CHOOSING INDEPENDENCE

Yesterday (on Saturday) at a  Special Conference on independence, Plaid Cymru members overwhelmingly backed a pledge that means that Plaid Cymru will offer a Welsh independence referendum within the first term of Government should it be able to command a majority following this year’s Senedd elections.

Now this is not simply a case of a bunch of constitutional nerds seeking to win independence for independence’s sake, but rather for the sake of the thousands of families whose futures depend on Wales becoming a fairer, more equal nation. 

This literally makes Plaid Cymru the only political party contesting the 2021 Senedd elections that will have a manifesto commitment to hold a referendum on Welsh Independence within a clear timetable. 

This is a weighty endorsement of Plaid’s unwavering belief that sovereignty lies with the people of Wales and not with Westminster. 

This means that the people of Wales can decide their constitutional future - by the middle of this decade – we all now have a clear roadmap for a free and fair nation.

The existing devolution settlement and the powers that Cymru / Wales has could be used to make things better - the problem is that they are simply being used for administrative purposes by a Labour in Wales government that lacks the will, the imagination and the vision to change Cymru / Wales for the better. 

As has been said before, we are living in very uncertain times, the only real certainty is that we can do far better than this, better than tolerating the status quo. 

More of the same is simply not an option. 

The covid crisis has shown that Cymru / Wales couldn’t have its own furlough scheme, nor could we have maximum flexibility in terms of the support we could offer various sectors throughout the crisis. 

With economic independence, we can have the freedom to tailor our response to Cymru / Wales’s specific needs, rather than the ‘square peg in a round hole’ approach forced upon us by in indifferent Westminster. 

The current Conservative Westminster government is aiming to undermine, weaken and destroy even the flawed devolutionary settlement that we have, there will  be no federalist option, and no new powers devolved to anywhere, let alone Cymru / Wales. 

The centralists are back with a vengeance - the only option as going for independence. For the first time independence and its timetable will be on the ballot paper in a Welsh General Election, reflecting the growing confidence in our ability to run our own affairs. 

To those who tired of the waffle and short-term thinking and the cronyism from Westminster, for those who want to break free from the decaying union, we have a clear offer. 

A Plaid Cymru led government which secures a Senedd majority vote will deliver an independence referendum in its first term – giving the people of Cymru / Wales the right to decide on their own future. 

With an independent Scotland and a united Ireland ever more likely by the end of the decade, the people of Wales deserve an opportunity to decide whether we too want that independent future, we deserve the opportunity to choose our future, rather than life in the past.