{"id":32736,"date":"2019-07-26T11:15:46","date_gmt":"2019-07-26T10:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacothenorth.net\/blog\/?p=32736"},"modified":"2019-07-26T18:21:09","modified_gmt":"2019-07-26T17:21:09","slug":"why-i-wont-be-in-caernarfon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jacothenorth.net\/blog\/why-i-wont-be-in-caernarfon\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I won’t be in Caernarfon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>For some weeks I had been planning on going to Caernarfon tomorrow, for the Independence rally organised by All Under One Banner Cymru<\/a> (AUOB Cymru). I have now decided to give it a miss.<\/p>\n

I’ll give you my reasons in a minute.<\/p>\n

AUOB Cymru takes the name of its Scottish inspiration but does not emulate that body by welcoming all<\/em> those who support the cause of independence. Instead, AUOB Cymru has been captured by Plaid Cymru and is now used to serve the interests of that party.<\/p>\n

It does this by attracting people who believe in independence but are not supporters of Plaid Cymru, which gives an inflated impression of Plaid Cymru’s level of support. While by refusing to work with other pro-independence parties Plaid Cymru can present itself as the sole voice of Welsh independence.<\/p>\n

As I say, despite knowing this, I was still intending to go to Caernarfon, but a few things have changed my mind.<\/p>\n

UPDATE:<\/strong><\/span> I was under the impression that All Under One Banner in Scotland was run by dedicated people committed to the national cause. But it is alleged that AUOB was run by gangsters. Read Jason Michael McCann<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the past few weeks The National<\/em> has carried a number of reports of upheaval as the alleged\u00a0 ‘gangsters’ have either left or been removed. All Under One Banner crunch talks as Manny Singh is suspended<\/a> and All Under One Banner founder Neil Mackay resigns<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Is All Under One Banner an example worth following in Wales? Come to that, does YesCymru need All Under One Banner Cymru to organise these marches?<\/p>\n

\u25ca<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

First, was this amazing article by Plaid leader Adam Price on the Nation.Cymru website, entitled The key to our success is unity<\/a>. Despite calling for unity Price is in fact asking Plaid Cymru members to submit to the yoke of the woke. And although he’s not mentioned by name, the piece is directed at Neil McEvoy.<\/p>\n

There are some incredible passages in this article. Here’s one that struck me, Price makes it sound like a full-blown conspiracy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Click to enlarge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tell us, Adam, who compiled this ‘report’? Because I suggest the authorship is critical to its credibility. And who are these shadowy figures trying to take over Plaid Cymru?<\/p>\n

(And Plaidistas accuse me of being a ‘conspiracy theorist’!<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Elsewhere he complains, “The regrettable reality is that we live in a time where vitriol and bile are the backdrop to politics globally.”<\/em> Indeed we do, Adam; so why not have a word with former Plaid Cymru chairman and election candidate Marc Phillips, who earlier this year called me “a neanderthal prick”<\/em>?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Yes, the tweet is addressed to me and not Leanne Wood. Click to enlarge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This tweet dates to the exchange I had with your predecessor, Ms Wood, in which she called me “an arsehole”. <\/em>More recently, I’ve had to put up with slanders I dealt with in this post earlier in the week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Insults like these will be cheered and retweeted by others in your party, yet you have the gall to write a piece bemoaning vitriol and bile in politics! Clearly, vitriol and bile are just fine – as long as it’s Plaid Cymru dishing it out!<\/em><\/p>\n

Sheer fucking hypocrisy!<\/strong><\/p>\n

But then, if anyone criticises a female Plaid Cymru politician the party tries to close down debate by shouting ‘misogynist!’<\/em> Any criticism of a gay politician is homophobic, etc., etc.<\/em><\/p>\n

Listen, Adam: Your party is now dominated by back-stabbing, intolerant hypocrites whipped up into a frenzy of self-righteousness; but they are so morally corrupt and intellectually dishonest that it could be only a matter of time before Plaid Cymru self-destructs.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u25ca<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Any doubts that Adam Price was referring to Neil McEvoy were dispelled when, within hours of Price’s piece appearing, Nation.Cymru’s editor, Ifan Morgan Jones, put out ‘Why Plaid Cymru’s leadership fear a Neil McEvoy takeover bid<\/a>‘.<\/p>\n

It looks increasingly like IMJ is now a mouthpiece for Plaid Cymru. In fact, the two articles look linked, as if they were planned to appear one after the other, with IMJ saying what Adam Price would rather not say.<\/p>\n

