Wednesday 11 October 2017

There should be no limits to an Independent Wales.

Nation Cymru have provided us with the Text of Benn Gwalchmai  speech that opened the inaugural Labour for Independent Wales event on Friday, 6 October.

Its worth reading in Depth  and before I start I must make it clear that I support  the Idea of Labour for Independence as part of a YES CYMRU campaign.

In his speech Ben writes this



To give a more anecdotal but indicative example: this week, we in Labour for an Independent Wales got the backing of legendary Big Nev or as he’s known to the rest of the world, Welsh footballer Neville Southall.

This came about because a football podcast asked him if he supports Independence for Wales to which he tweeted, simply, “Yes”.

Leanne Wood even encouraged him to join Plaid Cymru on Twitter but he said, “Much as I like and admire what you are doing and have done, I am Labour through and through”.
Well, this made me punch the air because, not only does Big Nev sport the same moustache as my taid, this showed that our message of a better, more prosperous future for Wales can reach the rafters to a lot of people who are – like me – Labour through and through.
For me it shows a dilemma  for those in the Labour Party who are not tied to the  of the Unionist thinking of the mainstream Labour Party.

 One of the inaugaral speakers was Elystan Morgan

Originally a Plaid Cymru candidate , Morgan contested Wrexham three times, at the by-election in 1955, and at the general elections in 1955 and in 1959, and contested Merioneth at the general election in 1964.
Morgan joined the Labour Party and was elected Member of Parliament for Cardiganshire, Wales at the 1966 general election, and served as a junior minister from 1968 to 1970, as Under-Secretary at the Home Office He was chairman of the Welsh Parliamentary Labour Party between 1971 and 1974. In the February 1974 general election, Morgan lost his seat to the Liberal, Geraint Howells. In 1979 he sought election as Labour candidate for Anglesey, following the retirement of Cledwyn Hughes, but was defeated by the Conservative, Keith Best.

Elystan clearly was frustrated with the lack of advance of the Party  and i believe honestly thought it would be easier to fight the cause of Wales through Labour.

It was ironic that two years later Gwynfor Evans  won the Carmarthen Byelection and on the Eve of him loosing Ceredigion came the news that Plaid had won Merionith and and Caernafon.

Without doubt it became Plaid that pushed the Independence question and Elystan was overwhelmed with the Unionism of George Thomas and Neil Kinnock.

That Unionism is still within the Labour Part in Wales reinforced by the idea that Plaid are a threat to thier Welsh Hegemony.

But the recent events Scottish and Catalan both showed one single party cannot carry a Independence Referendum on their own,

Indeed it is vital for others to take a prominent role  and it is possible Labour for Independence will play a part in this.

An Independence referendum will consist of those with different visions of the Wales that will emerge.

There was some talk in the Labour for Independence  meeting f Dominican Status an idea that has been mooted by Plaid's Adam Price.

Who wrote that 
It’s not the Assembly, but it’s something like the Irish Free State 100 years ago, the Dominion status floated recently by Elystan Morgan within Labour and the ‘free association’ suggested a decade ago within Plaid by Rhodri Glyn Thomas.“A free Wales now, independence next could be an idea that gathers momentum.”
The Irish Free state we remember  was followed by a civil war that led to more deaths than the War of Independence.

But the circumstances here are different and  as long as there is not a line drawn that says we cannot go no further , which is the situation in Catalonia  then I would vote for it.
 No man has the right to fix the boundary to the march of a nation. 
 No man has the right to say to his country Thus far shalt thou go and no further.  - Charles Stewart Parnell


I believe that we should be become an Independent Republic any agreement  between those in a YES referendum should not be that is the end of it if it was won.




1 comment:

Leigh Richards said...

Agreed Glyn. My concern with dominion status is its ambiguity - it could mean wales having the same status as Australia or Canada ie being self governing but with the Queen as our head of state or it could mean a form of devolution max in a federal UK would still leave major economic powers and foreign policy matters to Westminster.
Whereas everyone knows what independence means - it means wales managing it's own affairs in the same way a couple of hundred nations in the world do (dozens of them smaller and poorer than wales incidentally). And also independence means no longer being 'subjects' of the Queen of england - an intolerable state of affairs which no self respecting supporter of Welsh indy should be willing to accept.