A LETTER FROM WALES 2

A Letter From Wales will seek to provide the readers of Barrowhead Boy’s blog with up-to-date information about the direction of the independence movement here in Wales and explore how better connections can be established between Wales and Scotland in this respect.

Independence supporters here in Wales have been watching recent events unfold in Scotland with a sense of disbelief. Incredulity even.

Asking ourselves over and over again how the main nationalist party of Scotland, the SNP have managed to find themselves in such a dire situation.

Losing maybe 50,000 members in a few short years was bad enough in itself.

But the leadership election result took things to a whole new level.

Where the one candidate in the election with a clear and coherent plan to reach independence( Ash Regan) only managed to gain 11% of the whole vote in the contest. Only 11%!

There’s something quite bizarre in the situation to be honest, which doesn’t seem to make any sense from a traditional nationalist perspective.

The line from Hamlet comes to mind: “There’s something rotten in the state of Denmark”.

And reading Scottish bloggers and commentators over the last few days seems to confirm that perception.

We now hear of a further exodus of members over and above the 50,000 who have already left the SNP, with many going over to the new national party ALBA.

Back home in Wales, this sense of incredulity about events in Scotland can perhaps also be associated with a gnawing sense that things aren’t as they should be here either.

Not just in the general governance of Wales today and the present day state of our country but in the lack of a real and meaningful resistance to it all.

Our main nationalist party, Plaid Cymru have been in existence for almost a 100 years, but have still to make the kind of breakthroughs that came the way of the SNP in recent years.

They have instead contended themselves with being a kind of perpetual junior party to Welsh Labour.

This capitulation has led to the formation of new independence parties in Wales, and we’ll be looking at these parties over the next few weeks.

First up is Gwlad-The Welsh Independence Party which was set up in 2019.

They describe themselves as a pragmatic, non-ideological party focused on finding answers for Wales’s deep-seated problems, with a willingness to consider ideas from across the political spectrum.

The party slogan sums up their whole worldview:

“We’re not left, we’re not right,
we just want what’s best for Wales”

I sat down and interviewed party leader Gwyn Wigley Evans.

1. Why was Gwlad set-up as a party and why now?

Most of us have been Plaid members at some stage, only to become unhappy and deeply concerned even as to its direction of travel of late.

Over recent years, it has become more and more ideological, pushing “woke” ideas and policies which have served to alienate large swathes of the electorate- even amongst their traditional voters in the heartland areas. We had an instinctive sense that this was not going to help the independence cause at all, so Gwlad had to be formed.

Perhaps you could describe us a populist party with a small “p”: a party which will listen to the public in completely new ways but also come up with sensible and common sense proposals to improve life for the people of Wales.

Now those who want independence have another option to vote for. Let’s not forget, there are 5 parties for independence in Catalonia, 4 in the Basque Country and 3 in Scotland I believe- so why can’t we have at least 2 indy parties in Wales?

We can have different policies aiming at different parts of the electorate, maximizing the indy vote but we can also come together as one to campaign for independence.

We also feel that there is “something in the air” and a genuine desire for change all over the UK and the world if it comes to that at present.We hope to be able to tap into all that with our message about transformation and renewal for Wales.

Our logo is the phoenix rising from the ashes, and that’s a potent metaphor for the potential for Wales as a small nation rising up and claiming its own space in the world.

2.As the party leader, tell us a bit about yourself.

As mentioned earlier, I was active in Plaid at one stage, acting as secretary of a very active branch in London for many years, during my time in that city.

My background is in textiles, which has allowed me to travel the world, visiting large and small nations alike, and talking to the citizens of those countries about the good and bad elements facing them in their lives there.

The essential point conveyed to me by means of these conversations is they would never give up their independence, having fought, sometimes literally for it.

I’ve always been impressed by their insistence on constantly seeking to better their lot in life. And believe me, some of these smaller nations are in a great place.

Back home I live in Llanddeiniol, a small village just outside Aberystwyth and I combine my time between business and farming. I was also recently chosen as a county councillor for my area on Ceredigion County Council.

3. Most people are heartily sick of all political parties.How are you different to all that?

The first point is we’re not professional politicans. You know the type- University, research, work internally for a party and then given a safe seat, with very little experience of the real world.

The vast majority of our members either have been running their own companies or are self-employed with real-life experiences behind us.

We do come at things from a business point of view which means we try our best to find an answer and get it done.

We do not subscribe to bureaucracy and always try to find practical and effective ways of doing things which can appeal to people above “theoretical and thesis” type of discussions. We are doers not dawdlers!

4.We all know that Wales has a host of long-standing problems. What are the most urgent issues Gwlad would like to tackle?

