Overview
- The Haystack café in Merthyr Tydfil shared a video of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage during Thursday’s Senedd campaign visit, then pulled the post after complaints.
- Owner Liam Lazarus said the move "massively backfired" and said the business lost thousands of social-media followers.
- He apologised and said the clip was a marketing "hook" rather than an endorsement of Farage or Reform UK.
- To rebut assumptions about his views, he pointed to a halal menu across three sites, non-binary and trans staff, and about 60 employees.
- Online comments split between support and accusations of tokenism, and regional coverage said the hit to trade remains unclear.