Welsh Nation - Summer 2017 Edition

Summer 2017

The Welsh Nation Ben Lake MP

writes for the Welsh Nation for the first time

“E

xcuse me, which way to the Chamber?” If any sentence could encompass a new Member of Parliament’s first experience in the new job,this is it.

The last few weeks have been a surreal and non-stop journey of finding my feet (sometimes literally!) in one of the most aweinspiring buildings in the world.

Westminster, with its grand architecture and miles of confusing corridors, is not a natural home for any Welsh nationalist, but I have enjoyed every minute.

When I was selected as Plaid Cymru’s candidate in my home constituency, Ceredigion, I was fully aware of the challenge that lay ahead.

Mark Williams was a popular MP and in the face of a national squeeze my main aim was to conduct a positive, energetic campaign of which our loyal supporters in the seat and the party nationally could be proud.

That’s what we achieved thanks to the outstanding work of hundreds of local volunteers and I am extremely grateful to everyone who contributed to the campaign.

Taking the seat and bringing an end to over a century of Liberal Democrat representation in Wales (in their various guises) was not my success, it was our success.

By 6am on the morning of the 9th of June, after two recounts, it dawned on me that it was I who now had the great honour and responsibility of representing the incomparable constituency of

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Ceredigion.

The change happened in an instant. The congratulations and television interview requests came pouring in and my constituents started contacting me immediately for assistance with cases as varied as immigration issues, child protection and domestic abuse.

By the Tuesday morning after the election I was on the train to Westminster for the first time as MP for Ceredigion. Within two days I had sworn my oath in the Chamber and was ready to get to work straight away to ensure that the people of my constituency had the strongest possible voice in Westminster.

Thanks to the incredible support of my Plaid Cymru Group colleagues in London I was able to begin at once. My fellow Members and staff have given me priceless

advice and guidance over the past few weeks and months and my debt to them is enormous.

My portfolio includes the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Constitutional Issues and Culture, Media & Sport. The scope and variance of these matters is substantial and I look forward to progressing with our plans to devolve some of these fields and ensure that critical industries aren’t disadvantaged due to Brexit.

The work is only getting started but already I am working to ensure that the people of Ceredigion are given representation that is worthy of the faith they placed in me. I am determined not to disappoint them.

Watch Ben’s maiden speech in the House of Commons: partyof.wales/benlakespeech

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Annual Conference 20-21 October 2017

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laid Cymru’s Annual Conference takes place in Galeri, Caernarfon, on the 20th and 21 of October 2017. It’s shaping up to be a Conference to remember. The enthusiasm is tangible - Plaid Cymru received the highest number of motions for many years. All the information, including the arrangements of the Conference Dinner, the timetable and fringe events will be released soon on our website at www.partyof.wales/cynhadledd17.

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Mae rhestr o holl lyfrau’r Lolfa ar www.ylolfa.com The Welsh Nation Draig Goch - Welsh Nation haf 2017.indd 15

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Let’s Talk

by Leanne Wood

Government to maintain the trade links which are so vital to our agricultural industry.

In our national parliament too, we will continue to hold the Labour government to account over falling standards in our schools and hospitals, and the stagnant state of the economy.

However, we cannot and will not ignore the fact that UK politics has now changed.

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s the dust settles following the snap election, we can reflect on a positive result for our party in challenging circumstances.

This larger Westminster group stands us in good stead to redouble our efforts to act as Wales’s voice in Westminster.

The polarisation between Labour and the Tories forced an inevitable squeeze on the smaller parties.

We managed to withstand this by holding our three seats and gaining Ceredigion from the Liberal Democrats.

Now that the Tories have pursued a cynical £1bn bribe to the DUP risking peace in the process, Plaid Cymru MPs will do everything within their power to fight for Wales’s fair share (around £1.7bn Barnett share based on population) to invest in infrastructure and our public services.

Our new MP Ben Lake’s campaign was defined by energy, enthusiasm and integrity and he is already establishing himself as an excellent addition to our Westminster team.

