Far-right activist insults Wales' trade union heritage

Martin Shipton

A notorious far right activist who is an associate of “Tommy Robinson” and who identifies as a supporter of Reform UK has been strongly criticised for misrepresenting a newly opened city centre community services hub and central library.

Y Storfa, run by Swansea council, is located in the former BHS building on Oxford Street and is a cornerstone of the local authority’s £1bn regeneration programme.

Opened on December 1 2025, it brings together a wide range of services under one roof and will help increase footfall in the city centre.

But for Daniel Morgan, who jointly runs the so-called Voice of Wales group with Stan Robinson, another far right activist, the new centre represents everything that’s bad about a Labour-controlled council. (He did, however, approve of the Christmas tree).

On a video filmed by a colleague, Mr Morgan introduces himself as he stands outside the hub. He says: “Swansea council's latest vanity project. There's been a big hype about it. So we're going to go in and have a look.”

Once inside the building, he makes a beeline for the South Wales Miners’ Library, which contains a collection of books relating to trade unionism and political activity dating in some cases back to the 19th Century.

As he looks at the titles of the books on the shelves, Mr Morgan keeps up a running commentary, stating: “As you can expect from Swansea council, you see Karl Marx and Engels’ The Communist Manifesto. I think that's Swansea council and Welsh Labour's playbook. I don't think I know.

“We've got more. Miners against Fascism. So, yeah, you'd expect this, wouldn't you? You see their little Union Lodge flag in the background as well. So this was what I thought - we're going to come in here and see little bits dotted around of Communists, Marxists, anti-fascists.”

Looking at more books, he says: “Trade union history, the trade unions. What's this? It's just trade unions. Archive teaching unit for the study of industrial relations and development of trade unions in the 19th century. It's just more of the same, really, isn't it?

“[Swansea council leader] Rob Stewart's hero - Joseph Stalin. Socialism or your money back. So yeah, this is just exactly what we thought it was going to be. This is crazy. So how many school trips are going to be coming here? Take your pick. The Socialist Register. Currents of Marxism. Marx. Politics. Fundamentals of Marxism. Possessing Marx and Engels. You know you've got the full works, from root to branch. Socialism. Communism. Marxism. Swansea council, Swansea Communist council. So it's just not there. Never ending. The unions. Scargill. History of British trade unions. Trade unions and politics. Year of the Union A to Z of trade unions. The World of Labour. I can fill that bucket with one word: ‘shite’.”

'Distortion'

Cllr Rob Stewart, the Labour leader of Swansea council, said: “I’ve seen the video and it’s a complete distortion of the facts.

“It’s disappointing but not surprising that convicted fraudster Dan Morgan has chosen to misrepresent Swansea’s new central library and local services hub, which has already proved hugely popular with the residents of Swansea. Like all libraries, there are books on a range of genres and topics.

“However, the new building is not only a library, but a one stop shop for council and third party services. It is also the new home of the West Glamorgan Archive and the South Wales Miners’ Library. Both are hugely important historic repositories.

“Clearly Mr Morgan ignorantly fails to understand or appreciate the history of south Wales, including the fight against intolerance and fascism in all its forms.”

In 2023 Mr Morgan was one of 16 people who sent millions of texts aimed at swindling people's money.

He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud and given a six-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months.

Jurors at Swansea Crown Court were told that the father of four was part of the "Noddle team" fraudulently accessing people's credit reports.

Call centre

A call centre was set up to trick people out of their money on the back of the UK's long-running payment protection insurance (PPI) scandal.

Members of the public were promised big pay-outs, but the real aim of the company - which operated from Swansea Enterprise Park and went by various names, including HES Synergy Limited and HES Savings Audit Ltd - was to get victims' credit card details and steal their money.