On "Separatism" - a post for Star Wars Day 2026

Happy Star Wars Day. May the force be with you this May the Fourth.

I often blog about Star Wars on Star Wars Day, and this year I'm linking my post to the very current Senedd election (happening on Thursday!) 

I've decided to write about a trending word in politics here in Cymru, that always makes me think of Star Wars. Recently some politicians have started using the word "separatists" to describe people who support Welsh independence. 

Which, of course, makes me think of the conflict in the Galactic Republic in a galaxy far, far away....

CIS ("Separatist") flag

Brief recap: in the original Star Wars film, there was a passing reference to Luke Skywalker's dead father fighting in "the clone wars". Very little was explained about that but 20 years later, when George Lucas wanted to write the Star Wars prequel films, he decided it would be about the 'clone wars'.

If you're going to write about a war, you need to have two sides. In 'star wars' the combatants were the Empire and the Rebels. But something different was needed for the prequels, so we had the Republic and, um, the Rebels Separatists.

In the prequel films, the Separatists were either conniving warmongers looking to make money from galactic upheaval, or were being manipulated by the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious, who was using the war as a way of gaining total power for himself. However, in later media, like the Clone Wars cartoon, Separatist characters were introduced who had nobler reasons for wanting to be independent from the Republic.

But initially we were meant to regard the Separatists as bad guys. The offical name for the Separatists was the "Confederacy of Independent Systems" (CIS). 'Confederate' is a loaded word in US-centric cultural media. So the narrative dice were loaded against the Separatists from the start.

However, like I said, later Star Wars product has introduced some ambiguity. Can there be noble reasons for wanting to be independent? In other words, is separatism automatically bad?

Well, it seems the answer to that depends on what you are separating from and why.

We see in the first prequel, The Phantom Menace, that the Galactic Republic, is ineffectual at responding to an urgent threat to the planet Naboo. Decisions are being made at a distance from the flashpoint and there are multiple competing priorities. The reported suffering of the Naboo population doesn't speed up the decision-making process.

Additionally, there are wider issues. Slavery still exists on several planets. Large areas of the galaxy are under the dominion of crime lords and gangsters. The Republic has not used its strength and power to liberate people from lawlessness or to lift up people living in poverty. 

Certainly, within the Star Wars galaxy, "separatism" can spring from noble aims. 

And the Galactic Republic's response to the separatist movement reinforces the doubt about the Republic's legitimacy. They go to war. They take control of an army of clones - disposable humans - and fight against the Separatists. Now, sometimes this is justified because the Separatists are attacking planets loyal to the Republic, but as the war rolls on, any planet in the CIS becomes de facto an enemy. 

The other thing the Republic does is centralise power. The Chancellor becomes a proto-Emperor with emergency powers that become difficult and then impossible to revoke, and the Republic becomes an Empire.

And then, ironically the 'good guys' flip. What had been the good Republic against the bad Separatists becomes the bad Empire against the heroic Rebel Alliance.

And so to the discussion of Welsh Independence or Welsh Separatism...

I don't think 'separatist' is the terrible slur that people using it seem to think it is. Because, as I've said, that depends on what people want to separate from. It's fair to say the UK has problems and part of that is weak leadership both domestically and in a volatile international setting. 

It feels like Labour's hegemony has been broken in Cymru. While canvassing I have met loads of former Labour voters, including ex-members, who say they are done with Labour. The promise of change that many people hoped for when the Westminster government changed in 2024 hasn't been delivered.

And Westminster has had decades to make life here in Cymru better. Successive governments - Labour and Tory - haven't dealt with root issues, especially poverty in both rural and post-industrial areas. Poverty is always a political choice, whether it was David Cameron's cabinet of millionaires introducing 'austerity' or Keir Starmer's Labour Party taking away financial support for disabled people.

There are structutal and societal issues behind this too. Supporters of annibyniaeth (independence) are always told Cymru is too weak and too poor to go its own way - and when we ask why Cymru is so weak and so poor, we don't get an answer.

