THE tide is turning for an independent Wales after many years as a “distant” desire, according to the leader of Plaid Cymru.
Adam Price said the voices were now becoming louder as the principality hosts its first March for an Independent Wales in Cardiff this weekend.
Saturday’s event has been organised by AUOB (All Under One Banner) Cymru and will bring together Plaid and other pro-independence bodies.
Singer and actor Carys Eleri will introduce Price, Ben Gwalchmai of Labour 4 Indy Wales, Siôn Jobbins, of YesCymru, Sandra Clubb of republican group Undod and poet Ali Goolyad, at a rally outside Cardiff’s Central Library.
Price told The National: “For many years, our desire to see an independent Wales has seemed distant. But the tide is turning, the marches are growing, and the voices are louder.
“This Saturday, people from all across Wales will come together in their hundreds and thousands to proudly declare that Wales’ brightest possible future is as an independent nation at the heart of Europe.
“Joining the EU as an independent member would treble our number of MEPs, give us the Presidency of the Council on a rotating basis and a Commissioner, and billions of Cohesion Funding until we are brought back up to decent levels of prosperity.
“When did Westminster ever offer us that?
“The last three years of Brexit chaos in London have laid bare for all to see that Westminster is not fit to govern Wales. It is time to make Wales matter and take our future into our hands as an independent nation.”
AUOB Cymru is a Welsh grassroots movement inspired by All Under One Banner in Scotland, which organised last weekend’s march and rally in Glasgow.
The SNP said it did not boycott the Glasgow event. A spokesperson said the party had been well represented by deputy leader Keith Brown and dozens of MPs and other politicians, as well as grassroots party members.
The Welsh movement is supported by groups who share the aim of securing independence, and is not aligned with or affiliated to any political party.
Llywelyn ap Gwilym, a spokesperson for AUOB Cymru said many groups believed Wales had a better future outside the UK.
“The debate around Wales’ constitutional future has intensified since the vote for the UK to leave the European Union,” said ap Gwilym.
“Several groups which believe that Wales and its people would have a better future as an independent nation outside the UK, including YesCymru and Undod, and have strived to engage the broader public and bring the debate into the mainstream.
“There is an increasing realisation that independence is normal.
“Others, such as AWokEN and Welsh Football Fans for Independence, have looked to engage on the topic with particular interest groups.
“All Under One Banner Cymru seeks to bring all of these groups together under one banner to show their support for an independent Wales via a series of mass public processions, starting in Cardiff on 11 May.”
AUOB Cymru said it would welcome all who wanted to see an independent Wales to the march, and urged people interested in attending to bring flags, banners, drums and instruments.
Siôn Jobbins, YesCymru chair, added: “I would like to see as many as possible marching for Welsh independence in Cardiff on Saturday 11 May.
“There’s no point complaining that no-one listens to us in Wales if we sit at home and do nothing.”
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