Thread

I've been pro #indyWales for more than 30 years. I've always favoured progressive liberal policies. Over the years I've come to see how class & entrenched priviledge forged the UK as a political entity and continues to perpetuate inequality day in, day out.

1/25

2. I should be a natural Labour man. But I'm not. I first voted in 1997. I voted @Plaid_Cymru and have done ever since. Why? Because Labour kept telling me my being Welsh didn't matter. Being British was better. Voting Labour was supposed to be THE bulwark against Toryism.

2/

But I saw Labour people hostile to my language, who called me backward because I thought it mattered. I saw Kinnock drag the history of my people through the mud. I saw Blair abandoning Labour principles I actually thought worthy and sell out to American Neo-Cons.

3/

In '97 I voted for Labour's Assembly, not becase it was perfect but because it was a step in the right direction. But I kept voting @Plaid_Cymru because I knew that Plaid's long term vision was one that Labour would not put on the table. #indyWales #Annibyniaeth.

4/

From 1999 to 2016 I watched with frustration as Labour did all it could to paint itself as "not too nationalist." I watched them pooh pooh @Plaid_Cymru's call to apply for Objective One funding. I watched them resist every call for more powers to the Assembly.

5/

I was embarrassed to see a Tory govt give a referendum on further powers and then force tax raising powers on a resistant Labour.

But I could live with it. I kept voting @Plaid_Cymru, satisfied that Wales was on a trajectory towards democratic self-determination & statehood

6/

And it seemed that way. As members of the EU it was feasible that our constitutional position could evolve in a supra-international structure that made for free trade & free movement across borders.

Then Brexit happened.

7/

No excuses, Wales voted for Leave. But I knew then that it had ruptured Scotland from the UK. My first words to my better half were "The UK will return to the EU ... piece by piece, Nation by Nation." I still stand by that.

8/

So to Scotland, where the last 15 years have been the story of Labour's decline and the rise of the SNP. The Scots learned that voting Labour held them in a UK that is dominated by an English exceptionalist and culturally chauvinist Tory mob. So they voted SNP instead.

9/

Wales has the same problem at Westminster. We vote Labour majorities but usually get governed by a Tory party with no affinity to Wales and no care for us either. We remain their dominion. And that is their attitude - see how they would rob us of our democracy.

10/

So I tentatively welcomed the growth of indy supporting members of their party. I was glad to see the old rhetoric soften, even if Drakeford was happy to bandy "inherently right wing" slurs about.

11/

I felt that if Welsh Labour swung behind #indyWales #Annibyniaeth and became a genuine independent Labour party for Wales then it would move the cause of Welsh self determination forwards and offer a path towards cooperation with @Plaid_Cymru and oppose Tory unionism.

/12

@YesCymru has given me so much cause for hope at the same time. I've passionately argued for its non-partisan status and called for it to keep its sole focus on the establishment of a democratic Welsh Nation State.

13/

Further, I want @YesCymru to be the umbrella organisation under which all moderat #indyWales supporters campaign & propose a constitution for a democratic Welsh State. At no point have I advocated a @Plaid_Cymru takeover of the organisation. That would be counterproductive.

14/

So where does it leave me as a @Plaid_Cymru member? I'm excited to share our policy of a #WelshIndyRef in our first term. I've already argued that we are not far behind Labour in Senedd votes cast. Considering there may be as many as 550k pro #indyWales votes to be won ...

15/

... of course I want to see @Plaid_Cymru win that mandate for Wales's sake. Scotland's independence seems increasingly likely as does the reunification of Ireland. Scotland will very likely vote Yes inside the next two years. Then that referendum mandate becomes critical!

16/

Having a @Plaid_Cymru Welsh Govt with a mandate for a #WelshIndyRef at the point of a Scottish Indy Yes vote puts us in an exceptionally strong democratic position to secure our own #WelshIndependence #Annibyniaeth without a shadow of a doubt.

17/

And that is why I appeal to all #IndyConfident #IndyCurious folk in Wales to consider voting for @Plaid_Cymru

18/

Now I wish Labour's pro Welsh Indy members all the best in their quest to convert their party to the cause. But I'm not waiting for them. If @Plaid_Cymru displaces them as the party of the progressive Left in Wales, I won't shed a tear. Because I'm not in this for Labour.

19/

I'm not even in this for @Plaid_Cymru. Why am I in this? I'm in this in order to establish a Democratic Welsh Nation State first and foremost. That's the most important thing because it's the best way of ensuring our economic, cultural & political development bar none.

20/

What I care about is that Wales votes for a government of its own choosing and that no other nation unilaterally can impose policy on us against our will. That is the current situation and it is abominable and intolerable.

21/

Secondly I care about social equality. That is imposible in a UK that is structured towards the vested interests of the Tory party and those they represent. A structure the Labour Party has sadly failed to reform. We will not have equality in Wales until we're independent.

22/

Third I care about our environment which sustains our lives. Without democratic self-determination, a functioning constitution & social equality, it's nigh on impossible to make a meaningful impact on restoring our environment & supporting other nations to do likewise.

23/

Fourth, I care about Wales' culture & language which needs the ballast and social focus of statehood. Only then will we be rooted and able to shape policy and expenditure to ensure the economic sustainability of our communities and so ensure their prosperity.

24/

So when Labour members tell me @Plaid_Cymru can't win #indyWales even if they later qualify it with "alone" I'm not inclined to agree and I am inclined to feel slighted. You're wrong and it's not about you.

It's about Wales. It's about democracy.

Nos da pawb

25/25