If we always do what we have always done then we will always get what we have always got. There is no plan in any party manifesto for parties that support the status quo to bring in any structural or constitutional changes to make life better in Cymru. It's more of the same, or slightly less.

Star Wars presents the warning that overarching political structures seek to protect themselves first and foremost. They respond to threats by centralising more and punishing those they think are an enemy. That natural sense of protectiveness is easy to manipulate by people who seek personal gain. They might not be Sith Lords, but they don't have to be.

In that context, if the government feels far away and seems more interested in it's own ends, that feels dominated by the wealthy and has permitted poverty to persist, is being a Separatist so bad?

Book of the Month: The Road to Independence

This book is Plaid Cymru's evidence to the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales. As you might expect, it lays out very clearly a case for Cymru being an independent nation. For a political book, it's a very accessible read. (It's also shorter than it looks because it's bilingual!)

The book starts with a compelling case why the current political status quo is unsustainable and why half measures like "federalism" won't work. And then it gets into the guts of the argument and directly addresses whether Cymru could afford to be an independent nation in its own right.

That is almost always the first question people ask me when I start talking about annibyniaeth for Cymru. My answer is usually that I don't think Wales can afford to remain trapped in the current union either. Neither can most of England, for that matter. The so-called "fiscal deficit" in Cymru occurs in all the regions of England outside of London and the South East. 

Having travelled to various parts of England for work (and football matches) in the past couple of years, I found it very interesting to see financial figures that back up my hunch that there is poverty across swathes of the country and many communities are on a knife edge. Clearly Westminster isn't working for most of England either. 

The writers deconstruct the various figures used to argue for the unaffordability of Independence. Many of those figures are guestimates; several of the figures presumably wouldn't apply or could be traded off - for example if the coming Republic was expected to inherit some of the debt racked up by the UK, then Westminster would be liable for public sector and state pension payments to people who worked for the UK institutions or have moved to Wales in their retirement. Those costs kind of balance each other out reducing the fiscal deficit significantly. 

The answer to whether Cymru can afford to be independent is therefore 'probably yes'. Much would depend on the terms of leaving the UK - and as seen with Brexit, there are good ways to leave a union and terrible ways to leave a union. Being optimistic, it's definitely possible and hopefully the parting could be amicable. 

Another pressing reason for Independence is the sheer lack of constitutional protections for citizens and institutions in the current UK system. Parliament in Westminster is ultimately the source of all rights and freedoms for individuals, and the source of authority for the devolved Parliaments in Cymru, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The Senedd's continued existence relies on Westminster granting powers to it. A different flavour of government in the UK could abolish the devolved Parliaments even if every MP from outside England voting against abolition. 

This shows just how marginalised Cymru is in the UK. There are 32 MPs from Wales in the current Westminster parliament compared to 543 from England. (Scotland has 57 MPs and Northern Ireland has 18.) The number of Welsh seats dropped from 40 in 2019 to 32 in 2024 - a reduction of 20%. This was because the population of the UK grew disproportionately, with a bigger increase in England. Rather than increase the number of MPs, constituency boundaries were redrawn with larger populations. Effectively, Wales lost 8 seats to England. 

Within that context, there is no real hope of the particular needs of Wales being anything but a minor concern to the Westminster Parliament. Decisions can continue to be made that affect Wales without representatives from Wales being able to influence them - see for example the scandalous decision to class the High Speed 2 rail investment as an 'England and Wales' project thereby diverting funding that should have come to Wales, or the decision earlier this year not to devolve the Crown Estate income to the Welsh Government despite the Scottish Government controlling the income from Crown Estate in Scotland. 

The democratic argument for Independence is quite clear.  There is no written constitution to protect the people of the UK from a capricious or malevolent government. Money is withheld from the people of Wales on the whim of MPs elected elsewhere under relatively benign governments. Wales is not safe in the Union. (And there is a good case to say people living in England are a lot less safer than they think they are.)

