13/09/2016 BBC Wales Today

Thursday to Thursday night. Cooler for all by the end of the week.

Tonight's top stories: Changing the political landscape of Wales -

the number of Welsh MPs could be cut by a quarter from 40 to 29.

I don't agree with that. I think Westminster is the place for Welsh

MPs. I would probably cut the Welsh Assembly.

So is cutting the number of MPs long overdue - or will the voice of Wales

Wales sees the biggest drop in applications to medical school

in the UK - tonight worries about the impact on the NHS.

One of the things I would like to see in the future is maybe a new

medical schools serving areas such as North Wales, mid Wales and other

areas. 50 years after Aberfan, the American

photographer who captured This is what is means to win gold -

Brecon's Rob Davies and Hollie Arnold crowned

Paralympic champions. The political landscape of Wales

could be about to change. Proposals to redraw our constituency

boundaries could see Wales lose more than a quarter of our MPs,

in the biggest shake up Wales' current 40 MPs

would be reduced. Under the new proposals

from the Boundary Commission, The reason is to try and make

all our parliamentary constituencies more or less equal in size -

just over 71,000 voters. In a moment, we'll gauge what impact

all this could have on Wales, and get reaction live

from Westminster. First, here's how a redesigned

Wales could look. Over the years, the way we report on

elections has changed. We will bring you all the latest

developments... But as we have modernised the shape

and size of our constituencies have stayed largely the same. These

proposals by the Boundary Commission at the biggest change to the Welsh

electoral map for more than 70 years. There are some major changes.

Among them, Anglesey. It would no longer be an island constituency and

will include Bangoura and Caernarfon. -- anger and Caernarfon.

Across to the sparsely populated areas of mid Wales, they could see

huge rural constituencies. Brecon and Radnorshire, for example, could

be augmented by Montgomery. South Pembrokeshire would become one

constituency while North Pembrokeshire would become part of

Ceredigion. South Wales's constituencies look to be intact.

But nowhere remains unchanged. Notably the Vale of Glamorgan, which

would be split into to. These are just lines on a map. These changes

could have far-reaching political repercussions.

The aim is to reduce the numbers coming here.

How that's done will have a huge impact on all parts of Wales.

It won't come as a surprise that large rural constituencies in Wales

are considered to be too sparsely populated.

But even the densely populated constituencies of the valleys

and cities are considered to have too few voters.

In fact, there's only one existing seat in Wales which is big enough

to bring it in line with the rest of the UK.

But keeping everyone happy won't be easy.

It's something the Boundary Commission is all too aware of,

and has been trying to maintain a sense of community

There are some areas where we have probably created more disruption

than in other areas. Places like the Vale of Glamorgan and in North

Wales, we are anticipating receiving feedback in those areas. We want to

hear what people say to see if we can improve.

No decisions can be taken in isolation. If the constituencies in

the South Wales valleys largely remain intact, there are not gones

for Cardiff. Four become three. And Penarth would become part of the

Vale of Glamorgan. Trouble is, the veil becomes too big, so the plan

would be to split it into to. Penarth would be come part of a new

seat in the east. And in the west of the Vale of Glamorgan, a new

constituency would incorporate the town of Bridgend. This is where the

political dynamic could change. Bridgend is currently a relatively

safe Labour seat. Under these changes, the Conservatives could

pose more of a challenge. I think Westminster is the place for our

Welsh MPs. I would probably cut the Welsh Assembly. MPs seemed to be

career politicians. If there were a lesser number of seats, there would

be more competition for those seats. We may get a better calibre of MP.

Now that Brexit has happened, I think maybe we need to keep our MPs.

Too many politicians trying to have different opinions. They are all

fighting. The less there is, the better. The changes could lead to

some interesting bouts in the future.

Among them, a Conservative head to head in Pembrokeshire

between Stephen Crabb and Simon Hart.

