Response from the North Wales Group of Labour MPs There is no BBC Local Radio in Wales. Wales is the only nation within the UK not to have either local radio provision or any opt out provision within its services. In North Wales, the BBC broadcasts on radio through BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru, the latter of which broadcasts solely in the Welsh language. The withdrawal of BBC Radio Clwyd in the 1980s means that there is no regionalised BBC provision at all in either north‐east Wales or north‐west Wales. As a consequence, news and information which is provided by BBC Local Radio in other parts of the UK is not provided in North Wales. For example, traffic information for North Wales is provided on the same programmes as provide traffic information for Cardiff and Swansea, both at least three hours drive distant. Frankly, town centre traffic news for Wrexham is of no interest to anyone in Cardiff, Swansea or, for example, Llanelli. Information on, for example, school closures due to bad weather is more limited due to the geographic size of the area covered by BBC Radio Wales. In contrast, within England, immediately across the border from Wrexham and within one hour’s drive, areas covered by BBC Radio Merseyside, BBC Radio Shropshire, BBC Radio Lancashire, BBC Radio Manchester and BBC Radio Stoke all have BBC Local Radio services. In addition, recent BBC proposals suggested a BBC Radio Cheshire. BBC Radio Wales’ efforts to provide a single Wales service ignore the cultural differences between north Wales and south Wales. The most obvious example of this relates to sport. The back page of the Daily Post in north Wales always focuses on football, often on Merseyside clubs and sometimes on Manchester clubs. This reflects the interests of many sports fans in north Wales. In contrast, the south Wales press tends to focus on rugby union, a more limited interest in north Wales. This example expresses cultural differences and diverse interests within Wales, something which cannot adequately be expressed by a single English language radio station covering a population of 3 million over a wide geographic area. The differences are evident not just within sport but, more broadly, in cultural life and in politics. It is rare indeed for politicians from North Wales to be asked to appear on BBC Radio Wales which is dominated by politicians from South Wales. This is particularly true of those who do not speak Welsh. As a consequence, fewer individuals listen in north Wales and the incentive to take part for those from north Wales lessens. These issues have been raised repeatedly by politicians from north Wales, especially those not based in the National Assembly but have been ignored. Ian Lucas MP Albert Owen MP Chris Ruane MP Susan Elan Jones MP David Hanson MP Mark Tami MP .