Wales has woken up to independence – so the campaign of our lives starts now
Adam Price, Leader of Plaid Cymru
Yesterday, the Welsh independence movement firmly moved from the margins and into the mainstream.
A You Gov poll, commissioned by my party, Plaid Cymru, showed that support for Welsh independence, amongst those who expressed a preference, was at a historic high of 41% if it meant Wales remaining a member of the EU.
It also showed that 31% of those who expressed a preference would support Welsh independence if a referendum were held tomorrow.
Make no mistake: these are truly sensational numbers.
Gone are the days where support for Welsh independence bumbled along at 3%, 10% or 12%. Something is happening in Wales and our people are waking up.
It was timely, wasn’t it, that this poll came after yet another chaotic week in British politics where our very own tin-pot dictator, Boris Johnson, prorogued the UK parliament against its will – only to be found later by the Scottish Court of Session to have done so unlawfully and lied to not parliament, the head of state, and the people.
The Yellowhammer documents were also subsequently published, revealing the true scale of the disaster that would befall us if Mr Johnson and his ilk were to get what they want: a crash out, no deal Brexit.
Westminster is in chaos. Boris Johnson’s reckless Tory government will stop at nothing to pursue a dangerous crash out Brexit agenda which will leave our economy and communities on their knees.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn’s so-called opposition is equally unable to tackle the crash out threat and continues to flip flop on Brexit.
Both are wrecking Wales’ future.
Hope
It is no wonder that we are witnessing a surge in support for a New Wales – a nation proudly taking its place as an equal partner on the international stage.
Because rather than despair, recent political events have in fact proved to be Wales’ political reawakening.
From the immediate pain felt following the Brexit vote – founded on falsehoods peddled by the likes of Johnson, Gove, et al – to the recent appointment of a tin-pot dictator as prime minister of a divided and unequal ‘United Kingdom’; from the sheer shambles that is Westminster to the rising levels of child poverty in Wales and the cruelty of austerity; from attacks on minorities everywhere, to mounting evidence of the rise of the far right, racism and attacks on women, Wales has responded with hope.
People have been turning out in their thousands to rallies in Cardiff, Caernarfon and Merthyr Tydfil in support of independence. Some of our nation’s stalwarts, including the commentator and former rugby union star Eddie Butler, have come out in favour for independence.
Because, friends, politics is changing and we’re changing with it. Thousands of us are now waking up to the idea that independence is normal and that the solution to our challenges in Wales is to take our future into our own hands.
Welsh independence can be a force. A force to reject the regressive, insular and backwards-looking politics of this dying British state in exchange for the politics of hope, justice and community that we can all have in our New Wales.
Things don’t have to be like they are now. We don’t have to see our fellow citizens homeless or poor. There is an alternative future for our country and for all our communities.
Wales can do so much better as an independent nation. An outward-looking, inclusive and caring nation standing tall amongst the other nations of the world.
Because even before Boris Johnson and Brexit bulldoze through our economy, decades of Westminster neglect have already resulted in under-investment with one-third of our children living in relative poverty.
People are realising that Westminster is not fit to govern or represent Wales – and it never will be.
Work
It’s time for change. We cannot continue to look to the Westminster parties for our future. We have to look to ourselves.
Independence is moving from the margins and into the mainstream. Our nation is on the march. As Boris Johnson takes us closer to the cliff edge, more and more people will demand an outward-looking Wales free from Westminster’s contempt.
Having overtaken Labour at the European elections, Plaid Cymru has secured its place as Wales’s true Remain party, fighting against a crash-out Brexit and for future prosperity.
But we cannot be complacent.
If we are serious about securing independence for Wales, we need to get organised – now.
This historic poll shows that the tide is turning but results will only come when we work hard in our communities. We all need to grab a shovel, and pitch in.
Join Plaid Cymru. Canvass locally. Get involved in our communities. Talk to our friends, family and colleagues about our vision for Wales.
Let us keep the hope rekindled. Let us continue on this journey.
An independent Wales, a New Wales, in Europe can be a reality if we get to work now.
The fight of our lives begins now, today.
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There really is something happening and huge credit must go to Yes Cymru and everyone involved. I do have a problem with Plaid’s current stance. It appears to me you are putting “remain” above all else, including independence (your potential pact with Unionist parties) I cannot accept the whole idea that we would have spent over 800 years to gain our sovereignty only to hand a load of it back to an even distant power in Brussels. I hope there is room in the independence movement for those of us who wish to see us free from both the political… Read more »
A majority of Welsh people voted to leave the EU. Wales in the EU is no more independent than Wales in the UK. Plaid Cymru talks about the Prime Minister telling lies. Welsh independence is a lie unless it happens outside the EU.
Exactly. No country inside the EU is truly independent. Independent countries have full control of their economic and immigration policies, interest rates and borders.
No point trusting Plaid with referenda, they just ignore the result.
No country in the modern world is independent in the way you seem to understand it, barring countries like the DPRK. The kind of independence demanded by the more extreme Brexiters would demand that the UK adopt autarchy, but how would that work in a nation state that can, at best, only produce half the food needed. And just how would an economy that has, since the middle ages, relied on exports, indeed relied on trade manage with such independence? I don’t mean to be rude Joanne, but there has never been a time when the UK wasn’t in full… Read more »
Of course Wales in Europe would be independent. Do you have any logic whatsoever
More than you it would appear.
I can assure you that, whatever the drawbacks of membership of the EU as it currently operates politically, an independent Cymru would have greater autonomy, and the potential for a higher standard of living, as an EU member than it currently enjoys as an English colony. The EU is unquestionably the lesser of two evils for our country.
