[Alt Text image 4:] people gathered chatting in the miners institute by the stall tables

[Alt Text image 5:] raffle prize table with an art print, many books, a card game, sweets, sherry and a pint glass full of money.

[Alt Text image 1:] a crowd of WUN members stand on stage with banners and flags. one holds a WUN hammer and pick flag, another a PGC hammer and sickle (with the sickle becoming a dragon's tail) and another a red and white flag with the date "1917". the banner reads "for a socialist republic of wales - dros weriniaeth sosialaedd i gymru - welsh underground network"

[Alt Text image 2:] people gathered chatting around a stall covered in books on the spanish civil war, acorn union join forms and community energy leaflets.

[Alt Text image 3:] people sitting on stalls in the miners institute. on the tables are flags for the WUN, the PGC and ACORN. there are all sorts of pamphlets, leaflets, stickers and books.

Our Stutefest fundraiser event for the Cefn Fforest Miners Institute was very successful! 🎉

Along with the lovely food, fun raffle and excellent live music, we talked about the future of working class organising in Wales. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Black and white photo of Constance Markievicz, a woman in a military uniform and a feathered haf. To the left of her photo is an Irish Easter Lily logo, and to the right is the Hammer & Pick logo of the Welsh Underground Network. Text reads: "I went out to fight for Ireland's freedom and it does not matter what happens to me. I did what I thought was right and I stand by it." Below this text reads: "Statement in court after the Easter Rising - 1916" Below this text reads: "I do wish your lot had the decency to shoot me" Below this text reads: "Statement upon learning her death sentencd had been commuted - 1916" Below photo text reads: "Constance Markievicz, Irish Socialist Republican, 1868-1927"

Marxist Monday: Constance Markievicz, Irish Socialist Republican 1868-1927

"I went out to fight for Ireland's freedom... and I stand by it."

Stutefest poster, with a red Welsh dragon, on the door of a Miners Institute. underneath the poster blue paper letters spell out the word "open"

audience watching a musician with a guitar perform onstage at a Miners Institute

audience watching Beth Winter speak at a Miners Institute

audience watching a female speaker onstage at a Miners Institute

Thank you to all the speakers and performers who got on stage at yesterday's Cefn Fforest Stutefest, including Alys Hardy & Beth Winter and the representatives from @acorncardiff.bsky.social & @communists.cymru

Text: MISTREATED Any perceived failing by any member of any Roma or Traveller community is amplified by click-hungry news companies. Headlines routinely conflate Roma & Traveller culture with criminality. Everyday discrimination, following from media hysteria, is common. Bullying of Roma & Traveller children at school is recognised as a particularly acute problem. Discrimatory refusal of service at pubs and other venues, though illegal under the Equality Act, is routinely enforced by police (sometimes violently). In November 2024 for example, Greater Manchester Police used a dispersal order to turn Travellers away from Manchester Christmas Market. Sweeping new powers enable police to seize and destroy Traveller homes for minor infractions, giving them leeway to further harass and traumatise families.

Image: The Welsh, Roma, Irish traveller and WUN flags together. Text: Roma & Travellers have been our neighbours for over 500 years, and yet they are still wrongfully treated as strangers. As members of the Welsh working class, all of us must come together to combat disinformation and prejudice. In the WUN we reject any attempt by the ruling class to scapegoat and demonise Roma & Travellers and their diverse cultures. This International Roma Day we remember the words of Lenin: “The working class needs unity, not division. It has no more bitter enemy than the savage prejudices and superstitions which its enemies sow among the ignorant.”

Continued:

Image: An image of the flag of the Romani people combined with the Welsh flag. A Romani wheel is sitting with Y Ddraig Goch. Text: INTERNATIONAL ROMANI DAY The Welsh Underground Network send unequivocal support and solidarity to our comrades and neighbours in Wales' Roma & Traveller communities. Scroll to learn about the struggles faced by Roma & Travellers in Wales:

Text: AUSTERITY Designated sites for Roma & Travellers are often located in heavily polluted areas and they are often very overcrowded. Cuts to amentites at these sites mean that many families are going without reliable access to electricity, clean water and basic hygiene facilities - basic things that should be available to everyone in Wales. Austerity-driven public service cuts have hit every working class community hard, but their effects on Traveller communities are especially acute. Yet many offer not solidarity but active hostility to their Roma & Traveller neighbours. Prejudiced assumptions about unauthorised encampments only lead to further cutbacks, making conditions even worse. There are long waiting lists for each of these sites, and the construction of new ones is routinely blocked by racist fearmongering campaigns.

