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Second Gwynedd Councillor joins Neil McEvoy’s new party

13 May 2020 3 minute read
Neil McEvoy AM

A Plaid Cymru Councillor in Gwynedd has announced that he has joined Senedd Member Neil McEvoy’s currently unregistered Welsh National Party.

Cllr Peter Read, who represents Abererch ward, is the second councillor in the county to have done so after independent Dylan Bullard who represents Pwllheli North joined at the end of April.

The Welsh National Party is currently unregistered following a threat of legal action by Plaid Cymru over their name, which they claim is too similar to their own.

The party, formed at the beginning of this year, now has seven Councillors across three local authorities, as well as one member of the Senedd in Neil McEvoy.

Cllr Peter Read said that his opposition to Gwynedd’s Local Development Plan was forefront in his decision to join the McEvoy’s party.

“Joining the WNP is a positive decision to shake up politics in Gwynedd and Wales,” Cllr Peter Read said.

“The Welsh National Party will be seeking amendments to Gwynedd’s Local Development Plan at the earliest opportunity. Planning needs to be at a human scale, not geared towards big developers.

“It often seems like it’s easier for a person from outside Wales to build a house here, while young people just can’t get a mortgage. And we must stop family homes being converted into yet more holiday homes. Local housing must be there for local people.

“The WNP Gwynedd Council Group is also calling for urgent action to stop the coming influx of visitors this Whitsun holiday, after the relaxation of regulations in England. Road restrictions should be put in place. Those travelling to second homes should be fined and sent home.

“I’m a strong believer in the WNP’s policy of community sovereignty. Communities should decide what happens locally. Because what the Coronavirus pandemic has shown us is that we still have a strong, proud community. When it mattered we could rely on each other and it’s brought us closer, but it’s also shown us the cracks. We can’t go back to the way things were before.

“I joined the WNP because its politics are fresh and clear. Wales and Gwynedd have enormous potential. Now we have a party that can be better for Wales.”

 

‘Real alternative’

WNP Leader Neil McEvoy MS said that there was “real momentum” behind his party and that he was forming an “excellent team”.

He said that Gwynedd was a place that he “loved” but had been “overlooked and let down for too long”.

“We will be putting forward solutions going forward, starting with Gwynedd’s Local Development Plan,” he said. “We need housing and jobs in Gwynedd that prioritises people who are actually from Gwynedd.

“The WNP is the real Welsh alternative now. The cosy Cardiff Bay consensus is coming to an end as we take power back to the communities in Wales.”

Neil McEvoy was originally elected for Plaid Cymru to represent the South Wales Central region in 2016 before being expelled in 2017.

He withdrew his application to re-join Plaid Cymru in July of last year and registered the new Welsh National Party in January of this year.

In January he was suspended as a Cardiff councillor for four months after a council panel ruled he had bullied a care home worker.


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Josh Foster
Josh Foster
4 years ago

Excellent news…but that last paragraph. Oh, Nation bach. You are so transparently a Plaid mouthpiece. The Books Council and the Welsh Government need to consider very carefully before continuing to fund a propaganda outlet. Anyway, at last it seems we have a growing movement to take on the corrupt Welsh establishment and to properly represent the voiceless in Wales. The urban working class, the agricultural community, rural communities seeing their culture unnecessarily destroyed and the landless. They will throw the kitchen sink at McEvoy and his lot, you watch. They have so much to lose. Don’t believe a word of… Read more »

Royston Jones
4 years ago
Reply to  Josh Foster

I agree entirely. This site is just a Plaid Cymru mouthpiece. It should not receive a penny of public funding.

Ceri
Ceri
4 years ago
Reply to  Royston Jones

Mr Jones, entertain this notion for a moment; Nation surpasses all London based news outlets for online traffic. Given the clear split in political preference in the comment section, (and assuming that continued in this hypothesis) it would be imprudent to cater for one group over another lest traffic fall again. None of us, be we plaid or WNP or apolitically pro freedom or unionist get censored for expressing our views. Hope to see a better balance in the opinion pieces but, by in large, Nation does a good job. The ideal of a truly Welsh media platform is a… Read more »

j humphrys
j humphrys
4 years ago
Reply to  Ceri

Agree bigly.