So in conclusion, I think this book should be required reading for anyone with views for or against annibyniaeth. It's level-headed, reasonably argued, succinct and accessible. And very compelling. 

Going "Big P" political

Recently I was asked if I was political. I said I feel I have always been "political with a small p", because I'm interested in politics. I have been involved in some active political campaigns, going back to things like Jubilee 2000 campaigning for debt justice, through to marching in my first March for Independence earlier this year.

But now I feel that I have become "big P" Political. For the first time in my life I have joined a political party. I am now a member of Plaid Cymru and have the card to prove it.

So why Plaid? 

I've been voting for Plaid Cymru for a while, having felt disaffected with Labour. I like their broadly socially progressive policies. Unlike Labour, they aren't pandering to right wing populists regarding immigration. They've also spoken out about Gaza - one of the few UK political parties to criticise what is happening there. And, of course, I support the idea of Wales being an independent state, which is Plaid's ultimate aim.

So I have been thinking of joining for a while and then recently a few things gave me a push.

At the end of June, I was invited up to an evening with Rhun ap Iorweth, the leader of Plaid Cymru, in Pontypridd. My friend Sara, who is on the candidate list for Pontypridd, Cynon and Merthyr in next year's Senedd election, asked me along. 

I like Rhun's pragmatic approach to things. Despite the audience being almost all Plaid Cymru members, he had some tough questions chucked at him and he handled them well. There were no ridiculous promises. Generally the tone was positive and optimistic. And it appealed to me. 

The other prompt that finally got me to sign up was learning there is a council by-election in our ward on 14 August. One of the current Labour councillors has resigned due to misogynistic attitudes among the Labour group on Cardiff Council. It's a shame because I've asked her for help regarding green space issues in Grangetown and she was very helpful. 

But there's a lot of decisions coming through from the council that I don't agree with, including encroaching on some of the aforementioned green space on the edge of The Marl, one of Grangetown's rare parks. 

I met Neil, the Plaid candidate for the council election, after the Keep Grangetown Tidy litterpick. (He had been litter picking too; it wasn't a random thing.) We had a good chat. I think he would be a good councillor. And so I thought, now is the time. 

An election is a good time to join a party. I have been helping with the campaign, delivering leaflets and knocking doors. It's been a great way to start out being Political with a big P.

April adventures - a look back at the month

April on The Knap!

April started out with our week in Buckinghamshire, which included a visit to Legoland on my birthday, a nostalgic trip to Bekonscot Model Village, meeting a tapir called Nev, and watching Shrewsbury Town battle to a 0-0 draw at Wycombe Wanderers. It was a full week and we took a lot of selfies!

We were then back home, and I was back at work, for a week. But soon we were setting off on another trip. Cathy had her annual appointment with the lipodystrophy specialists in Cambridge. Then we headed to Manchester to watch a comedy set by Nate Bargatze. 

Nate is an American comedian who we have watched on Netflix. I don't have any pictures because there were strict restrictions on using phones during the gig. We both enjoyed it - his sequence about the family WhatsApp chat veering into everyone going crazy was very funny indeed. He had two support comedians. One had some good jokes about how fishing is now a high school sport and that means there are high school fishing coaches. The other bombed badly, trying material about Megan Markle, which nobody laughed at, mainly because nobody really cares about the Royal Family. It was a shame because he started strongly with his horror at finding out about black pudding when he was served breakfast in his hotel. 

I had a few days off when I got back to Cardiff in the run up to Easter Weekend. I used the time to catch up with some lovely people like Sian, Connor (who was in town Easter weekend), and one of my godsons and his mum. 

At the end of the month I spent a very sunny Saturday in Barry joining the March for Independence, which I have already blogged about. It was a great way to round out the month. 

However, it hasn't all been adventures and annibyniaeth. I had some less than great medical news. After almost ten years in recovery from my type 2 diabetes, I had my annual health check and found my blood glucose levels are too high. It's no coincidence that my weight has gone up in the last couple of years as well. So, I'm making some changes to get back on the road to recovery. 