Text: CYNICAL LIES Politicians and the media have blown the problem of unauthorised encampments well out of proportion, treating it like a serious community failing when actually only 7% of Roma & Traveller caravans are found on land not belonging to our designated for Roma & Traveller communities. Politicians use Roma & Travellers as a scapegoat for every complaining about litter and noise, because scaremongering is a proven vote-winning tactic. Instead of providing adequate services to deal with issues like fly-tipping, politicians propose social cleansing as their “solution”. We can see behind this smokescreen to the real issue at hand: anti-Roma, anti-Traveller bigotry. Gareth Dennis revealed this in his statement to the Senedd in 2023, openly saying “We don’t want Gypsies near us”.

The WUN send unequivocal solidarity to our comrades and neighbours in Wales' Roma & Traveller communities.

This Intl Roma Day we remember the words of Lenin: "The working class has no more bitter enemy than the prejudices its enemies sow among the ignorant.

Continued below

[Alt Text:] Black and white photo of Vladimir Lenin, a man waving and wearing a flat cap. To the left of his photo is a Hammer and Sickle logo, and to the right is the Hammer & Pick logo of the Welsh Underground Network. Text reads: "It is particularly necessary to arouse in all who participate in practical work... discontent with the amateurism prevailing among us and an unshakable determination to rid ourselves of it." Below this text reads: "What is to be Done? - 1902" Below photo text reads: Vladimir Lenin, Bolshevik Revolutionary, 1870-1924

Marxist Monday: Vladimir Lenin, Bolshevik Revolutionary 1870-1924

"It is neccesary to arouse... an unshakable determination to rid ourselves of [amateurism]"

Group of people stood in front of the Stute holding a banner with the WUN logo on it

WUN members were back in Cefn Fforest this weekend, tidying up the Stute and letting locals know that it’s reopened! 🎉

We’ve put years of hard work into this project and its making a real difference for the community.

#socialism #communityrebuild #cymru

Title: “Fires happen” Text reads: Reform's Simon Dudley has called for the scrapping of fire safety laws, arguing that "you can't stop tragic things from happening". Dudley, who was Reform's Housing Spokesman until earlier today (and is also a former Tory Councillor), told interviewers recently that while Grenfell was tragic, "everyone dies in the end"

Title: preventable Text reads: Grenfell was an entirely preventable tragedy, "the culmination of decades of failure" by both private and government bodies. Deregulation and austerity lead to totally unnecessary deaths, all in the name of private greed and government corruption. A policy of safety deregulation is a policy of social murder.

Title: profit vultures! Text reads: Reform argue that rules aimed at stopping another Grenfell disaster are "overly-burdensome" for private developers and hinder housebuilding. This is a total smokescreen for the real issue: private developers will never build enough to meet demand because their business model relies on scarcity and they actively want to keep houses prices high!

Title: class politics Text reads: Even if regulations really were a barrier to private development, the solution would be simple: a massive public housebuilding campaign. But Reform represents the interests of the developers & investors that bankroll them, not those of the average person in the street. The 1%, the property-owning class, are ruthless in pursuing their interests. So long as they control the UK, more disasters are inevitable.

Reform's Simon Dudley recently called for deregulation of fire safety laws, arguing that "you can't stop tragic things fron happening".

Reform initially defended Dudley, but public pressure forced them to finally sack him earlier today.

