Mariam Kamish, Secretary Caerphilly Trades Council (personal capacity)
In scenes of pandemonium, the chair of Caerphilly Council’s Joint Scrutiny Committee shouted me down, demanded I leave the podium, and threatened to have me thrown out of the council’s 2026 budget meeting.
I had called on councillors to break ranks and table a motion to overturn last year’s decision to close ten local libraries. But the chair claimed the issue wasn’t in this year’s budget. Pointed in the right direction by rebel councillor Brenda Miles, I’d proved otherwise. But the chair refused to hear the arguments.
I hadn’t thought we were living in a Trump-style dystopia – not yet! Maybe I’d been wrong!
The chair suspended the meeting. He sent a proctor up to the public gallery to reason with me. Then, he stormed up there himself for a nose to nose.
Our ten threatened libraries are still open – thanks to our campaign’s relentless efforts. It’s not hard to see why the council is afraid of us. Why they’ve cut the consultation period this year from three months to just three weeks!
In the recent Senedd by-election, Labour lost one of its safest seats and the top issue on the doors was the libraries. It’s time they wake up – before next year’s council elections – to give the libraries a reprieve and stop wasting money fighting us in the courts.
This has never been about money! Caerphilly Council has the largest reserves in Wales. The campaign calls for a legal, needs-based, no-cuts budget. We’re looking to help organise a people’s budget meeting. Meanwhile, we renew our challenge: there’s no shame in listening and changing a bad decision. No Cuts! No Community Asset Transfers! No Closures! Keep our libraries open and in the public sector!
Rebel councillor
Rebel councillor Brenda Miles made Caerphilly history last May by voting against plans to close ten local libraries. Labour suspended her and threw her off committees. Since then, she has marched with us, joined our campaign, assisted in building a case for a Judicial Review and spoken at our protests. Brenda says the council is not fulfilling its obligations under the 1964 Libraries Act.
