welsh was permitted, including in some legal situations. In a referendum in 1979 , Wales voted against
19264-455: The legal system of England and Wales since 1536. English law is regarded as a common law system, with no major codification of the law and legal precedents are binding as opposed to persuasive. The court system is headed by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom which is the highest court of appeal in the land for criminal and civil cases. The Senior Courts of England and Wales is
19436-462: The living tapestry of a mixed community. Substantial bombing damage, with over 700,000 homes needing repair in London alone, and the continued existence of pre-war slums in many parts of the country made the task of housing reform particularly challenging for Bevan. Indeed, these factors, exacerbated by post-war restrictions on the availability of building materials and skilled labour, collectively served to limit Bevan's achievements in this area. Bevan
19608-583: The male population. Of these, roughly 35,000 were killed, with particularly heavy losses of Welsh forces at Mametz Wood on the Somme and the Battle of Passchendaele . The first quarter of the 20th century also saw a shift in the political landscape of Wales. Since 1865, the Liberal Party had held a parliamentary majority in Wales and, following the general election of 1906 , only one non-Liberal Member of Parliament, Keir Hardie of Merthyr Tydfil , represented
19780-403: The management of health services by local authorities, which proved to be a bedrock of his work in founding the National Health Service. The collective principle asserts that ... no society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means. On the "appointed day", 5 July 1948, Bevan's National Health Service Act 1946 came into force. On
19952-591: The medical profession by offering a couple of minor concessions, including allowing consultants to keep their own private practices and continuing to allow doctors to be paid in capitation fees rather than salaries, but without compromising the fundamental principles of his National Health Service proposals. At a dinner in late 1955 or early 1956 to celebrate the publication of the Guillebaud Report into NHS costs Bevan remarked to Julian Tudor Hart "ultimately I had to stuff their mouths with gold" about his handling of
20124-480: The name Cymry over Brythoniad . From 800 onwards, a series of dynastic marriages led to Rhodri Mawr 's ( r. 844–77) inheritance of Gwynedd and Powys . His sons founded the three dynasties of Aberffraw for Gwynedd , Dinefwr for Deheubarth and Mathrafal for Powys . Rhodri 's grandson Hywel Dda (r. 900–50) founded Deheubarth out of his maternal and paternal inheritances of Dyfed and Seisyllwg in 930, ousted
20296-471: The necessary materials in suitable combination, and the forested, mountainous countryside was not amenable to industrialisation. Latin became the official language of Wales, though the people continued to speak in Brythonic. While Romanisation was far from complete, the upper classes came to consider themselves Roman, particularly after the ruling of 212 that granted Roman citizenship to all free men throughout
20468-512: The next five years, he was the leader of the left wing of the Labour Party, who became known as Bevanites . They criticised the right-wing " Gaitskellites " high defence expenditure (especially for nuclear weapons ), called for better relations with the Soviet Union , and opposed the party leader, Clement Attlee, on most issues. According to Richard Crossman , Bevan hated "the in-fighting which you have to do in politics.... He wasn't cut out to be
20640-521: The north and west, England to the east , the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic Sea to the south-west. As of 2021 , it had a population of 3.2 million. It has a total area of 21,218 square kilometres (8,192 sq mi) and over 2,700 kilometres (1,680 mi) of coastline . It is largely mountainous with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon ( Yr Wyddfa ), its highest summit. The country lies within
20812-510: The north. The English words "Wales" and "Welsh" derive from the same Old English root (singular Wealh , plural Wēalas ), a descendant of Proto-Germanic * Walhaz , which was itself derived from the name of the Gauls known to the Romans as Volcae . This term was later used to refer indiscriminately to inhabitants of the Western Roman Empire . Anglo-Saxons came to use
20984-555: The numerical superiority of English MPs in Parliament. Separatist groupings, such as the Free Wales Army and Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru were formed, conducting campaigns from 1963. Prior to the investiture of Charles in 1969, these groups were responsible for a number of bomb attacks on infrastructure. At a by-election in 1966, Gwynfor Evans won the parliamentary seat of Carmarthen , Plaid Cymru's first Parliamentary seat. By
21156-610: The occupation lasted over 300 years. The campaigns of conquest were opposed by two native tribes: the Silures and the Ordovices . Caractacus or Caradog , leader of the Ordovices, had initial success in resisting Roman invasions of north Wales but was eventually defeated. Roman rule in Wales was a military occupation, save for the southern coastal region of south Wales , where there is a legacy of Romanisation. The only town in Wales founded by