Blood test ouchie!

Football-wise I went to eight matches this month - well, technically, seven and a half because one of them I only managed to get there at half time. The first game was in High Wycombe, as I've already mentioned. The day we drove back to Cardiff we got back in time for me to get up to Treherbert to watch them host Cardiff Draconians. Paul was already at the game when I arrived, Matt came over as well, and then I saw Scott standing a dozen yards away. Cue a series of matchday selfies!

Paul and I also went to the Welsh Blood Service Southern Cup Final, which was switched from Briton Ferry to Cambrian United on the afternoon of the game due to a horrendous downpour. Lee Trundle was playing for one of the teams and opened the scoring with a cracking goal - he's the same age as me and I find it inspiring that he is still playing football, and winning trophies. It gives me hope!

I also saw Barry's final league game of the season, a rollicking thumping of Briton Ferry. I didn't go to Barry's post-season play-off game because it clashed with the Independence March, so I missed their heavy defeat in Caernarfon which was their actual last game of the season. 

And on a final note, it's been a decent month for Blood Bowl. I took some teams and some paints on holiday at the start of the month, played a game with my new wood elf team on my Mega Saturday, and have also built and painted another new team - the Norsemen complete with their 'beer boars', who are mega cute. 

I decided to paint them orange and I think the colour scheme works quite well. I haven't completely decided on a name, but I'm tempted to call them Ragna's Rockers, partly in tribute to my Viking grandma, Ragna. I'm sure she would be thrilled!

I went to the AUOB March for Independence in Barry

Back in 2020 I joined Yes Cymru, the independent movement for an Independent Wales. I'm still a member although the organisation has been through the mill and lost its edge a bit. However, I had yet to join in a March for Independence, so when I heard one was being organised for Barry I knew this was my chance to go along and take part. 

My friends Sara and Leanne have been to a few of these marches, with their kids, and they took me under their wing for the day.  We started out in the Indy Market looking at the various Annibyniaeth swag produced by a few different organisations. There were stalls from Plaid Cymru and the Green Party of Wales, as well as some social actions groups, the Felin Drafod think tank, face-painting for the kids, Barry Round Table selling hot dogs and burgers, other food vans and so on. 

I ended up buying a t-shirt and a cap and collecting lots of free stickers and a couple of badges. I also got given a Flemish flag by one of the members of the Flemish independence movement. There was a sizeable group of them there in an overall crowd that was estimated (by the police) at 5,000-7,000 people. 

After marching in a loop of Barry town centre, led by a large dragon puppet operated by someone inside it, we gathered in King Square for some short speeches. It got a bit warm on the march as the weather had turned surprisingly sunny (and I had a child on my shoulders for some of it!)

It being 'All Under One Banner' there were speeches from a couple of the political parties who were represented. But my favourite speaker was Anna Arque i Solsona, an independence campaigner from Catalonia. 

Anna made the point that there are millions of people in the regions across Europe that are seeking greater autonomy and independence, it's not just a few people in Cymru seeking annibyniaeth. I was also impressed by how willing she was to have a go at saying a few sentences in Cymraeg. There was also a video shown with people from independence movements across Europe - from Sardinia to the different regions in Spain to South Tyrol and one or two I wasn't able to place geographically - and I found that very inspiring. 

I've had several conversations with people over the past few years and the big question I get asked is 'Can Wales really survive on it's own'. But the way things are going in the UK, I'm not sure Wales can survive in the status quo. A couple of speakers referred to the UK as a failed state, and although that might be overstating it, it definitely feels like a failing state. The challenge is to generate enough hope that change can come and it will be change for the better.

Book of the Month: Independent Nation

I've had this book in my reading pile for a little while. With the tagline 'Should Wales leave the UK?', it's written by Wales Online Welsh Affairs editor Will Hayward to scrutinise both sides of the discussion about Welsh independence. 

