‘We’re crap at capitalism. We need something different’: the battle for economic revival in the Welsh valleys

Decades of attempts to overcome economic blight in the region have failed. Now some say a fresh approach is needed

Driving up the bigger of the two Rhondda valleys, it is hard to believe that not so long ago it was part of one of the biggest coal-producing areas in the world. The terrace houses built for the men who worked the pits are still there, but of the mines themselves nothing remains. Nature has reclaimed the spoil tips. The scars of industrialisation are hard to spot.

But appearances can be deceptive. The human scarring from deindustrialisation has been deep and long-lasting. The Welsh valleys stretching north from Cardiff have low levels of employment and high levels of deprivation. Income per head is among the lowest in the UK and low pay is endemic.