21328-423: The option to live in owner occupation or the private sector if they so chose (with grants made available to owner-occupiers and private landlords to bring dwellings up to decent standards). The removal of the criteria of "working class" from local authority housing provision was seen as a first step, widening access to the council housing that was becoming an ever larger part of the UK housing stock and which made up
21500-462: The party for sharing a stage with a Communist speaker, and all party members were threatened with expulsion if they were associated with the Popular Front. Bevan and another expelled MP, George Strauss , appealed against the decision. Bevan was readmitted to the party on 20 December 1939, after agreeing "to refrain from conducting or taking part in campaigns in opposition to the declared policy of
21672-567: The people on recruiting platforms to put themselves under the leadership of their opponents. The Military Training Act 1939 reintroduced conscription six months later, and Bevan joined the rest of the Labour Party in opposing it, calling it "the complete abandonment of any hope of a successful struggle against the weight of wealth in Great Britain". He emphasised that the government had no arguments to persuade young men to fight "except merely in another squalid attempt to defend themselves against
21844-525: The planning of it, there was a degree of consultation with the kings of Powys and Gwent. On the Long Mountain near Trelystan , the dyke veers to the east, leaving the fertile slopes in the hands of the Welsh; near Rhiwabon , it was designed to ensure that Cadell ap Brochwel retained possession of the Fortress of Penygadden." And, for Gwent, Offa had the dyke built "on the eastern crest of the gorge, clearly with
22016-774: The poor site conditions. 1919 saw the foundation of the Tredegar Labour Party and Bevan was selected as one of four Labour delegates to contest the West Ward in the Tredegar Urban District election. Although he was defeated, he gained attention from his peers and he won a scholarship to the Central Labour College in London, sponsored by the South Wales Miners' Federation. There, he spent two years studying economics, politics and history. He read Marxism at
22188-717: The post of Welsh Language Commissioner , replacing the Welsh Language Board. Following the referendum in 2011, the Official Languages Act became the first Welsh law to be created in 600 years, according to the First Minister at the time, Carwyn Jones . This law was passed by Welsh Assembly members (AMs) only and made Welsh an official language of the National Assembly. Starting in the 1960s, many road signs have been replaced by bilingual versions. Various public and private sector bodies have adopted bilingualism to
22360-555: The previous Coalition Minister had withdrawn after opposition from the British Medical Association. Bevan said: The National Health Service and the Welfare State have come to be used as interchangeable terms, and in the mouths of some people as terms of reproach. Why this is so it is not difficult to understand, if you view everything from the angle of a strictly individualistic competitive society. A free health service
22532-491: The prime minister "wins debate after debate and loses battle after battle". Churchill would later label Bevan "a squalid nuisance". Churchill was a frequent target of Bevan's, who already held a dislike of him following his intervention in the Tonypandy riots and the 1926 United Kingdom general strike which Bevan considered heavy handed. Bevan believed that the key to the war was the involvement of Russia and considered Churchill
22704-518: The provision of all local government services. Following devolution in 1997, the Government of Wales Act 1998 created a Welsh devolved assembly, the National Assembly for Wales , with the power to determine how Wales's central government budget is spent and administered. Eight years later, the Government of Wales Act 2006 reformed the National Assembly for Wales and allowed further powers to be granted to it more easily. The Act also created
22876-471: The recognition of the title Prince of Wales from Henry III with the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267. Subsequent disputes, including the imprisonment of Llywelyn 's wife Eleanor , culminated in the first invasion by King Edward I of England . As a result of military defeat, the Treaty of Aberconwy exacted Llywelyn 's fealty to England in 1277. Peace was short-lived, and, with the 1282 Edwardian conquest ,
23048-514: The redistribution of international swag". In August 1939 came the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , a non-aggression pact between the Nazi and Soviet governments that shocked democratic governments around the world. In Parliament, Bevan argued that this was the logical outcome of the government's foreign policy. He wanted the war to be not just a fight against fascism but a war for socialism. Bevan
23220-406: The right to set limits on its powers. The Government of Wales Act 2006 (c 32) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the National Assembly for Wales and allows further powers to be granted to it more easily. The Act creates a system of government with a separate executive drawn from and accountable to the legislature. Following a successful referendum in 2011 on extending