The return of Jonathan Edwards and Hywel Williams means that they can proceed with their tireless work for their constituencies and for their country, and Liz Saville Roberts will no doubt make a highly effective parliamentary leader.

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On Brexit, we will continue to seek to influence the negotiating process to ensure that the interests of the Welsh economy are not ignored by the Prime Minister.

We will oppose any efforts to drag Wales out of the single market in a way which will endanger the 200,000 Welsh jobs linked to that market, and we will press the UK

People now behave differently. 2017 showed far higher levels of tactical voting. This means that although we gained a seat, our vote share went down. This was even more so the case in seats where we were not seen as having a chance of winning.

The presidential battle between Corbyn and May will not be in play at the next Welsh Parliament election. That gives Plaid Cymru the opportunity to be the only credible alternative to more of the same under Labour.

That is why our work over the coming years must focus much more on speaking directly with people in their own communities and having those all-important conversations that will persuade them that the Welsh economy and our public services will be safer and stronger in Plaid Cymru’s hands.

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Tory – DUP deal undermines case for Union

by Jonathan Edwards MP Barnett by-pass mechanism to get round paying our share of this extra expenditure.

Since being elected I have been informed of schools in my constituency that are having to lay off teachers to balance the books. Figures recently published outline that in Wales we have lost 20% of our firefighters. This is Labour austerity in action passing on Tory cuts. The deal given to the DUP means that they make up the entire austerity cuts they have faced since 2010.

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hose who advocate the case for the Union base their argument on the pooling and sharing of resources. Traditionally this has meant a very central taxation system, with the vast majority of Welsh, Scottish, English and northern Ireland taxes collected by the Treasury in London. Funding allocations since 1979 have then been distributed by the crude Barnett formula whereby the three devolved Administrations (Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) receive a population share of identifiable expenditure on English public services. Plaid Cymru has consistently campaigned to reform the formula as it takes no consideration of relative need with Wales particularly badly served. Treasury figures indicate that northern Ireland received £11,106 of identifiable expenditure per person per year from the Treasury in London. For Scotland the figure was £10,374. For us in Wales our share was only £9,904.

The Tory Secretary State for Wales bizarrely claimed that Wales was receiving extra cash for our two city deals in Cardiff and Swansea – whilst conveniently neglecting to elaborate that 90% of the investment for those deals comes from Welsh public and private sources. I’ve become well accustomed to Westminster accounting tricks in my role as Plaid Cymru’s Treasury spokesperson – but to equate a £1,000,000,0000 bung to the DUP with £100m over 15 years takes the biscuit and proves once again that the Colonial Secretary of State in Wales is far more interested in protecting the interests of Westminster as opposed to making the case for Wales.

Anyone seriously scrutinising this dodgy deal between the Tories and DUP must surely come to the conclusion that Westminster has never worked for Wales and never will.

To cut a long story short, Westminster has never played fair with Wales. The Confidence and Supply agreement signed between the Tories and the Democratic Unionist Party from the six Counties of the north of Ireland further amplifies the inequity suffered by our country.

The reported two year £1bn deal works out at an equivalent sum of £1.7bn for Wales due to our larger population. Of course the Tories have used a The Welsh Nation Draig Goch - Welsh Nation haf 2017.indd 13

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Together We Succeed

by Helen Bradley paid staff and consultants at their disposal!

It’s not only the party’s staff and politicians that have always been an inspiration to me but also our talented and tireless volunteers and activists, people that I have met on my travels across the length and breadth of Wales. I have shed tears of laughter, frustration, anger and sadness with so many of you; we’ve shared tough times but we’ve also shared some wonderful times, times that I will never forget.

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hose of us in politics tend to look to our politicians to lead us and inspire us. Over the years I have been fortunate to work with some of Wales’s most inspiring politicians, helping them to prepare for their daily work and by their sides on the campaign trail at election time.