I felt this was a decent review of the situation Wales is currently in. While Will points out that the idea that independence will help solve all of Wales's many problems is simplistic, he also strongly makes the case that the current status quo isn't going to do anything to solve those problems either. This is something I've talked about before when discussing my feelings about independence - 18 months ago when my friend Chris asked me whether I could really see a future for Wales as an independent country, I replied that I couldn't really see much of a future in the UK. This book acknowledges that things are bleak.

The problems we see in Wales - the high poverty rates, the demographic shift in society, the low quality infrastructure and the ongoing post-industrial trauma in the population's health are all covered by Will. And he pulls no punches at the lack of action from the UK government to do anything about them - inaction that has lasted for decades under whatever flavour government has been in charge. 

Will doesn't have much time for the sloganeering of Yes Cymru, harshly skewering claims that Wales could get by selling water and energy. He points out that if Wales went independent without an economic plan it would be ruinous, but plans could be made and, indeed, some people are already coming up with ideas. Will believes a solution is for Wales to find its 'niche' in the world - something it would be world-leading in.

He also recognises that independence provides an opportunity to recalibrate the economy in Wales and focus on other priorities rather than 'growth'. A constitution for Wales could focus on social justice and quality of life for all the people who live here with economic policy flowing from that. It was encouraging to have some other possibilities included in a serious political work instead of discussions of the economy just being the de facto Western idea that 'wealth' is measured in money.

The flipside of the book is an examination of the current political system, which is exposed as seriously lacking. The idea that the UK can persist with an 'unwritten constitution' is deeply unsatisfactory - as is the idea of Parliamentary sovereignty, which leaves the people of the UK at the mercy of charlatans and thieves. This isn't a theoretical criticism; the corruption in our current government shows that.

So what is the solution? Will doesn't give an opinion, although he does offer a range of options, showing this isn't a binary question. The most interesting scenario he paints is accidental independence - asking what would happen if England decided to opt out of the union. That's a feasible issue if Scotland went independent and there was a nationalist swing in England that saw Wales and Northern Ireland as more trouble than they're worth. 

If I had one criticism of this book, it's the author's tendency to insert himself into the narrative. As readers, we don't need to know which coffee shop he's met a politician in, or how he talked to an academic on a Zoom call. I know why authors add this colour in to their narratives - and Will doesn't do it as egregiously as some people do - but it's a distraction. There are other occasions where Will adds colour very successfully - for example, providing a short synopsis of the Aberfan disaster and how the UK government misappropriated the donations that were given to help the families of the victims who were killed.

But overall, that's a minor quibble for a book that I would recommend anyone with any level of interest in Welsh politics should consider reading. 

Sticker politics

While enjoying a trip to North Wales, I've noticed several pro-indy stickers. This one was well positioned near the entrance to Castell Caernarfon.

Yes Cymru stickers are common enough. However on a signpost in Llanberis there was a nice collection of stickers. Not sure what the Manchester City one was about, mind.

The Eryr Wen (White Eagles) is a Free Wales Army sticker. Nid Yw Cymru Ar Werth means Wales Is Not For Sale. 

And someone had embellished the obligatory Yes Cymru sticker with another sticker encouraging people to trust in the Lord always. 

I'm interpreting that to mean even God has got behind the Indy movement.

Being "a bit anti-establishment"

In September I wrote a post about how I didn't feel like I was feeling what everyone else was feeling after the Queen died. I had some feedback on that post. My mum said it seemed "cynical". My friend Paul said I sounded "a bit anti-establishment". 

My first thought when Paul said that was "Only a bit?" Maybe it took me saying something out of step with the prevailing sentiment to show that I'm a bit anti-establishment. But I'm not going to deny it. I think there are a lot of problems with 'the establishment' and the way things are arranged in the UK.

I've been a republican for a long time - probably all my adult life. It's nothing personal about any member of the Royal Family. As another friend, Jon, said, the Queen chose to do the public duty side of her role, and I respect the Queen for playing the hand she was dealt and playing it well. But I don't have to approve of the way the deck was stacked. (What's the saying? Hate the game, not the player?)

