Interview: Will Hayward discuss his new book ‘Who Cares About Wales?’

Amelia Jones

Investigative journalist and journalist Will Hayward released his book Who Cares About Wales?: Why The Welsh Should Be Angry on 13 March, continuing to immerse himself in the issues facing Wales today.

Over the past decade he has become known for his detailed reporting on Welsh politics, public services and government finances. His work often focuses on explaining the systems and decisions that affect everyday life in Wales.

Hayward has built a reputation as one of Wales’ most insightful political and social commentators. His writings have appeared in publications including Caretaker.

In 2024 he retired from his job at WalesOnline focusing on independent journalism, to begin with Will Hayward’s Journal, Substack’s publication devoted to Welsh politics and public life. This newsletter quickly built a large readership and now forms the basis of his work as a freelance journalist.

By Who Cares About Wales?he brings a similar perspective to a wider discussion about the state of national politics and the challenges facing Wales today.

In this interview with National.CymruHayward reflects on the ideas behind the book and the issues he believes Wales needs to face.

Your book is entitled Why the Welsh Need to Get Angry. Were you trying to annoy readers, inspire them, or both?

“I guess I was hoping that the anger would motivate them to take action.” The publisher and I actually had a lot of conversations about whether we wanted people to be angry, because it’s a time in the world where everyone is angry about everything.” Does that help?

“There’s anger that comes from frustration and feelings of powerlessness and not being able to affect the world around you. That’s really disempowering, and it’s scary. Then there’s anger that comes from a sense of injustice that can motivate you to make changes.

“The idea was to give people information that would make them angry, because I think when you look at the reality of Wales, people really need to be angry.

But most of the time, the people of Wales don’t really realize what has been done to them.

This book covers a wide range of topics from finance and health to education and culture. How did you decide what to focus on?

“You know what? The hardest thing wasn’t deciding what topics to talk about. It was deciding what not to talk about. I would love to have done more about justice in Wales. I’d like to do more about violence against women. I’d like to do more about children in care.

“In the end, the book was originally supposed to be 60,000 words, and it ended up being 95,000. Decisions had to be made about what to include and what not to include, and some of the things I didn’t include because I felt they weren’t just problems specific to Wales.”

Is there a reason why you are not including Transport for Wales?

“I would have loved to have played a part in it, I mean, I’ve been on Transport for Wales trains all my life… I would have written three times more.

“I’m very focused on politics, on political decision-making. There are issues you can clearly point to in Transport for Wales, but I think it’s the system in which transport in Wales is developed. You can run a good organisation, but it will get very little money for what we need, because the system we have to work in doesn’t support us very well.”

You talk about Barnett’s style often. Can you explain why it is such an important issue for Wales?

“The only thing worse than Barnett’s approach is not having Barnett’s approach, because if Wales were in a position where they were just competing for pots of money next to England’s venues, we would be in real trouble.

“I think what I did in the research was that Wales was a poor person, the current system prevents us from dying, but it doesn’t make us better. So it keeps us alive, but it doesn’t give us the real tools to stop getting sick.

I think that was the problem with Barnett’s method. So there are reasons to be angry, but you should be angry about the right thing.

You describe culture as one of the saddest things about democracy. What do you think the Welsh Government could do differently to support the arts?

Right now, they see it as something they have to spend money on, rather than this amazing tool. Art funding supports itself in many other ways. It has amazing health benefits, it has amazing educational benefits, and it has many economic benefits.

“Wales will never compete with England by just trying to be a smaller version of England. Arts and culture is one of the ways you can really distinguish yourself as a small nation, as well as a bigger, stronger nation. But what it needs is a strategy, and consistent and reliable funding.

“Wales is nowhere near the European average.

“…Whoever forms the next Welsh government, needs to recognize the inherent value of arts and culture in Wales, and the fact that it is a way for the great country of Wales to compete, rather than being an annoying thing they have to do at the end of their values.”

Do you think Welsh people care enough about politics? How do you think public dialogue can be improved?

I think Welsh people really care about Wales. The problem is how that caring manifests itself.

“Welsh words are always confused or silent.” So our MPs, there aren’t many of them, and they mostly do their jobs in England.

Instead of knowing what Wales needs and asking for it, it pulls its punches. So ultimately, if we want it to improve, the only people who will really speak up for Wales are the people of Wales. And luckily, that’s all we need.

“But it will only work if we speak, and we, for God’s sake, vote [need to] enter this country that we profess to love.”

With the Senedd election coming up, what do you want people to take away from the ballot paper?

“Vote the way you want, but make sure you vote based on the truth. The book doesn’t tell you what to think, it doesn’t tell you what to think, it equips you to make up your own mind.

“Two different people can read this book and I think come to very different conclusions about what the best way forward is, but at least we’re discussing it from a point of view, not from a social media frenzy.”

You can buy his book here.