The series unveils uncomfortable truths about youth alienation and online radicalisation — but the real crisis lies in austerity and the absence of class consciousness in addressing young people’s disillusionment, says teacher ROBERT POOLE
Time to offer hope to those forgotten by the political class
Economic productivity is an age-old problem in Wales – it will continue to be so unless we offer genuine and sustainable solutions to the big economic questions, argues Plaid Cymru economy spokesperson LUKE FLETCHER MS

IN A question to the Welsh Economy Minister this week, I asked what he thought were the reasons for being optimistic about the Welsh economy: what awaits the young people here other than staggering rent hikes, stagnant wages and dearth of opportunity?
I did so following yet another publication from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) — one in a series of publications in recent months — in which the glaring weaknesses within the Welsh economy were thrown into very sharp relief.
The figures showed that rates of unemployment in Wales were 4.6 per cent — this is 1.6 points up on last year and compares to a UK-wide rate of 3.9 per cent.
More from this author

LUKE FLETCHER fleshes out Plaid Cymru's plan for the revitalisation of Wales's economy

After Joe Biden’s cynical last-minute clemency for Cuba, the new administration has quickly returned to maximum subversive tactics. This socialist island needs our support now more than ever, writes LUKE FLETCHER MS

The Welsh government is shying away from the obvious answer to a spiralling rental market and increased housing precarity – well-designed and implemented rent controls, writes LUKE FLETCHER

LUKE FLETCHER is concerned by the vagueness of Great British Energy's promised benefits to communities in Wales