Support our Nation today - please donate here
Opinion

We are now fighting for the very future of Wales as a nation

19 Dec 2019 4 minute read
Boris Johnson. Picture by World Economic Forum (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru Westminster leader

Today, during the Queen’s Speech, yet another Conservative Government that Wales did not vote for will set out their agenda for the United Kingdom.

The last Queen’s Speech was a pointless exercise which in reality was nothing more than a manifesto launch for the Conservative Party. Today, however, with an increased majority, this is an opportunity for the Conservative Party to try and prove themselves to Wales.

They have spent the last six weeks capitalising on the frustration felt across the country and presenting themselves as the answer to people’s many justified concerns. They promised that a vote for the Conservatives would ensure a fair deal for Wales and that they would bring prosperity to areas which feel let down and left behind.

This is the first real test of whether they will deliver on their promises and unfortunately, it seems that they will fail at the first hurdle.

When you look beyond the pomp and the pageantry, when you scratch beneath the sprinkling of populist policies, the reality is that behind the facade of Get Brexit Done, the Government lack a credible plan to deliver genuine transformation.

I do not have confidence that they will use this opportunity to improve the lives of the people in my constituency. Instead, it seems they will recycle that last Queen Speech with a smattering of new ideas from a manifesto which was criticised for lacking ambition.

We already know that it will include a damaging combination of a Brexit Bill which will be dreadful for Wales’s economy, an approach to the justice system which will hurt the most vulnerable in our society, policies which will make voting less accessible and a free reign for the Conservative’s on workers’ rights.

Will there be a programme of reconstruction to improve Wales’s crumbling infrastructure?

Will there be a commitment to fair funding for Wales?

Will there be a credible plan to tackle the climate crisis?

If not, the Conservatives will have fundamentally failed to address the issues that years of austerity have wrecked on our communities and will have proven once again that they care little and know even less about our nation.

 

Fight

It is clear that in Wales we stand at crossroads and that we face a stark choice between two visions for our country.

One is the right-wing, inward-looking British nationalism espoused by the Conservative Government in which the very future of devolution is under threat and the British state is remodelled in the image of Brexiteers.

The other is a future in which Wales stands on our own feet and we deliver on the investment our communities so desperately need to build a fairer, more equal and greener society.

This is not hyperbole nor empty political rhetoric. The Conservatives have shown time and time again that they do not respect devolution and are actively dividing Wales into regions of England.

We are in a fight for the very future of Wales as a nation and we cannot be complacent.

Whilst Labour remain divided with their attention once again turned inwards, Plaid Cymru will not let the people of Wales down. We will continue with the vital work of defending our communities and resist all attempts by Westminster to take powers from Wales.

Today I will vote against the Queen’s Speech if it does not deliver for Wales. Given the Conservatives’ record, I have very little faith that it will do so.

In response, we must show that in Wales we can do things differently. That with a Plaid Cymru Government in 2021 and Adam Price as our Frist Minister, we will deliver where both Labour and the Conservatives have failed.


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.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

57 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Plain citizen
Plain citizen
4 years ago

Very nice words, what exactly would the writer put in their Queen’s speech to achieve their aims? Let’s have specifics like tax rates etc not more airy fairy waffle.

Roger Pitman
Roger Pitman
4 years ago
Reply to  Plain citizen

Read his manifesto no waffle there.

Ann Owen
Ann Owen
4 years ago
Reply to  Roger Pitman

Roger Pitman – I take it that comment re Tory manifesto and no waffle was an ironic comment with an exclamation mark?!

