Coal tips safety: Residents say lessons ‘not learned’ from Aberfan disaster

Published

10 months ago

February 9, 2025

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Residents who live near disused coal tips in South Wales say lessons have not been learned from the Aberfan disaster nearly 60 years on.

Their comments come after a disused coal tip in Cwmtillery, Blaenau Gwent, partially collapsed in November, forcing around 40 homes to be evacuated.

A coal tip is made up of waste material from coal mining, many of which have existed for several decades.

Dianne Morgan, 68, has lived in the house she had built in the Cwmtillery ward for the last 10 years.

She told Sky News she didn’t know there was a category D tip – the most dangerous – behind her property, until the slip, which happened after heavy rainfall during Storm Bert.

“All we were told was underlying mines had been there. But there was no mention of a tip when we had searches at all,” she said.

“I’m not being funny, if I had known there was a tip behind me, I wouldn’t have built here.”

‘Got to be sorted’

There are 2,573 disused coal tips in Wales, according to Welsh government data – the vast majority of which are in the former coal mining communities of the South Wales Valleys.

Three hundred and sixty of these are in the two most dangerous categories and are monitored at least once a year as they have “the potential to impact public safety”.

Ms Morgan said she believes lessons have not been learned from the Aberfan disaster in 1966 when a colliery spoil tip collapsed killing 144 people, including 116 children.

A build-up of water within the tip after heavy rain caused it to suddenly slide downhill as slurry.

The tragedy is considered the worst mining-related disaster in British history and was more recently featured in an episode of Netflix series The Crown.

“The tip’s got to come down,” she said, but added that the authorities “don’t want to pay”.

“They think they’ll just drag it on and on and on and then people just forget, but you’re not going to forget are you? Because every time we have pouring down rain or if you hear a noise, you come out here and I have a check just in case it’s something,” she added.

“They all talk about they’re all broke, ain’t we all? But that doesn’t matter, it’s people’s lives you’re dealing with and people’s homes at the end of the day.

“It took everything we had to build this, if that came down and wrecked this, even if I wasn’t in it, we’ve got nothing.”

She said the slip before Christmas “could have been a lot worse”.

“Irrespective of who owns it, it’s got to be sorted…’cause you don’t know where it’s going to come down next’,” Ms Morgan said.

“We’ve got to have a surety that this tip is going to be seen to, and not only this tip but other tips for other people that could be in the same situation that we are, especially with the rain we’re having at the moment.”

‘Nothing getting done’

Brian Preece, 77, has lived in Cwmtillery all his life.

He told Sky News he “always played on the tips” as a child.

“We never had one inclination from anywhere in my life that them tips was dangerous,” he said.

“I played on them myself, my children played on them, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren.”

He said that if a larger tip would have come down, his street “would have gone” and the tips needed to be taken “down to a safe level”.

“They’ve said they was going to do this, and they said they was going to do that, but there’s nothing getting done and everybody’s worrying now,” he added.

“The only safe way on my behalf, and I’m sure everybody else, is they should be dropped.

“Alright, they say it’s going to cost a lot of money, [but] they’ve got to drop it. You can’t put a price on children’s lives, on anybody’s life, and it should be down.”

Sky News has approached Blaenau Gwent Council for its response.

‘Nothing has changed’

In October, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced £25m in the budget for the maintenance of coal tips in Wales to ensure communities are kept “safe”.

Meanwhile, the Welsh government has outlined proposals for a Disused Tips Authority for Wales, which would take on responsibility for coal tip safety in future.

But campaigners say the money promised to tackle the issue is not enough.

Stuart Adams, 65, regularly walks the tips at Bedwas and Cilfynydd.

Mr Adams is part of the Clear South Wales’s Coal Tips group, which is calling for action to make the tips safer.

“It’s ordinary people that are going to be affected if there is a disaster, or even a minor slip, which has just happened in Cwmtillery. They still cause masses of disruption for people,” he told Sky News.

“I’m no expert on the financial side of things, but clearly [the money’s] not enough to make these places safe.”

Mr Adams said the tip at Cilfynydd Common collapsed in 1939 and was seen as “a precursor to an Aberfan disaster”.

“Luckily no one was hurt, and no one was killed [in the 1939 slip],” he added.

“The same could quite easily happen again as nothing has changed with regards to the tips.”

‘First of its kind’ legislation

A Welsh government spokesperson said it had invested more than £100m in coal tip safety since 2021 “to ensure our coal tip communities are safe”.