This illusion that we are not independent in the EU is complete nonsense. For a start, every decision within the EU is ratified by every member state – if just one country rejects the proposal it is not ratified. Then we have this fallacy that we do not control our Immigration, According to EU law if an EU national is not paying his or her way after 3 months of arrival in a member EU state – that state can legally send that individual back to where they came from. Yes the voting public of Wales in 2016 voted ,… Read more »
Good time for another vote, then?
The Remainers will then be forced to accept the result.
The comments here regarding the EU appear to have been formed by reading the nonsense written by the UK media instead of any facts. The EU and the UK are in no way comparable bodies. The EU is a confederal organisation not a centralised state. Each member state has an input into the legislation passed both via its government represented in the Council of Ministers and its democratically elected members in the Parliament. Nothing gets passed if a member state has a serious objection to it. Should Wales decide to opt out of the EU we would still have to… Read more »
On the ground in East Wales there is definitely a backlash to Plaid Cymrus stance by their older voters …. its not good.
Plaid Cymru must listen …….. we dont need more polarisation
All they had to do was let the chaos ensue in Westminster and reap the rewards… not pick a polarising stance
Cywir, Bryn. Correct. Plaid could instead push for independence at this opportunistic time, and offer a referendum for Wales alone on whether to re-apply as an independent state, after Brexit happens. If we stay in the EU as part of the UK, the chance for independence may be lost for another generation.
A big diolch to Yes, Cymru, by the way, for taking the lead on the drive for indy, and for recruiting those who were previously reticent or undecided, including, it seems, the Plaid Cymru leadership.
Our economic relationship with rUK is by far the most important issue. If rUK are outside the EU and we join then our trading relationship with rUK will be determined by whatever arrangements are place. This is where the pro-EU and pro-indy argument falls down.
An economic union with rUK is by far the most preferred choice we could have
EU membership and trade with England, (for that will what it will be once Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have fled the abusive relationship) are not mutually exclusive. The only issue could be whether an independent and isolated England would have the kind of economy that could afford our exports.
Whatever arrangements England agrees with the EU will determine how we trade with them (if we were to join as an EU member)
If we have genuine seamless trade then Wales joining the EU and trading with England (or rUK) wouldn’t be an issue
If, as many in the ultra remain camp claim, trade relations with the EU and the UK will involve tariffs and friction then Wales would be doing huge damage to herself economically by joining the EU
I would be grateful if a more detailed analysis of fiscal policy so an informed decision can be made. Take out the rhetoric, the language, the history and the romance and provide specific detail on debt reduction, establishing a central bank and capital behind this and currency. Without these key fiscal policies neither an independant Wales or Scotland can join the EU and would remain outwith both the EU and any UK…
Wales can financially and economically do fine ….. but it needs a good number of years building a nation….. something the current Welsh government is dragging its feet with a few token ideas
So, Plaid’s best new(unionist) friends, the Lib Dems, have just come out and said it!
Yes, they’re now going to campaign to Revoke Article 50.
No more shilly-shallying around, and weasel words about wanting to avoid a ‘off the cliff’ no deal.
They actually want to reverse the biggest popular vote ever recorded in the UK.
The question is, are Plaid going to support their metropolitan friends on this??
The people of Wales will be watching with interest…..
I had high hopes for Adam Price but he’s turned out to be a huge disappointment. I liked Liz Saville Roberts too but she’s turned out to be the worst of the lot.
Plaid Cymru need to leave the bubble
It probably pays to not get too excited when someone commissions a poll and then finds the answers to their suiting. Politicians cling to favourable polls like drowning sailors to rafts, and yet scorn their reliability when the answers aren’t to their liking. Considering the total shambles in London and the anointing of a PM from whom none of us would buy a second hand car, it is amazing that the figure for getting out fast isn’t a lot higher. However, having witnessed over the past three years the difficulty of disentangling Britain from a union that has only existed… Read more »
Wales has been highly integrated into England over 800 years of colonisation … the fact there is any self rule movement is a miracle in itself ….. my issue is with Plaid Cymru not taking a neutral stance with brexit……it means that we have to wait a good 20-30 years for the old-heavy brexit hardcore to die off……something I find a shocking idea……we should be convincing them now of closer decision making..not polarising and alienating them
What’s remarkable is that the 41% is reached on condition that the independent Wales remains in the EU. The stale argument on being bound by the Referendum has little purchase with people including leavers, now the leave-option is a leap in the dark into a no-deal Brexit. People also realise that the Referendum vote did not over-rule the Irish Good-Friday agreement. While Brexiteers might hope the Irish will just go away – let N Ireland simply merge into the republic – most of us in Wales have solidarity with Irish self-determination. It’s most encouraging that sticking with the Irish and… Read more »
I am from Gwynfryn and currently live in Finland.
To say that Wales will lose freedoms to the EU is laughable. What freedoms exaclty?
The President of Finland is acting as peacemaker between the factions in Ukraine.
This is big stuff, yet Brussels has not poked its nose into his efforts.
Another thing, does any “Wexiteer” seriously believe that a deal with, say the USA, will not
involve pressure from, say the USA?
Dream on!
Plaid Cymru’s current strategy is completely disconnected from the street and its breaking my heart……people who Ive known to always vote Plaid Cymru are turning their backs on them …… you must not tie self rule to brexit…..at all costs
Half of Wales will reject you strongly if you make this basic error
Yes Cymru is the best option for real independence not Plaid Cymru unfortunately. After watching the debate between Johnson and Corbyn, the Welsh Nation may realise that the quicker we ditch rule from London the better, whatever party is in power.