Guto
Guto
4 years ago
Reply to  Plain citizen

You can just go read their manifesto from the election we just had. Plenty of tax specifics in it

Royston Jones
4 years ago

Liz Saville Roberts says, “We are in a fight for the very future of Wales as a nation and we cannot be complacent”. This has been the case for decades but Plaid’s response has been to adopt juvenile variants of socialism, or identity and gender politics. Or else jump on every bandwagon dreamed up by the Guardian or Common Purpose. And then, to cap it all, Plaid went into a pact with two Unionist parties to fight against the expressed will of the Welsh people. Plaid has shown that it doesn’t care what the people of Wales want. Instead, Plaid… Read more »

Rhosddu
Rhosddu
4 years ago
Reply to  Royston Jones

Or stay and address the issues listed in the above comment. They’re actually vote-winners, and 2021 is a year and a bit away. They would at least lend a little credibility to the party’s claim to be The Party of Wales. It’s time for a serious re-think, or Wales and Plaid Cymru will both be in a World of Hurt.

Huw Davies
Huw Davies
4 years ago
Reply to  Royston Jones

I was about to scribble a note when I noticed this contribution. I agree that it’s a touch odd to think that some sort of “fight” should start now. If you haven’t been fighting for the last 50 years then you have been in some kind of slumber. Plaid’s behaviour over the last 20-30 years has become increasingly confusing for the voter out there in the constituencies and this won’t do much to shed light.

Siôn
Siôn
4 years ago
Reply to  Royston Jones

And you have the temerity to move to a Welsh-speaking area and harp on about how incomers are killing our language communities.

Maybe instead of wasting all your time online, you should enrol on a Welsh course.

Dysga Gymraeg neu caea dy ben.

Huw Davies
Huw Davies
4 years ago
Reply to  Siôn

Helpful insightful remark ? I don’t think so. If you want to single out non-Welsh speakers then you should aim at those who are utterly intolerant of the language and its speakers.

Dysga bach o synwyr neu ca dy ben. Arnai ofn fod ‘na ddim cyrsiau mewn “synwyr” felly mae’n hollol ddibynol ar dy allu dithau i addasu dy agwedd.

Siôn
Siôn
4 years ago
Reply to  Huw Davies

Diolch am y cyngor Huw, ond mae’n well gen i beidio â’i gymryd. Does dim angen i mi addasu fy agwedd i ddangos parch at rywun sy’n drawsffobig ac yn casáu menywod, yn enwedig gwleidyddion benywaidd Plaid Cymru. Mae ei obsesiwn â Phlaid Cymru a phobl LDHT+ braidd yn afiach. Mae’n ddoniol braidd nad wyt ti’n neidio ar sylwadau gwrth-Seisnig di-baid Royston a’i debyg, ond yn barod iawn i’w amddiffyn fel rhywun sydd wedi symud i’r Fro Gymraeg ers tro byd ond eto heb wneud yr un iot o ymdrech i ddysgu iaith y gymuned honno – sy’n ei wneud… Read more »

Rees Evan Davies
Rees Evan Davies
4 years ago
Reply to  Siôn

Seriously? Plaid has not supported women – other than those it deems ‘worthy’- preferably trans women or their ‘ally’s’ – demanding that they are now women because they say so. Many complaints have been sent in re bullying of women Plaid members by Plaid employees yet they don’t get the courtesy of reply from Siân Gwenllian whose job it is to monitor this.

Huw Davies
Huw Davies
4 years ago
Reply to  Siôn

Dyna wendid dy sylw – bod Royston yn cyfarth sylwadau gwrth Seisnig di-baid. Yn hytrach fe welais amal sylw cadarnhaol ganddo am Saeson sydd wedi gwneud yr ymdrech i barchu’r Gymraeg, Cymru a’n diwylliant. Y truenu mawr heddiw yw fod rhan fwyaf o’r “bobol ddwad” ddiweddar yn dangos dirmyg neu yn ymddwyn heb ddiddordeb. Prif “thema” ei waithgaredd fel JoN yw dangos gwendid sylfaenol y drefn sy’n bodolu yma yng Nghymru a’r cam-penderfyniadau di ben draw o’n llywodraeth lle mae adnoddau a chyllid yn cael eu gwastraffu yn feunyddiol tra bod anghenion dwys eraill yn cael eu anwybyddu. Mor belled… Read more »

Siôn
Siôn
4 years ago
Reply to  Huw Davies

Wel mae’r cloc yn tician a threigl y blynyddoedd yn mynd yn ei flaen, a’ch hen syniadau chi a Royston yn cael eu gwthio’n ddyfnach i fin sbwriel mawr hanes. A melys moes mwy.