[Alt Text:] Black and white photo of Leila Khaled, a Palestinian woman with a wide smile, wearing a keffiyeh and holding an AK-47. To the left of her photo is a Palestinian flag, and to the right is the Hammer & Pick logo of the Welsh Underground Network. Text reads: "There’s a fundamental equation: where there is occupation, there is resistance. Nobody can change this. This is basic, it’s natural... this is the truth... when you are under oppression, you resist." Below this text reads: "Interview with +972 Magazine - 2014" Below photo text reads: Leila Khaled, Palestinian Communist, 1944-

Marxist Monday: Leila Khaled, Palestinian Communist 1944-Present

"There's a fundamental equation: where there is occupation, there is resistance... when you are under oppression, you resist."

WUN members holding shovels and litterpickers, along with a green flag that reads "CFWI" for Cefn Fforest Workers Institute. In front of them is a pile of filled bin bags.

WUN members shovelling and brushing dirt and debris off the car park in front of the Stute.

WUN members standing on the stage inside the Stute, with a black, yellow and red hammer and pick banner that reads "For a Socialist Republic - Dros Weriniaeth Sosialaedd I Gymru - Welsh Underground Network". One member holds a hand-sewn flag with the same black, yellow and red hammer and pick design.

WUN members were back in Cefn Fforest this weekend, weeding and tidying around the Stute area and speaking with locals about the potential of community action!

YSG branded social media tile. Title: Together Cymru Launch Event: Report Thumbnail: Together Cymru logo Pull quote: Most attendees argued that grassroots lacal communities should be the heart of our strategy when opposing Reform and the far right

Ein erthygl newydd.
Just in time for the big London march tomorrow, we hope that everyone attending will commit to community organising once they get home.

Black and white photo of Fred Hampton, a youthful looking black man with a short clipped beard. To the left of his photo is the Black Panther logo, and to the right is the Hammer & Pick logo of the Welsh Underground Network. Text reads: "If you dare to struggle you dare to win. If you dare not struggle then goddamnit you don't deserve to win." Below this text reads: "Die for the People speech - 1969" Below photo text reads: Fred Hampton, Black Panther, 1948-1969

Marxist Monday: Fred Hampton, Black Panther 1948-1969

"If you dare to struggle you dare to win. If you dare not struggle then goddamnit you don't deserve to win."

[Alt Text:] Black and white photo of Clara Zetkin, a stern looking white woman in a black and white Edwardian era dress. To the left of her photo is the Hammer & Sickle logo of the German KPD, and to the right is the Hammer & Pick logo of the Welsh Underground Network. Text reads: "Dear sisters... we bear the same chains as you... therefore we suffer with you, we hope with you and we take arms with you... The class war of the workers means the fraternity of the workers of all countries. Socialism is international peace." Below this text reads: "German Women to their Sisters in Great Britain - 1913" Below photo text reads: Clara Zetkin, Communist Organiser, 1857-1933

Marxist Monday: Clara Zetkin, Communist Organiser 1857-1933

"Dear sisters, we bear the same chains as you; therefore we suffer with you, we hope with you, and we take arms with you..."

Our members were out in Blackwood, Hengoed and Bargoed this weekend, spreading the word about our work at the stute and talking to people about local problems.

Group of WUN members standing in front of a pond surrounded by filled rubbish bags. A group of ducks swim together in the lake. Text reads "Litterpicking in Ystrad Mynach"

At the request of local members & supporters, we went litterpicking in the beautiful Parc Penallta this week!

With the Stute open, we can begin deepening our links with the communities of the surrounding Valleys.

Over the past few weeks our members have been out on stalls in the Caerphilly County area, learning about local problems from members of the public and telling people about our work at the Stute.

Banner that reads Wrecsam Dros Palesteina

Banner that reads Wrecsam Antifascists

Black board that reads Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus

Cupcake with y ddraig goch on it

Today in Wrexham our local members joined @wrexham4palestine.bsky.social and @wrexhamaf.bsky.social in a bloc at the dydd gwyl dewi parade

After weeks of the far-right trying (and failing) to divide Wrexham, our community came together to say that we, Wrecsam, welcome everyone and free Palestine

Joint statement: oppose the Imperialist attack on Iran!

It's been known for years that Andrew Mountbatten-Winsor had a close relationship with paedophile Jeffery Epstein. Now, further evidence has come to light, revealing the depth of Andrew’s involvement. WE ARE DISGUSTED But are these just the actions of one “bad apple” amongst the royals?