I studied Politics at A-level, back when politics was comparatively boring. We spent a year looking at the British political system and a year looking at the American political system. That left me firmly of the opinion that the House of Lords should be abolished. This has current relevance if you can be a Prime Minister for a mere 44 days and still give a load of party donors paid jobs for life in the House of Lords. My preference would be to replace that unelected body with regional parliaments in England that have power devolved to them.

The American system seems to have gone horribly wrong in this century, but the idea of splitting powers between Congress (the legislature) and the President (the executive) is fundamentally sound. Having an elected President gives everyone a say in who holds the top job, unlike the incredible farce we have seen recently appointing a new Prime Minister.

In the last few years I have become an active supporter of Welsh Independence. Overall, you can see a trend in my thinking - a greater say in who governs with more direct influence for voters. A self-governing Cymru will mean more direct accountability to the people who live here. 

I was recently asked if I felt an independent Wales was viable - I replied asking whether the UK still feels viable. The person I was talking to is politically astute and told me for the first time in their life they felt truly fearful for the future. My feeling is increasingly framed as 'Can Wales afford to stay in the Union?', rather than 'Can Wales afford to leave?'

I have strong opinions beyond abstract proposals for changing political structures. I think all "necessities" - power, water, housing (to an extent), broadband - should be nationalised and run as public services to ensure everyone's needs are met. (I have heard an interesting idea that football clubs should be 'nationalised' and run for the good of communities. It's an idea that had some merit to it. Social institutions are important. However, I would start with the utilities and transportation.) 

I'd also support the idea of a Universal Basic Income, to remove financial stress from people and really free up creative endeavour and innovation. Wages would then reflect the value of a particular job in society and work would have greater inherent value. 

Universal Basic Income is a way to break the poverty cycle and reset our society. There is good evidence that the solution to poverty is actually to give poor people enough money to live on. That sounds so blindingly obvious it feels almost like sarcasm. But it's hard to argue against, unless you are willing to ignore all the research and cling to your prejudices that all poor people are stupid or irresponsible. Of course, some people might prefer the UK to be a nation of foodbanks and misery. They can keep voting Tory. I'm not going to apologise for wanting things to be better than that.

Don't know the writer; agree with the message

Because of its ever-presence in the lives of almost everyone who is alive, people forget the NHS was considered radical and revolutionary in its time. It was vigorously opposed by the Conservative Party of its day (and also by a lot of doctors!) and even now the idea of free healthcare available at the point of need is rare around the world. I believe in the NHS concept and believe it is worth defending, which is becoming increasingly necessary as it is being deliberately under-funded and privatised by stealth. 

My point about the NHS is that, generally, we can get used to radical approaches. Welsh Independence, or republicanism, or nationalising utilities, or Universal Basic Income, may all appear radical and unachievable. But so did the NHS when Aneurin Bevan first entered politics. 

So, having said all that, overall I'm happy to be described as "a bit anti-establishment". The only bit I would quibble with is the word "bit".

Reflecting on 2021 – the year in politics

Another review post, of yet another year that's been interesting politically...

In January the UK officially left the European Union. This was Boris Johnson’s promise that won his party a majority in the 2019 General Election – that he would “Get Brexit Done”. Except, of course, it wasn’t as simple as that. There is a general reluctance to honestly assess the problems the UK is facing as a result of Brexit. Instead the government line seems to be that everything is going fine and if it’s not going fine, that’s the fault of those pesky Europeans.

But there are loads of things that aren’t going fine. Earlier this year there was a lot of coverage about the shortage of lorry drivers, due to Brexit. There has been a steady stream of different businesses that have been badly affected by new import and export barriers. More recently, a trade deal with Australia looks like it is going to be a disaster for Welsh farmers. We still don’t know what is going to happen with regards to Northern Ireland where the peace agreements signed in the mid-90s are dependent on open borders with the Republic. It’s all a mess and the people who are meant to be sorting it out keep quitting.