Josh Foster
Josh Foster
4 years ago
Reply to  Ceri

The ideal of a truly Welsh media platform is indeed a noble one. Alas, this site makes no attempt to fulfil that ideal. It is blatantly partial in the way it reports. The arrogance of this “shut up and support us” attitude is what has turned so many off Plaid. Even where we share overarching objectives (eg Welsh media platform), support must be earned. This site falls some way short of deserving that support, other than from Plaid people. And I certainly don’t think taxpayer money should be given to a media platform that is not upfront about its obvious… Read more »

Ceri
Ceri
4 years ago
Reply to  Josh Foster

No attempt? Seriously? Look, loads of people have sympathy for the politically disenfranchised indy supporters (non leftist), hell, I’m one of them, but that just doesn’t ring true here. All we need are more people of your, my and all political persuasions to submit op eds of sufficient quality and there we have it, parity. The shrieks of ‘crachach’ and ‘elites’ flies too close to the sun, threatening the movement as a whole. For balance, too many Liberal and leftist Plaid supporters are ignoring indy for trendy hot takes and, worse than that, crying ‘there’s no point in getting indy… Read more »

Josh Foster
Josh Foster
4 years ago
Reply to  Ceri

Again, “shut up and support us”.

You’re conflating two separate issues. I’m referring to the way their supposedly objective ‘news’ articles are written, not the volume of tripe we have to endure from Mike Parker.

This article is a prime example. The picture, the headline, and the closing paragraphs betray the site’s bias.

And, of course, we don’t know how many articles of a different political hue are submitted, but the way subjects like this one are treated by the editors does not fill me with confidence.

Ceri
Ceri
4 years ago
Reply to  Josh Foster

Us? Who’s saying shut up? Many comments from WNP supporters, unionists, Gwlad people, Labourites, all allowed to stand and be up or down voted. Look at what we’re doing here, right now, this back and forth. The issue isn’t that I, or anyone else, demand silence and obedience, it more that ‘we’ ask that people stop calling for the destruction of the platform before it’s even gotten started! It’s less ‘shut up and support us’ and more ‘don’t shoot, we’re on a plane, you’ll kill us all’. This, however much it rankles one’s political sensibilities, is a golden opportunity to… Read more »

Ceri
Ceri
4 years ago
Reply to  Ceri

BTW, Mr Foster, I just up-voted your previous comment because I think it really furthered the dialogue. Not that proportion of ups and downs means anything.

Josh Foster
Josh Foster
4 years ago
Reply to  Ceri

Look, I don’t want to get into a protracted debate, which serves only to distract from the main issue here – the significant momentum now building behind a viable alternative to the current cosy, corrupt establishment.

Whatever about the opinion articles, any outlet that writes up news in the way this article has been written is, in my opinion, a very dubious contender for public funds. I’ll leave it at that.

Sian Ifan
Sian Ifan
4 years ago
Reply to  Royston Jones

Not often i agree with ‘Abergynolwyns agony aunt’ but this time i do and how is it ‘Y Cymro is funded as well as what else to advance ‘CRACHDOM?’ If such funding of Y Crachach Newydd continues post Covid 19 then look out for a Cultural Nationalist dystopia! Gethin.

Jase
Jase
4 years ago
Reply to  Royston Jones

My God Royston something we agree on

Wrexhamian
Wrexhamian
4 years ago
Reply to  Jase

You’re certainly right that the article betrayed an anti-McEvoy slant, with a gratuitous and disingenuous refernce to what ammounted to a stitch-up by Cardiff City Council. A more impartial journalist would have put “bullying” in inverted commas, in line with accepted practice. The article wasn’t even about him.

Jase
Jase
4 years ago
Reply to  Josh Foster

”The Books council and welsh Government need to consider very carefully before continuing to fund a propaganda project”

Given that around 85% of wales NEVER votes for nationalist parties it doesn’t seem to bother you that NATION CYMRU is a propaganda outlet for independence?

May the editor could answer ?

Wrexhamian
Wrexhamian
4 years ago
Reply to  Jase

Bother who? You make the independence campaign sound like terrorism or paedophilia. By the way, nobody calls it ‘nationalism’ any more, except the odd unionist.

Johnny Gamble
Johnny Gamble
4 years ago
Reply to  Jase

Jase what 85% of people have done is vote for English Nationalist Parties, talk about an inferiority complex.

Neil McEvoy
Neil McEvoy
4 years ago

Ifan in terms of accuracy, I was found to have used an unpleasant tone of voice on a phone call, which caused distress. The only alleged witness stated he heard just one line of the conversation. I was enquiring about a child who had consistently alleged abuse in the care home. Of course, the disputed tone is more important for all media outlets than a child alleging abuse. Furthermore, digital recordings proved that staff had lied about my tone of voice in a second interaction. Facts do get in the way of the narrative sometimes.

