Welsh Young Liberals attack leader’s failure to back Home Rule for Wales
Martin Shipton
Welsh Young Liberals have criticised their party’s leadership for abandoning its historic commitment to Home Rule for Wales.
The youth wing of the Welsh Liberal Democrats deplored the fact that only one Lib Dem MS – leader Jane Dodds in Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd – was elected.
During the run-up to the election and since, Ms Dodds has made it clear that the party is wholly opposed to Welsh independence, and that she would vote against any proposal to spend Welsh Government money on a Commission to explore the implications of an independent Wales.
Chair of Welsh Young Liberals Caredig ap Tomos issued a statement in which he made clear that the youth organisation will play its role in the renewal of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, but insisting that Home Rule must be placed back at the heart of the agenda.
David Lloyd George, Britain’s last Liberal Prime Minister, was in 1886 one of the founders of Cymru Fydd (Wales To Be), a movement that campaigned for Home Rule.
Caredig ap Tomos said: “The Senedd election on May 7 brought a historic moment to Wales. After 27 years, Labour’s grip on the Welsh Government finally broke, with Plaid Cymru returning as the largest party and now forming the government. We congratulate Rhun ap Iorwerth on this momentous victory and wish him well as Prif Weinidog Cymru.
“We also congratulate our party leader Jane Dodds MS, who returns to the Senedd for a second term. Her return is a reminder and testament to our party’s history and legacy that we continue to win in rural Wales – the heartland of the liberal movement in this country. We would also like to pay tribute to all young candidates across Wales who fought hard to be a positive voice for young people in the Senedd.
“However, these election results did not deliver the outcome we had hoped for as Welsh Young Liberals. Across Wales, candidates worked tirelessly to take the fight to Reform UK and the Greens, but ultimately poor leadership and a lack of identity contributed to one of our worst Senedd election results to date.
“The failure to return enough members to form a parliamentary group in the Senedd is not because of activists and candidates showing up to canvass, but because we lacked a cohesive national message. This is not reflective of where a party with such deep historical roots in Wales should be. The Welsh Liberal Democrats have shaped this country’s political landscape for generations, having first fought for Welsh language rights, land ownership, and clerical rights.
Home Rule
He added: “We have been, and always will be, the party of Home Rule – knowing that power should sit in Cardiff Bay, not Westminster. Wales deserves the right to be treated as an equal in this United Kingdom, not as a lesser partner. We believe these fundamental ideals are not only part of our future as a political party – it is part of the future of Wales itself.
“Welsh Young Liberals will play our part in our journey to renewal, championing Wales as a nation at a time when our voice has been quietly eroded by Labour. We will listen to both members and non-members alike about what a bold and truly liberal democratic party must look like as we head into next year’s local elections but leadership cannot walk away from these results. It must own them – and change.
“Thank you to everyone who campaigned, volunteered, and voted. We go again.”
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They should now start campaigning to remove Dodds as The Welsh Leader
She’s out of touch, abstaining against Rhun was also silly.
Just get on with it.
Well done Young WLDs. The problem is getting the executive to listen and act. The dire Senedd results were predicted. The meaningless of the WLDs to the people of Cymru was argued, by me and others, in person at conferences and in written pieces here in Nation Cymru over two years ago. The response was not to debate Home Rule/ independence for Cymru but to have me deselected as a candidate. Is that a Liberal party looking for answers which make it relevant to the voters of Wales?
Her anti Wales comments are nothing new, don’t forget her past worries that an independent Wales wouldn’t be able to receive the BBC, despite the fact that Belgium, The Netherlands and Ireland all receive the BBC, she has to be worse than Fay Jones another Powys politician, we seem to attract the idiots?
Jane Dodds is a hypocrite. A liberal she is not. A closet Conservative, yes.
How specific was the historic commitment to Home Rule for Wales? Could it have been open to interpretation as either complete independence or within a federation UK of Welsh, English, Scottish & Irish, later N Irish, nations of equal status each with their own parliament with broad powers, but with a federal government with responsibilities only for external matters?
My understanding was that they were not seeking full independence. Lloyd George quickly dropped the cause when he found out that there was little support for it in the South Wales mining valleys. Indeed he was shouted down in one meeting and apparently never brought the topic up again.
Wow! Da iawn Caredig! The future leader to make the Lib Dems relevant in Cymru. This is the kind of talk which filks me with hope that a broader conversation can be had about our nations’ freedom from the Empire boot but the kind of talk that turns Jane Dodds’ face red with anger. Don’t be scared though. Press on.