Huw Davies
Huw Davies
4 years ago
Reply to  Siôn

Rhesymeg ardderchog ! Amlwg fod rhywun wedi cael ei dwyllo pan yn trefnu dy addysg. Edrych ar y sawl wnaeth beidio rhoi eu pleidlais o’ch plaid Iau diwethaf ac mae’n amlwg fod rhan fawr o ieuenctid y wlad ddim yn gweld fawr ddim cadarhaol yn eich “efengyl” diflas. Efalle os estynir y bleidlais i ddisgyblion ysgol cynradd y cewch gyfle i ddod yn ail yn fwy amal. Mwynhewch y disgwyl.

Siôn
Siôn
4 years ago
Reply to  Huw Davies

Rwy’n disgwyl pethau mawr oddi wrth Ein Gwlad felly! Rwy’n siwr bod criw o hen ddynion sych sy’n gweiddi ar y waliau ac ar unrhyw un heb goc yn mynd i fod yn llwyddiant ysgubol. Pob hwyl i ti Huwcyn.

Huw Davies
Huw Davies
4 years ago
Reply to  Siôn

Wel, wel rhagor o dustiolaeth dy fod wedi symud i’r gwter yn hynod gyflym. Esiampl wych o’r tuedd anaeddfed i daflu baw pan nad oes gennyt ddadl i’w chynig. Gwir obeithiaf fod y Blaid ddim yn ddibynol arnot am unryw fath o gyfeiriad neu syniadau.

Rhosddu
Rhosddu
4 years ago
Reply to  Siôn

This kind of talk is one of the reasons Plaid Cymru are losing ground. Royston Jones is no more ‘transphobic’ than you or me. He has simply pointed out that prioritising an issue that involves so few, in a country with so many greater problems that directly affect so many, is unlikely to result in electoral success. The trans issue should and will be sorted out to everyone’s satisfaction somewhere down the line, as he has stated — after the important stuff has been confronted. Surely, Plaid Cymru would agree with that?

Siôn
Siôn
4 years ago
Reply to  Rhosddu

Plaid Cymru doesn’t ‘prioritise’ trans rights, it simply fights for them as it does many other things. Some elected members are indeed less than enthusiastic about trans rights. But merely mentioning them is enough to inflame people like you.

Rhosddu
Rhosddu
4 years ago
Reply to  Siôn

Don’t bring me into it. Do you want Plaid Cymru to succeed in 2021 or not? It’s merely a question of priorities, and winning votes. Plaid can confront the issue of transphobia when they have gained the trust of the electorate, and been handed power in the Senedd. At that point, I shall wish them success in offering legal protection to people changing their gender.

Gaynor
Gaynor
4 years ago
Reply to  Siôn

Tyfwch lan ddyn, sôn am fod yn eithafol. Chi yn enghraifft berffaith o pam bod PC methu torri trwyddo i’r mwyafrif o Gymry.

Royston Jones
4 years ago
Reply to  Siôn

You prefer to pick on me and ignore the waves of immigrants overrunning Wales. If it makes you feel good then it says a lot about you. None of it commendable. But typical of Plaid – ignore the elephant in the room – Cymru.

Siôn
Siôn
4 years ago
Reply to  Royston Jones

Many immigrants make more of an effort than you to learn the language of their adopted communities. Many do not, granted, but you most certainly belong to the latter category. And before you say it, I don’t care whether you’re Welsh, English, Slovenian or Chinese – learn the language of your community before throwing stones in glasshouses mate.