“We have also introduced modern legislation – the first of its kind in the UK – to prevent disused coal and non-coal tips from being a threat to human life,” they added.

“The highest risk coal tips (category C and D) are regularly inspected by the Mining Remediation Authority (MRA) and we continue to work with partners across Wales to inspect sites, including additional checks during extreme weather.”

A spokesperson for the MRA (formerly the Coal Authority) said it continued to provide “support, expertise and advice” to the Welsh government.

“We undertake an inspection programme on behalf of Welsh government and other agencies, providing recommendations for maintenance requirements,” they added.

“We also continue to directly manage the 26 coal tips that the Mining Remediation Authority owns in Wales and provide management services to other landowners as needed.”

UK

BBC board member resigns – and criticises ‘governance issues’ at top of corporation

Published

6 hours ago

November 21, 2025

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BBC board member resigns - and criticises 'governance issues' at top of corporation

A BBC board member has resigned after criticising “governance issues” at the top of the corporation.

Shumeet Banerji confirmed the news in a letter on Friday, according to BBC News.

It comes after the corporation’s director-general Tim Davie and chief executive of BBC News Deborah Turness resigned earlier this month after a row over the editing of a Panorama documentary on Donald Trump.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the latest version.

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UK

Reform UK’s former Wales leader Nathan Gill jailed for accepting pro-Russian bribes

Published

9 hours ago

November 21, 2025

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Reform UK's former Wales leader Nathan Gill jailed for accepting pro-Russian bribes

The former leader of Reform UK in Wales has been sentenced to 10 and a half years after he admitted accepting tens of thousands of pounds in cash to make pro-Russian statements to the media and European Parliament.

Nathan Gill had “abused a position of significant authority and trust” and was “motivated by financial and political gain”, said Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb during remarks at the Old Bailey on Friday.

Gill, 52, of Anglesey, North Wales, had previously pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery between 6 December 2018 and 18 July 2019, corresponding to his time as an MEP.

The Old Bailey heard his activities were linked to pro-Russian statements about Ukraine while he was a member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and subsequently the Brexit Party.

Following an investigation by counter-terrorism police, officers said they believe Gill likely took a minimum of £40,000 in cash and was offering to introduce other British MEPs so they could be bribed. Officers also said they believed some individuals in this case had a direct link to Vladimir Putin.

Prosecutor Mark Heywood KC previously told the court the bribery offences related to Gill’s association with pro-Russian Oleg Voloshyn, who had been a Ukrainian government official before 2014 and was sanctioned by the UK in 2022.

Gill’s activities emerged in WhatsApp messages after he was stopped at Manchester Airport on 13 September 2021.

He was about to board a flight to Russia to be an observer in elections there.

Bundles of cash recovered

Police said the messages revealed Voloshyn had tasked Gill to make pro-Russian statements on a reward basis. Counter-terrorism officers said the text of some speeches was provided to Gill, which he delivered almost word-for-word.

In other cases, he was paid to offer commentary to news outlets, such as the pro-Russian media organisation 112 Ukraine.

A search of his home in Wales also uncovered thousands in euros and dollars.

Greed ‘primary motivation’

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, described Gill as being motivated by money.

“It appears… greed was his primary motivation. But I think there’s an element of him that had a pro-Russian stance as well, but only he can answer that question, to be honest with you, he never told us that.”

Gill was interviewed in March 2022 and made no comment. He was charged and appeared in court in February 2025.

‘A grave betrayal of trust’

During sentencing, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb described Gill’s offending as “sophisticated” and “a grave betrayal of the trust vested in you by the electorate”.

She told him: “You accepted payments from foreign nationals, made statements on important international matters at their behest, utilised scripted material presented as your own, and orchestrated the involvement of other MPs.

“Your misconduct has ramifications far beyond personal honour, which is now irretrievably damaged. It erodes public confidence in democracy when politicians succumb to financial inducement.”

Other UK politicians at risk

Commander Murphy said that police were continuing to investigate other MEPs, including some from the UK.

“What we do know from the conversations with [Oleg] Voloshyn is that Nathan Gill actually offered his services to contact other MEPs, mostly UK MEPs, to also make statements that might be supportive of a Russian position in Ukraine,” he said.

He added: “I do believe that some of the individuals in this case do have direct connections to Vladimir Putin. And I have no doubt that if we were able to, we could follow this trail and it would lead straight to Moscow.”