And in Cardiff between Labour's Jo Stevens

It is their party which is likely to be hardest-hit Mac

today we are seeing the number of MPs cut by more than a quarter. That

does create a concern about the influence of Wales. It could have an

impact on some MPs. There will always be people complaining. This

is slightly different in that it reduces overall the numbers of

Parliament. I don't see many members of the public weeping over the fact

that? Of us will lose our jobs. Are we looking at a welcome cut to

the cost of politics, or a worrying reduction of Welsh voices at

Westminster? I am at Westminster with two of the

MPs are affected, Glyn Davies and Jo Stevens. Take away a quarter of

Welsh MPs, you lose the voice of Wales at Westminster? I don't think

that will be the case. We have 29 members of Parliament. Clearly it is

a big reduction. We were overrepresented before. We have the

Welsh Assembly. I think that aspect is entirely reasonable. Jo Stevens,

we are overrepresented? I don't think we are. This has been done on

a flawed electoral register. We have disappearing Dave Baxter Whitney and

a House of Lords behind is stuffed with another 260 unelected peers.

The whole rationale for this exercise is it will save money. It

is not. We are losing 73 members of the European Parliament. We do not

need to reduce the number of MPs by 50. Welsh MPs represent fewer people

than English MPs. It is right they should represent roughly equal

numbers? I agree with equal sized constituencies but do it properly on

the basis of proper electoral registration numbers. There are 7

million people who are not registered. If you are going to

revolutionise representation, make it more democratic, have automatic

registration and do it properly on population numbers. You say you are

heartbroken by the way the Boundary Commission has divided your

constituency. Why is that? I have represented Montgomeryshire for 40

years. It is being demolished. I am bound to be heartbroken. It is a

consequence of the act that has gone through. It is very difficult. I

hope there will be ways of ameliorating that. That is why I am

having some sympathy with the Boundary Commission. They want to

change their minds before they come back. I hope the final report will

be more to my liking. MPs will ultimately have to vote and if you

are a member of government you will have to vote for it? I don't think

any member has doubled the government before their

constituency. A lot can change. The Boundary Commission have two more

stabs at this. We may never get there. It would be unwise media to

take up a definitive position two years before one has to decide. You

may face a fight with a colleague to get selected? Yes. I don't want to

be in that position and neither does my colleague. David Cameron put this

in place and left us to add, leaving a disaster behind him. It is

fiddling while Rome burns. We do not need to do it. If I put money on it,

I don't think it will go through. Thank you both. Thank you.

A two-year-old from Flintshire who died after a fireplace fell

on him, has been named locally as Malaki Hughes.

Emergency services were called to the little boy's home in Saltney,

The toddler was taken to the Countess of Chester Hospital,

Neil Hamilton, the leader of Ukip in the Assembly,

has been condemned after describing Welsh Labour's electoral

Mr Hamilton said Labour would "suffer

a holocaust" by losing Welsh seats at the next general

Labour AM Joyce Watson urged him to consider what the word

holocaust really means, in particular to Jewish families.

It's been a golden day for Welsh athletes competing

Hollie Arnold from Ystrad Mynach won gold in her javelin event,

breaking the world record twice in the process.

In the table tennis, Rob Davies from Brecon

beat his South Korean opponent to be crowned Paralympic champion.

There he is. The new Paralympic champion. This is what it means to

win Paralympic gold. Formerly a semiprofessional rugby player, Rob

Davies took up power table tennis after an accident left him with a

damaged spinal-cord. He has become world number one. In Rio he was

chasing his first Paralympic title. He had faced days of testing

matches, but in the end it was a comfortable victory over his Korean

opponent. Four of the 12 strong Paralympic GB team our Welsh. -- I

was. Rob Davies was cheering him on the crowd. Meanwhile, in the Olympic

Stadium Hollie Arnold was chasing her first Paralympic title. From the

off she made her mark, a world record-breaking throw on her second

attempt. But she left the best till last. A throw of 43 metres. Her

proud parents celebrating a famous win. Welsh athletes have so far

added six medals to Paralympic GB's tally. Four Golds, a bronze and a

silver last night in the mixed team event in archery.

I spoke to my family before and after. My little brothers are more

impressed. I am famous because my name comes up on Google.

That is what they have realised. Yesterday's big Welsh story came

from Aled Davies, the bear from Bridgend.