Royston Jones
4 years ago
Reply to  Siôn

Without jobs and homes for Welsh speakers the language is dead. Dead from immigration. Face up to it, and if you really care then insist on something being done to stem the tide rather than consoling yourself with, ‘I know this bloke from . . . ‘ and picking on individuals like me.

Like I say, elephant in the room.

Rhosddu
Rhosddu
4 years ago
Reply to  Siôn

Ie.

Rhosddu
Rhosddu
4 years ago
Reply to  Siôn

Irrelevant comment, while factually true, Sion. Eniwe, dach chi’n gwybod fod o’n iawn. Just accept that Royston Jones is right about Plaid Cymru, while justifiably being privately miffed about his being di-Gymraeg. I think that the work he does on behalf of Cymru means we should let him off the hook, don’t you?

Siôn
Siôn
4 years ago
Reply to  Rhosddu

What work?

Rhosddu
Rhosddu
4 years ago
Reply to  Siôn

Investigative journalism.

A coslett
A coslett
4 years ago
Reply to  Royston Jones

I rarely agree full heartedly with Royston Jones, if at all, but here he is right. As a firm Plaid Cymru man this article by Liz Saville Roberts for whom I have the deepest respect, could have appropriately penned for every Queens Speech since Thatcher and before! Despite the denial included, it is rhetoric without substance. Time and time again Plaid Cymru has disappointed by it’s lack of fervour when asked to respond to attacks upon important Welsh and historical sites or to produce properly costed and verified policies that address the issues of concern to the people of Cymru… Read more »

Clive Sway
Clive Sway
4 years ago
Reply to  Royston Jones

Royston Jones. Westminster have ignored Wales for too long.Let’s have a Plaid first minister and be ignored directly from Cardiff.

Huw Davies
Huw Davies
4 years ago
Reply to  Clive Sway

Clive I wish I could disagree with you, vigorously. However the evidence suggests that you are on the right track as far as a brutal analysis of our prospects are concerned. Perhaps we should take heed of James Connolly’s words of 1916 or before when contemplating Ireland’s immediate future. They could apply just as much in our case.

jr humphrys
jr humphrys
4 years ago
Reply to  Huw Davies

Agree. I’m for Gwlad in many ways. Their articles, on money etc, have been good, and I think Adam has “nicked” a few, but that’s a good thing, right? But Plaid, as they are known in NE Wales have a way better chance, with people like Carrie in Wrecsam getting a good name. Course, Plaid really should hold out a few olive branches. If they don’t we are all toast!

Huw Davies
Huw Davies
4 years ago
Reply to  jr humphrys

JRH If there were more like Carrie Harper, who has a rock solid reputation, I don’t think we’d be in the parlous state of today. It’s been relatively easy to drive the Party into the mire, just neglect to steer a sound path for a while, but getting back out of the mess takes a lot of heavy lifting and there’s a lack of appetite for that kind of work. Getting hands dirty doesn’t hold the same appeal as attending groupthink sessions in posh Bay venues.

Mawkernewek
4 years ago

Desolation Radio coined the word Cornwallization for this process. I’ll send the first person to spot its usage in a mainstream publication a saffron cake.
Obviously doesn’t count written by yourself or at your own instigation.

If it’s mentioned in a context outside the British Isles some bonus goodies as well.

Royston Jones
4 years ago
Reply to  Mawkernewek

I remember using the term in an exchange of letters (yes, letters!) with a Cornish acquaintance and hoping he wasn’t offended by my use of the term. Come to think of it – I probably coined the term, and before those involved with Desolation Radio were born.

Mawkernewek
4 years ago
Reply to  Royston Jones

It is in Desolation Radio episode 30: soundcloud.com/desolationradio/why-wales-never-was-the-failure-of-welsh-nationalism just after 1hr10m.