Well, lack of investment is top of the list perhaps. We hear very often that we can’t survive without the hand-outs from England- but we are net contributors , and not a drain.

They get their water from us for next to nothing. Please can I have an address to send them a back-dated invoice for the zillions of gallons they have taken over the years?

We export green electricity to them but now they are trying buy our farms to cover them with trees- using the Senedd’s own money! I know, you just could not make it up.

We don’t get any benefit from HS2 or the Northern Rail Development as they call it an England and Wales investment- what a joke!

They also fix the figures so that monies we spend here goes back to head offices and England’s VAT account, thus increasing their GDP and reducing ours to show how poor we are.

We are a wealth contributor- if only we could use all of it for our own benefit.

The state of the NHS is another area that needs to be reformed. Of course we have a legacy of ill-health here in post-industrial areas which costs more- but we do need to spend money more productively. Gwlad are clear that it is not extra money per se that is needed here, but to ensure that the money is used effectively and not wasted away on layers of unnecessary bureaucracy.

The staff within the NHS here are great, but the management system stinks.

Transport is another area which has to change. The railway network is decrepit and not fit for purpose for users here, and on top of all that, the Welsh Government now want to ban road projects to meet their so-called “net-zero” agenda.

There is simply no joined-up thinking displayed by our politicians at all- and as always, it’s ordinary people who suffer the consequences. At least we can vote them out and we shall.

Housing is another disaster area here. We have many thousands of empty home across Wales, and even holiday homes are under-utilized throughout the year.

This is not an Anti-English issue at all, since the same problem can be seen in other places such as Cornwall, the Lake District and East Riding- it’s an Anti-Empty house problem.

The issue could be resolved quickly but the political will is just not there with our Labour/Plaid love-in ultimately answerable to London Labour.

5. The lack of a home-grown Welsh media is a big problem. How can a new party like yourselves get your message out to the public?

Social media fills the gap to some extent.We are a much more networked society today so news and views can be shared quickly and effectively between people on these platforms. This is a powerful tool we can utilize.

But we have to remember that many still don’t use social media- so word of mouth and personal contact is still essential.

Maybe we do have an advantage here being a fairly small nation. The law of “six degrees of separation” is more like two or three here because of our close-knit communities and the social capital that exists here. So that can be a big help in getting our message out there and getting people talking about us.

One approach we are also trying to take is to have local councillors in place to do good work and help their communities- and hopefully that can resonate with people.

There is a big hunger out there for change and to make things better here- so there’s plenty of potential for sure.

6. Despite Plaid’s lack of progress over the years, people still have an emotional connection to the party. How do you wean people away from all that?

Probably, this is not going to happen in the majority of cases. People can be very tribal in their politics. But then there’s a large constituency of “ don’t knows|” and an even larger contingent of “we don’t vote-what’s the point?”- so there is a huge potential audience for our message beyond Plaid voters.

We have to remember that not one Senedd election since 1999 has attracted 50% of the population to vote- which is an absolute disgrace in itself.

We hope to be able to appeal to this alienated 50% with sensible and pragmatic policies which can help them in their lives.

A recent survey showed that even 52% of Labour voters support independence and that’s very encouraging. We can’t achieve our ultimate goal without these people, they are very welcome and we want to encourage them in every way.

7. As a pro-independence party, how do you envisage that happening for Wales?

Well, we’re not very keen on having a referendum- especially after what happened in Scotland in 2014, and how that failure has seemed to destroy the SNP.

We’d much prefer to take the tried and trusted method of winning power in our Senedd in an election and then declaring independence.

But we acknowledge that’s going to take some time, and therefore our party manifesto has quite an unique element to it which no other party has either in Wales or the UK.

In the 1st column of the manifesto we highlight the problems that Wales has today.

In the 2nd column we outline answers which are possible within the constraints of existing Senedd by using its own powers more effectively.

In the 3rd column we provide an overview of what an Independent Wales could do- and how much better life could be here be for all of us.

7. What’s your key message for voters looking ahead to next Senedd Election in 2025?

We will ask the people of Wales: Are you comfortable with that lot in Cardiff Bay?

Do you want to do all this differently?

Do you want people working for you not just for themselves and their pensions?

Is is time to have new people voted in next time who are not part of the corrupt system that is in place?

Would you vote for people with experience of life out there and bring practical expertise to government on your behalf?

Then vote Gwlad!

Diolch yn fawr Gwyn Wigley Evans, Gwlad Leader for his time.

And thank you all for reading A Letter From Wales. Another letter will be winging its way up to Scotland before long.

Aled Gwyn Jôb

*The party won 10,000 votes throughout Wales in their first electoral outing in the Senedd Election of 2021.*