23392-399: The rule of the Welsh princes permanently ended. With Llywelyn 's death and his brother prince Dafydd 's execution, the few remaining Welsh lords did homage to Edward I of England . The Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 provided the constitutional basis for a post-conquest government of the Principality of North Wales from 1284 until 1535/36. It defined Wales as "annexed and united" to
23564-644: The ruler. Other than in the Marches , where March law was imposed by the Marcher Lords, Welsh Law remained in force in Wales until the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. Edward I of England annexed the Principality of Wales following the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd , and Welsh Law was replaced for criminal cases under the Statute. Marcher Law and Welsh Law (for civil cases) remained in force until Henry VIII of England annexed
23736-465: The same time. Bevan received unanimous support for his actions from his local Labour constituency leaders. Later the same year, the Labour Party were defeated at the general election . After Bevan left the Health ministry in 1951 he could never regain his level of success and feuded with fellow Labour leaders, using his strong political base as a weapon. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says: "Bevan alone kept
23908-423: The sitting MP Evan Davies ), and easily held the seat at the 1929 General Election . Bevan gained more than twice the votes of Liberal candidate William Griffiths, receiving 20,000 votes to Griffiths' 8,000. In keeping with his background, Bevan described his initial thoughts on the House of Commons as a shrine to "the most conservative of all religions – ancestor worship". In Parliament, he became noticed as
24080-536: The story of Cantre'r Gwaelod 's drowning and tales in the Mabinogion , of the waters between Wales and Ireland being narrower and shallower, may be distant folk memories of this time. Neolithic colonists integrated with the indigenous people, gradually changing their lifestyles from a nomadic life of hunting and gathering, to become settled farmers about 6,000 BP – the Neolithic Revolution . They cleared
24252-585: The strain on the system. Bevan countered that the initial overspending was down to years of underinvestment in the British medical system prior to the Second World War: by the start of the 1950s, the early overspending had come to an end. When Bevan was made a minister in 1945, he envisaged the social housing sector as a housing service similar to the National Health Service, ensuring that everyone had access to decent and affordable homes, with people still having
24424-533: The term to refer to the Britons in particular; the plural form Wēalas evolved into the name for their territory, Wales. Historically in Britain , the words were not restricted to modern Wales or to the Welsh but were used to refer to anything that Anglo-Saxons associated with Britons, including other non-Germanic territories in Britain (e.g. Cornwall ) and places in Anglo-Saxon territory associated with Britons (e.g. Walworth in County Durham and Walton in West Yorkshire). The modern Welsh name for themselves
24596-425: The then Counsel General for Wales , John Griffiths , stated, 'Principality is a misnomer and that Wales should properly be referred to as a country.' In 2011, ISO 3166-2:GB was updated and the term 'principality' was replaced with 'country'. UK Government toponymic guidelines state that, 'though there is a Prince of Wales, this role is deemed to be titular rather than exerting executive authority, and therefore Wales
24768-444: The throne of England from Richard III of England in 1485, uniting England and Wales under one royal house. The last remnants of Celtic-tradition Welsh law were abolished and replaced by English law by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 during the reign of Henry VII's son, Henry VIII . In the legal jurisdiction of England and Wales , Wales became unified with the kingdom of England; the " Principality of Wales " began to refer to
24940-444: The whole country, though it remained a "principality" only in a ceremonial sense. The Marcher lordships were abolished, and Wales began electing members of the Westminster parliament. In 1536 Wales had around 278,000 inhabitants, which increased to around 360,000 by 1620. This was primarily due to rural settlement, where animal farming was central to the Welsh economy. Increase in trade and increased economic stability occurred due to
25112-461: The whole of Wales under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 (often referred to as the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1543), after which English law applied to the whole of Wales. The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 provided that all laws that applied to England would automatically apply to Wales (and the Anglo-Scottish border town of Berwick ) unless the law explicitly stated otherwise; this Act was repealed with regard to Wales in 1967. English law has been
25284-411: The workers?" In March 1952, a poorly prepared Bevan came off the worse in an evening Commons debate on health with Conservative backbencher Iain Macleod , whose performance led Churchill to appoint him as Minister of Health some six weeks after the debate. Out of office, Bevan soon exacerbated the split within the Labour Party between the right and the left which weakened the party in the 1950s. For
