AMIDST the dark cloud of the coronavirus crisis, there has been a sliver of a silver lining in the national conversation we are having on Welsh democracy and Welsh independence.
In a way that we couldn’t have predicted, the crisis demonstrated the advantages of having control over your own affairs. When the seat of power doesn’t appear to have your nation’s best interests at heart, the ability to create a safety net to protect your own people from the dark depths of the pandemic becomes compelling evidence for more powers.
For that silver lining to fully light the path towards independence, more groundwork is needed. It is significant, therefore, that today the findings of the independence Commission were published.
READ MORE: Plaid Cymru puts forward vision for achieving Welsh independence
Tasked with preparing the first detailed blueprint for independence, the report has been described by Robin McAlpine of Scotland’s Common Weal as a “watershed moment” for the independence movement in Wales.
The timing is important. During the pandemic, many people became aware – some for the first time – of the positive advantages for Wales of possessing its own democratic institutions, the Senedd and Welsh Government, as was clearly the case in Scotland.
They became aware that maybe, just maybe, things would be better if we were able to make decisions for ourselves. Not just in the limited context of devolution, but also across a broad array of powers that would come to us as an independent nation.
Even the staunchest indy-deniers can’t pretend that things aren’t changing. Scotland could become independent in the next five years. Ireland could see a vote on unity. Wales surely has its part to play in this story
That is a game changer – not only in terms of the run up to the next Welsh parliamentary elections, but on the deeper question about where we want to be as a nation over the next decade.
The fundamental question for us, of course, is independence, but here’s something that has fundamentally changed - Welsh independence is no longer solely being led by Plaid Cymru. It's being taken up by a range of civil society and cultural organisations.
In fact, a recent YouGov poll showed that, of those in Wales who voted Labour at the 2019 General Election, over half would back Welsh independence if a referendum was held tomorrow. Traditionally, Wales is Labour’s stronghold. Could independence be the chink in their armour? The sign from Scotland may well be that this is the case.
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Polls have also shown that support for independence is particularly high among 16 to 34-year-olds, where it’s at 58%. For the first time ever, 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to vote in the Welsh Parliamentary elections in May 2021.
Independence has moved from the margins into the mainstream of Welsh political debate, and it’s becoming starkly apparent that the Unionist parties of Labour and Conservatives, tied to their Westminster parents, can’t deliver what the people of Wales are starting to want.
Plaid Cymru is not a party that is in the business of breaking up Britain. Instead, we want to re-make Britain
It was against the backdrop of the General Election in 2019 that I established the Independence Commission, and it’s against the backdrop of a global pandemic that its findings are being published. Over the next few months Plaid Cymru will consider the findings and recommendations in full.
As a contribution to the national conversation on Wales’ future and subsequent path towards independence – I hope supporters and opponents of independence alike will agree this is substantial.
Even the staunchest indy-deniers can’t pretend that things aren’t changing. Scotland could become independent in the next five years. Ireland could see a vote on unity. Wales surely has its part to play in this story.
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Plaid Cymru is not a party that is in the business of breaking up Britain. Instead, we want to re-make Britain. But any relationship between the nations of these islands must be on the basis of equality.
Our mission is to convince the people of Wales that independence is not merely desirable, but vital to tackle our problems and improve our standard of living.
To achieve all this, we have to put together a convincing and transformative programme for government in 2021, one that is credible, deliverable and inspires hope to our people that real improvements to their lives is possible. So with the Commission’s blueprints and our plan for government, I believe that we will soon be hot on the heels of Scotland in changing our nation’s future for the good.
After all, creating a new independent Wales is not the work on one party, but the work of an entire nation, all of its people and all of its perspectives.
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Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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