Newspaper's depiction of Welsh town as full of dereliction and drug addicts condemned as lazy and dangerous

Martin Shipton

A London newspaper’s caricature of a Welsh town as a place full of drug addicts and dereliction has been criticised as lazy, dangerous and serving only those who profit from division and despair.

The Daily Mail has published a lengthy article that paints Llanelli as a hell-hole with endless boarded-up shops, piles of rubbish and no redeeming features.

It quotes locals who say they're too scared to look around the few remaining stores because of drug addicts dropping needles and shouting at passers-by.

Ed Davies, 31, a former business owner told the Mail: “Why would you come here? I'm embarrassed to say I'm from Llanelli.”

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Reform

The article states: “Frustrated with the lack of improvements from the local Labour-run council, Llanelli residents have decided to turn to Nigel Farage's Reform Party.”

It’s true that in last year’s general election the Reform candidate came within around 1,500 votes of unseating Labour MP Dame Nia Griffith, but Carmarthenshire County Council, responsible for most local services, is run by Plaid Cymru, not Labour. Llanelli Town Council, with far fewer responsibilities and a tiny budget in comparison, is, however, Labour controlled.

The article states: “Residents told MailOnline they hoped that Reform could offer the change and rejuvenation Llanelli needs and hoped that Nigel Farage's policies could rid the town of its drug problem and improve the rundown centre.

“Locals explained that with the crumbling shop parades, the community spirit has all but gone and drug addicts have made it such an unwelcome place they're too scared to venture into the shopping centre.

“One retired nurse and grandmother, who wished to remain anonymous, said her granddaughter is so scared to come into town she has to be accompanied.

“The 73-year-old added that the drug problem in the centre is so bad that she and her family worry about getting high off the smoke.”

The woman said: “My granddaughter won't walk through on her own anymore, she says you can get high from the drugs being smoked. I have to bring her in if she wants to get her nails done or anything.

“The druggies hang around in the centre and it's horrible. It's really bad.

“I don't know what needs to be done but something. I've voted Labour all my life but never again. The council used to be run by Labour, we had Labour for 20 years but they've done nothing.

“I think we need someone new who's for the community rather than voting for the council, we need to be prioritised.”

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Provoke

David Darkin, the Labour leader of Llanelli Town Council, responded: “There’s a certain kind of journalism that thrives on decay. It doesn’t seek to understand or uplift, only to provoke. The Daily Mail article painting Llanelli as a town in terminal decline is a textbook example of this genre: parachute in, snap a few photos of boarded-up shops, quote a handful of disillusioned voices, and fly out with a headline that confirms every outsider’s worst assumptions.

“Let’s be clear. Llanelli, like many towns across the UK, faces real challenges. But to reduce our community to a caricature of “drug addicts and dereliction” is not just lazy. It’s dangerous. It feeds a narrative of hopelessness that serves only those who profit from division and despair.

“What the article fails to mention is that Llanelli is more than its town centre. It’s a community of proud, resilient people. It’s the volunteers running food banks and youth clubs. It’s the small businesses that have weathered economic storms. It’s the artists, the athletes, the carers, the teachers. It’s the people who stay and fight for their town, not those who drop in to sneer at it.

“And let’s correct another glaring inaccuracy. It’s not Labour that runs Carmarthenshire County Council. It’s Plaid Cymru. The distinction matters. Carmarthenshire Council is the authority responsible for the services and infrastructure that shape daily life in Llanelli, with an annual budget of around £500 million. Llanelli Town Council, which is Labour-run, is a community council with a budget of just £1.5 million. That’s less than half a percent of the county’s spending power. To blame Labour for the state of the town centre is not only misleading, it’s a deliberate distortion of how local government works.

“This kind of coverage isn’t just inaccurate. It’s corrosive. It undermines the efforts of those working to improve our town and gives ammunition to those who want to write us off. It’s populist politics dressed up as journalism, and it does nothing to help the people it claims to speak for.

“What Llanelli needs isn’t more finger-pointing from London-based tabloids. We need investment, vision, and above all, hope. We need leaders who understand our community because they’re part of it. People who’ve knocked doors here, run businesses here, raised families here.

Spirit

He added: “I’ve spent my life in Llanelli. I’ve served as mayor, led the town council, and worked to deliver on every promise we made to voters. I’ve seen what’s possible when we believe in our town and each other. That’s the spirit I want to take to the Senedd. Not to escape Llanelli’s problems, but to fight for the solutions we deserve.

“We don’t need outsiders telling us who we are. We know. We’re Llanelli. And we’re not done yet.”