‘Young people will be the driving force that leads Wales towards our future independence’- Liz Saville Roberts
Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts will tell an international conference today that young people will be “the driving force” behind the delivery of Welsh independence.
The MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd is joining pro-independence politicians from Catalonia, Quebec, Scotland, the Basque Country and the Faroe Islands to promote the principle of self-determination.
At the conference, which is taking place in Barcelona, she will highlight a recent poll that shows a majority of people under 35 years in Wales supporting independence.
The conference, organised by the European Free Alliance, the European political party of which Plaid Cymru is a member, takes place amid a period of intense political negotiation in Catalonia and Spain.
An amnesty law, recognition and respect for the “democratic legitimacy” of Catalonia’s independence movement and the creation of a mechanism to verify future political agreements with Madrid were the red lines set out by separatist leader Carles Puigdemont last Tuesday (5 September) for the start of formal negotiations to reinstate Spain’s Socialist acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Ms Saville Roberts will say that the outcome of the negotiations “matters to us in Wales and to nations across Europe.”
National Day
Tomorrow (11 September) is the National Day of Catalonia, commemorating the fall of Barcelona during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 and the subsequent loss of Catalan institutions and laws.
In her address, Ms Saville Roberts will say: “Ahead of the National Day of Catalonia, Catalan independentists are leading by example, using their leverage for the benefit of their nation.
“What happens in the current negotiations between the Catalan nationalists and Spanish unionists over the formation of the next Spanish Government matters to us in Wales and to nations across Europe.
“A successful negotiation shows the value of working together with those who may not be our natural bedfellows, for the benefit of our people.
“Plaid Cymru has had recent experience of this with our co-operation agreement with the Labour Welsh Government following the Welsh Parliament elections in 2021. We had a challenging election, but we did not give up.
“Thanks to Plaid Cymru, the Constitutional Commission was established to consider and develop options for fundamental reform of the constitutional structures of the United Kingdom. Thanks to Plaid Cymru, this Welsh Government Commission – under a Labour Government, the sister party to PSOE, has delivered a report stating that there are three viable options for Wales, which includes independence.
“Independence is the method for us to create hope for the future and to create an outward looking nation that delivers opportunities for our people.
“Underinvestment and unfair funding form the crux of the unequal union of broken promises-delivered by the Tories at Westminster and defended by the Labour party in Wales through their support for the stagnant status-quo which has failed Wales,” she will add.
“Plaid Cymru are more determined than ever to work with others in nations in Europe and further afield who strive to deliver fairer, more prosperous and greener societies through independence. A future independent Wales must have strong ties with our European friends and neighbours.
“The people of Wales are waking up to the idea that there is another way, another future, another choice. And that choice firmly resides with the people of Wales.
“Recent polling conducted this summer showed that a majority of young people, those under 35, said they would vote for independence. There is clear hope for the future, young people will be the driving force that leads Wales towards our future independence.”
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
Thank you Liz Saville Roberts for representing us at such a worthwhile conference. I look forward to hearing the views of all the participants. Stick with it NC.
Our future is as an independent nation, the Union has failed our young people, the standard of jobs and income are poor, the cost of living is extortionate and there is little hope of getting on the property ladder. They realise that the years ahead, even with a Labour government in Westminster, will only see further degradation of their living standards and that the only way forward is self determination. Will the Union turn it around and become a decentralised and more prosperous place for everyone, not just those in the south east? I doubt it.
I say Amen to that people of my age hang on to the stupid idea of the U K i am 73 one foot in the grave as they say i hope to God i live long enough to see an INDEPENDENT WELSH REPUBLIC
Hopefully they will kick the spin and lies that permeated the leave part of the referendum, consign the usual suspects to the bin. Challenge them and take them on head first, don’t rely on state broadcasters to tell the truth. Rely on the usual suspect news orgs run by off shore billionaires to completely try to print spin against anyone they don’t like. I hope to see it in my lifetime. But prepare for a dirty fight.
Depending on where in Wales they live there are between circa 14% (Vale of Glamorgan) and 23% (Blaenau Gwent) of working age people (i.e. aged 16-64) on out-of-work benefits. So what I’d like to hear is how, once they’ve voted for independence, they intend to work and pay for it. The LS-R speech is standard preaching to the converted rhetoric which, unfortunately, is what we can expect from politicians of every stripe: soundbites, not detail. What I’d like to hear is the how. If only wishing made it so.
I’d like to know how too so I am now going to research how the following countries manage a benefit system. Ireland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Kosovo, Luxembourg and New Zealand (off the top of my head) some with higher and some with much lower populations than Cymru. Despite the NZ commonwealth connection, none of the above are under outside control and demonstrate upon every sunrise that they do not need to be. None of them have their wealth plundered to be passed over their heads designated for elsewhere and not one of them would wish to give up control of… Read more »
If being part of the UK has been and is beneficial to Cymru how come ‘between circa 14% (Vale of Glamorgan) and 23% (Blaenau Gwent) of working age people (i.e. aged 16-64) on out-of-work benefits’ So what I’d like to hear is how, having insisting Unionism is best for Cymru, they(Labour and Tories) intend to rectify this. Every pro Unionist speech is rhetoric which ‘unfortunately, is what we can expect from politicians of every [ Unionist] stripe: soundbites, not detail.’ Imperialist arguments for maintaining the status quo have always included the assertion that any part wishing to leave the empire is… Read more »