United Kingdom? After Scotland moves, talk of Wexit, Welsh independence
- Strength of United Kingdom tested as Scotland eyes new independence referendum
- In Wales, ‘indy-curious’ people wonder what it would be like to go it alone
In January 2020, there were just 2,000 members of the pro-independence campaign group YesCymru. A year later, membership of YesCymru stands at 17,000, in perhaps a sign the famous red Welsh dragon is starting to tug at its chains.
YesCymru is an independent pressure group separate from the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru that has three MPs in Westminster, and its membership is made up mainly of younger people.
A poll published in The Sunday Times last weekend found that while only 23 per cent of Welsh voters were in favour of full independence, 31 per cent would like to see a referendum in the next five years. Then, there are what is described as the “indy-curious”, Welsh people who were starting to look into the possibility of going it alone.
Wales only narrowly voted for former prime minister Tony Blair’s devolution referendum in 1997 that established the Welsh parliament or Senedd, gaining new powers for the country in areas such as health and education.
Writing in The Sunday Times last week, Guto Harri, who was Johnson’s communications chief when he was mayor of London, pointed out how voters for the Labour Party, traditionally the biggest party in Wales, are also split on the question of independence.