I came here to execute a process and we have done that and taken home the

medal I wanted. The pressure on your shoulders was enormous, the weight

of expectation huge. Talk to me about coping with that and then

performing at the highest level? I remember coming off the podium in

London and thinking, that is it, I can never lose again. Every

conversation I have been in ever since, they have put the gold medal

around my neck. I am my own worst enemy. I was put the pressure on

myself. I do not want anything less than

gold. A gold rush in Rio with plenty of other medal hopes in action in

the coming days. Much more to come

before seven o'clock. 50 years after Aberfan,

the American photographer who captured the community on camera

and children in schools across the country

celebrate the centenary The number of students from Wales

applying to study medicine has fallen by 15% over the last five

years - with a particularly sharp It's the biggest drop anywhere

in the UK, and there are concerns it could deepen recruitment

problems in the Welsh NHS. The warning comes as a documentary

series begins tonight on S4C, following students

at Cardiff University Cardiff is the most popular medical

School in the UK. Training to become the doctors of tomorrow on one of

the most demanding but rewarding courses in the UK. 3000 per year in

-- apply to come here, but only one in ten get accepted. One of the

stars of the new series is Ainsley Richards from mumbles. She has just

started her fourth year. Why do you want to become a medic and why did

you want to stay in Wales? I have competed internationally had a

number of sports since I was 13. I remember going to training with my

dad and just thinking, why is my body adapting like this? Also,

choosing Cardiff, it was a no-brainer, really. I read about the

sea 21 course and it is completely different to other courses I have

read about. Ainsley wants to stay in Wales when she qualifies and that

would be welcomed. There is a big shortage of doctors in some parts of

the country. There are big worries that fewer in Wales are applying to

do medicine in the first place. That is 100 fewer than five years

ago, a 15% drop. The largest of any UK country.

Everybody will understand that medical schools are competitive

environments. We want the best graduates to come from Cardiff. All

applicants to Cardiff should be treated equally, with places offered

on the basis of ability and potential. But some have called for

the Welsh government to introduce quotas, guaranteeing places for

applicants from Wales. It is a controversial idea. Asher came from

north London to study in Cardiff. I wouldn't be here if that was the

case. I am very much of the belief that it should be on people's

merits, whatever the processes. If that is how they deem you to be a

better doctor, then the best students should be selected. I would

like to see an increasing the number of medical students in Wales. If we

are thinking about improving the nature of the primary workforce and

practitioners, we should have more students and we can put them nearer

where patients are in areas where it is difficult to recruit. ?350

million supporting 15,000 wanted to work in health care is spent in

Wales every year. Many of these students will end up working in the

Welsh NHS. But the question is, will it be enough?

Celebrations have been held across the world,

to mark 100 years since Roald Dahl was born in Cardiff.

The author is well known for his Norwegian and English connections.

But in this centenary year, there's been a concerted

effort to highlight Wales as Dahl's place of birth,

and a formative influence on his imagination.

It is Willy Wonka's chocolate factory at the school hall. This

school was transformed as monstrous villains and magnificent heroes came

together to celebrate 100 years since the birth of one of the

greatest storytellers ever. His books have been the bedrock of

countless childhoods, with millions of copies sold having been

translated into 59 languages. He has a good imagination. The pictures are

really good and his books are funny. I like Matilda. It is wonderful to

have all the powers she has. How many books have you read of his? All

of them. Which is your favourite? I don't know. It is hard to say what

is your favourite out of all the books. Darryl's Welsh connections

are marked by a series of blue plaques. This was outside the house

where he was born. This is where the young author bought his sweets from

Mrs Cratchit, the shopkeeper. This elaboration -- illustration on the

front of his autobiography shows the time he put a mouse in the sweets.

That led to a caning. If I sit on a hard seat for two ours, I begin to

feel my heart actually beating along the stripes on my bottom where they

were. But the Welsh influence is not just confined to Cardiff. He was a

fan of the poet, Dylan Thomas. You can see that in the place where both

literary greats produced their magic.

He realised he had to have a space of his own in the garden away from

the children and the noise and the general domesticity. And he

remembered that Dylan Thomas had felt the same. And so he went down

to Wales to look at Dylan's writing hot. And like everybody, I think

probably fell in love with it. Although his Norwegian and English

connections are well-known, the part Wales played in the right's

imagination was the topic of a collection of essays published by a

number of academics. -- writer's. He was born in Wales,

went to school in Wales. The fingerprints of Wales might be there

in work. We might think about the ways in which Wales is kind of

imprinted, quietly, silently, almost invisibly in his work.

26 years after his death, the magic and wonder of his creations

continue, especially here in his city and country of birth.

