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Welsh indy movement YesCymru sees membership surge as 500 join in five days

28 May 2020 2 minute read
Lluniau gan / Pictures by Lluniau Lleucu

YesCymru have seen a membership surge as 500 new members have joined up in five days, organisers say.

The cross-party campaign which fights for Welsh independence was believed to have around 2,500 members before the current rise.

The number has risen despite their having to postpone marches in Wrexham on 18 April, Tredegar on 6 June and Swansea on 5 September due to the pandemic.

“Over 500 people have joined YesCymru in the last 5 days,” a spokesperson from YesCymru announced. “A massive thanks to each and every one of you!”

The most recent YouGov opinion poll in September 2019 suggested that 24% would vote ‘yes’ to Welsh independence in a referendum, with 52% opposed and 23% unsure.

 

‘Better’

New members said that their decision to join up had been influenced by the UK Government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the decision not to sack advisor Dominic Cummings for breaking lockdown rules.

Julie ‘Welsh Whippet’ tweeted: “ don’t think there has ever been a better reason for #indyref than now. The UK government are gaslighting the British people to save the career of one man.

“This is despicable. The UK government does not speak for Wales.”

One new member, Mark Riley, tweeted: “It’s time for Wales to break free from Westminster and determine our own future. It will be tough & our current Assembly is far from perfect.

“But we can and should do this. A progressive, outward-looking, welcoming, innovative self-determining Wales.”

Nick Bennett said: “Having been an observer from afar for some time, I, like many others this past week, have decided enough is enough.

“Independence won’t solve all our problems straight away, but it’ll give us an opportunity to create a better country.”

 


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david fox
david fox
4 years ago

What is heartening is that people are using terms like “outward looking” and are accepting that it will not be an easy path full of quick fixes. We can do this if we are cautious and take care…and we must gain support from the “average person” in England too, after all the cause of Welsh Independence isn’t because of the citizens of England, rather it is the poisonous “Establishment” there that does all people on this archipelago that forces us to demand this. Hopefully the people of Cymru can start to realise just what has been done to this great… Read more »

Andrew Redman
Andrew Redman
4 years ago
Reply to  david fox

What will confuse many people is the demand for more funds from Westminster at the same time as wishing for an Independent Wales. Much the same message comes from Scotland. Surely self-sufficiency is dependent on non-reliance from an outside source?

j humphrys
j humphrys
4 years ago
Reply to  Andrew Redman

No gain without pain, yes. In my opinion, a Jersey-style border would keep us on friendly terms, save our culture
and enable us to build the mixed economy that most Cymro seem to find attractive. btw countries do not need to
be rich to be content. We have a chance to be content together?

PolyglotPaul
4 years ago
Reply to  j humphrys

I would imagine, as with Ireland, that Wales would remain part of the Common Travel Area after independence.

Steve H
Steve H
4 years ago
Reply to  j humphrys

A Jersey style border? Two hundred miles of sea? And a tax haven for the rich when you get there? Well, I suppose it’s what’s called thinking outside the box …….

Alwyn Evans
Alwyn Evans
4 years ago
Reply to  Andrew Redman

Not confusing at all – the deficit in Wales is the direct result of centripetal policy that for at least two centuries has centralised investment, profit -taking and power in the south-east of England. A dependent Wales as we have now deserves every penny of subsidy; an independent Wales creates and benefits from its own resources. For a parallel, look at Slovakia. Kicked out from the joint republic by the richer Czechs because they didn’t want to subsidise it , it has proved that it can stand on its own feet, attracts industry and investment, and is now viable as… Read more »

Sibrydionmawr
Sibrydionmawr
4 years ago
Reply to  Alwyn Evans

Not strictly true on the dissolution of Czechoslovakia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_Czechoslovakia

Sibrydionmawr
Sibrydionmawr
4 years ago
Reply to  Andrew Redman

Part of the problem is that no-one knows what Wales actually produces and whether or not it pays its way. As far as I’m aware, the only time that Wales was actually regarded as a separate economy apart from that of the wider UK was in around 1973 when Wales was found to outperform England in terms of wealth generated. Of course, that was in the days when coal and steel were big, but let’s not forget that manufacturing is still a large part of the Welsh economy and that there are areas that aren’t counted that if they were… Read more »

Jonesy
Jonesy
4 years ago
Reply to  Sibrydionmawr

People all over the world celebrate a saints day, there is nothing exclusive about celebrating it, i have never heard such nonsense

Sian Ifan
Sian Ifan
4 years ago
Reply to  Andrew Redman

That’s the rub! Having long been an activist Nationalist this ‘Cymru Corona 19 Crisis is’ eating away at my belief in Independence, already undermined by Martin Johnes in his book WALES: ENGLAND’S COLONY also serialized in a ‘two faced’ Western Mail, once a Tory Rag now fast becoming a Crachach Crap platform as Nation Cymru is a Plaid Cymru platform. I note that none of our ‘Intellectual’ Nationalists have challenged Johnes, one word in his whole argument against’Independence’ undermined any challenge from me ‘Independence IMPRACTICAL’. Think on it fully! Not least of an E.S WALES increasingly Americanized Anglicized Wales in… Read more »

Dafydd Clwyd
Dafydd Clwyd
4 years ago
Reply to  Andrew Redman

We are obly requesting our own money. Wales pays taxes to, we aren’t subsidised. If we was independent then the money we put into the UK treasury would go straight into a Cardiff treasury.

Jason Winter
Jason Winter
4 years ago

I think it is important to utilise common sense when considering issues like this, often people feel as opposed to think. If wales was to pursue a independence, like all newly independent nations it would struggle initially, however it does have potential. Wales is a bilingual nation, with a large native English speaking population, from a business perspective that is a solid advantage, and while the same could be said of Ireland, unlike Ireland wales would not be subject to deep community tension, which in turn would further support our position as a stable, pro business nation. While its true… Read more »

joseph skinner
joseph skinner
4 years ago
Reply to  Jason Winter

‘Marry English people’, there aren’t all that many in the valleys…. If you are referring to ancestry of course, then you would be hard pressed someone in the valleys who does not have one English or Irish grandparent going back 100-150 years….

Anglo Welsh
Anglo Welsh
4 years ago

I must admit that more afraid of the Welsh establishment than the English. The English establishment has been forced over the years to lean somewhat to the will of the people. In Wales I see an establishment that just do whatever like.

O.R
O.R
4 years ago
Reply to  Anglo Welsh

After independence the Welsh ‘establishment’ i.e Labour would have to change and accept responsibility or be voted out

Steve Duggan
Steve Duggan
4 years ago

That is good news and before we’ve even had the mess that will be created from a no deal Brexit in December. This information needs to be posted far and wide across both Cymru and England – publicity is everything.

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