By providing him with press releases, hush money and police security while he partied with Epstein, the so-called “Royal Family” have been protecting and enabling Andrew for a long time. Now they have begun to abandon him, hoping to save themselves from sharing his disgrace. And now, even though he has been arrested, Andrew is being investigated for mere “misconduct”, not for any potential sexual offences. WE ARE DISGUSTED We ask: when will there be justice for the countless victims of Epstein and his associates? What accountability will the perpetrators & enablers face?

Over the past twenty years we have seen rape culture exposed by #MeToo, the murder of Sarah Everard and now the Epstein files. It’s clear the rich & powerful will do anything to evade the consequences of their horrific actions. The “Royal Family” is only the most useless and repulsive element of a whole ruling class: a capitalist class which has made assault, abuse and murder of CHILDREN it’s pastime. WE ARE DISGUSTED The whole monarchy, and the capitalist system behind it, is ROTTEN TO THE CORE. Wales does not need this parasitic clique of aristocrats. Wales needs a Socialist Republic.

Don’t let them hide behind Andrew – the whole monarchy is guilty.

ALT Picture 1: Picture of Welsh Underground Network members gathered in front of a stage in the stute's main hall. They are holding two flags - a green one with the initials CFWI (Cefn Fforest Workers Institute) and a red one with the date 1831 (for the Merthyr Rising). Below is an image of WUN members in hard hats fixing a beam in the stute's ceiling. There is bold red text on this image, reading "Cefn Fforest Stute Report, February 2026"

ALT Picture 2: "The Cefn Fforest Miners Institute is open Our years at the stute have been spent smashing, building, fetching, carrying, painting, plastering, fixing and weeding. We've removed rubble and installed solar panels. Now, thanks to the hard-working stute volunteers, this formerly abandoned building is once again ready to serve the local community. It has already been host to a pantomime, a lecture and a wrestling match! But we're nowhere near finished: this year we'll be repairing the stute's atrium, growing a new community garden and holding some exciting events in its main hall..."

ALT Picture 3: "WUN members get the job done The Welsh Underground Network's founding mission is to restore and empower working class communities like the one in Cefn Fforest. We believe that with enough hard graft and the right plan, the Welsh working class can achieve anything we set our minds to. What we've done at the stute is remarkable, but this is only the first step on the journey. We won't put down our tools until every town in Wales has a stute like this one. Get in touch if you want to come visit the stute with us, if you know of another stute that needs our help, or if you want to join our movement."

Stute Report: the Stute has now opened!

The Welsh Underground Network's founding mission is to restore and empower working class communities like the one in Cefn Forest.

We won't put down our tools till every town in Wales has a worker-owned community centre like the Cefn Forest Miners Institute.

REFORM POLITICIANS THREATEN BANGOR UNI! When Reform UK asked to visit Bangor Uni Debating Society, the society refused. In response, Reform politicians are threatening to cut 100% of the University's funding.

Reform UK'S TANTRUM This is the entitled politics of Reform UK: if you don't invite us to your events, we'll shut down your whole university in the name of "free speech"

"WE'RE COMING FOR YOU° Reform are threatening an act of massive cultural and economic vandalism: hundreds would lose their jobs and thousands would lose their education. Make no mistake, Reform UK are threatening not just Bangor but all of Wales. Reform are coming to take away our universities, our jobs and our country; they want to turn Wales into their personal playground.

Reform UK threaten Welsh jobs and Welsh education! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿📚

Party Statement: 81 Years Since The Liberation Of Auschwitz

"The Red Army soldiers who liberated Auschwitz would see the same pain in an emaciated Palestinian in Gaza, as they would in a Jew in the camps they liberated."