A prophecy is buried in Eglwyseg
A prophecy is buried in Eglwyseg
4 years ago

I saw this in Llyn Lluncaws of Cadair Berwyn when the moon rose red in October and grass cut blue in the mist below it. A 3-fanged tyranny rises in the east, from where Heledd cried with her maidens, where Arthur fell and where Gwenwynwyn wept. Should we rise against this like Gwynfor Evans, our language we will lose, the Welsh replaced by the Wenglish people, and the Wenglish replaced by the British after them. Should we hold at the 3 borders of what’s kept, (Mawddach, Conwy, Menai), make it dense like stone, the people can be freed in tongue… Read more »

Rhosddu
Rhosddu
4 years ago

Does this work with Lottery numbers?

Huw Davies
Huw Davies
4 years ago
Reply to  Rhosddu

Put me in for some as well. Don’t mind taking cash off an Anglo organisation by whatever means !!!

KK
KK
4 years ago

Already the unionist trojan horse mind games have begun with Simon Hart who has insisted that the bully boy party he represents won’t roll back devolution. If anyone seriously believes that in light of Brexit and the comments of another colonial subject like David Jones then they are seriously mistaken. Who actually speaks for Wales? Why is it these sentiments are never considered in Northern Ireland or Scotland but are perfectly acceptable in Wales? It’s because we don’t have the politicians necessary to counteract these remarks and also because Wales voted for Brexit. As LSR has rightly stated, we are… Read more »

Ifan Dafis
Ifan Dafis
4 years ago
Reply to  KK

Who speaks for Wales? Not the party who believe a photo of a woman in a nijab/burka/face cover is representative of Wales. Not the party who dally with and protect lobbyists. Not the party who keep assembly reports secret from the public. Not the party who fight against the democratic will of the people of Wales. Not the party who wish to turn Wales into a sanctuary for “refugees”. Ein Gwlad, the floor is yours!

Leigh Richards
Leigh Richards
4 years ago
Reply to  Ifan Dafis

You forgot to mention in that hysterical anti plaid rant that the party’s core aim is independence for Wales. And plaid’s detractors on here need to realise the only beneficiary from attacks on the party will be the rotten British state and its stooges in Wales. Think you mean Ein Gwlad is on the floor don’t you – the ramshackle comedy outfit lost every deposit in the few seats they contested and is on the brink of disintegration

Ifan Dafis
Ifan Dafis
4 years ago
Reply to  Leigh Richards

plaid are not worthy of any power anywhere in Wales. Their behaviour in the assembly is evidence of that………

GWYN W EVANS
4 years ago
Reply to  Leigh Richards

I would like to point out that the Party of Wales did not stand in 4 constituencies following the dirty deal, it was disrespectful to those areas, so it became Part of Wales, Gwlad stood in because the only options left were Unionist parties and in Montgomeryshire we had 727 for our first standing which was more than Plaid Cymru’s first ever vote of 608. There were 23 others which had a lower count than us in Wales, a good start I think and a great way to get more members as we were able to talk about our policies,… Read more »

John Young
John Young
4 years ago
Reply to  Leigh Richards

Leigh. I think you should be more accepting of the criticism of Plaid. When the party has achieved so little after 100 years it’s not hard to understand why people question the point of the party. I KNOW the party’s core aim is Independence but they’ve only recently started re-emphasising that point. Up until the last year or so they were afraid of even mentioning the word.

It would be a lot more constructive if you listened to what so many are saying and addressing the points they make. .

John Ellis
John Ellis
4 years ago
Reply to  KK

My personal hunch until very recently was that, with the hard right now triumphant in theTory party following the EU referendum and the SNP continuing to top the polls in Scotland, there’d be a move – following a propaganda campaign and a referendum, of course, since that strategy served them so well in 2016 – to start to pull back on devolution and return to the traditional ‘one Crown, one Parliament’ unitary state for which the Conservatives always traditionally stood, with the ultimate intention of stymying the nationalist camp in Scotland. But that the Tories would start not with Scotland,… Read more »

Rhosddu
Rhosddu
4 years ago
Reply to  KK

Well, there’s Jac o’ the North, Bela Gwalia, Dic Mortimer, Bubble Wales, Cymdaethas Yr Iaeth, and a few others. But I take your point.

