WELSH valleys communities gathered in a series of assemblies to look at combating the far right, two former politicians reported at the weekend.

Former Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood and ex-Labour MP Beth Winter joined forces to see what can be done to improve conditions for people living in south Wales valleys.

The two former politicians said the former industrial areas of Wales have shocking levels of unemployment, ill-health and poverty and warned the latest round of Westminster austerity cuts would make the situation worse.

Ms Wood said: “There is a lot to be concerned about in the current political context. 

“The far right are playing on people’s emotions and fears when it comes to immigration and crime, and we are not prepared for climate change.

“Bills are going up while vulnerable groups like pensioners and disabled people are getting their benefits cut, which will plunge even more people into deeper poverty.”

The left-leaning former Plaid Senedd member for the Rhondda said the two wanted to pool their experience of the political system and see if they could bring people together to build community wealth. 

Ms Winter, the former MP for the Cynon Valley, said: “The three assemblies held in Merthyr Tydfil, Cynon Valley and Rhondda were extremely well attended by a cross-section of local people and organisations. 

“These events demonstrated that there’s a real appetite for positive change and to explore opportunities to not only generate but retain wealth in our valleys for the benefit of all.

“The knowledge and enthusiasm expressed by those who attended has been inspirational and has strengthened our hope that by working together we can achieve so much.”

Ms Wood also said previous economic strategies had failed the valleys, and it was time for a new approach using the experience of 45 community businesses, co-ops and social enterprises created in Gwynedd.

 “We have too few community wealth-building businesses in the valleys, and we wanted to do something about that,” she said.

The two said they would publish a report from the information gathered at the community meetings and planned to hold more events to turn some of the ideas into action.