A black and yellow text graphic including the the Wrexham Antifacists logo in the bottom right corner reads: "Against fascism, against 'Voice of Wales' Saturday 31st January, 11:00am Queen's Square, Wrexham"

A black and red text graphic including the the Wrexham Antifacists logo in the bottom right corner reads: "Against fascism, against 'Voice of Wales' Saturday 31st January, 11:00am Queen's Square, Wrexham"

A black text graphic on an ombre yellow and pink background, including the the Wrexham Antifacists logo in the bottom right corner reads: "Against fascism, against 'Voice of Wales' Saturday 31st January, 11:00am Queen's Square, Wrexham"

⚠️ Emergency Protest ⚠️

📣 Wrexham says No to Fascism, No to the Far Right, No division in our communities 📣

❤️If you believe in solidarity, hope and community, join us at Queens Square 31st Jan, 11:00 for 12:00 protest❤️

Text reads: Dydd Santes Dwynwen Hapus Dydd Santes Dwynwen, is a day of love. As one version of the story goes, Dwynwen was a princess in the 5th century who rejected the advances of a man. She begged God to have him fall out of love with her, and an angel answered by turning the man into ice. God then grants Dwynwen three wishes, she wishes for the man to be thawed, she wishes for all people to find true love, and she wishes to never marry. "You ask me, my young friend, what place proletarian ideology gives to love?" Alexandra Kollontai, People's Commisar For Social Welfare, Soviet Russia

LOVE UNITES Alexandra Kollontai was a Russian revolutionary, and a Cabinet Member in 1917-1918 in the Bolshevik government. In 1923, she writes a letter about what place love has in the proletarian revolution. The fight for socialism had entered a very real and violent phase. What then, Kollontai was asked, has love got to do with it? She writes that love is not a simple biological factor, it's a social factor, which is influenced by the social base of the people. The economic liberation of the workers had resulted in a social liberation, which gave love a key characteristic to the working class: "Love is an emotion that unites and is consequently of an organising character."

MARXISM AND LOVE "Essentially love is a profoundly social emotion. At all stages of human development love has in different forms, it is true, been an integral part of culture. Even the bourgeoisie, who saw love as a "private matter," was able to channel the expression of love in its class interests. The ideology of the working class must pay even greater attention to the significance of love as a factor which can, like any other psychological or social phenomenon, be channeled to the advantage of the collective." 'Make way for Winged Eros: A Letter to Working Youth' Alexandra Kollontai, 1923

MI GERDDAF GYDA THI Mi gerddaf gyda thi dros Iwybrau maith, A blodau, cân a breuddwyd ar ein taith; I'th lygaid syllaf i a dal dy law: Mi gerddaf gyda thi, beth bynnag ddaw. Mi gerddaf gyda thi pan fydd y lloer Felllusern yn y nen ar noson oer. Addawaf i ti'n ghalon i yn Ilwyr: Mi gerddaf gyda thi dry oriau'r hwyr. Mi gerddaf gyda thi drwy weddill f'oes, Pan fydd yr haul ar fryn neu'r dyddiau'n groes; A phan ddaw'r alwad draw, pwy wyr pa awr, Mi gerddaf gyda thi i'r freuddwyd fawr. Dydd Santes Dwynwen Hapus

Dydd Santes Dwynwen Hapus! 🚩❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Read blackshirts and reds here:

welshundergroundnetwork.com/wp-content/u...

We’re deeply sad to hear about the death of Michael Parenti. His work as a Marxist academic in the post-USSR world that our members grew up in helped influence a whole generation to reject the neoliberal status quo and renew the fight for the working class. In our early years as an organisation, we decided to upload important Marxist content to our website, one of these being the PDF of Blackshirts & Reds. Outside of The Dragon Has Two Tongues, this book is the most downloaded piece of Marxist work on our page. We encourage all our followers to read it, and to understand why this loss is so profound to comrades across the world.

Cofiwch Michael Parenti

The Engine You and three friends are driving down the motorway together when your car breaks down, leaving you stranded on the roadside. It’s really rather urgent that you get wherever you’re going as soon as…

yserengoch.cymru/2026/01/14/t...

YSG branded social media tile. Title: The Engine Image is a photo of the gears and belts within an engine Pull quote: What we communists need to conduct, in short, is a class-wide organising drive Byline: Gan Nora Rhiannon

Erthygl newydd gan Nora Rhiannon.
An overview of where the UK left is at the moment and what communists need to do about it!