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Welsh Nationalists Go on the Offensive

Welsh nationalists march through the castle town of Caernarfon demanding separation from Britain

Boris Johnson’s ascent to the premiership has stimulated opposition from all corners of Britain. The most disaffected groups are nationalists in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

On July 26, up to 8,000 Welsh nationalists marched through the castle town of Caernarfon demanding independence for Wales.

This large Welsh rally followed on the heels of Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, writing to Johnson immediately after he was selected as prime minister, to inform him of her proposals for a second Scottish independence referendum before 2021.

Johnson’s opposition to further devolution, coupled with his embrace of a “no deal” Brexit, has alarmed Britain’s periphery.  

The Caernarfon rally was alarming enough for even the mainstream British media to take notice. The BBC, which tends to ignore the Welsh independence movement, admitted that crowds at the event surpassed the large rally in Cardiff in May.

In early May, thousands demonstrated in Cardiff calling for an independent Wales. The organisers of the rally, All Under one Banner Cymru (AUOBC), claimed that the event was the first such march in Welsh history.

The AUOBC also organised the latest rally in Caernarfon, which it claims shows momentum “for the people of Wales to take control of their futures”.

March organiser, Sion Jobbins, told the media that the Caernarfon rally is “another mass movement for an independent Wales”.

“Wales can do a better job by itself and be independent of Westminster”, Jobbins told ITV News.

The street-level momentum in favour of Welsh independence comes on the heels of opinion polling indicative of a surge in support for Welsh independence.

The latest YouGov poll indicates that 30 percent of respondents back Welsh independence. Furthermore, up to 14 percent are “strongly” in favour of independence, which points to the development of a hardcore pro-independence group.

In view of the Tory party’s further shift to the right, and the increasing likelihood of a no-deal Brexit, the Welsh nationalist hardcore is set to grow, possibly to the point of mounting a credible challenge to London rule.


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