25456-419: The youngest member of the cabinet at 47, with his remit also including housing. Inspired by the Tredegar Medical Aid Society in his hometown in South Wales , Bevan led the campaign for a National Health Service to provide medical care free at point-of-need across the UK, regardless of wealth. Despite resistance from opposition parties and the British Medical Association , the National Health Service Act 1946
25628-523: Was a Baptist and his mother a Methodist , although he became an atheist. He was converted to socialism by the writings of Robert Blatchford in The Clarion and began attending meetings of the Independent Labour Party following the founding of its branch in Tredegar. It was around this time that he first "reject[ed] his chapel upbringing" and became an atheist. He was a member of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion and wrote his own poems, one of which won an inter-chapel eisteddfod . Aneurin's mother
25800-408: Was a key factor in destroying support for the Liberal party in south Wales. The industrial workers of Wales began shifting towards the Labour Party . When in 1908 the Miners' Federation of Great Britain became affiliated to the Labour Party, the four Labour candidates sponsored by miners were all elected as MPs. By 1922, half the Welsh seats at Westminster were held by Labour politicians—the start of
25972-452: Was also able to concentrate full-time on the housing crisis, instead of being obliged, like Bevan, to combine his housing portfolio with that for Health (which for Bevan took the higher priority: he once stated tongue-in-cheek that he devoted "five minutes a week to housing"). At a party rally in 1948, during a speech, Bevan stated: "That is why no amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart
26144-431: Was also from Tredegar, but had English roots: her grandfather was from Hereford . Bevan's maternal grandfather John was a blacksmith who had moved to Tredegar from Hay-on-Wye to work in the Bedwellty mines. The couple had ten children altogether—six boys and four girls—although four died in infancy and one died at the age of eight. Aneurin Bevan attended Sirhowy Elementary School, where he achieved little. He developed
26316-407: Was also limited due to his desire for new homes to be bigger and of better quality than the ones they were being built to replace, based on the recommendations of a 1943 report by the Dudley Committee, and a shortage of skilled workers to undertake the work. 1946 saw the completion of 55,600 new homes; this rose to 139,600 in 1947 and 227,600 in 1948. While this was not an insignificant achievement –
26488-508: Was announced that party discipline was to be strengthened in future. He believed that the Second World War would give Britain the opportunity to create "a new society". He often quoted an 1855 passage from Karl Marx that was published in The New York Times in 1865: "The redeeming feature of war is that it puts a nation to the test. As exposure to the atmosphere reduces all mummies to instant dissolution, so war passes supreme judgment upon social systems that have outlived their vitality." At
26660-451: Was born in Tredegar but his family had originally hailed from Carmarthenshire , and he followed his own father into the mines, starting work at 5:30am each day and returning home late in the evening. He was adept at construction and added several modern features when the family moved to 7 Charles Street, installing the first gas stove in the street, an inside toilet and running hot water. Both Bevan's parents were Nonconformists : his father
26832-424: Was born on 15 November 1897 at 32 Charles Street in Tredegar , Monmouthshire , a working-class mining town , where an estimated 90 per cent of the town's inhabitants relied on the local mines for employment. The town was situated in the South Wales Valleys and was on the northern edge of the South Wales coalfield . He was the son of coal miner David Bevan and Phoebe ( née Prothero), a seamstress. David Bevan
27004-437: Was compiled during an assembly held at Whitland around 930 by Hywel Dda , king of most of Wales between 942 and his death in 950. The ' law of Hywel Dda ' ( Welsh : Cyfraith Hywel ), as it became known, codified the previously existing folk laws and legal customs that had evolved in Wales over centuries. Welsh Law emphasised the payment of compensation for a crime to the victim, or the victim's kin, rather than punishment by
27176-400: Was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and held the post for a year until his death in 1960 from stomach cancer, at the age of 62. His death led to "an outpouring of national mourning". In 2004, more than 44 years after his death, he was voted first in a list of 100 Welsh Heroes , having been credited for his contribution to the founding of the welfare state in the UK. Aneurin Bevan
27348-442: Was eventually defeated by 1412. Having failed Owain went into hiding and nothing was known of him after 1413. The penal laws against the Welsh of 1401–02 passed by the English parliament made the Welsh second-class citizens. With hopes of independence ended, there were no further wars or rebellions against English colonial rule and the laws remained on the statute books until 1624. Henry Tudor (born in Wales in 1457) seized
27520-454: Was expected to make the post of future importance. During his tenure, Bevan helped to secure a deal for railwaymen which provided them with a significant pay increase. However, three months after his appointment, Hugh Gaitskell introduced a proposal of prescription charges for dental care and spectacles—created to save a potential £25m to meet the financial demands imposed by the Korean War . An infuriated Bevan stated that he would never be