Jase
Jase
4 years ago
Reply to  Neil McEvoy

Do something about your aggressive followers … one inparticular

Jason Evans
Jason Evans
4 years ago

You need to retract that last paragraph. I became a paying subscriber to an independent Welsh media outlet not a mouthpiece to a political party I’ve just left. Come on Nation.Cymru don’t be like the UK mainstream media oultlet be impartial and fair.
You’ve let yourself down there !

Neil McEvoy
Neil McEvoy
4 years ago

One further thing, Cllr Peter Read is the story here and the WNP. A photograph of Peter would be far more appropriate.

Ceri
Ceri
4 years ago
Reply to  Neil McEvoy

Agree there Mr McEvoy. Whatever the background noise is, I wish you and your new party all the best luck. If you guys prove yourselves to be a viable option in your target constituencies, I hope you can gain a few seats and further the cause of freedom for Cymru, alongside Plaid and those of us who are politically homeless but support indy.

j humphrys
j humphrys
4 years ago
Reply to  Neil McEvoy

Agree. I keep thinking you’ve only one shirt! All best.

Huw Davies
Huw Davies
4 years ago
Reply to  j humphrys

I think it’s a case of this site only using one photo !

Nigel Bull
Nigel Bull
4 years ago

I find Plaid’s attitude quite hilarious, it’s almost as if they are saying that Plaid Voters are so stupid that they could not differentiate between the parties names on a ballot paper! A party that is Welsh, has Nationalistic tendencies and tries to represent the whole of Wales is quite entitled to have that ethos in the name somewhere. I am not aware of there being any confusion between the Labour Party and the Socialist Party, but perhaps their supporters are a little brighter! They have also bagged the “Party of Wales” name in a trademark grab, which is dishonest… Read more »

Rhosddu
Rhosddu
4 years ago

This sort of focusing on local issues directly affecting Welsh people is exactly the sort of thing that is going to win community council seats for the WNP, and eventually seats in the Senedd. Expect more defections, Plaid.

Neil McEvoy
Neil McEvoy
4 years ago
Reply to  Rhosddu

Rhosddu, grass roots up is in the WNP’s DNA. We want local democracy to flourish. Devolution from Cardiff. Top down? Dim diolch. #CommunitySovereignty

Rhosddu
Rhosddu
4 years ago
Reply to  Neil McEvoy

‘Nuff said. Diolch a phob lwc. I’m convinced that a commitment to reach those parts that other Welsh Parties have been reluctant to reach will raise the WNP’s stock among the Welsh electorate. A willingness to confront/tackle local instances of injustice, corruption, waste, etc will resonate and should result in votes. The Gwynedd LDP is a perfect example.

j humphrys
j humphrys
4 years ago
Reply to  Rhosddu

Any defections from other than Plaid? Notice we all call them Plaid, cos we know them as such!

j humphrys
j humphrys
4 years ago
Reply to  Rhosddu

If Plaid Wrecsam isn’t grass roots, I don’t know what is!

Wrexhamian
Wrexhamian
4 years ago
Reply to  j humphrys

You’re right, JH. They deserve a better leadership.

Jase
Jase
4 years ago

If Gwynedd councilors are joining the Neil Mcevoy party then its a clear sign the party intends to be more insular than Plaid

Ceri
Ceri
4 years ago
Reply to  Jase

Show your work. Pics or it never happened.

Seriously who is this aimed at? Just cut and paste ‘way-elz baad’, it’ll save your thumb pain.

Josh Foster
Josh Foster
4 years ago
Reply to  Jase

So, they have a BAME leader from Cardiff, a female Chair from Pembrokeshire, but as soon as Welsh speakers join in this Party of Unity, they’re suddenly insular. Methinks Jase is a bit of a bigot.

Steve Duggan
Steve Duggan
4 years ago

I know from first hand experience what having a number of parties representing a similar subject will do to a cause. My wife is Zimbabwean and I’m pretty clued up about the politics in Zimbabwe as a result. The oposition to the ruling party – the MDC- since independence in 1980, has been mainly split, certainly now. This has not helped it gain power (along with rigging too but not recently) keeping Zanu PF in government. We have to work together no matter what our differences if we are to achieve independence – splitting the vote could well see Labour… Read more »

Josh Foster
Josh Foster
4 years ago
Reply to  Steve Duggan

“We have to work together no matter what our differences if we are to achieve independence – splitting the vote could well see Labour in charge again after next year’s elections” Someone should have told Ms Wood and Mr Price and their supporters. Plaid’s ONLY argument is “well, if you don’t support us, you’ll split the vote. Instead, waste your vote on us and achieve the square route of sod all, but at least we’ll be united in our abject failure” Hardly a compelling argument. Time and again we have seen that the people of Wales don’t want Plaid. Plaid… Read more »

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