Throughout the year there have also been revelations of government sleaze and corruption at an unparalleled level. From Boris Johnson purloining funds to pay for expensive flat furnishings, to preferential treatment for political donors when emergency contracts related to the pandemic were awarded, through to the media breaking story after story of government ministers and advisors flouting covid restrictions and partying while the rest of the country suffered, it seems to have been a non-stop train of grubbiness, pilfering and backhanders.

This has led to an interesting phenomenon of a succession of Tory ministers going out onto the interview circuit to peddle the official lie (sic) to try and mitigate public anger, only for new evidence to be presented, which then prompts an admission that, yes, they have been naughty. The Prime Minister doesn’t seem to care that he is making his loyal acolytes look like chumps time after time. And yet he still seems to have a ready list of people willing to go out and lie for him and then be exposed as liars themselves. Clearly they aren’t that smart, that they keep doing it.

In comparison to the never-ending corruption circus in Westminster, the Welsh Government looks stable and boring, even. We had a Senedd election this year and everybody was surprised that Labour did as well as they did, retaining governmental power again. 

Senedd election leaflets

The Conservatives made gains too, at the expense of the various warring factions that used to be UKIP. I interpret that as evidence that the Tories are now very right wing, because they seem to have hoovered up those votes and hollowed out their opponents to the right.

Plaid Cymru didn’t make any gains in the Senedd, which was disappointing for people with a preference for Welsh Independence. It feels like much of the energy has been lost from the Independence movement. That may be due to lockdowns and living through the pandemic perma-crisis, but there has also been a lot of nastiness within the big independence organisation, Yes Cymru.

As the UK Government lurched from embarrassment to embarrassment in 2020, Yes Cymru membership grew to 17,000. However, it had dropped to less than 9,000 by the time of the vote on the future of the organisation in early December 2021. There have been some long-running toxic rows on Twitter. None of these rows are about the big questions of independence; instead they have almost all been focused on trans rights and opinions held by some people within the movement.

This seems to have completely derailed Yes Cymru as an organisation. I have heard some mutterings that the whole trans rights issue blew up after the UK Government formed a ‘Union Task Force’ to look at countering the growing independence movement. I feel it’s an overreach to claim the trans rights issue was a false flag used to splinter a progressive movement. Similar debates have taken place in the Green Party and in other movements, so it’s not unique to Yes Cymru. But it has damaged the organisation, taking away impetus and causing it to stagnate. Back in March I was planning to start blogging more on issues related to Independence, but the toxicity in the movement kind of put me off. I’m still a member of Yes Cymru, although I’m not really sure why.

So it has been an interesting year, politically. One more outcome of the Senedd election is a change of health minister, which in turn seems to have delayed work starting on some behind the scenes changes that will have an impact on my job. It’s one of those rare occasions when a politics news story has an effect on me personally. Or at least an effect I notice.

#Cymrutopia - welcome to the future Wales

Last year I joined Yes Cymru, the independent movement for Welsh Independence. I outlined some of my reasons in my first blog post of 2020.

Since then, the support for independence keeps rising. Last week, a record 39% of people polled said they would vote for independence (qualifier - if you exclude the people who said 'Don't know'). When I joined Yes Cymru my membership number was 2,920. Their current membership has rocketed to over 17,000.

My Yes Cymru membership pack

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about what an independent Wales could look like if an independent Welsh Government could make decisions on things that matter to Wales. And the possibilities for progressive changes in culture, infrastructure and society. For example, on St David's Day I mentioned what a national holiday could look like.

Today I jokingly referred to this as Cymrutopia. And the moment I said that, I liked the sound of it. Cymrutopia - the ideal Wales that could yet be. The hiraeth home we both mourn and search for. 

My plan is to blog a few ideas here in among the usual posts about science fiction shows, football and my Snack of the Month. This post is both a warning and chance to lay claim to the word Cymrutopia. Although I don't mind if other people start posting their own ideas of what an independent Wales could look like. We need to build an array of hopeful options for the future republic.