I have been especially privileged to work side by side with Leanne Wood over the first five years of her leadership; during this time we have developed a close friendship which I know will endure long into the future. We have shared some unforgettable experiences… and some we’d both rather forget!

of our rival parties. A team of people working tirelessly, always going that extra mile, sometimes in the office from first thing in the morning until the early hours of the next morning to ensure that our politicians are fully briefed, that literature is ready, that manifestos are drafted and published, that events happen across the country and that the party is promoted in the press, media and online. This is a team of staff that enables our party to compete and hold their own on a UK wide stage against parties who have a veritable army of highly

I am convinced that the secret to Plaid Cymru’s success will lie in all of these three elements – politicians, staff and activists – coming together, working together, and supporting each other.

Helen worked for Plaid Cymru between 2004 and 2017, most recently as head of news and chief of staff in the Assembly. She’s now working for Chwarae Teg as head of strategic communication.

But we’d be wrong if we just looked to our elected politicians for our inspiration; some of our greatest talents as a party are hiding behind the scenes. I have often likened being part of Plaid Cymru to being part of a family and this is particularly true of being a part of the staff team.

Our party is lucky to have a team of staff that is unequalled in any

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News and reports from our youth movement

Energizing the younger generation

by Sioned Treharne

W

e can’t know for certain exactly how many young people turned out to vote on 8 June, but we can say with a degree of certainty that this year’s general election saw a surge in votes cast by under-25s. In general, the stereotype of the politically apathetic younger generation is slowly losing its credibility.

There can be no doubt that Brexit, with all its social and economic implications, has energised the younger generation; as a result, more and more young people are contributing to our democratic processes and participating in politics on an unprecedented scale compared with engagement in previous years. This, surely, is a positive sign.

However, it’s also clear that the Labour party was the main beneficiary of the increase in youth engagement in this year’s general election. It seemed as though Jeremy Corbyn was elevated to

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hero/superstar status overnight, and a great number of young people decided to lend their votes to the Labour party in order to ‘keep the Tories out’. We know that this election saw the two main British parties sweep up the vast majority of votes across every age group, and in doing so, absorbed support for the smaller parties. Here in Wales, however, the Labour party strengthened its grip and harnessed support from young people by promising to end Tory austerity measures and to work on behalf of all in our societies. The campaign was a big success among younger voters.

The challenge for Plaid Cymru, and for Plaid Ifanc of course, is to present itself as an alternative to Labour here in Wales.

Over the coming months, Plaid Ifanc will continue to hold events to offer political education to our members, including sessions during summer school, the National

Eisteddfod and during Plaid Cymru’s national conference in October. We will also be launching a new campaign, due to extend into the new year, which will involve asking young people about their thoughts regarding Wales’s future.

We will be attending university fairs across the country, hoping to gain new members and to spark a discussion about the way forward for Wales under an unstable government and in the light of our departure from the EU. So much is at stake over the coming years that it remains critical for Plaid Cymru to intensify the effort to increase its profile, and to demonstrate that Westminster will not give Wales a second thought if we continue to entrust our votes to the two biggest parties, time and time again. Plaid Cymru has a vision – namely, seeing Wales fulfil its potential as a prosperous and inclusive nation, where the abilities of its citizens are utilised and their interests protected. This message could certainly appeal to the sensibilities of our younger voters.

It is this message that Plaid Ifanc will be promoting far and wide over the months and years to follow.

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The Dangers Posed by the Progressive Alliance

by Simon Brooks party. The first difficulty is that Plaid Cymru is a relatively small party, with the Labour Party being far larger. If the only priority is to secure a Leftist government, some will interpret that as a reason to vote for the only left-wing party that can form a government in Westminster by itself, which is the Labour Party. The only constituency where a tactical vote for Plaid Cymru makes sense in terms of beating the Tories is Dwyfor Meirionnydd. Everywhere else the best way to get Corbyn is to vote for Labour. This is why there was a fall in Plaid Cymru’s vote in the general election this year.

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laid Cymru’s values are known to everyone: selfgovernment, support for the Welsh language, social justice and opposition to unnecessary wars. None of this needs to change. The problem is how to realise these ambitions especially in the Westminster context where it’s impossible for us to form a government even if we won every single Welsh constituency.