Geraint Thomas. Next month will mark 50 years

since the Aberfan disaster. 116 children and 28 adults killed

when a coal tip slid onto Pantglas School

and houses in 1966. A few days later an American

photographer Chuck Rapoport arrived. His images form part

of a new exhibition in Merthyr Tydfil, but also led

to life-long friendships. White? Why did I live and my brother

died? School boy Ronnie Davies was trying to make sense of something

nobody can really comprehend. Here he is showing a photographer from

America where his school used to be. He came to me to say something and I

said, I think God has a plan for you and kept your life. After the

disaster many children were kept indoors. The fear was that the site

of survivors playing in the street might upset others, those who had

lost sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, entire families, parents, like

John Collins. He lost both his boys and his wife. And as if that wasn't

enough, he lost his home. If he had said, don't take my picture, his

whole life would've been different. His picture round in life magazine.

An American woman saw the picture she was so moved by the story, she

got in touch. They had a romance and they married. His daughter from that

marriage contacted me in 2010, to tell me that my photograph, that she

is alive and living because of my photograph. And that he had a life

and he had happiness again. This was the first wedding after the

disaster. Denise and going. My dad was only a

minor. He could not afford a professional photographer. When this

guy turned up and said he wanted to give us an album and make beautiful

photographs, we said yes. He came over just to take photographs. But

he made an impact on our lives and we made an impact on his. The story

seems to keep riding new chapters, if that makes sense. You took stills

in a moment in time but other things have happened? Yes, it is an ongoing

story, some of which cannot be photographed. The most important

story of my life. The latest exhibition is now open in Merthyr

Tydfil at the red house. It runs until the 29th of October, exactly

50 years to the day he first arrived in Wales.

And there'll be comprehensive coverage of the 50th anniversary

commemorations of Aberfan across the BBC next month.

Tonight's weather forecast now here's Lucy Martin.

Thank you and good evening on what has been the hottest day of the year

so far across the UK and the warmest September temperature recorded since

1911. Parts of Kent have seen temperatures reaching a maximum of

34 Celsius. A different story in Wales, where temperatures have

peaked at 23 degrees. Plenty in the way of patchy showers. And also

quite a lot in the way of low cloud. You can see where the temperature

split is from where the clouds sit. The good news is as we move into

tomorrow, we will see plenty in the way of sunny spells. We will see

slightly warmer temperatures as well. First of all though, looking

at this evening, showers clearing to the north-west. By midnight, a

largely dry night, with temperatures falling to 14 to 19 Celsius. A few

mist and fog patches developing first thing. A mild start tomorrow.

Mist and fog around first thing. That should clear up quite readily.

Then we see decent sunny spells. Temperatures should be quite warm. A

maximum of 25 Celsius. We could see 2627 in the south-west. As we move

into Thursday, we will see plenty in the way of cloud. Again, a mild

night, with temperatures in the upper teens. We will see more mist

and fog. We will see a mild start on Thursday. Through the day we should

see sunny spells developing. And again, well, not again, on Thursday,

the risk of the odd isolated shower. Those temperatures back to 25

degrees. By the time we get to Friday, I think we will see a

slightly fresher feel to the weather. Temperatures reaching a

maximum of 16 or 17 degrees. I leave you with the Outlook. The warmest

day of the week tomorrow. Fresher towards the weekend.

The number of Welsh MPs could be cut by more than a quarter,

if plans to redraw constituency boundaries go ahead.

The number of Welsh seats in the House of Commons would fall

from 40 to 29, in a bid to make sure all constituencies have

We will have 29 members of Parliament. It is a big reduction.

We were overrepresented before and we have the Assembly in place. I

think that aspect is entirely reasonable. I have a great love for

Montgomeryshire. It has been completely demolished. I am bound to

be pretty heartbroken. This exercise is being done on a flawed electoral

register rather than population size. We have David Cameron

disappearing to Whitney and the House of Lords stuffed with another

260 unelected peers at a cost of 30 million quid. The rationale is it

will save money. It is not. Our political editor, Nick Servini,

will join Carl Roberts to answer all your questions

about those changes to our constituencies,

on the BBC Wales News Facebook page I'll have an update for you here

at eight o'clock and again That's Wales Today,

thank you for watching. From all of us on the programme,

good evening.