St Davids Day 2021

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus i chi! Happy St David's Day to you. Here are some cheery daffs that I found in Bute Park at the weekend. I liked how they were backlit by sunshine.

I have been thinking recently about some of the things that would be possible in an independent Wales, and one of them would be to have a national holiday on St David's Day. (I recently found out this was agreed on in the first sitting of the Welsh Assembly after it was convened, and was subsequently rejected by the UK Government.)

However, just having a day off work is fairly meaningless. There are no doubt lots of old traditions that could be revived. But what if we took this opportunity to start new traditions?

I've always liked the story of St David's final words to his followers. As he lay dying he apparently told them to "Do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about." This is sometimes summarised as a call to "Be faithful in the little things." 

Because little things matter, whether for good or ill. A smile can lift a person's spirits. A random act of kindness can save a life. A little lie can poison a relationship. A broken promise can break a person.

I would really love to see a day given over to the 'little things'. That could be joining in a community event like a litter-pick, or it could be doing something little that you've been meaning to do for a while. Visiting an elderly relative. Helping your neighbour tidy their garden. Sorting through the wardrobe and taking clothes to a charity shop. Making time for family, friends, and people in your community who often go unthanked for the work they do.

I feel it would be a wonderful statement about the kind of society we want in Wales, if we chose to make the national holiday an opportunity to live out the instruction of our patron saint.

Review of 2020 - joining Yes Cymru

Despite being interested in politics, I had never joined a political group before 2020. In May, I joined Yes Cymru - the campaign for Welsh independence. 

There were a number of reasons behind my decision, but the main one is feeling that Wales should be in control of its own destiny as a nation. Nothing in the subsequent six months of the year has convinced me otherwise. Frankly the way the UK Government has handled the pandemic and the Brexit negotiations has been negligent and the country is in a parlous state as a result. 

I don't think an Independent Welsh Government could have done a worse job than the Westminster Government, which looks like a case study in decision-making by procrastination until an eleventh hour choice is forced. The Welsh Government overall did pretty well in controlling the first wave of Covid, despite being gazumped on PPE for NHS staff by Westminster. Restrictions were tighter in Wales and fewer people died here than in England on a per head basis.

But time and again in the Autumn, the Welsh Government's efforts to protect the people of Wales were undermined by Westminster. The UK Government refused to extend the furlough scheme to support people who could not go to work during a mandatory 'Fire Break' in Wales, but then just two weeks later did extend the furlough scheme when England had to go into lockdown. This was after Jacob Rees-Mogg mocked Wales by saying the fire break was the sort of thing you got when you elect socialists. He thankfully shut up when England had to have a lockdown that was twice as long as the Welsh one. 

There was a lot of anger about that and Yes Cymru membership surged as a result. When I joined my membership number was below 3,000. There are now over 15,000 members. That feels like a groundswell of support for independence that reflects a change in attitude.

We will see how the Brexit deal pans out in 2021. I predict it won't be great. It will apply even greater pressure to the Union. Scotland already has a nationalist government and are pushing for another referendum - which is only fair as EU membership was one of the key arguments of staying in the Union back in 2014. Now the UK has finally stumbled out of the EU. Scotland voted overwhelmingly to stay in, so one of the main arguments against independence has gone. If there's a second referendum, the result will probably swing to independence. 

And if Scotland goes, then what for Wales? Already there are plans to reduce the number of Welsh seats in the House of Commons. Should we just sit here and become ever more marginalised, made ever more poor by the mismanagement of a government that doesn't seem to care what happens here? We have already had it made clear to us what we can't have - the electrification of the mainline railways were cancelled, as was the tidal barrage in Swansea Bay. Instead, we were told we would have a prison hulk floating off Port Talbot, and radioactive mud dumped along the South Wales coast. 

I believe Wales can be more than a convenient place to dump toxic waste.

It's the fashion to leave unions of countries at the moment. Other countries that are smaller and poorer than Wales have thrown off the shackles of distant parliaments and forged their own new identities. 

Europe is full of newly minted nations. 

Wales could be the next.