The Welsh government has allowed taxpayers’ money to fund a nationalist news site for the past two years. Nation.Cymru, which launched in 2017, has so far received £40,000 from the Books Council of Wales (a government agency) since April 2019, and frequently posts attacks on unionists and Conservatives – despite claiming to be an impartial news source…

This week the site has published articles criticising the alleged use of ‘dark money‘ amongst Welsh Tories and attacked Conservative MP Robin Millar over expense claims, whilst today’s featured article encourages Labour to consider a Senedd coalition with Plaid Cymru to stave off “an increasingly devo-sceptic Conservative party”. Guido also notes that the Nation.Cymru website is currently emblazoned with Plaid Cymru campaign advertising…

Last September, the site also ran a headline which heavily implied unionists were “nostalgic flag-wavers“, and published another article claiming the Welsh government should “embrace facilitating an independence referendum“. For a site that insists it’s a “news service by the people of Wales, for the people of Wales”, Guido was also surprised to see that comments are closed on all articles…

The government funding was issued as part of a package of grants for English language journalism in Wales, which according to Wales’ Deputy Minister for Culture Dafydd Elis-Thomas, “would ensure independence from commercial, or political, pressure”. Of all the publications to receive funding, however, Nation.Cymru remains the only site to publish daily political news and commentary…