The solution of those that support the idea of a Progressive Alliance is to form an alliance with other parties. By working with the SNP, the Green Party and Labour under Jeremy Corbyn, it may be possible to secure a left-wing government. It is suggested that part of this should include tactical voting in British elections in order to secure the lowest possible number of Tory MPs. At first glance one might respect this reasoning. The people of England are our sisters and brothers like the rest of the human race, and they deserve the best government.

The second problem is that a progressive alliance does nothing to move Wales on as a nation. This was seen the last time Welsh nationalists supported a progressive alliance, since that was the basis of Liberal governments at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Although progress was made on social matters pensions, for example - we got nothing in terms of selfrule or justice for the Welsh language. And the Prime Minister was Lloyd George!

So the risk is that a progressive alliance will see us being swallowed by British politics, and this is especially true in the era of Brexit, when everything is at stake. During this crucial time in our history it would be better for us to stand on the ticket of open Welsh nationalism - keeping our commitment to social justice while turning our back on the progressive alliance.

Simon Brooks is the Chair of Porthmadog Town Council and is Plaid Cymru’s councillor for Borth-yGest.

But this strategy is dangerous for us as a national The Plaid Cymru Credit Union (UCPCCU) is a practical demonstration of the party’s philosophy of people cooperating in building a confident and independent Wales.

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T: 029 2049 1888 www.ucpccu.org E: post@ucpccu.org 18/07/17 15:59

2017 Local Elections Review

by Sian Gwenllian AM Plaid Cymru gained 36 seats out of 74 in Carmarthen (+8) missing out on being able to run the county single-handedly by a whisker. The party did well in Môn too winning an additional two seats, again coming within two of a majority. We won 20 seats in Ceredigion (+1) missing out on a majority there by 3 seats. Plaid Cymru is now in power in these three counties in coalition with other parties.

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lot has happened since the local elections but I would like to take this opportunity to give my heartfelt thanks to all the candidates who put their names forward on behalf of the party. 577 of you stood in council elections and hundreds more for your local town, country and city councils. If you weren’t successful, please try again in future! If you were successful - congratulations and work hard for your constituents in order to win the seat again next time! Local councils are crucial democratic blocks in modern Wales and having strong representation from Plaid Cymru helps to build trust with the public and supports Plaid Cymru’s work in the Assembly and Westminster as well.

In terms of the council elections, we managed to put forward a record number of candidates. Plaid Cymru succeeded in holding Gwynedd Council as we increased our representation to 41 (+4 compared to 2012) seats (out of 75).

Plaid Cymru doubled our number of seats in Rhondda Cynon Taf from 9 to 18 seats and went up from 8 to 15 in Neath Porth Talbot, bolstering their strength as they hold the ruling administrations to account in opposition.

Our share of the vote increased dramatically in parts of Cardiff and we gained a seat to take our tally to three.

We came very close to winning our highest ever number of seats with 203. We won 206 in 2008 and 205 in 1999. Indeed, it is possible to argue that we surpassed our 1999 result since there were more seats up for grabs back then. In spite of this we won control of three councils in 1999 (Gwynedd, Caerphilly and RCT) and our distribution of seats has changed dramatically since then – now we have a higher percentage of seats in the western part of the country, a pattern that was repeated in the general election.

Sian Gwenllian is Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson on local government.

Plaid Cymru office:

Publisher: Plaid Cymru

Tŷ Gwynfor, Marine Chambers, Anson Court,

Printer: Gwasg Morgannwg, Unit 28, Neath Abbey

Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff. CF10 4AL

Business Park, Neath Abbey, Neath, SA10 7DR

Phone: 02920 472272 E-mail: post@plaid.cymru

In addition to the contributors, Plaid Cymru would

Website: www.plaid.cymru

like to thank the following people for their help

Editor: Math Wiliam Design: Rhys Llwyd

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with this edition: Esyllt Meurig, Elin Roberts and Shaughan Feakes.

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