If Ifan Morgan Jones has become Plaid’s mouthpiece then it probably explains his accusing me of anti-Semitism when I wrote about George Soros in a recent post. The fact that I never mentioned Soros’s Jewishness (because it’s irrelevant), and the fact that I am a lifelong supporter of the state of Israel, troubled him not at all.<\/p>\n

(If you’ve a mind to, you can catch up with it here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Although disingenuously prefacing the list with, “It is not my place to judge what foundation there is to the accusations against him, and Neil McEvoy has publicly disputed their validity”,<\/em> Ifan Morgan Jones nevertheless listed the ‘charges’.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
To follow the links you’ll need to go to the article itself. Click to enlarge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It looks damning . . . until you remember that every single one is either politically motivated or else driven by personal animus. There is nothing there that would stand up in a court of law.<\/p>\n

But the message seems clear – Neil McEvoy will never be re-admitted to Plaid Cymru. The timing, just two days before the Caernarfon rally was no coincidence. It might even have been a warning to the eleven Plaid Cymru councillors in Gwynedd\u00a0 who signed a letter in support of McEvoy<\/a>, and might be planning a welcome for him on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it’s also confirmation that former leader Leanne Wood’s supporters are still calling the shots inside the party despite her humiliation in last year’s leadership contest.<\/p>\n

And of course, Plaid Cymru will always do the bidding of the Labour Party. So when the First Minister’s seat is threatened by Neil McEvoy Plaid Cymru is quite happy to inflict further damage on Wales by protecting Mark Drakeford.<\/p>\n

\u25ca<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Another reason that the Caernarfon rally comes at a useful time for Plaid Cymru is that the party is not standing a candidate in next week’s Brecon and Radnor by-election, having stood aside as part of an anti-Brexit alliance to give one Unionist party a clear run at another Unionist party, but the plan may backfire because a third Unionist party is standing.<\/p>\n

(God! this is worthy of Metternich.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

This noble sacrifice has not been universally welcomed in Plaid ranks. And the obsession with Brexit is testing the patience of many who voted Remain. There is a perception that independence is now low on Plaid Cymru’s ‘to do’ list.<\/p>\n

But things could get worse. For former party leader, Lord Wigley, hints at further pacts<\/a> in the event of an autumn general election.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Click to enlarge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So marching around Caernarfon tomorrow with the YesCymru banners fluttering will be a great PR coup for a party pissing off supporters for a variety of reasons.<\/p>\n

Because in addition to doing deals with the party that was in coalition with David Cameron and now keeps Labour in power down Corruption Bay, Plaid has become a socialist party. But this is not the socialism Welsh people are familiar with, for it owes more to Islington and US campuses than to the Fed or Gwyn Alf.<\/p>\n

By which I mean, Plaid Cymru is obsessed with the ‘ishoos’ of the woke; it has little or nothing to offer the working class, or struggling Welsh communities.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Others ask why Plaid Cymru is silent on the colonisation of Wales, and the destruction of Welsh communities. For it seems to many that Plaid Cymru is fighting everybody’s battles but our own. While many wonder why Plaid has become a ‘Cardiff’ party, prepared to see the rest of the country lose out in so many ways.<\/p>\n

And why is Plaid Cymru so close to Deryn Consulting, the scheming whisperers that helped Plaid’s Labour mentors hound Carl Sargeant<\/a>? Is it because that’s what best suits Labour?<\/p>\n

And then there’s Neil McEvoy . . .<\/p>\n

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not asking for apologies from Plaid Cymru, I’m a big boy, after all. I’m just asking for an end to the ‘vitriol and the bile’ Adam Price condemns. If you don’t agree with what I write then argue your point, or ignore me, but anything more of what we see below and I will take action.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
I suggest this qualifies as ‘vitriol and bile’, also slander. Click to enlarge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I would still like to attend future independence rallies because I believe in independence today as much as I did back in the 1960s. But for that to happen All Under One Banner must become more broadly based, and it can only do that by ceasing to be Plaid Cymru by another name.<\/p>\n

Because as things stand, I’d hate to be mistaken for a Plaid Cymru supporter.<\/p>\n

\u2666 end \u2666<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For some weeks I had been planning on going to Caernarfon tomorrow, for the Independence rally organised by All Under One Banner Cymru (AUOB Cymru). I have now decided to give it a miss. I’ll give you my reasons in a minute. AUOB Cymru takes the name of its Scottish inspiration but does not emulate … <\/p>\n

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