YesCymru sets 2032 target for Welsh independence referendum
Nation.Cymru staff
YesCymru has set a target of holding a referendum on Welsh independence in 2032 as part of a new six-year campaign.
The pro-independence movement announced the goal at the National Eisteddfod,which is currently taking place in Llantwd, north Pembrokeshire, saying it wanted to establish a clear timetable around which supporters could organise and build public backing.
The campaign has been launched by YesCymru’s recently appointed chair Rob Hughes, who took over earlier this month after Phyl Griffiths stepped down because of increased work commitments.
Mr Hughes, who represents the South-East region on the organisation’s board, said YesCymru would focus on increasing support for independence, addressing practical questions about how an independent Wales would operate and building political pressure for a referendum.
Speaking at a public meeting at the Eisteddfod, he said: “I think we’ve had enough of wandering through life without giving us and our supporters and the people of Wales something to have as a focus.”
He added: “I think what we need to do is persuade the people of Wales that an independent Wales will provide a better future for them and for the generations to come.”
YesCymru said the campaign would seek to turn existing support for independence into a demand for a referendum and set out the political and practical steps it believes would be needed.
Mr Hughes said: “Let’s build a country that is fair, tolerant and welcoming, and use the skills, belief and ambition of the people of Wales to create a country that works for all of us, for our children and for the generations to come.”
The announcement of the 2032 target follows the first meeting between YesCymru and a Welsh Government minister.
Mr Hughes met Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution Dafydd Trystan Davies last week to discuss Wales’ constitutional future and YesCymru’s aim of securing and winning an independence referendum.
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Having a specific focus is a great idea.
Fingers crossed, I’m certain we’d be better off without Westminster.
Good that YesCymru recognises it must address practical questions about how an independent Wales would operate. There are many of these that do not yet have answers.
A genuine target is great. I love it but a there has to be few caveats?
1. It’s the economy stupid!
2.its in Westminster’s gift, not ours!
We can & must win those debates. We must contest & disprove the unionist propaganda: ‘too small, too poor, too
Doyle & Murphy must be disseminated widely.
We must highlight the indignity of our having to beg for the referendum? Which proves we are a colony then? If we like Scotland have to beg for a referendum, how can we not be a colony?
Doyle makes some good points but his analysis is flawed by his assumption that English workers would continue to pay for Welsh pensions.
Political wheels turn slowly, and we must remember that Labour are out to trip up Plaid at every opportunity. With a 2032 target I doubt Plaid will be able to substantially turn around the economy in Wales in order to gain the support of the doubters which are needed to get it over the 50% mark. Realistically 2032 is not enough time, but I’d be over the moon if they achieved it. I see the target as a good way of increasing pressure and debate.
Agreed. Political wheels do indeed turn slowly and persuading around another quarter of the population to vote Yes in six years is a big ask.
YesCymru should not demand an independence referendum until there is pretty conclusive evidence that it would result in more than a minute majority supporting independence. This is because losing such a referendum would delay further serious consideration of a second Wales independence referendum by decades, if not a century or more. YesCymru should concentrate more on demanding that the people of Wales must be given the legal right to decide if, and when, there is an independence referendum (as is the case for Northern Ireland). It is absolutely appalling that this power is vested in a Parliament having a massive… Read more »
Is this target based on the assumption that Scotland will be independent by 2032? Don’t get me wrong I want independence to happen, but I cannot see a Welsh independence referendum being winnable until after Scottish independence is achieved for two reasons.
1) Scotland will be able to negotiate a post-UK settlement with London, setting a precedent on issues such as currency, assets, liabilities and international relations that Wales could follow suit.
2) There will not a be UK to be part of, fundamentally changing the constitutional debate in Wales. The choice would then be independence or part of England.
Let’s do it,Yes Cymru.