Gill led the Welsh wing of UKIP between 2014 and 2016 and was a member of the Senedd between 2016 and 2017.

He was an MEP between 2014 and 2020, but left UKIP in 2019 to join Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party – later Reform UK.

Political fallout after prison term

Police have confirmed Nigel Farage has not been part of this investigation, but political rivals have called on the Reform UK leader to launch a thorough investigation.

Defence minister Al Carns, a former colonel in the Royal Marines, said Gill’s actions were “a disgrace”. He added: “I just think wherever we see Russian influence in UK politics, it’s got to be weeded out.”

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said “a traitor was at the very top of Reform UK”, referring to Gill, but also launched a direct attack on Mr Farage by calling him, and his party, “a danger to national security”.

“Nigel Farage himself was previously paid to be on Putin’s TV channel, Russia Today, and said he was the world leader he admires the most.

“We must all ask – where do his loyalties really lie? We need a full investigation into Russian interference in our politics,” he said.

Reform UK, which previously kicked Gill out of the party, said in a statement: “Mr Gill’s actions were reprehensible, treasonous and unforgivable. We are glad that justice has been served and fully welcome the sentence Nathan Gill has received.”

Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader, welcomed Gill’s jail sentence “for his acts of betrayal in taking bribes from Russia”.

In a statement, she said: “If the former Reform UK leader in Wales was part of a broader, co-ordinated effort to advance Moscow’s agenda within our democratic institutions, then the public deserves to know the full truth, and how far Russian money and influence reached into Nigel Farage’s inner circle.”

UK

Scale of billion-dollar money laundering network revealed – as British drug takers warned

Published

18 hours ago

November 21, 2025

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Scale of billion-dollar money laundering network revealed - as British drug takers warned

Britons buying cocaine on a Friday night could be inadvertently funding Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The National Crime Agency has revealed a billion-dollar money laundering network is operating in 28 towns and cities across the UK.

Couriers collect “dirty” cash generated from drugs, firearms and immigration gangs, which is then converted into cryptocurrency.

Officials say these illicit transactions have a direct link to “geopolitical events causing suffering around the world”.

This network was first exposed because of Operation Destabilise – and to date, 128 arrests have been made, with more than £25m in cash and digital assets seized.

According to the NCA, the enterprise is so prolific that it purchased a bank to facilitate payments that supported Russia’s military efforts and helped sidestep sanctions.

Posters have been put up in motorway service stations to target couriers, which warn it is “just a matter of time” before they will be arrested.

The NCA’s deputy director for economic crime, Sal Melki, has warned the threat posed by this money laundering network is significant.

He added: “Cash couriers play an intrinsic role in this global scheme. They are in our communities and making the criminal ecosystem function – because if you cannot profit from your crimes, why bother.

“They are paid very little for the risks they take and face years in prison, while those they work for enjoy huge profits.”

Mr Melki went on to warn that “easy money leads to hard time” – and earning just a few hundred pounds through laundering could lead to years behind bars.

The NCA says Operation Destabilise has already had an impact in criminal circles, with some members of the network now reluctant to operate in London.

Those involved in the money laundering effort have also started to charge higher fees – reflecting the difficulty of cleaning ill-gotten gains.

Cryptocurrencies are often regarded as a haven for criminals because they are perceived to be anonymous, but it is possible to trace these transactions.

Chainalysis is a company that monitors suspicious activity on blockchains, a type of database that keeps records of who sends and receives digital assets – as well as how much.

Its vice president of communications Madeleine Kennedy told Sky News: “Public blockchains are transparent by design, which makes cryptocurrencies a poor vehicle for money laundering.

“With the right tools, law enforcement can trace illicit funds – whether they’re connected to drug trafficking, sanctions evasion, or cybercrime – and use those insights to disrupt networks and recover assets.”

Last December, a global investigation led by the NCA smashed two networks whose money laundering activities were prevalent in 30 countries.

Bundles of cash were seized during raids, with detectives describing Smart and TGR as the invisible link between “Russian elites, crypto-rich cybercriminals and drug gangs in the UK”.

One of the network’s ringleaders, a Russian national called Ekatarina Zhdanova, is currently in custody in France and awaiting trial for separate financial offences.

Security minister Dan Jarvis added: “This complex operation has exposed the corrupt tactics Russia used to avoid sanctions and fund its illegal war in Ukraine.

“We are working tirelessly to detect, disrupt and prosecute anyone engaging in activity for a hostile foreign state. It will never be tolerated on our streets.”