Siôn
Siôn
4 years ago

The ‘lady from London’ who probably speaks Welsh a damn sight better than you do.

Ifan Dafis
Ifan Dafis
4 years ago
Reply to  Siôn

Speak good Welsh and screw the country to your heart’s content.

jr humphrys
jr humphrys
4 years ago

Plaid should nationalise; Water, Rail, Bus, Post, Electricity, and support the BBC, and an NHS in some form.
Then it should nationalise the land, barring family farms which should be rent free.
Following that, support for business must take priority, practical education should be stressed to that end..

Loheryn
4 years ago

This is for all the people of UK One only has to ask oneself few questions to see that the latest GE result is not a catastrophe but offers a ray of hope for everyone. That hope lays with each and every single one of you. Government deals in concepts. You are but a flesh and blood human being. Are the fictitious, legal concepts supposed to govern you, a living breathing person? Or, are the rules and regulations supposed to be useful tools to serve you? And, who has the power? You or this current government? Are you living in… Read more »

jr humphrys
jr humphrys
4 years ago
Reply to  Loheryn

Your post’s sentiments gave me thought. Diolch yn Fawr!

Tudor Rees
Tudor Rees
4 years ago

This is the view of a Canadian, Gwynne Dyer, “Down on the turkey farm, the Scottish and Irish birds noticed the smiling man was holding a hatchet behind his back, and hid. The Welsh turkeys looked confused and huddled together squawking. But the English turkeys marched bravely up to the chopping block, confident this would be a Christmas to remember. Boris Johnson’s big victory in Thursday’s “Brexit election” was achieved almost entirely with English votes. Only 20 of the 364 seats won by the Conservative Party were in the other three nations of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom will… Read more »

jr humphrys
jr humphrys
4 years ago
Reply to  Tudor Rees

Finnish TV showed “Lord of the Flies” the other night. One reviewer said it was a must watch for those Finns confused by Brexit, as it showed the much vaunted civilisation of these people was just skin deep.
But maybe we should also remember all those in England who voted for a Remain line, a huge amount of people.
(And the Yorkshire Party got 39,000 votes.)
Anyway, we should now concentrate on Wales only, join Plaid, and move this lovely country of Wales forward!

Steve Duggan
Steve Duggan
4 years ago

Attacking other parties or the UK government’s attitude to Wales is now obsolete. We need a different attitude ourselves, a positive, outward thinking and dare I say – happy – demeanor. Westminster has pretty much ignored Wales for decades and we’ve allowed ourselves to be dragged down, almost believing the narrative. Optimism – that is what is needed now. A positive feel, a belief in ourselves. We can do it. Let’s start to spread that now.

Leigh Richards
Leigh Richards
4 years ago

Any plaid detractors in the Welsh national movement need to realise the only beneficiary from attacks on the party will be the rotten British state and its stooges in Wales. Plaid exists to secure independence for Wales and it is our only means of ensuring that dream becomes a reality.

Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards
4 years ago
Reply to  Leigh Richards

Plaid does not exist to secure independence. Read the aims. Plaid only wants Independence on all kinds of conditions, including it has to be socialist. That is a recipe for an ever smaller clique which likes kicking people out – which is what we have got. I don’t think that most in Plaid even have a road-map to Indy. They haven’t worked out the legal/political steps which the Irish and the rest all knew. Strong second practically nowhere? Reboot needed

Rhosddu
Rhosddu
4 years ago
Reply to  Leigh Richards

Then they need to shape up and get their house in order. Priorities all wrong, and ditching their most effective AM. Not been a good year for them.

Our Supporters

All information provided to Nation.Cymru will be handled sensitively and within the boundaries of the Data Protection Act 2018.