THIS weekend marked a crossing of the rubicon for the independence movement in Wales.

After the success of the first ever YES Cymru conference held over two days in Aberystwyth.

And the fruitful and open exchange of ideas which took place during the event.

Crossing the rubicon is associated with a historic decision by Julius Caesar to cross the river Rubicon and into Italy proper from his base in Cisalpine Gaul in 49 BC.

“Iacta Alea Est” cried Caesar in crossing the river to challenge his great rival Pompey on his way to eventual victory.

You could translate that phrase into “Game On!” in today’s language, and it certainly is game-on for the independence movement right now.

To be able to take the message into “Wales proper” from its previous limited and narrow base.

The lead-up to the conference had been overshadowed by a few leftist groups including Undod and Melin Drafod demanding the exclusion of Gwlad,who are campaigning for Independence from a centre-right perspective.

But a decisive response from YES Cymru CEO Gwern Gwynfil rejecting that demand out of hand….

Seemed to set the tone for the whole conference- of engagement, open discussion between all and a renewed determination to move ahead together.

With encouraging a plurality of views now firmly accepted as being essential to convey the Independence message to the people of Wales.

One of the highlights of the weekend was the Question Time session held on Sunday, which included Gwlad leader Gwyn Wigley Evans, a young Plaid representative and two unionists( Tories and Labour).

The debate was well-received amongst the delegates and showed a lot of promise for the series of debates that YES Cymru are now planning to hold in Wales over the next few months.

As they get serious about extending the independence message out to as many people as possible in Wales.

Some of the other highlights of the two-day conference included a rousing speech from Plaid councillor Carrie Harper who is a key part of the Wrecsam resurgence happening at the moment.

As well as a presentation from economist John Ball of Swansea who explained that Wales’s financial situation is actually much healthier than we have been led to believe.

He argued that if defence and pension liabilities were excluded from Wales’s budgetary picture- as would be the case in an independent state- Wales would actually have a 0.5% positive GDP.

As current expenditure costs would amount to £29 billion and taxation receipts amounting to £29.456 billion.

Which would be an excellent basis to start to build the thriving and prosperous independent Cymru we all want to see.

The delegates also heard some fascinating polling data from Dafydd Trystan about people’s current perceptions about independence.

One of the most striking elements outlined was the support gap between Welsh speakers and English speakers in Wales at present.

65% of fluent Welsh speakers support independence with 40% of those who speak some Welsh supporting the idea.

But this figure falls to only 20% amongst English-only speakers- which gives a clear indication of where YES Cymru need to extend their message in the near future.

This language issue of course doesn’t feature as much in Scottish politics as in Wales- and for some, Cymraeg is seen as a factor which holds independence back- as the latter set of figures seem to show.

A Welsh Philosopher, Professor J R Jones wrote a pamphlet in the 1960ies entitled “A raid i’r iaith ein gwahanu” ( Does the language have to divide us) addressing this very issue.

His strong argument was that Cymraeg would eventually prove to be an uniting factor rather than a divisive factor in Welsh life.

And that is a hope that many nationalists like myself who believe Cymraeg to be at the very root of what Wales is all about, hold very tight to!

To sum up: although the attendance could perhaps have been better, all in all the YES Cymru conference proved to be a big success in several ways.

Not just the quality and variety of the presentations and events staged at Aberystwyth.

But the fact that the movement has finally accepted that pluralism of views is here to stay.

And with 30% to 35% of the Welsh population voting for centre/centre-right parties in the Senedd Election in 2021.

It makes clear strategic sense that those voters can now see their perspectives also articulated within the independence movement.

And feel confident as well that those views could also be represented when Wales actually achieves its independence.

The movement came of age this weekend. Game On!