27692-453: Was free of glaciers by about 10,250 BP, the warmer climate allowing the area to become heavily wooded. The post-glacial rise in sea level separated Wales and Ireland, forming the Irish Sea . By 8,000 BP the British Peninsula had become an island. By the beginning of the Neolithic ( c. 6,000 BP ) sea levels in the Bristol Channel were still about 33 feet (10 metres) lower than today. The historian John Davies theorised that
27864-455: Was increased for the welfare state expenditure by a large increase in marginal tax rates for wealthy business owners in particular, as part of what the Labour government largely saw as the redistribution of the wealth created by the working-class from the owners of large-scale industry to the workers. Having been a member of the Cottage Hospital Management Committee around 1928 and serving as chairman in 1929–30, Bevan had received an insight into
28036-436: Was iron smelting, and iron manufacturing became prevalent in both the north and the south of the country. In the north, John Wilkinson 's Ironworks at Bersham was a major centre, while in the south, at Merthyr Tydfil , the ironworks of Dowlais , Cyfarthfa , Plymouth and Penydarren became the most significant hub of iron manufacture in Wales. By the 1820s, south Wales produced 40 per cent of all Britain's pig iron . By
28208-414: Was of the subsequent Anglo-French military response . He compared Gamal Abdel Nasser with Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves , from One Thousand and One Nights . He was a vocal critic of the Conservative government's actions in the Suez Crisis , noticeably delivering high-profile speeches at a protest rally in Trafalgar Square on 4 November 1956, and criticising the government's actions and arguments in
28380-405: Was paid for directly through public money. Bevan had been inspired by the Tredegar Medical Aid Society in his hometown, where residents would pay a subscription that would fund access for all of the town's inhabitants to have free access to medical services such as nursing or dental care. This system proved so popular that 20,000 people supported the organisation during the 1930s. Government income
28552-430: Was passed and launched in 1948, nationalising more than 2,500 hospitals within the United Kingdom. Bevan was named Minister of Labour in 1951, but resigned after two months in office, when the Attlee government proposed the introduction of prescription charges for dental and vision care and decided to transfer funds from the National Insurance Fund to pay for rearmament. His influence waned after his departure, although
28724-445: Was producing almost 61 million tons of coal. Historian Kenneth Morgan described Wales on the eve of the First World War as a "relatively placid, self-confident and successful nation". The output from the coalfields continued to increase, with the Rhondda Valley recording a peak of 9.6 million tons of coal extracted in 1913. The First World War (1914–1918) saw a total of 272,924 Welshmen under arms, representing 21.5 per cent of
28896-437: Was rebranded as the British Union of Fascists . Bevan's past association with Mosley would be used against him in subsequent years by his political rivals. He married fellow Socialist MP Jennie Lee in 1934, after they met in London. Described as "more left-wing than Nye", Lee became a considerable influence on Bevan's political career. They were early supporters of the socialists in the Spanish Civil War , and Bevan visited
29068-405: Was regarded as a relative surprise, given his previous disciplinary issues. Bevan had clashed frequently with Attlee during his time as an MP, believing that the Labour leader failed to apply enough pressure on the Tory government during the war. He had also seen disputes with some of Attlee's closest allies, Ernest Bevin and Herbert Morrison , who were appointed Foreign Secretary and Leader of
29240-411: Was relieved that the country had united against Nazi Germany in the fight against fascism to provide a common enemy away from the working class. He was a strong critic of Chamberlain, arguing that his old rival Winston Churchill should become prime minister. During the Second World War he was one of the main leaders of the left in the Commons, opposing the wartime Coalition government . Bevan opposed
29412-517: Was the prime minister". His fierce opposition made him unpopular with some portions of the public at the time; his wife later described how the couple would frequently receive parcels filled with excrement at their home. Bevan was critical of the leadership of the British Army , which he felt was class bound and inflexible. After General Neil Ritchie 's retreat across Cyrenaica early in 1942 and his disastrous defeat by General Erwin Rommel at Gazala , Bevan made one of his most memorable speeches in
29584-430: Was too focused on the intervention of the United States. Bevan also feared that allowing Churchill to continue unopposed and unchallenged in Parliament during the war would leave him almost unbeatable for the Labour Party in future elections. Historian Max Hastings described Bevan's role in Parliament during the war as "his figures were accurate but his scorn was at odds with the spirit of the moment—full of gratitude, as
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