Nation.Cymru staff
There has been an outpouring of anger after Reform UK Wales posted an Aberfan ‘tribute’ video described as ‘opportunistic’ and ‘shameful’.
The video which is fronted by party leader in Wales, Helen Jenner, has received heavy criticism after it was posted on X yesterday (October 23), two days after the 60th anniversary of the disaster that killed 144 people, including 116 children.
The clip opens with Jenner mentioning Aberfan but as the video progresses she begins to promote Reform policy including mobile phones in schools, prostate cancer and Reform’s call to ban face coverings like burqas and niqabs.
The posting of the video came after a tense Senedd debate on October 21 (the date of the Aberfan anniversary) when Reform MS Jason O’Connell argued full-face coverings clashed with British values, prompting Plaid Cymru’s Sioned Williams to call it a divisive end to a sombre day of unity in Aberfan.
Locals like Gerwyn Jones from the village condemned the Reform video as disrespectful, with many online calling the approach opportunistic and shameful amid ongoing sensitivities around the disaster’s legacy.
X user @DiafolBoyo, posted:
‘I am a survivor of Aberfan, but I lost my brother.
‘The bereaved families and fellow survivors of Aberfan do not need or appreciate the hollow words of remembrance of a political party like Reform who only exist to sow division and hatred.
‘We are better than that.’
Remembering Aberfan.
https://t.co/PM8MNbnRG4
— Reform UK Wales (@RUKWales) October 23, 2026
The replies from X users demonstrated people’s disgust at the Reform video.
Here are a selection of the many comments.
@welshhighlandrr Are you seriously linking the Aberfan tragedy to a Reform policy? You are disgusting opportunists.
@dylanthomas91 You’ve literally just provided evidence to a lot of people’s claim that the Reform party is full of xxxxx. What on earth made you think posting this was a good idea? You really haven’t got a clue.
@Draigmelyn This is one of the scummiest things I’ve seen from a political party. Disgusting but expected from Reform.
@Citi_ZenSane Extremely disrespectful.
@perilousbanana Remembering it so much you posted this two days after the anniversary? Then, not only that, but you use it for a political broadcast? You people are shameful.
@skippy_c Every time we think you people can’t possibly get any more disgusting. Beyond vile to use the tragedy of Aberfan in this way.
@YesSglods This is blatantly using a tragic event to make political points . Hang your head in shame.
The Aberfan video controversy comes days after a Reform MS was heavily criticised for marking the 60th anniversary of the disaster by generating a “disrespectful” fake image of the tragedy that killed over 100 school children.
Afan Ogwr Rhondda MS Steve Bayliss published the post to Facebook on Wednesday (October 21) in which he included an image depicting black material cascading from a row of large houses onto a building with modern square windows below.
The real Pantglas Junior School was a a typical Victorian-era building constructed out of dark stone and red brick.
The hillside in the image posted by Bayliss featured a row of terraced houses perched directly along the crest of the mountain.
However, the houses do not appear to match the actual geography of where Merthyr Vale colliery’s waste tips would have been above the village.
The image also showed hundreds of men wearing white hard hats picking through the rubble, alongside a bunch of flowers bearing a card that read: “Forever in our hearts”.
Real images taken on the day of the disaster 60 years ago show that many of those who arrived at the scene of the accident did not have the appropriate safety gear.
Parents and neighbours living near the school frantically clawed their way through the heavy black slurry with their bare hands in a desperate bid to reach the children buried inside.
Nation.Cymru asked Steve Bayliss if he thought it was unethical to create a fake image of a disaster that took the lives of Welsh children.
The Reform MS did not respond.
Aberfan resident Thomas Dafydd said: “The AI-slop image produced by a Reform UK politician is wholly inappropriate and deeply disrespectful.
“There are enough images of this horrific disaster depicting what really happened on that awful day, without generating fake versions.
“No serious politician who genuinely cares about the people of Aberfan would lazily use AI to create an image of a disaster that caused such immense suffering for an entire community.”
The post Reform UK Wales slated for ‘shameful’ Aberfan video appeared first on Nation.Cymru.